Wade had spent half the night flipping through books—and sure enough, he actually found a potion related to the breeding of magical creatures.
According to the book, this potion could enhance a magical creature's intelligence and even make it physically stronger…
After reviewing the ingredients in the recipe, Wade suspected that this was likely a formula from the future.
The components were all very common in the present day, but the preparation process was unusually complicated.
Wade guessed that in the future, many potion ingredients might have become extinct, forcing potion masters of that era to use whatever was available and refine them through various processes to replicate the effects of once-existent magical materials.
Still, this came with a benefit.
At least for Wade in this era, the cost of producing such a potion was far lower than it would be in the future.
This time, Wade didn't even need to trouble Toby with another trip to Knockturn Alley. Using only the ingredients he had on hand, he managed to brew this special nutrient solution for magical creatures all by himself.
As soon as the potion was ready, Wade excitedly dashed downstairs to the living room, where Tom the cat was curled up in front of the fireplace, fast asleep.
Tom lazily lifted his head, glanced at Wade, then eyed the potion bottle in his hand.
"Nomeeow~" Tom let out a reluctant cry.
He was a cat, not a toad—he couldn't be used for potion testing!
But the moment Wade opened the potion bottle, Tom's eyes widened, and he immediately leaned in.
Tom leaned in close to Wade, gently licking the back of his hand, then stared longingly at the potion bottle in his hand.
Wade lifted the bottle and gave it a sniff. There wasn't any particularly strong scent.
"Does it really smell that good?" he muttered, then turned a stray cat hair on the floor into a dish and set it in front of Tom.
He poured just a small amount into the dish and pushed it toward the cat.
Tom gave his stingy owner a resigned look, then crouched down in front of the dish and licked the potion clean in just a few seconds.
"!! Meow~"
"You want more? But… I'm not sure how much is safe…"
"Meow!"
"Alright, alright! It's all yours…" Wade poured out half the bottle this time.
Tom happily settled next to the dish and began drinking the potion with great enthusiasm.
Lick~ Lick~ Lick~ Lick~ Lick~
It looked like this stuff tasted even better than the dried fish Toby specially prepared for him…
After finishing off half the bottle, Tom still seemed unsatisfied and licked the dish a few more times.
Seeing this, Wade simply poured the rest of the potion into the dish.
"If you can't finish it, just leave it…"
Though he said that, Tom still licked the dish completely clean.
After drinking his fill, Tom rubbed his head against the back of Wade's hand, then sauntered back to his favorite spot in front of the fireplace and curled up again.
By the time Wade leaned in to check on him, Tom was already snoring.
"Damn that was something else …Looks like this potion makes magical creatures drowsy. But who knows how effective it really is."
Although the book provided by the system didn't mention any side effects, Wade still watched the sleeping Tom with a bit of concern.
Partly out of worry for Tom, and partly out of curiosity about the potion's effects, Wade didn't return to his room. Instead, he lay down on the living room sofa, reading a book while waiting for Tom to wake up.
Finally, at midnight, Tom the cat stirred from his sleep.
Wade immediately put down the book and moved closer to examine the cat carefully.
But he didn't seem to find anything unusual.
Wade rubbed his chin, pondering. It seemed this potion really didn't have any side effects… As for the drowsiness, well, a lot of healing potions had that—nothing unusual.
As for the effects, maybe it was just too early for them to show.
Just as he was thinking that, he saw Tom the cat smile at him and then raise a paw to point at his mouth.
Wade stared, wide-eyed and full of question marks, at the cat.
Seeing Wade completely unresponsive, Tom looked a bit disappointed. So… he walked over to the cupboard where the dried fish was stored, opened it, and took out a can of dried fish…
"Eh..? Maybe I'm still not fully awake…"
Wade rubbed his eyes hard and looked again at Tom.
He saw Tom standing in front of the cupboard, twisting open the lid of the can, picking out the largest piece of dried fish, tossing it into his mouth, and munching away with an utterly blissful expression on his face…
"Yeah.. A cat doing all this, perfectly normal—What the Fuc—!?"
Realizing this was actually happening, Wade couldn't help blurting out.
This was insane!
What kind of cat walked upright like a person—and even helped itself to food like one?
Yes, upright like a human, and even "took" the food like a human!
And it even smiled like a human!
Tom the cat was startled by Wade's outburst, nearly dropping the can of dried fish in his paws.
He turned to see Wade's unsettled expression and seemed to think his owner was scolding him for stealing food.
Immediately, he gave an embarrassed grin, put the can back where he found it, then clasped his "hands" behind his back and casually used his foot to nudge the cabinet door shut…
Tom the cat: fu fu fu~
"It's over… he's really turned into Tom Cat from Tom and Jerry…"
…
Because of Tom's unusual transformation, Wade stayed up all night brewing another batch of the potion.
He had to test it again—was this potion effective on all magical creatures?
If it really worked universally, then it far outclassed that previous nutrient solution!
At that point, building a magical creature army wouldn't even be out of the question.
To that end, he even made a quick Apparition trip to the Forbidden Forest and caught another kneazle, then fed it the potion…
Back in his room, Wade quietly observed the kneazle.
Meanwhile, Tom sat sulking in his bed, puffed up and glaring at Wade.
Because last night, his owner had actually brought home another cat!
And he'd even fed that other cat the delicious sweet water!
Hmph! So unfair!
Only after Wade explained that it was all for an experiment did Tom reluctantly hold off on staging a rebellion.
But that just shocked Wade even more—because now, Tom seemed to fully understand everything he said, no matter how complex the sentence.
By early the next morning, the extra kneazle he'd brought back finally woke up.
Under Wade's expectant gaze, the kneazle simply looked around warily… then hissed at him.
It clearly remembered that this awful human was the one who had captured it.
Wade spent quite a bit of effort—and even had to call Tom Cat over to help—only to helplessly conclude that although the kneazle did seem a bit sharper, it hadn't undergone any drastic changes like Tom had.
In other words… some unknown factor had caused Tom's transformation?
Could it really have been just a one-time, unrepeatable accident?
After that, Wade locked himself in his room and ran several more tests.
_____________
Read two weeks ahead:
P^treon: Captain69