Matou Shinji sat alone in the Matou Family basement used for practicing and developing magecraft, nurturing the pseudo-lifeform he had shaped from jewels.
That tree.
Compared to higher lifeforms like animals, imitating relatively simple forms of life such as plants had a greater chance of success and was easier to accomplish.
Magecraft development had its own cycles.
To use a rather inappropriate example, one of the Matou Family's ancestors, Selim Zolgen, had once led a group in developing a large-scale magecraft project over the course of years.
It was said that they had achieved results in the end.
As a member of the Matou Family, Matou Shinji knew what those so-called "results" were.
That was also why he loathed Selim Zolgen so deeply.
Could the idea of creating superior familiars out of living humans truly be conceived by a normal human being?
Even using homunculi was profoundly unpleasant.
Matou Shinji's magecraft development could not have assistants.
Because the nature of his magecraft was simply too unusual.
The first mage in the Matou Family lineage, Adelson Falgao—the Red Crystal of the Clock Tower several centuries ago, classified as Grand—had an Origin of jewels, and the Jewel Magecraft he created for the Matou Family also bore the attribute of jewels.
Since Adelson, every Matou with the jewel attribute had possessed an Origin of jewels.
Except for Matou Shinji.
His Origin was [a vibrant jewel].
Its manifested form was liquid jewels.
This was a Mystery unique to him. If he wanted to develop magecraft based on himself, he could only rely on himself.
From that perspective, it was hard to say whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.
Pioneers with no precedents to draw from always had the hardest path.
Besides—
Shinji no longer had that much focus to spare for developing magecraft.
He