Eternal life, the difficulty of reaching the end of this path is unimaginable for ordinary people.
One must know that even the sun, which has illuminated the earth for billions of years, will eventually extinguish, and even the universe will face heat death.
For a mere human to seek eternal life…
Roger wasn't unaware of his own limitations, but in his view, as long as there was a sliver of possibility, even if that possibility was infinitely close to zero, eternal life was worth dedicating his entire life to pursuing.
Now, he would begin his journey toward eternal life, starting with Transfiguration!
...How to extend one's own life using Transfiguration was studied by wizards in ancient times.
In that era, wizards were not yet divided into groups based on Muggle national borders as they are now, with each group coordinating major affairs through organizations like the Ministry of Magic or the International Confederation of Wizards.
At that time, wizards were "independent," with some allying with various Muggle powers to become "court mages" or "state mages," while others lived in seclusion in the mountains, establishing their own sects and hermitages. They were also quite unfriendly towards each other.
Wizards often passed down knowledge through master-apprentice lineages, with a strong emphasis on sectarianism. Ancient wizards did not have the privilege of learning whatever spells they wished, unlike today's Hogwarts students. The vast majority of magical knowledge was openly bought and sold.
Often, an apprentice could only learn what their master knew.
If the master was only proficient in Potions, then the apprentice would also be only proficient in Potions.
Private magical libraries? Those were only for top-tier wizards like Merlin!
Therefore, some people, even knowing that methods like Alchemy, bloodline modification, and Horcruxes were more effective for extending life, could only use the limited magic they knew to prolong their lives.
The book Professor McGonagall gave Roger, "Bloodline Magic and Transfiguration - Speculations for the Future Era," was the work of an ancient wizard who wanted to cultivate both bloodline modification and Transfiguration.
His method of extending life was simple: skin removal, bone extraction, organ replacement! For wrinkled skin, he used Transfiguration to make it taut.
For brittle bones, he made them more robust.
For aging organs, he replaced them with younger ones.
It was like the legendary Ship of Theseus, constantly replacing old parts of his body with new ones.
The old wizard spent many years overcoming numerous technical challenges, ultimately succeeding in transforming his physical body into an ageless form that perpetually preserved youth... or so it appeared.
However, his ageless body had three core flaws!
First, even if he had replaced almost all of his body's parts, like Adam Smasher in Cyberpunk 2077, he couldn't replace his brain!
He didn't know soul magic, and his thoughts and will couldn't attach to his soul to exist independently of his brain. Even if all other organs were new, his brain continued to age.
Second, once the body replacement was complete, his body would be composed of Transfiguration products. Magic, however, dissipates over time. So, if the Transfiguration on a certain part failed, the old wizard had to immediately "repair" himself.
The more complex the organ, the more difficult the repair. In an era when medicine had not yet entered modernity, solving rejection issues and ensuring that the various organs connected and functioned normally was no simple feat. During this time, the old wizard would become critically vulnerable.
The third flaw was somewhat related to the second.
As is well known, except for the Three Unforgivable Curses, almost all spells have counter-spells that nullify their magical effects.
There were even general counter-spells like "Immobulus" and "Finite Incantatem."
Therefore, if the old wizard were hit by a restoration curse or Finite Incantatem, he could instantly die!
This old wizard wanted to overcome these flaws, so after achieving mastery in Transfiguration, he switched to cultivating magical creature bloodline fusion. However, lacking relevant knowledge, he had to experiment with magical creatures himself, starting from scratch.
Ultimately, he couldn't outrun the escape from mortality and died from brain aging.
All that remained was this book, "Bloodline Magic and Transfiguration - Speculations for the Future Era," which recorded his ideas and his endless regrets before death.
Naturally, Roger wouldn't completely follow the old wizard's path, trading durability for a few hundred years of existence.
The records of those who came before are meant for those who come after to learn from, to stand on the shoulders of giants and reach higher.
What would be the point of historical records if later generations repeatedly made the same mistakes?
Roger's current path was inspired by this old wizard's ideas, but his techniques were innovative.
In ancient times, people knew too little about the workings of the world and the human body, so they could only resort to "fragmented Transfiguration" with its significant flaws.
Roger, educated by modern science and technology, understood cells, DNA, atoms, and molecules.
Therefore…
"Using my own cells as the base material for Transfiguration, even if attacked by a counter-spell and reverted, it would not cause any harm to myself."
If other materials were used, it could lead to a situation like a wooden block transformed into a cake; after the cake was eaten, it would revert to a wooden block, bursting the stomach and intestines.
If red blood cells transform into something else and then revert back to red blood cells, there would be no issue.
"Instead of replacing my old parts, I'll make them my 'manipulators'." Roger had watched some movies and played some games in his previous life.
Roger remembered a movie where the protagonist had nanobots inside him. These robots, smaller than cells, not only gave him strength but could also repair his injured body.
There was also a game called Prototype, which featured a zombie virus called "Blacklight" that had a similar effect.
"According to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, the integration of transformed objects cannot be separated during Transfiguration." This is why wizards couldn't conjure food with Transfiguration; human cells couldn't break down transformed food into nutrients.
"However, the effects of transformed objects do not disappear when the Transfiguration is undone." Just as if you conjured a knife and killed someone, the person wouldn't be resurrected just because the long knife reverted into a baguette.
Therefore.
The best use of Transfiguration in the pursuit of longevity is to perform micro-world Transfiguration, creating "manipulation arms" between the human will and body structure, similar to the Blacklight Virus, becoming the key to unlocking the human body's "World Edit Mode"!
My cells, my DNA, the atoms and molecules that make up my body – their arrangement will be determined by my will! And because there is no magical interference during the transformation process, only the 'transformation tool' is a magical creation, no counter-spell can reverse it.
Once Roger's magic is perfected, he will be able to absorb the strengths of all living beings in this world. No, he won't even need to learn from other creatures; he can even design brain and body structures that are permitted by world rules but impossible under natural conditions! He will break free from the constraints of carbon-based life and become a true Ultimate Being! Of course, Roger is still a very long way from this goal, and even a true Ultimate Being would be far from shouldering the heavy burden of the word "eternal life."
Eternal life is not an achievement that can be accomplished solely through Transfiguration.
"Sigh..." As soon as he began his magical experiments, Roger quickly encountered his first problem.
"I wish I had been a scientist in my past life."
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