Cedric opened the skill tree and saw the change at once.
Previously only two nodes had sat there: Constitution Enhancement and Neural Reflex Enhancement.
Now a third light had appeared beside them.
Basic Magic Control
It was still dark.
A prompt stated the cost: five enhancement points.
He spent them without hesitation.
The node lit.
A new entry appeared under General Enhancements:
Basic Magic Control E-
At the same moment his Hunting Level surged from 1 to 11.
The change inside his body followed immediately.
Something like a current rolled through him—awkward at first, then suddenly familiar, as if the power had always belonged to him.
He raised a hand.
A small, invisible vortex of magic spun in his palm.
“Basic Magic Control…” he murmured.
“Not just more power.
Finer control.”
He stared at the vortex for several seconds before a wave of drowsiness hit.
The magic dissipated.
He pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head.
“That drained me faster than it should have.”
Something clicked.
He dug through the pile of new books and pulled out A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration.
He flipped a few pages.
The dense text sank into his mind like water into dry sponge.
Within minutes he had absorbed everything on those pages.
“Am I a genius now?”
He shook his head at the thought.
In this life he had never attended school properly.
His spoken English came from casual conversation in his previous life; reading and writing had always been weak.
“Is Basic Magic Control really that strong?
It lets an illiterate understand magic books?”
He set the question aside.
There was no point chasing it yet.
He moved on to the Standard Book of Spells and Magical Theory, reading steadily.
Hours passed.
When he finally lifted his head, excitement burned in his eyes.
He had taught himself several basic charms.
At the same time his written English had improved dramatically.
Functional illiteracy was no longer a problem.
The magical gains were solid as well.
He now understood the casting methods for Transfiguration, the Wand-Lighting Charm, and the Mending Charm.
His overall strength rose with them, pushing his Hunting Level to 12.
Under Special Enhancements the three spells appeared:
Transfiguration E-
Wand-Lighting Charm E-
Mending Charm E-
Each could be raised with enhancement points, but the jump from E- to E cost fifty points.
Practice would be cheaper.
He left them alone.
Noir watched from the side with bright, curious eyes.
Riding the wave of new power, Cedric drew his wand.
He chose the hardest spell first—Transfiguration—for a practical reason.
He needed proper cookware.
The casting felt almost effortless.
The pewter cauldron became a solid iron frying pan in one smooth motion.
He flicked the bottom with a finger.
The clear metallic ring satisfied him.
Not only the shape had changed; the material itself had transformed.
Whether the credit belonged more to the unicorn-horn wand or to Basic Magic Control, he could not say.
The result was what mattered.
The pan still lacked proper heat insulation—he was not skilled enough yet—but dragon-hide gloves would handle that later.
“Cutting board.
Kitchen knife.
Heat source.
Ingredients.”
He transformed the remaining odds and ends into what he needed, then used the small burner meant for potion work as his stove.
In minutes a temporary kitchen stood ready.
He turned to the main event: the Biting Cabbages.
Three of them sat in the basin, still struggling against the ropes, hopping and snapping with undiminished fury.
Each was the size of an adult’s fist—one was enough for a full meal.
They did not intimidate him.
Compared with the wild dogs he had faced in the woods, these things were almost tame.
Their only advantage was a thin layer of magical oddity that frightened ordinary people.
Bound as they were, they could barely move.
Cedric reached in bare-handed, pulled one free of the ropes, and activated Eye of Insight.
Active scanning produced far more detail than the passive version.
[Biting Cabbage]
Hunting Level: 5
Special Ability: None
Characteristics: Bitter · Semi-Plant · Magical Activity