Chapter 14 - Fusion of Magical Animal Bloodlines

"F**k!" Falcone cursed as the Young Wizard was inexplicably dragged into the river by a rope. If that boy had been an ordinary person, it wouldn't have mattered if he escaped, but he was a damn Wizard! He strode to the riverbank, firing into the water and angrily shouting, "What are you standing around for? Shoot!"Meanwhile, Rune in the river used his last ounce of strength to dial the phone with only one number."Be careful… Court of Owls…"A bullet pierced the water, hitting him in the chest. Then, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness, the phone swept away by the river.When he woke up again, Rune saw the familiar ceiling. The black and green tones that he usually detested now seemed so beautiful, and even the strange creatures swimming outside the glass looked adorable. Even though he encountered n metal, which countered him, and even though his opponents had laid out elaborate plans, he still survived.Perhaps the Court of Owls was the organization that Batman used to maintain Gotham's basic stability. They must have been hunting Wizards and other supernatural powers that stayed in Gotham for extended periods; otherwise, Gotham, as a gathering place for Dark magic, would have long been occupied by those Dark Wizards.One must know that even the swamps here could create a Solomon Grundy.Following this line of thought, the Demon that day was released by the Owls, or even guided to his doorstep, as a tool to test his strength. It's estimated that the forces behind that Demon, at least those in Gotham, have already been eradicated.Zatanna must have been spared by the Court of Owls because of her good relationship with Bruce and because she doesn't stay in Gotham for long. But what about him?Rune narrowed his eyes. He had lived in Gotham for a long time, which might have put him on the Court of Owls' radar…This guess was very reasonable. Falcone himself had hinted that he was a tool pushed to the forefront by the Court of Owls to maintain stability, which also explains the chaos in Gotham City after the Owls were eradicated in the comics.After all, the Court of Owls needed a Gotham that maintained dark order, and Barbatos also needed a Batman as a springboard to the bright multiverse.Just you wait, Falcone, just you wait, Court of Owls… Rune clenched his fists, and Barbatos too… You will know the price of offending me!Temporarily suppressing the hatred in his heart, Rune calmly completed his day's lessons, but the Slytherin students around him were silent with fear. They could sense Rune's oppressive aura; his eyes were so fierce they looked like he wanted to kill someone, and no one dared to provoke him. In fact, Slytherin first to third-year students were already secretly calling Rune the "Dark Lord." The story of him hanging a Prefect with a few runes and not even getting confined for many days had spread widely.In the evening, Rune studied very late. His roommates had long fallen asleep, but Rune had no intention of sleeping. The daily lessons were mostly useless to him; his strength had hit a bottleneck, and ordinary magic could no longer satisfy Rune's need to grow stronger quickly. Therefore, he set his sights on the Restricted Section.He pulled out the Marauder's Map he had borrowed from the Weasley brothers and easily snuck into the Restricted Section.According to the teachers' warnings, the books in the Restricted Section were very dangerous. Some, like Lord Voldemort's diary, possessed independent consciousness, while others were imbued with Dark Arts or even curses. This wasn't because the writers intended to harm people, but because the text could no longer contain the weight of the corresponding magic knowledge, so the books began to absorb magic, eventually becoming dangerous and placed in the Restricted Section."The Monster Book of Monsters" is a similar example, but the magic knowledge it contained was not dangerous, so it was not on the list of forbidden books.However, Rune was prepared. He picked up his wand, cast a silencing charm on himself, and began searching for books he liked. Transfiguration, rune-related topics were fine, but Dark Arts were out of the question due to their extreme danger.Rune scanned the bookshelves. Even though he was mentally prepared, the books in the Restricted Section still opened his eyes. He even saw a book coughing, its rapid gasps accompanied by strange noises, as if it had asthma.Soon, Rune found the three books he needed most: "On the Influence of Wizard Will on Transfiguration," "Ancient runes," and "Mysteries of the Human Body—Flesh Transformation Art."The latter had the most peculiar appearance; its pages resembled real human skin, with tiny veins in addition to pores.Opening the Marauder's Map, he avoided Filch and his cat on patrol and returned to his dormitory. He eagerly opened the most magical book, but a piece of paper fell out of it.Rune curiously looked at the fallen paper, which described a ritual magic: Magical Creature Bloodline Fusion. This name immediately captivated him. Ritual magic typically had long preparation times, complex requirements, and excellent effects.It is rumored that the magic used by the first Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald, to burn Paris was a ritual magic, and Lord Voldemort's resurrection was also a type of ritual magic.Just as Rune was about to carefully examine the magic described on the paper, the system, which usually had almost no presence, suddenly popped up.Magical Creature Bloodline Fusion: This magic was created by Salazar Slytherin, allowing you to fuse the bloodline of a corresponding magical creature after a standard ritual. Upon completion of the fusion, you will gain a weakened ability of that magical creature, and corresponding weaknesses will be removed.Warning: Some magical creature bloodlines will affect the caster's appearance. Please choose carefully.Warning: Abilities such as divinity and Speed Force are not inherited through bloodline.Looking at these two lines of bright red warnings, Rune narrowed his eyes. Falcone, Court of Owls, your "good luck" is about to arrive…Smallville, Kansas.Today was the day the circus came to perform, and Clark Kent happily held his mother's hand. He had begged his father for a long time before his father finally gave him fifteen dollars. He could buy some fun things and good food in town, and still have five dollars left to watch a wonderful circus performance.But his father didn't want to come; he said he still had farm work to do.Clark Kent suppressed the guilt of leaving his father behind and focused on playing with his mother. He even played target practice twice, and although he used a toy gun and only managed to shoot down one tomato, he was still very excited.He didn't use his superpowers; he got that tomato with his own skill!After watching the circus performance with his mother, Clark went to the river. He took out the tomato he had shot down earlier and handed it to his mother."Here, Mom!""Thank you, my son has finally grown up." Martha smiled as she took his tomato and took a bite. A sense of accomplishment welled up in Clark's heart."Mom, I promise I'll get you a big house someday, and you'll eat meat every day!" he said with a smile."Mm-hmm…" Martha nodded. "I believe you."At that moment, something floated down from upstream. Clark looked at it but didn't pay much attention, muttering, "It's always like this when the circus comes, but this time it's even worse, this trash is just too…"Before he could finish, Clark's eyes widened: "Oh my goodness, that… that's not trash, that's a person!"