Cedric glanced down at the Skill Tree and immediately spotted a new point of light on its trunk.
Before, there had been only two options there: Physique Enhancement and Neural Reflex Enhancement. Now a third had appeared beside them—Basic Magic Control.
The new option was still gray, with a note beside it: unlocking it required 5 enhancement points.
He thought for only a few seconds before spending the points he had saved.
The point of light came on.
A new ability appeared under Basic Enhancement as well.
Basic Magic Control E-.
At once, his Hunting Level shot from 1 to 11.
Changes began inside his body, too.
An invisible current seemed to flow back and forth through his flesh. At first, the sensation felt strange, but before long, Cedric worked out how to control it. The power felt as though it had always belonged to him. With a thought, he could guide it wherever he wished.
Cedric raised his right hand.
A tiny vortex formed near his palm. Magic invisible to the naked eye was swirling within it.
"Basic Magic Control... So it didn't just increase how much magic I have. It made me better at controlling it, too."
He stared at his palm for a long while, then his eyelids grew heavy and drowsiness crept over him.
The vortex in his palm dispersed.
Cedric pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head from side to side.
"Why am I this tired just from releasing a little magic?"
Something was clearly wrong.
As if he had suddenly remembered something, he rummaged through the things he had just bought and pulled out a book.
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
It was an introductory textbook on the Transfiguration Spell, written for beginners.
Cedric flipped through a few pages, and the words sank in like water into a dry sponge. It took him little time to understand everything on those pages.
"Am I actually a genius?"
He looked at the convoluted writing in the book and immediately rejected the idea.
He had spent most of this life in the wilderness and had never even attended a proper school. He could speak a little English only because he had often chatted with British people for practice in his previous life. His listening and speaking were passable, but his reading and writing were appalling.
"Could this be Basic Magic Mastery? Can it make even someone who can barely read understand a magic book?"
He thought about it for a long time without finding an answer, so he set the question aside.
Then Cedric dug out the Standard Book of Spells and Magical Theory and read them one after the other.
Several hours later, he finally lifted his head from behind the stack of books, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes.
By the time he finished them, he had not only learned the basic magic they described, but his English reading and writing had also improved by leaps and bounds.
At least he could finally read a book without getting lost.
His progress in magic was just as impressive.
He now understood how to cast three basic spells: the Transfiguration Spell, Lumos, and the Mending Charm. His strength had taken another step forward as a result, raising his Hunting Level to 12.
Under Special Enhancement, an ability had appeared for each of the three spells.
Transfiguration Spell E-.
Lumos E-.
Mending Charm E-.
He could spend enhancement points to improve them further, but advancing even one from E- to E would cost a full 50 points.
Regular practice could improve these spells over time, too. Spending precious enhancement points on them would be a waste, especially when he had so few left, so he invested no more.
After reaching level 12, Cedric stopped immersing himself in magical knowledge.
Xuanling had been watching him wide-eyed the whole time. Seeing how curious the bird was, Cedric decided to try something and took out his Wand.
This would be his first time casting a spell for real.
And the first spell he chose to try was the hardest to master: the Transfiguration Spell.
The reason was simple. He needed a pan to cook with.
Perhaps Basic Magic Mastery E- was at work, because the whole process went almost too smoothly. In the blink of an eye, the cauldron before him had become a frying pan.
Cedric reached out and flicked the bottom of the pan.
It rang out with a crisp note, and his smile widened. He couldn't have been more pleased.
Its shape wasn't the only thing that had changed.
The cauldron had originally been made of pewter. After the transformation, its material had become iron as well.
He couldn't tell whether casting had been so easy because the Unicorn Wand was special or because Universal Enhancement was so powerful.
The only problem was that he wasn't practiced enough with the Transfiguration Spell, and the pan he had made had no insulating handle.
But that was no trouble. He could use it just as well while wearing Dragonhide Gloves.
"A cutting board, a knife, fire, and ingredients. Everything's ready."
In high spirits, Cedric transformed the odds and ends beside him into the things he needed, then turned the little stove he had used to heat the cauldron into a source of fire.
Before long, he had put together a simple makeshift kitchen.
He turned toward the ingredients he actually intended to prepare today.
Biting Cabbage.
The three of them clearly had no idea what was about to happen. More precisely, they probably lacked the brains to think about it at all. They just fought against the ropes binding them, bouncing nonstop and snapping their jaws again and again.
There were three plants in the basin.
Each was about the size of an adult's fist. One would make a meal on its own.
Cedric did not shrink from the fierce-looking plants.
Compared with the wild dogs he had faced in the wilderness, Biting Cabbages were nothing. They had a few magical traits that might frighten ordinary people, and that was all.
In fact, they could barely move a few steps. Now that they were tightly bound with rope, handling them would be easy.
Cedric grabbed one with his bare hand and pulled it free of the rope with a little force.
The Eye of Insight activated on its own.
When used actively, it provided far more detail than when it triggered passively.
New information soon appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Biting Cabbage] [Hunting Level: 5; Special Abilities: None.] [Traits: Bitter, Semi-Plant, Magical Activity.]
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