"You... cheated!"
Unexpected.
The black-robed skeleton that appeared had a bewildered expression at first.
Then it screamed in a hoarse voice.
"Hmm?"
Ian raised his hand and looked at the contract on his wrist.
He noticed a few flaws.
"High magic resistance? You think you have high magic resistance?"
The little wizard's expression grew fierce.
...
Time flies as swiftly as a shuttle.
Days passed by.
Ian never gave up on studying the contract on his wrist, attempting to find a way to return to the Misty Illusion Realm earlier, but even though he used his Easter holidays for research, he still couldn't find this obscure knowledge, and time flew by a few months.
"You liar! The forty-nine days have long passed!" Ian learned to handle the black-robed skeleton in dreams, so now the black-robed skeleton was much more obedient than before.
"It's forty-nine times, the rise and fall of the blood moon."
The black-robed skeleton retreated timidly, correcting Ian in a grievance-tone.
"..."
Faced with the skeleton's words, Ian could only kick in speechless frustration. Yet, even as he delivered a flying kick, the agile skeleton managed to dodge, and he only hit its knee.
"Get down here!"
Ian looked up at the skeleton, hanging from the ceiling like Spider-Man, defying gravity. Angrily, he began throwing rotten eggs.
No matter how Ian threatened the black-robed skeleton, it genuinely seemed unaware of what forty-nine blood moon cycles represented as a time span.
"Glug glug glug~"
Pushing the skeleton into a big pot yielded no answers. Ian watched as the white skeleton was dyed chili-red before finally believing it genuinely didn't know.
This issue truly seemed insoluble.
Even Albus Dumbledore couldn't provide an answer despite Ian's plea for help.
"Perhaps what you need now is just patience."
Albus Dumbledore, found by Ian, also unknown from which timeline he hailed, smiled kindly and spoke slowly, which slightly eased Ian's mind.
"What you say is the same as what a teacher in the Misty Illusion Realm conveyed to me." The little wizard sighed, curious why Albus Dumbledore was so certain.
"Have you already experienced such a future?"
Ian's question was met with Albus Dumbledore's silent smile.
He understood.
It was Albus Dumbledore's way of avoiding temporal discrepancies—during these months, Ian encountered the headmaster more than once, but never figured out which period the Albus Dumbledore he met came from; he feared that if this continued, Albus Dumbledore might just become a spokesperson for time travel.
Facing Ian's grumbling.
"I am striving to embark on this path; my research indeed showed me such possibilities." Albus Dumbledore's response was somewhat terrifying in retrospect.
Before Ian could ponder deeply.
"Relax a bit; you also deserve some rest time. The final grand event at the end of the first semester, I suppose you wouldn't want to miss it." Albus Dumbledore advised the little wizard again.
Indeed.
Being tricked by the black-robed skeleton messed up the entire latter half of the semester. Now, exams were near, and it was almost time for little wizards to pack for home and enjoy their break.
"Ah, alright, thank you, Professor, I'll return to water my flowers." Ian watched as Albus Dumbledore disappeared quickly after rounding a corner.
He returned to the Room of Requirement.
Currently.
After days of interrogation of the black-robed skeleton, Ian unlocked a new method for cultivating flowers and grass: using a brew made from the skeleton cooled down for watering.
Of course.
No chili should be added.
It's purely craft-brewed bone soup, with unknown substances boiled out that accelerated plant growth and development. The biting cabbages he had grown outgrew even lions.
Powerful indeed.
Professor Pomona Sprout was chased all around the school, with only that Hufflepuff little witch gazing enthusiastically, trading seeds with Ian on a dark night.
The process and outcome remain unknown.
But the Hufflepuff little witch gave Ian five-star reviews wherever she went within the school. Honestly, Ian's concocting skeleton soup wasn't really for growing biting cabbages.
"Splash splash~"
It was for the seeds brought from the Mysterious Tower.
Currently.
Several months have passed.
Emerging green sprouts broke through the soil. Surrounded by shimmering starlight like celestial bodies, the mere sight of them seemed mysterious and powerful.
"Does this count as letting you try meat?"
Ian watered them with the skeleton's bathing water.
He watched as the white water slowly seeped into the soil.
His sudden whimsical thought remained as unexpected as ever.
"World Tree, World Tree, World Tree~"
Just a hint of green sprouts.
However, they possessed the wonder akin to babbling.
Imitating human speech through vibrations.
It repeated Ian's daily muttering while watering. Whether due to the watering being replaced with bone soup lately or not, Ian discovered bone-like patterns gradually spreading on the sprout's surface.
"This art style... let's hope it doesn't stray off the path."
The little wizard was genuinely concerned.
His surroundings already felt quite underworldly.