Chapter 73: The Method of Breeding Basilisks

"What's going on? Is this crystal ball broken?" the dwarves asked, looking equally puzzled. Seeing their confusion, Gandalf was also perplexed and reached out his hand. "Kael, may I take a look?" Kael handed over the crystal ball without hesitation. Gandalf took the Palantír, focusing his thoughts on Bilbo's location. But the result was still the same scene as before, with no sign of Bilbo's figure anywhere. "Is this crystal ball really broken? Has the Palantír's power faded?" one of the dwarves wondered aloud. "I told you these Elven-made things look pretty but aren't practical—they're not as sturdy as what we dwarves make," Dwalin grumbled, crossing his arms. The dwarves complained for a while, but Kael looked at the scene in the crystal ball and suddenly realized something. Could it be that Bilbo had already obtained the One Ring and put it on to become invisible? That would explain why the Palantír could show his location but couldn't display his form. However, only he knew about this, and Bilbo's acquisition of the Ring wasn't something to reveal in front of this group of dwarves. So he maintained the same puzzled expression and put the "broken" crystal ball back into his pouch. He then suggested that everyone go to the bottom of the abyss to find Bilbo. But before that, Kael needed to check in once more. Shortly after entering the Goblin caves, the system had reacted, but he had been in an emergency situation at the time and had no opportunity to respond. Now he could finally attend to it. Hogwarts Check-in System: Location detected—Misty Mountains—Goblin Town. Check in? Kael was full of anticipation as he silently recited in his mind: Check in. Check-in successful. Congratulations on obtaining the method for breeding basilisks! The method for breeding basilisks? Kael was surprised. He hadn't expected this check-in to yield such knowledge. As far as he knew, basilisks were extremely dangerous dark magical creatures from the wizarding world. A basilisk's eyes held powerful killing power—any creature that made direct eye contact with it would die immediately, while those who made indirect contact would be petrified. Moreover, basilisks had deadly venom that could only be cured by phoenix tears—no other potions or magic could provide treatment. Basilisks also had extremely long lifespans, able to live for thousands of years, and would grow larger over time. Basilisks were very dangerous. Aside from Parseltongue speakers who could communicate with and control basilisks, no one else could tame them. So many dark wizards who attempted to breed basilisks ultimately fell victim to them and died. Now that Kael possessed the Parseltongue talent, if he could breed such a powerful weapon as a basilisk, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. But why did he feel like he was increasingly heading toward becoming a dark wizard? Parseltongue, basilisk pets—in the wizarding world, wasn't this exactly what a dark wizard would have? Well, dark wizard it is then. Kael gave up worrying about it. As long as it could increase his strength, it didn't matter whether he was a dark wizard or a light wizard. After all, as a great man once said, whether it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. Kael absorbed the knowledge about basilisk breeding. Breeding basilisks wasn't complicated—one needed to find a seven-year-old rooster, have it lay a magical egg on a night when Sirius was in the sky, and place the magical egg under a toad to incubate. What would eventually hatch from the magical egg would be an emerald green basilisk. Gender could be determined by whether there was a crimson feather on top of its head—if there was, it was male; if not, it was female. Of course, roosters laying eggs was against natural law, even in the magical world. So there was a special dark magic ritual that resonated with stellar phenomena to break the taboos of natural law. That was to use the power of stellar phenomena as a catalyst on nights when Sirius was in the sky, forcibly rewriting biological instincts through dark magic, making the rooster lay a cursed magical egg, which would then give birth to a basilisk, a dark magical creature. Middle-earth also had Sirius, so Kael didn't need to worry about being unable to breed a basilisk. The only problem was that seven-year-old roosters were hard to find, and Sirius appeared in the sky around midnight on January 1st each year. It was already June, so to wait for the next appearance of Sirius, he'd have to wait another half year. By then, the Lonely Mountain mission would have long been completed. So Kael could only temporarily set aside the matter of breeding basilisks. The Goblins in the cave were either dead or unconscious, no longer posing a threat to everyone. Instead of rushing to find Bilbo, everyone decided to search for treasure in this underground Goblin kingdom. First was the largest cavern where the Goblin King had lived, which was obviously the most likely place to hide treasure. When everyone entered, it was indeed as expected—the cavern was packed full of gold, silver, jewels, and diamonds in quantities they had never seen before. Probably aside from the treasure of the Lonely Mountain, they had never seen so much wealth! Even Thorin, who had seen the treasure of the Lonely Mountain, couldn't help but be amazed at the hoard before him. "My goodness, we're going to be rich!" the dwarf Dwalin exclaimed, his eyes mesmerized by the glittering wealth. "Don't drool, Dwalin. Besides, this treasure is Kael's spoils of war—you don't get a share!" the dwarf Balin smacked his bald head and reminded him irritably. After being reminded, the dwarves immediately snapped back to reality and reluctantly withdrew their gazes. Although they were greedy for wealth, they also understood that everyone's safe escape from the Goblin encirclement was thanks to Kael's efforts—they hadn't contributed. Kael didn't have much emotional reaction to the treasure before him. Having seen plenty of treasure, he could now treat it with equanimity. So he generously offered to share, letting everyone take as much as they could carry. Except for Thorin, who refused as always, the other dwarves accepted Kael's kindness and happily began scooping up the gold, silver, and jewels in front of them, stuffing their pockets and backpacks until they bulged. While the dwarves were gathering treasure, Kael noticed a glint of silver light showing from beneath the gold coins. He walked over curiously and brushed away the gold coins covering it. The object buried in the gold coins was fully revealed. It was an exquisite and magnificent spear, entirely silver-white, emanating a cold light. The spear shaft was carved with beautiful patterns and mysterious runes, and the spearhead was like a snow-capped peak, snow-white and cold, incredibly sharp, as if it could pierce through any of the hardest materials. Kael's eyes widened as he looked at it in amazement, involuntarily reaching out to grasp the spear. The moment he gripped the spear, his pupils contracted as the magical power in his body involuntarily flowed into the weapon. The spear burst forth with dazzling cold light, its point gleaming with sharpness, containing a terrifying explosive force. Kael couldn't help but thrust it toward the cave wall, and the spear penetrated straight through like piercing soft cheese. Then a powerful destructive force was released from the spearhead, causing the entire wall to rapidly crack and sway as if about to collapse. Gandalf, seeing the spear, looked very surprised. "Kael, may I take a look?" Kael noticed Gandalf's change in expression, handed him the spear, and asked, "Gandalf, do you recognize this spear?" (End of Chapter) *** [Check Out My Patreon For More Chapters On All Of My Fanfics!!] [www. [email protected]/meowthtl] [+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter] [Thank You For Your Support!]