Chapter 135. Mutagen
Adrian Wesson led Luna into his plantation.
The afterglow of sunset spilled down. They stood on a broad stretch of grass, ringed by trees so tall they seemed to pierce the clouds.
On the grass stood a tall oak and three buildings that looked like greenhouses.
"This is…"
Luna widened her eyes and took in the view. At last, she turned to Adrian and asked, "Are we still at Hogwarts?"
Adrian shook his head.
"This is wonderful," Luna said, gazing at the three greenhouses. She asked airily, "What's inside them?"
"Greenhouse One is a storeroom; Two and Three hold some of the plants I'm growing," Adrian explained as he led Luna forward. "Come with me. We're going to Three."
When they reached the door marked "3," Adrian flicked his hand, and the door of Greenhouse Three swung open.
As it opened, Luna let out a soft sigh. She felt as though she had stepped into a fantastical world woven entirely from plants.
All kinds of plants sprawled through the vast space.
Dittany, Mandrakes, Devil's Snare, Venomous Tentacula, Bouncing Bulbs…
Magical plants mixed and clustered there, growing with vigorous life.
Even the ceiling and walls were draped in multicoloured vines.
"I like it here." Luna tapped a potted cactus by her foot that was swelling and shrinking in turns. The cactus seemed to sense her touch, suddenly puffed up a size, then quickly shrank back to normal.
"It's adorable," Luna said with a light laugh.
"Welcome to my plantation, Luna." Adrian smiled and spread his arms.
In that instant, every plant in the greenhouse seemed to hear a silent command and inclined, ever so slightly, toward Adrian, like subjects paying homage to their king.
Luna stared in amazement. In this moment, Adrian was the sovereign of this place.
Just then, her attention was caught by something invisible hanging in the air.
Her gaze traced an unseen path; her brows knit as if she were straining to make something out.
"Are you seeing the 'sprites' around me again?" Adrian noticed her change and asked curiously.
Luna gave a slight nod. Her radish earrings quivered as her eyes tracked that invisible trail above.
"Can you describe what they look like?" Adrian crouched beside her, curiosity in his voice.
"Like glowing dandelions," Luna murmured, pointing toward some plants ahead. "The green ones flew into these, the red ones burrowed into those vines, and the white ones…"
"There are colour differences?"
"Yes," Luna glanced at the space beside Adrian, "but when they come out of you, they're every colour."
Adrian nodded, thoughtful. Perhaps the different colours stood for different properties, and his ability affected plants through them.
He then brought Luna to the left-hand corner.
Here stood three short apple saplings, each only half Luna's height.
These were his experimental stock, bred to acquire the "Purification" trait.
He had used one phial of Growth Potion with the "Purification" property on each sapling.
However, perhaps due to poor innate talent, none of the saplings had yet managed to gain the "Purification" trait.
After the Growth Potion treatment, their progress had stalled at 17%, 66%, and 99%.
"Do you see anything on them, Luna?" Adrian asked, watching as Luna studied the three saplings.
Luna crouched, winding a lock of her silver hair around a finger, then reached out to lightly touch the sapling at 99%. "How odd, Professor Wesson—it's keeping your sprites outside."
"The other two…" Luna turned to the other saplings. "The sprites are squeezing out from inside them. Look, some have come out again."
Adrian, of course, could not see any of this.
But from Luna's words, he could tell the reason these saplings had failed to evolve was most likely that they had stopped absorbing the "sprites" produced by him.
In fact, the two lagging saplings even had sprites escaping from them.
He guessed that if he solved this problem, the saplings before him would complete their evolution.
After learning this crucial piece of information, Adrian continued showing Luna around the plantation.
Luna was fascinated by Adrian's plants. She flitted among them like a light butterfly. When the sky had gone fully dark, Adrian escorted her back to Hogwarts and gave her a crescent-moon amulet made from lightning-struck wood as payment.
The next day, Adrian thought constantly about how to help the three saplings acquire the "Purification" trait.
In the end, he decided to try the most direct method.
That was—force-feeding them with potion, and keeping it up.
Since those apple saplings would not actively absorb the sprites around Adrian—
He would have to shove the sprites into their bodies.
And the way to do that was by using Growth Potion.
At last, after several more phials of Growth Potion, the sapling stuck at 99% finally advanced as hoped.
[Species: Apple Tree]
[Level: 2]
[Trait: Purification]
Unfortunately, it was the only success; after a few phials each, the other two saplings exploded.
Yes—exploded. Fragments scattered everywhere.
Even so, Adrian now understood that not every plant could evolve successfully; excessive Growth Potion could cause irreparable damage to certain plants.
As for why, Adrian guessed it came down to individual differences—
That is, every plant's innate talent was different.
Devil's Snare, for instance, was one of the gifted ones; it could keep growing even without help from Growth Potion.
Ever since Luna told Adrian that "sprites" gathered around him, he had been researching those unseen specks.
He gave them a name: "Mutagen."
Those Mutagens were generated by Adrian's magic, with the highest concentration in his blood.
From this, he determined that the Mutagens were the key to his heteromorph ability—the cause of those mutations and evolutions in his plants.
In the days that followed, Adrian would sometimes invite Luna to his plantation to observe the Mutagens.
Luna was all too happy to oblige, and soon became a frequent visitor to Adrian's plantation.
Aside from that, Adrian's original apple tree with the "Purification" trait had already borne fruit.
Once they ripened, Adrian would be able to brew Purification Potion and then take action against Lord Voldemort's notebook.
All that remained now was to wait.
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