The thought of attempting the Guardian Tree again surfaced in Ciel's mind, and he felt quite moved by the idea.
After all, the Guardian Tree was considered a necessary milestone for herbologists. Moreover, it could provide Defense Against the Dark Arts insights and dark magic resistance—abilities that were extrely practical. Even the Guardian Tree itself was a rather precious herb that possessed the power to resist dark magic.
The earlier Ciel could cultivate it, the greater its usefulness would be for him.
However, Ciel wasn't in a rush to act. His Magical Perception Enhancent, which had only recently advanced to Silver Tier, would probably still find completing Guardian Tree seed processing quite challenging.
Underwater Enhancent's boost to magical perception was the deciding factor in this process. But Ciel couldn't very well operate underwater the entire ti, could he? During processing, Guardian Tree seeds also couldn't co into contact with any liquids other than specific potion components. Otherwise, the possibility of successful cultivation would be minimal.
Ciel remained subrged below the water surface, his thoughts seeming even swifter than usual.
"Being fully below the water surface is a sufficient condition for Underwater Enhancent to take effect. But this isn't necessarily a necessary condition. Perhaps I can find a thod that doesn't interfere with processing Guardian Tree seeds while still allowing Underwater Enhancent to take effect."
Then Ciel began experinting with the conditions for Underwater Enhancent to activate. He first slowly extended one hand above the water surface. Underwater Enhancent was still in effect.
Ciel's eyes flashed with realization. "This shows that the necessary condition isn't having the entire body below the water surface."
Then he slowly extended his other hand above the water surface, then both legs. At this point, Ciel maintained an almost reclining position in the water. Nearly half of his body parts were exposed above the water surface, but Underwater Enhancent was still taking effect.
Ciel's thoughts kept turning. "Earlier, when I gradually sank into the water bit by bit, Underwater Enhancent never took effect. It wasn't until my head also subrged that this ability activated. And now, so many parts of my body have left the water surface, but my head remains soaked in water. Underwater Enhancent continues to maintain..."
A flash of insight struck his mind. Ciel grasped the key.
After another round of experints, he finally determined the effective range of the Underwater Enhancent ability.
"This ability determines whether I'm in water based on my head. As long as the head has contact with water—even without complete subrsion—I can gain the enhancent effect of Underwater Enhancent."
This made his eyes light up with possibility. If so, then using this ability to help cultivate the Guardian Tree seed much simpler.
"For example... I could do this."
Ciel found a transparent water tank filled with water and placed it over his head like a helt. This way, the Underwater Enhancent effect could be maintained continuously. Although it looked sowhat ridiculous, Ciel didn't care about such things. Functionality was what mattered.
Besides, this was just a relatively simple application for now. Ciel was even thinking that when he learned ntal magic like Occluncy or Legilincy in the future, he could try to see if he could use hypnosis or certain spells for self-deception. When needed, he could directly deceive his senses into believing his head was subrged in water. This might also "trick" the Underwater Enhancent effect into activating.
If this really worked, the applications for the Underwater Enhancent ability would be far broader!
After fantasizing for a mont, the thoughts in Ciel's mind gradually converged. These were all future considerations. What he needed to do now was conduct the third Guardian Tree seed processing procedure.
Ciel's mood slowly cald, his attention entering a state of high concentration. He took out a new set of Guardian Tree materials.
With the experience of two previous failures, Ciel was even more skilled this ti. His wand lightly tapped, accompanied by cheerful, smooth magic flowing into the Guardian Tree seed. Ciel imdiately felt sothing he hadn't experienced in the previous two attempts.
He could sense that within the Guardian Tree seed, a weak but rather sacred magic was being activated. The entire seed began awakening from slumber. If Ciel had been completely blind to this process before, then now, although still sowhat unclear, he could already observe the general outline.
When the sacred magic in the Guardian Tree seed gradually reached its peak, Ciel imdiately placed it into the potion. At this mont, he vaguely sensed that the Guardian Tree seed seed to have a heartbeat. Magic was pulsating. Even the entire seed had a feeling of breathing.
After sensing this, Ciel suddenly understood why this step required lightly tapping the test tube with the wand, why a spell needed to be cast. This was actually to help the Guardian Tree seed absorb nutrients from the potion, to help it "revive its heartbeat" and "breathe."
Naturally, this had to follow the frequency of the Guardian Tree seed's own magical "heartbeat" and "breathing." Only then could it achieve twice the result with half the effort.
After sensing this, Ciel imdiately felt enlightened about this step. His spirit was highly concentrated. It was as if he could hear the sound of the Guardian Tree seed's magical pulsations.
Thump.
Thump.
Then, during another magical pulsation, Ciel lightly tapped the test tube for the first ti with his wand. Magic flowed in accordingly, vibrating the potion and resonating with the Guardian Tree seed's own magical pulsations. The sacred magic within imdiately rose dramatically. The Guardian Tree seed also conveyed a feeling of joy and comfort.
However, at this point, the potion's magic, the Guardian Tree seed's magic, and Ciel's magic intertwined together. The complexity increased dramatically. Ciel was like facing a tangled ss.
In the second cultivation attempt, this was where he had to start relying on luck. But this ti, Ciel's eyes burned with intensity as he carefully sensed the trajectory of the magic. Although sowhat complex, he could already sort it out clearly!
Thump.
When the Guardian Tree seed's magic pulsated again, Ciel's wand struck down once more. A surge of magical turbulence. Under his tense observation, the sacred magic in the Guardian Tree seed beca chaotic for a mont. But after a brief period, it stabilized and continued to increase.
Ciel took a deep breath. Only one final strike and spellcasting remained!
This ti, he wore the transparent water tank on his head. Bubbles began rising before his eyes, but Ciel's senses were unprecedentedly sharp. Underwater Enhancent was in effect. Magical perception was further enhanced.
On Ciel's system panel, the Magical Perception Enhancent text showed silver luster more brilliant than ever before. However, compared to the increasingly noisy magical interference, completely controlling the Guardian Tree seed's condition still wasn't easy.
Ciel estimated that probably Gold-Tier Magical Perception Enhancent would be needed to handle this third strike with ease. But now, he had a forty percent chance of success. That was enough!
With his mind set, Ciel steadily struck the third blow with his wand. Simultaneously, his wand traced concentric circles as he recited the final spell underwater.
"Protego—Arboris!"
The next mont, the sacred magic in the Guardian Tree seed began continuously declining. The potion's color also changed from its previous clear green to clear and transparent.
Ciel's heart sank slightly. Had it failed?
But the next second, Ciel saw fine white new roots extending from below the Guardian Tree seed. A line of notification also appeared on the system panel.
[Successfully completed Guardian Tree seed processing]
Then a reward orb appeared above the Guardian Tree seed, glowing with the promise of the magical abilities to co.
(End of Chapter)
***
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