'Malnourished'
Adrian couldn't help but wonder. What could be causing this? He had never encountered such an unusual situation before.
Adrian frowned, carefully examining the Chomping Cabbage before him, his fingers gently brushing against its leaves. Although the leaves were drooping slightly, they showed no symptoms of yellowing or rotting. Adrian pinched a bit of soil between his fingertips, rubbing it lightly, and found it to be very loose and somewhat grayish. This was clearly abnormal.
Harry, seeing that Adrian had been silent for quite some time, couldn't help but ask, "Professor, is it sick?"
Adrian shook his head. "Don't worry, Harry. The Chomping Cabbage is perfectly healthy; it just might need a bit of nutrition."
Since the Chomping Cabbage's condition was due to malnutrition, providing it with ample nutrients should solve the problem. Adrian stood up and walked toward the storage room, while Harry carefully watched over the Chomping Cabbage.
When Adrian emerged from the storage room, he was carrying a black bag. As Harry approached, a strong, strange odor wafted from the bag, causing him to cover his nose tightly.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Fertilizer."
It was a special fertilizer, dragon dung compost. As the name said, the main ingredient was dragon excrement.
It was Professor Sprout's secret formula. Adrian had also mixed in some of his own blood. This bag of fertilizer had been sitting in Adrian's warehouse for a long time, never finding a use.
Fresh dragon compost was highly beneficial for plants, but this particular bag's scent had become rather intense, probably due to its age.
Adrian gently waved his wand, and a broom from the corner floated slowly toward Harry. The handle shortened, and the broom head transformed into a small shovel.
"Come on, Harry, you apply the fertilizer," Adrian said, placing the bag in front of Harry.
Harry hesitantly looked at the fertilizer bag, then glanced at his Chomping Cabbage, and finally bit his lip, reaching out to take the shovel.
"You just need to dig open a bit of soil, not too deep," Adrian reminded him. "Then sprinkle some fertilizer and cover it back up with soil."
Harry nodded and carefully dug a small hole near the roots of the Chomping Cabbage as Adrian had instructed. However, just as he opened the fertilizer bag to apply it, an even stronger stench emanated from the bag, forcing Harry to step back.
"Good heavens..." he couldn't help but frown.
Seeing Harry's reaction, Adrian also stepped back a few paces. He had to admit that Professor Sprout's formula was problematic; perhaps he should suggest adding some fragrance to the fertilizer in the future?
Seeing that Adrian had retreated quite far, Harry pouted. "Professor, why not use the Bubble-Head Charm?" he asked.
Adrian blinked, his expression showing sudden realization. "You're right, Harry."
With a wave of his wand, transparent bubbles instantly covered both Adrian's and Harry's heads. Though it couldn't completely block the strange smell, it made it at least bearable.
Enduring the odor, Harry picked up the shovel again, scooped up a small amount of dragon dung compost, sprinkled it into the hole he had dug, and then covered it with soil.
A moment later, the Chomping Cabbage seemed to sense the arrival of the fertilizer. No longer dormant, it gently swayed its leaves.
"It's working, Professor!" Harry turned to Adrian with delight.
Adrian nodded; the Chomping Cabbage indeed seemed to be lacking nutrients. However, the strange part was, why did the Chomping Cabbage need so much nutrition?
After approaching, Adrian uncovered the dragon dung compost they had just buried and found that the fertilizer had turned gray and dull, just like the previous soil. It had clearly been drained of nutrients.
"Continue, Harry," Adrian said after pondering for a moment. "Repeat the previous operation and give the Chomping Cabbage more fertilizer."
"Yes, sir."
Harry dug out another small patch of soil and sprinkled more dragon dung compost. This time, the Chomping Cabbage's reaction was even more pronounced; its leaves swayed more vigorously. Almost instantly, the luster of the dragon dung compost faded, becoming withered and dull as all its nutrients were immediately absorbed.
Harry's eyes widened, and he asked puzzledly, "It's not... starving, is it?"
Just as he was about to act again, the Chomping Cabbage suddenly opened its mouth wide, revealing sharp teeth. However, apart from opening its mouth, the Chomping Cabbage made no other movement.
While Adrian was still puzzled, Harry's eyes lit up. Of course, the Chomping Cabbage had a mouth! Harry remembered how it had directly drunk an entire pot of potion before.
Harry had a bold idea. He used the shovel to scoop up a small amount of dragon dung compost, hesitated for a second, and then quickly stuffed it into the Chomping Cabbage's mouth.
The Chomping Cabbage immediately closed its mouth, moving it around while making "guchi-guchi" sounds. A moment later, the Chomping Cabbage abruptly opened its mouth and spat out a shriveled, grayish-black residue, which landed right on Harry's shoe.
"Ugh..." Harry looked down at the almost ashen fertilizer residue and stepped back in disgust.
As Harry continued to feed it, the Chomping Cabbage seemed like a bottomless pit, absorbing the nutrients from the fertilizer.
The dragon dung compost was extremely rich in nutrients; a small amount would sustain an ordinary plant for a long time. But this Chomping Cabbage was different, frantically absorbing all nutrients and quickly consuming them. It wasn't clear where all those nutrients were going.
Finally, a threshold was reached. After consuming nearly three bags of dragon dung compost, it finally showed some change.
The Chomping Cabbage woke up, raised itself slightly, and then... Burped.
"..."
Adrian and Harry exchanged glances.
"Eldra." Adrian called in his mind.
[Type: Chomping Cabbage]
[Level: 2]
[Characteristic: Gigantification]
[Status: Growing (0%)]
Adrian observed once more and found that the Chomping Cabbage had acquired a "Gigantification" characteristic and had reached "Level 2."
"Gigantification?" Adrian muttered.
He couldn't see any part of the Chomping Cabbage that had grown larger, let alone gigantified.
"Harry, that's enough now," Adrian answered confidently. "The Chomping Cabbage must have undergone some change."
Harry picked up the now-awakened Chomping Cabbage from the pot and weighed it in his hands. 'Hmm, still the familiar weight, the familiar feel, no change at all.'
"Have you changed at all?" Harry raised the Chomping Cabbage to eye level and asked puzzledly. "Can you show us?"
The Chomping Cabbage seemed to understand Harry's words and nodded in a human-like manner, jumping from his hands onto the floor.
Then, it closed its mouth, and a black light emanated from its body.
'No, wait!'
Adrian suddenly sensed an enormous amount of magical power from the Chomping Cabbage.