Baruk Who Could Plant Trees

Regulus returned to Hogwarts from the sea cliffs of County Durham, landing deep in the Forbidden Forest.

In April, the Forbidden Forest was still in the early morning, with the tree canopies not yet fully closed. Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the newly sprouting leaves, casting beams of silvery light diagonally among the decaying leaves and ferns.

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The bioluminescent plants were much more active than during the day; Moonlight Moss clung to the cracks in the rocks, emitting a cool, white glow, while Glow Fern clung to the tree roots, emitting a warm, yellow light.

Several Glowcap Mushroom hid under the old tree, their caps flashing a pale green glow in and out.

The air was humid, carrying the clean, raw smell of freshly turned soil, mixed with the fragrance of wildflowers wafting from somewhere. In the distance, something rustled a few times in the bushes, then fell silent again.

In the depression of Aragog's lair, Regulus spread out his Magic Perception and scanned Baruk in the northwest direction.

He raised his right hand and gently stroked his body, a cool, watery sensation washing over him, and the Disillusionment Charm concealed his form.

A small clearing in the woods, with a gap in the tree canopy overhead, lets the moonlight shine straight down, making the entire clearing glow.

Baruk squatted in the middle of the open space, his large body, about two meters long, with his eight legs tucked to his sides, and eight amber eyes on his spider head, all staring at a small patch of turned soil in front of him.

Regulus remained silent, walked over to Baruk, and looked down.

The soil was loosened by the chelicerae and neatly piled into several small mounds, each with something stuck in it.

A young seedling of wild grass, a few berry seeds that I don't know where they came from, and a small piece of the stem of a fluorescent mushroom that I plucked off, the cut still fresh, oozing pale green juice.

A mound of earth nearby was a bit higher than the others, with a few dead branches stuck in it. A triangular frame was crookedly tied with vines, and inside the frame was a small seedling that had just sprouted two leaves, its tender yellow color a reminder of its growth.

Baruk is watering the seedling.

It stretched its front legs onto a spider web hanging nearby, on which hung water droplets, probably collected dew.

It dipped its forelegs in the water and dripped the drops one by one onto the roots of the seedling, its movements incredibly slow, a far cry from its usual frantic running.

After finishing the drip, the spider retracted its front legs, tilted its head, and stared at the seedling for a long time, as if judging whether it had watered enough. Then it dipped its head in again and dripped the water down.

After watering the one on the far right, it changed direction and started scratching at another empty spot with its two front paws.

First, dig a hole. The two front legs dig into the soil and pull outwards, the two middle legs support the body, and the two back legs push the dug-out soil to one side.

The hole was dug, and the last two legs reached over from the side, caught a seed with their front paws, and carefully placed it into the hole.

Then, using both front paws, they pushed the soil back together, and after pushing, they patted it down hard, their large paws slapping the soil surface, making the loose soil compacted.

Each of the eight legs was busy with its own task, and they coordinated quite smoothly.

There are already several such holes nearby, some with tender shoots, some just breaking through the soil, and some with two leaves.

The soil in one pit was compacted very tightly, and the surface was smooth. Nothing had grown there. The seeds inside were probably struggling to break through this hard shell.

Regulus leaned against a tree trunk and stared for a while, a smile unconsciously curving his lips.

The clever little thing, after not seeing it for more than half a month, has learned to farm on its own.

Baruk spent a month watching Centaur observe the stars, imitating Centaur gait, and trying to rub against Unicorn.

It went through forest after forest, and every tree told it that it didn't like spiders, so it planted its own, starting with seedlings, nurturing saplings, and planting small flowers.

Old trees have memories; they recognize spiders as an invasive species. The seedlings, however, have probably never seen a spider before.

Regulus looked for a moment, his attention settling on the tender buds.

They grew at different rates; some plants grew particularly fast, their leaves unfurling and gleaming healthily in the moonlight, while others had just broken through the soil, their cotyledons still curled up and unopened.

Baruk gently tapped the fastest-growing plants with his front paw, then turned his head to look at the slower-growing ones.

The spider tilted its head to one side, then stretched out one of its front legs, scooped up more dew from the web, and watered the slower-growing spider with a few more drops.

It can already distinguish the growth rate.

When the Bowtruckle Magic Power Module was first connected, it could only passively receive signals.

It listened to everything the tree said, except that it disliked spiders. After hearing this, it came back to him looking aggrieved.

At that time, a seed was just a seed to it; burying it in the soil made no difference.

Now it knows which plants are growing well and which are growing slowly, knows to water the slower-growing ones more, and knows not to tamp the soil too firmly.

This not only connects to plants, it helps us understand growth.

The Bowtruckle doesn't have that ability. Bowtruckle affinity for plants is passive; it lives on a tree, and the tree transmits its feelings to it. It shares the tree's joy and sorrow.

But Baruk isn't Bowtruckle; he's an Acromantula, and this isn't in his bloodline, so he has to learn it all from scratch.

When he left, Baruk could only vaguely sense the presence of the grass and trees. To him, the trees were talking giants; he could hear them, but only passively.

Now it's different; it can actively interact with plants.

For a wizard, this is equivalent to advancing from simply being able to chant spells to being able to modify them—a qualitative leap.

Regulus took a few steps forward, squatted down behind Baruk, and reached out to touch the nearest sprout.

The moment my fingertip touched the leaf, an extremely faint flow of Magic Power emanated from its veins.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the Magic Power wasn't from the plant itself; the seedling was too small, and the Magic Power was so faint as to be almost nonexistent.

This Magic Power belongs to Baruk.

It nurtures these plants with its own Magic Power, infusing the soil with Natural Magic Power, allowing the seedlings' roots to absorb it and let it flow into the veins of their leaves.

Baruk was giving.

Regulus withdrew his hand.

His initial plan was to enable Baruk to sense vegetation, make the entire Forbidden Forest his domain, make the trees willing to talk to him, and have tree roots and spider webs intertwined.

It was the first to notice any slight movement in the woods.

That's using the Natural Magic Power as a tool, a sensory network, an intelligence system.

Baruk went astray, or perhaps he went the right way; he wasn't building a network, he was planting trees.

It uses the Natural Magic Power in a more fundamental way, bringing to life things that have never lived before, and making the living grow better.

It understands life further than expected, and perhaps better than expected.

Regulus stood up, dispelled the Disillusionment Charm, and stomped his foot on the decaying leaves with a dull thud.

Baruk froze, then the entire spider sprang up from the spot, all eight legs exerting force simultaneously, its two-meter-long body rising from the ground and flipping over in mid-air.

When it landed, it was already facing Regulus, its chelicerae spread wide, making a long series of clicking sounds, interspersed with a few short chirping syllables.

I don't know where it squeezed out from, but the spider was able to make that sound.

It pounced at full speed, its eight legs pushing off the ground in alternating motions, kicking up a cloud of decaying leaves and dust behind it. It braked abruptly in front of Regulus, but still couldn't stop in time, its large head shoving right into his arms.

Regulus reached out and pressed down, taking half a step back.

Baruk thrust his large head forward, then continued to bury his entire body in his arms.

But it couldn't get in; it was about two meters long, while Regulus was just over 1.7 meters tall, so it tried to nudge his shoulder with its head.

He arched his back half a step, then arched again, the dark red bristles rubbing against Regulus's neck, making it itch.

"Alright, alright." He reached out and patted its big head, his palm making a loud thud on its hard shell.

Baruk shook his head, rubbed against him, and then started circling him, running very fast, his eight legs casting blurry shadows.

But every time he gets back to his plants, he immediately slows down, carefully lifts his leg to step over them, goes around them, and then speeds up again.

It circled around him seven or eight times, then stuck its butt out, its spinnerets facing him, a small section of silvery-white spider silk already protruding, as if it wanted to spray something.

After thinking about it, I took it back, probably remembering that I had been scolded the last time I did it.

Then it continued circling for five or six minutes before stopping, finally coming to rest in front of Regulus, its head very close.

Regulus looked at the eight amber eyes and a smirk appeared on his face. "You've gotten quite something."

Baruk made another series of clattering sounds, its chelicerae opening and closing rapidly, its dark red bristles standing on end.

The spider tilted its head back, quite pleased with itself. "Baruk... planting trees... clever."

Regulus reached out and placed his hand on its carapace, his Magic Perception probing inside.

The Bowtruckle Module has fully grown in, with the tendrils and visual branching system around the grafting point intertwined and inseparable.

The bridge built by Natural Magic Power in the middle has been replaced by Magic Power structures growing together on both sides. The white dots around the eight eyes are denser than before, and a pure white halo shines steadily from under the carapace.

Not only that, but the Magic Circuit of the Bowtruckle Module has been expanded.

Previously, it passively received the emotions of plants; the Bowtruckle was born with this ability. But for Baruk, it was grafted onto the tree, and he had to actively reach out to touch it.

It's like having an extra eye; you have to close your own eyes to know what that extra eye sees.

Each time it is used, the pure white Light Point around the eight eyes will light up. That is because it is actively activated. Now the Light Point are still lit, but they no longer flicker.

This means that it no longer needs to deliberately activate the module or switch to the perspective of the Bowtruckle. The state of the plant can now be directly perceived by it, just as naturally as its visual and tactile senses of the spider web vibration.

From passively receiving information to actively using it, and then internalizing it into a part of one's own perception, Baruk himself accomplished this step.

There's also Magic Power feedback effect.

Professor Sprout once said that plants remember the Magic Power of those who give them and will repay in their own way.

Baruk infused the soil with the Natural Magic Power, and the seeds there received it.

The seed doesn't recognize the spider, but it recognizes the Magic Power that helped it break through the soil.

It responded with growth, Baruk received the feedback, thus knowing which shoots were growing and which were sluggish.

Baruk broke free from his grasp, turned and walked toward the open space. After a few steps, he looked back at him, clicked his claws twice, and gestured for him to follow.

Regulus followed, while Baruk walked ahead, slowing his pace as he led him on a tour of his small territory.

Walking up to a seedling that had sprouted two leaves, the spider cautiously pointed with its front legs, tilting its head to one side. "This..."

Quick... good... I like... Baruk."

Walking over to a newly sprouted plant, the spider lowered its head, its eight eyes almost touching the leaves. "This... wait... I don't... like it yet... it's too small."

I walked a few more steps and stopped in front of the sapling that was about half my height.

Baruk's pincers opened and closed slightly twice, and a hint of pride could be heard in the rough friction sound, "From now on... I like... Baruk."

(And there's more!)