Epic-tier rewards? And three of them in a row?! Even having lived two lives and seen some grand spectacles, Ciel still couldn't help but feel his mind go blank.
After planting trees for so many years in his previous life, he had truly been a top-tier workhorse. To push an ability to epic tier usually required calculations in units of years. And now, just by growing the Whomping Willow and waiting for it to mature, he would directly get three epic-tier rewards. The difference was simply unimaginable!
Moreover, besides the extremely high reward tiers, the several rewards the Whomping Willow provided were all extremely practical. Combat intuition, reaction speed, magical strength... all were rewards that could produce huge increases to Ciel's power.
And among the Whomping Willow's rewards, there was also an unknown ancient magic. This was the second time Ciel had seen rewards involving ancient magic, after the Elber Tree. Although he didn't know the specific effects, anything involving ancient magic definitely wouldn't be weak.
Ciel took a deep breath. The fervent look in his eyes couldn't be suppressed at all. As long as he could grow a Whomping Willow, he would take off directly! Comparable to Voldemort, Dumbledore... well, that was impossible. But throughout the wizarding world, he would definitely be among the extremely powerful wizards. At least beating a few elite Aurors or fighting core Death Eaters one-on-one should be no problem.
Ciel hadn't forgotten. There were still about four and a half years until Antonin Dolohov's escape. For this Death Eater whose hands were stained with Sprout family blood and who Professor Sprout hated intensely, Ciel must kill him!
However, Dolohov's strength also made countless wizards in the wizarding world tremble in fear. Among the original Order of the Phoenix members not mentioned much in the books, at least two or three had died at Dolohov's hands. And later, members of the reformed Order of the Phoenix had fought Dolohov several times in the original story. But the battle results were not good. In one-on-one situations, even Mad-Eye Moody was at a disadvantage against Dolohov.
After experiencing a bloody battle with poachers and Snape's combat training, Ciel now had a much deeper understanding of wizard strength than in his past life. Snape was very strong. Against most dark wizards, he could probably crush them effortlessly. In a life-or-death fight, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick would probably not be his opponents.
But when occasionally mentioning Dolohov to Ciel, Snape's expression was also rarely grave and wary. This showed that defeating or even killing Dolohov might be even more difficult than killing Snape!
And now, Ciel couldn't even handle Snape when he casually made moves. The gap was beyond description. But if he could successfully plant the Whomping Willow, Ciel would have a much better chance of killing Dolohov.
Of course, Ciel understood clearly. A topic that even a herbology master like Professor Sprout couldn't complete would be incredibly difficult. The difficulty might not be lower than killing Dolohov.
But after a moment, his mindset returned to calm. No frustration, anxiety, or despair.
"Any difficult topic can be broken down into several lower-difficulty sub-problems. It can be broken down level by level into secondary and tertiary problems. I don't need to succeed immediately, thinking I can tackle the Whomping Willow problem right away. That's unrealistic. The difficulty would be like proving major mathematical theorems all at once in my past life. The correct approach is to start with those sub-problems and gradually piece together methods to solve the final problem."
And this was exactly what Professor Sprout mentioned to Ciel in her letter. She had listed several topics he could attempt over the next year or two. Although they had been conquered by herbologists long ago, if Ciel could reproduce these topics, the process would greatly benefit his herbology skills.
Ciel's gaze wandered among these topics. "Light-Devouring Vine. Shadow Thorns. These are all aggressive vine-type magical plants with properties similar to Whomping Willow branches. Besides these two, there's also... Devil's Snare."
Ciel showed surprise. He hadn't expected that the Devil's Snare that appeared in the second chamber of the Philosopher's Stone trials in the original story was actually a sub-topic of Whomping Willow cultivation? No wonder Professor Sprout could easily produce such a large quantity. It seemed they were all byproducts of Whomping Willow research.
Ciel immersed himself in reading the introductory materials Professor Sprout had attached. He almost forgot the passage of time. Until the sky had gradually darkened and bright candles lit up in the library, Ciel was awakened by a call near his ear.
He suddenly looked up and saw Professor Sprout's gentle but somewhat helpless expression.
"Ciel, you child. Even on Christmas, you don't relax and spent the whole day soaking in the library?"
Ciel showed a slight smile. "Aunt, are you done with your work?"
Mentioning this, Professor Sprout seemed to remember something helpless and sighed while covering her forehead. "Yes. It was simply a mess. Our house was relatively good, but the Gryffindor young wizards played too late yesterday. The Hogwarts Express was delayed three times in a row. Professor McGonagall had to ask us to call people dormitory by dormitory. There were those with colds and fevers and those who suddenly didn't want to go home... Fortunately, we finally got everyone safely on the train."
After complaining for a while, Professor Sprout took a deep breath and looked at Ciel with a happy expression. "Now it's our turn to go home. Ciel, this will be your first Christmas back at the Sprout family."
Ciel also nodded. He gathered the things he would need for the next two weeks. Then, before the six o'clock chime rang, the flames burning in the Sprout family fireplace suddenly turned green. Immediately after, Professor Sprout walked out holding Ciel's hand.
It had been almost four months since leaving here. Coming back this time, Ciel almost didn't recognize it. Not because it was covered in dust and in complete disarray, but because after four months of absence, everything in the family home was surprisingly well-organized and spotless.
Moreover, the hall was already filled with lit candles, brightly illuminated. Wood burned vigorously in the fireplace, steaming with heat. The cold outside hadn't penetrated the house at all. Even the table was filled with dishes emitting steam and fragrance.
Seeing this scene, Ciel was surprised. Professor Sprout also showed a satisfied smile. She called out, "Liss."
The next moment, with a loud pop, a creature with a large head and big pointed ears, small and thin with long limbs and ragged clothes, appeared before Ciel. It respectfully bowed to Professor Sprout and Ciel.
"Greetings, Master. Greetings, Young Master."
Only then did Ciel understand. "A house-elf!"
Professor Sprout explained, "Actually, the Sprout family used to have house-elves. Later, because I didn't need them and you had just been born, I sent it to work at your little home. As a result..." Professor Sprout sighed. "So from that time on, I rarely returned to the Sprout family home. Occasionally coming back, a quick cleaning with cleaning charms was sufficient. I never hired house-elves again. But since you're back, Ciel, the family can't remain in disorder. A house-elf is necessary for managing daily life. So I hired Liss shortly after your school term began."
Ciel nodded upon hearing this. He felt somewhat emotional. In his past life, facing his advisor, wasn't he about the same as a house-elf? In this life, he actually lived a life served by house-elves? Too corrupt.
However, Ciel didn't feel any resistance. After all, corrupting to the level of his past life advisor required considerable talent.
Immediately after, Ciel and Professor Sprout sat at the table. Originally, Ciel didn't have the habit of eating dinner. Often when he ate, it was more out of habit. But this time, Ciel deliberately slowed his eating pace to accompany Professor Sprout in recalling some past events.
Professor Sprout drank butterbeer cup after cup. Ciel originally wanted to dissuade her. But then he thought, maybe if Professor Sprout got drunk, she might feel better inside. So after a while, Professor Sprout collapsed on the table, her consciousness hazy.
Ciel instructed Liss, "Take Aunt to rest. She's exhausted. Let her sleep well."
Liss nodded without hesitation. But before taking Professor Sprout away, it looked at Ciel. "Young Master, do you need anything else? When do you plan to sleep? Liss will heat bathwater and light incense for Young Master."
Ciel paused. "Uh... when to sleep? This, I'm not sure. How about... three days later?"
Liss subconsciously agreed. "Yes, three hours later... Hmm?" Suddenly realizing something was wrong, Liss stared blankly at Ciel. "Three days later?!"
Ciel nodded seriously. "Right, that's correct, three days later. After all, it's vacation, so let's relax a little."
Then Ciel turned and walked outside. "I'm going to work in the greenhouse. You focus on taking care of Aunt. Don't disturb me."
After Ciel left, Liss still stood there, unable to come to its senses for a long time. It suddenly had a question. Wait, why did Young Master seem more like a house-elf than itself?
Then Liss felt another jolt in its heart. Oh no. Young Master was so diligent and hardworking. Would it lose its job?!
And while the house-elf was questioning life, Ciel had already returned to the Sprout family greenhouse he hadn't seen in so long. Taking a deep breath, Ciel pushed open the door.
Then what came into view was a colorful sea of flowers. In the greenhouse, the Marguerites planted before school had already bloomed with flowers the color of sunshine. Colorful and magnificent, breathtakingly beautiful.
But Ciel's eyes were full of the dense reward orbs above the Marguerites, like an ocean.
"Half a year of waiting." Ciel let out a long breath, his eyes full of anticipation. "After harvesting this field of Marguerites, without needing Underwater Enhancement, my magical strength weakness can be completely remedied. Silver Tier? Gold Tier? Or is there a slight possibility... Platinum Tier?!"
[Chapter Complete]
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