Chapter 141: Birth of the Basilisk

The first recorded basilisk in the wizarding world was bred by "Herpo the Foul," a Greek dark wizard who could speak Parseltongue. After many experiments, he discovered that placing a rooster's egg under a toad's body to incubate would hatch a great serpent with extraordinary abilities: a basilisk. The basilisk breeding method that Kael had obtained through check-in at Goblin-town came from the dark wizard Herpo. One could only wonder what kind of mental process Herpo went through to think of making a rooster lay an egg and then finding a toad to incubate it. Kael, returning to Weathertop, specifically went down the mountain to the Midgewater Marshes to find a large, fat toad. Then he used magic to fix it onto the rooster's egg and placed it in a sealed room space for slow incubation. If nothing went wrong, the basilisk would break out of its shell after seven days. After completing everything, Kael returned to the meditation room. He threw mallorn leaves into the Gubraithian Fire, and when the room was filled with swirling mists, he breathed in the sunshine-scented fragrance, leaned back against the comfortable sofa, softly hummed magical music, and fell into meditative cultivation. The music was intermittent but contained mysterious magical power, continuously echoing in the room. The Gubraithian Fire in the fireplace seemed affected by it, dancing joyfully. Time in meditation always passed quickly. When he came back to consciousness from the state of no-thought, daylight was already bright outside the tower. Kael opened his eyes, a gleam flashing through them. Having not slept all night, he was full of energy without a trace of fatigue. After meditation, Kael felt he had gained much. Through months of continuous meditation, his spirit and soul had improved, and his magical power had increased significantly. If he continued at this efficiency, it wouldn't take many years before he could possess strength comparable to top wizards like Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort. If he lived long enough, it wouldn't be impossible to possess power as great as Elrond's or even Galadriel's. He could even dare to hope for Maiar-level strength. Thinking of this, Kael's heart burned with passion, his eyes blazing with ambition and hope. At first glance, Gandalf the Maiar might seem less impressive than Elrond or Galadriel in Middle-earth. But that was only because his power was severely restricted here. Without his staff, he could barely perform decent magic. In his full glory, as a demi-god of the Maiar, Gandalf's power was cataclysmic. Though called "lesser spirits," the Maiar were still divine beings, second only to the Valar in power. Both Maiar and Valar were Ainur, the first creations of Eru Ilúvatar. Galadriel, on the other hand, was fundamentally an Elf. Thus, Gandalf at full strength far surpassed Galadriel. They weren't even on the same level. Of course, this was too distant for the current Kael. He didn't even have the strength of top wizards like Dumbledore yet. Reaching Galadriel's level was beyond reach, let alone divine-level Maiar. But one must have dreams. What if he really became a god someday? In the following days, besides daily scheduled checks on the rooster egg's incubation progress and essential daily meditation, Kael spent his remaining time attempting to create his first true alchemical creation. As he learned more alchemical knowledge from the Book of Abraham, his alchemical skills grew. The walking stick he had given to Tom Bombadil was his trial work in alchemy. But that staff was somewhat flashy but impractical. Except for producing flowers, it had no other use, so Kael didn't consider it his first true alchemical product. What he was preparing to make this time was a relatively common magical artifact in the wizarding world: a Quick-Quotes Quill. As for the raw materials for the Quick-Quotes Quill, the eaglet Thorondor had recently molted, and Kael had specifically selected several beautiful feathers from them. Alchemy was different from other magic. It was a profound and secretive discipline involving material transformation. It required alchemists to understand the essence of matter and guide magical power through runes, potions, magical arrays, and other means to achieve material transformation and create alchemical products with special functions. Like alchemy's highest achievement, the Philosopher's Stone, could transform ordinary metals into gold. This transformation was a material-level change, permanent. Even using counter-spells to try to restore the original state, the gold wouldn't change back to the original metal. Though Transfiguration could also make other objects turn into gold, as long as the transformed object's structure was destroyed or the magic on it was dispelled, the transfigured gold would revert to its original substance. Spells required maintaining magical power output to produce magical effects, while alchemical products could achieve spell effects permanently. With Kael's current alchemical level, he couldn't yet involve material-level transformation, but he could embed spells into ordinary objects, giving them magical functions. The Quick-Quotes Quill's function was to automatically and quickly record what its owner said and thought on paper without requiring additional magical power from the owner. Achieving such effects involved combining multiple spells: the Levitation Charm, Legilimency, Voice Recognition Charm, Automatic Writing Charm, and others. Fusing them together was quite difficult. In the alchemy room, as an explosion sounded, the entire tower seemed to shake. The dwarf craftsmen working outside the tower all turned back to look, then continued working. They had been hearing explosion sounds from inside the tower from time to time these past few days and were already used to it. Kael looked at the feather that had blown to ash before him and casually removed the protective spell. Then he replaced it with a new feather and continued crafting. Finally, a finished quill appeared. The quill gleamed with metallic luster, its body covered with dense, rune-like patterns. Kael held this quill made from Great Eagle feathers and injected magical power into it. The quill seemed to awaken, jumping from Kael's hands and flying around him eagerly. "Now let me see your abilities," Kael said expectantly to the quill. The quill trembled, then quickly flew to a blank parchment and rapidly wrote down what Kael had just said in elegant calligraphy. Kael continued speaking, sometimes clearly, sometimes in a murmur, and the quill accurately recorded everything he said without missing a word, capturing every syllable flawlessly. Satisfied, he pressed his wand to his temple, extracted silver threads containing memories, and threw them to the quill. The quill directly absorbed the memory threads, automatically came to a blank leather-bound book, and began inscribing "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1" in large golden letters on the cover. Then it nimbly flipped to the first page and began scribing the textbook's contents in emerald-green ink. Leaving the quill to its diligent work, Kael set up the eighth floor as a library. Besides collecting his own magical books, he also planned to gather books and knowledge from all races across Middle-earth. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." This famous quote from Rowena Ravenclaw was equally valid in any world. Exceptional wit came from accumulating knowledge. In Middle-earth, any powerful figure, whether Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, or others, were all individuals with vast knowledge and profound wisdom. Even the Dark Lord Sauron, when he disguised himself as the gift-giver Annatar to contact the Elves, his vast knowledge and superb skills earned the Elves' admiration and respect. So if Kael wanted to go further in the future, he must accumulate enough knowledge to walk the path of greater strength. After assigning the copying task to the Quick-Quotes Quill, Kael refocused his attention on the rooster egg's incubation. The hatching time was approaching, and Kael had to stay vigilant. After all, basilisks were extremely dangerous. Even newly hatched small snakes had deadly eyes and venom. Even Kael, a Parselmouth, needed to be careful, since he could only control basilisks, not be immune to their gaze. If he accidentally looked into the basilisk's eyes and died, that would be an embarrassing way to go. As midnight on the seventh day arrived, in the tightly sealed chamber, Kael deliberately wore enchanted sunglasses and quietly watched the toad lying on the black rooster egg. The originally fat, large toad now lay listlessly on the rooster egg. Fixed by magic and unable to move, its body had shrunk considerably. Suddenly, the rooster egg moved. Kael's spirits lifted, and he immediately became fully alert. The creature inside the rooster egg was trying to break out, constantly seeking a breakthrough. Finally, with a slight cracking sound, the rooster egg cracked, revealing a small opening. When he saw the emerald green snake head about to emerge, Kael immediately hissed in Parseltongue, "Close your eyes before emerging!" The hatchling froze, then slithered out. A finger-thin, green serpent with a blood-red crest, its eyes tightly shut, tongue flicking. It was hard to imagine this tiny creature would one day span 50 feet in length. True to its dark origins, the Basilisk was vicious even under Parseltongue control. Without hesitation, it sank its fangs into the toad, injecting venom. The toad convulsed and died instantly. Kael frowned. No wonder Basilisks were classified as XXXXX creatures. Had he not been a Parselmouth, he'd have been its first victim. But he'd prepared for this. After commanding the Basilisk in Parseltongue not to resist, he drew a drop of its blood with a syringe. The serpent hissed in pain but obeyed. Kael then pricked his own finger, mixing their blood while chanting an incantation. The droplets merged midair. "Open." The Basilisk complied, and the blood flew into its mouth. An invisible bond formed between them, instilling loyalty and erasing any urge to harm its master.