A shame that the creatures transformed by the Shapeshifting Flesh Puppet ultimately possessed no true intelligence, let alone the ability to replicate the original person's memories and knowledge.
If only the flesh puppet could function like a true clone, possessing independent thought and the ability to learn.
If there were magic capable of creating clones, allowing the original and the clone to study different subjects and explore different fields of magic at the same time, wouldn't his learning efficiency instantly double? Perhaps even increase severalfold?
As for those melodramatic scenarios that often appeared, such as a clone trying to replace the original or betraying its creator, Lucien did not particularly care.
Whoever possessed more knowledge was the original.
Although he was still very young, and his lifespan would become even longer once the Apple of Youth matured in the future, Lucien still frequently felt a sense of urgency.
The mysteries of magic were as vast as the ocean.
The deeper he ventured, the more clearly he understood that.
There was simply too much to learn.
For the past six months or so, Lucien's attention had been focused primarily on Alchemy.
First, he had obtained extraordinary talent in Alchemy through the Emerald Tablet fragment and later became a disciple of Nicolas Flamel. It would have been a complete waste not to devote himself to the field.
Second, in order to repay the loan for the Emerald Tablet fragment, he had continuously researched and created alchemical items based on the needs of wizards.
Throughout this process, theoretical study and practical experimentation complemented one another, allowing him to progress rapidly.
But at present, Lucien possessed only a fragment.
He had no idea when he might get the opportunity to complete the Emerald Tablet and raise his SS+ Alchemy talent to SSS-grade.
Because Lucien already possessed SSS-grade talent in Transfiguration, he understood better than anyone just how enormous the seemingly single-step gap between SS+ and SSS truly was.
It was no longer something that could be described with words like "progress" or "breakthrough."
It was like the difference between a frog at the bottom of a well gazing at the moon and a mayfly looking upon the vast blue sky.
Creating clones was one possible way to improve learning efficiency, but increasing one's magical talent was undoubtedly far more direct and overwhelming.
Lucien could master Transfiguration within a year and even pioneer entirely new heights, but he could never do the same with Alchemy, at least not with his current SS+ talent.
The deeper he studied magic, the more he felt that the long list of seemingly ridiculous and abstract loan tasks he had received when he first triggered Loki's mask had actually been quite "reasonable."
Compared with the value of SSS-grade magical talent, every one of those tasks had been reasonable.
However, that had been a newcomer benefit granted when he first entered the magical world.
Whether obtaining SSS-grade magical talent would be so easy again in the future was impossible to say.
For Loki's Mask, the system had already waived most of the "loan interest."
And the system's annual loans had always been the most unpredictable of all.
After finishing his exploratory experiments on Circuit Transformation, Lucien found a quiet corner of the magical practice room for the Shapeshifting Flesh Puppet, carefully organised and archived the data he had recorded that day, then left the Suitcase World.
The moment he stepped out of the case, he threw himself straight onto the soft bed in his temporary dormitory.
His entire body sank into the bedding, and his tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
He had spent a long time in the practice room, repeatedly adjusting those precise magical nodes, and even the improved Eye of Peering Magic was beginning to struggle under the strain.
Fortunately, the results had not been insignificant. Although he had failed many times, he had at least confirmed that the path was viable. It simply needed more time and refinement.
Tomorrow would be the award ceremony for the exchange competition.
Thinking of this, Lucien rolled over and stared at the ceiling.
He did not want to think about anything else tonight. He only wanted to get a good night's rest. After receiving the award tomorrow, he would set off for Hogwarts the following day.
However, before falling asleep, his thoughts habitually began to wander.
Lucien mentally took stock of his current "debts."
At present, he only had two annual loans.
The loan for the Emerald Tablet fragment was nearing completion. Once Instant Speech was officially released on a large scale and the latency issues affecting cross-border communication were optimised, there should be no problem repaying it before the deadline.
The demonstration at Beauxbatons had produced excellent results, and several Alchemy Masters had shown great interest in Instant Speech. After returning, he could take advantage of the momentum and try to promote cooperation with the Ministries of Magic of various countries.
The other was the newly acquired annual loan for the Apple of Youth seed.
That one was more troublesome.
Cultivating the seed itself required an enormous amount of magic and various rare materials, which was already enough to give Lucien a headache.
And the repayment task required him to cure three different bloodline curses.
That meant he would inevitably have to delve deeply into the Dark Arts in the future.
Not merely gain a superficial understanding or make brief contact with them, but genuinely study and research them.
At the very least, he would need to devote a considerable amount of time and effort to the field of curses.
But... who could teach him the Dark Arts?
Hogwarts did not teach them, though he had heard that Durmstrang, one of Europe's three great wizarding schools, taught its students the Dark Arts...
Lucien adjusted his pillow and continued staring at the ceiling.
For a start, he could try using the System to see whether he could trigger any loans related to knowledge of the Dark Arts.
However, curing deeply rooted bloodline curses would probably require knowledge or items at least on the level of monthly or annual loans.
Tasks at that level were often extremely abstract and not so easy to trigger.
Besides, relying on the System alone would not be enough.
He still needed to find a teacher.
Someone knowledgeable about the Dark Arts, or at the very least someone highly skilled in curses.
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