Chapter 116
After numerous explorations last semester, Soren was already very familiar with the terrain of the Forbidden Forest.
He knew that a great battle was about to take place, so he signaled Dobby and Winky to leave first.
He donned the Night Star Cloak, which had been modified by his alchemy, with the "Guardian" rune engraved on it, emitting faint light blue ripples into the surrounding air.
He put on his dueling gloves, which he had re-woven with black and white threads made from unicorn hair. When he grasped his wand, it emitted a clear sound, and the patterns on the vine wood glimmered subtly. Soren, well-read, knew that this was because the "death power" within the wand had been neutralized by the "holy power" of the gloves, causing a transformation in the wand's core.
The power of death is not the end.
So what lies beyond death?
Soren had endless expectations for his wand.
He wore the Ravenclaw diadem, and a familiar mental power emerged in his mind. Soren's pupils shifted among orange, green, blue, and white, and he could perceive every rustle within a hundred meters.
He also wore the Slytherin locket, although he had yet to decipher its secret. He suspected that only a Parselmouth could unlock the mystery of the locket.
He made his way alone to Aragog's lair.
He did not deliberately hide himself, so he was quickly discovered by the Acromantula swarm. Countless giant spiders appeared from all directions, surrounding Soren layer by layer.
"Aragog! Aragog!" several small spiders cried out. Although they spoke English, it was difficult to understand, as each word was accompanied by the clicking of their large pincers.
From a hidden burrow, Aragog slowly emerged. His body was as large as a small elephant, with grayish-black legs and a grotesque head adorned with large pincers, each eye covered by a milky film. He was blind.
"What is it?" he asked, clicking his pincers rapidly.
"Human," said a small spider. "This time there's only one, and he's different from the last two."
Aragog asked in a weary, aged voice, "Is it Hagrid?"
Soren calmly replied, "I am not Hagrid; I am his friend. He sent me to find you."
After a moment of hesitation, Aragog slowly said, "Hagrid never sends anyone to find me. You might as well tell me what he wants."
"Hagrid sent me here to retrieve something from deep within the spider's lair."
Aragog seemed enraged, his pincers clicking furiously. "How dare you deceive me! Children, kill him!"
The Acromantula, who had long been watching hungrily, erupted in excited clicking sounds, countless long legs rustling as they moved closer to Soren, preparing to pounce like patient predators.
Soren was already prepared for this outcome.
The moment he was surrounded, he used "Divine Sight" to observe the position of every spider. In an instant, he unleashed four sonic blast spells in rapid succession, creating an astonishing explosion that stunned all the spiders within his range, their unique, piercing screams echoing.
Taking a deep breath, Soren gripped his wand tightly, preparing to cast a spell he had never used in actual combat.
"Fiery Cataclysm!"
A streak of deep blue flame shot from the tip of his wand and landed on the ground, igniting with a loud "boom." The flames seemed to have a mind of their own, rising and falling, expanding and spreading with crackling sounds, ultimately swirling upwards like a tornado, creating an impressive spectacle.
As the fiery tornado dispersed, it transformed into various ferocious beasts—fire serpents, chimeras, and fire dragons—issuing terrifying rumbling sounds as they surged outward from Soren, incinerating the Acromantula and scattering them in every direction.
The cursed flames, known as the Devil's Fire, could not be extinguished by physical means. Spiders caught in the flames faced only death, and as the massive swarm dashed chaotically, the cursed fire spread even more rapidly. One spider would pass the flames to ten, ten to a hundred, and soon the area visible was filled with burning, screaming spiders, the entire scene resembling a hellish inferno.
After this battle, the eight-eyed spider in the Forbidden Forest is likely to be left with only one in ten, thus relinquishing its throne as the ruler of the Forbidden Forest.
The moment the fierce fire was unleashed, Aragog seemed to sense danger and hurriedly retreated back into the burrow. Despite its old age and large size, it moved with surprising agility and swiftness!
Soren quickly dashed towards Aragog's direction.
The biggest problem with the fierce fire is its inability to distinguish between friend and foe; everything is burned. If Soren stayed here any longer, he would be in danger himself.
As he sprinted, he used his wand to cast the "Whirlwind Spell" behind him, the whirlwind acting like a booster to accelerate his speed while also fanning the flames behind him, causing the devil fire to burn even more fiercely.
Although Aragog was blind, it had developed a keener sense of hearing from years of reliance on it. It determined Soren's position based on the wind created by his movement and lunged at him with its massive pincers like a flash of lightning!
Soren gently lowered his left hand, and a pure silver dagger slid from his sleeve into his grasp. After infusing it with magic, the "Unbreakable Spell" activated, and he could faintly sense its sharpness in his tightly clenched fist. With narrowed eyes and without a moment's pause, he swung the dagger in a Z-shape, slicing through the approaching pincers as easily as cutting through tofu!
Aragog let out a painful scream, spewing a large jet of deep green liquid from its mouth.
Soren's movements were fluid and graceful; before Aragog could unleash its venom, he leapt and rolled swiftly under its body.
As he stood up, he thrust the dagger upward with force, piercing Aragog's chest with a "thud." Without pausing, he pulled the dagger and charged towards Aragog's tail. The dagger smoothly cut through Aragog's abdomen and tail, producing a long "sizzle" sound, like fabric being torn by sharp scissors.
Having passed through Aragog's massive body, Soren continued to charge forward without looking back, ignoring the loud crash of the giant creature falling to the ground behind him.
The end of the burrow led to a vast underground space.
There were no other creatures in the burrow.
This was also why Soren deliberately exposed his position at the beginning. Rather than sneaking into an unknown burrow and being ambushed by the eight-eyed spiders in the dark, it was better to choose the battlefield himself from the start and lure the spiders out to deal with them outside.
Soren's magical eye scanned the surroundings, detecting a faint magical fluctuation in the air.
He explored the burrow by following the strength of the magical fluctuations and found an underground spring. At the spring's source, there was a magical array glowing with a rich emerald green light, and above the center of the array floated a glob of liquid energy radiating seven colors.
The seven-colored energy resembled a cloud, constantly changing shapes in mid-air, with strands of fine, hair-like magical power spilling out, penetrating through the barrier of the magical array and into the spring water.
Soren speculated that this might be the answer to the mystery of the eight-eyed spider's reproduction.
Aragog had lived long because it drank this life-giving spring water, and the entire eight-eyed spider population frequently drank from it, leading to their astonishing reproduction rate.
The magical array was very complex, with layers of ancient runes, seemingly trapping that seven-colored power in the center of the array. The core of the magical array was inscribed with an ancient symbol for "freeze" (Isa), the same one seen on the cold storage door!
The core of the magical array was like a portal, and this "freeze" symbol was a lock; as long as it was deciphered, the entire magical array could be opened.
At this moment, Soren was finally certain that he had found the true treasure of Hufflepuff.
He put away his wand and dagger, closed his eyes, and contemplated every stroke of the "freeze" symbol, repeatedly simulating the ancient incantation in his mind to release this symbol.
With Soren's mental strength, enhanced by the Crown of Wisdom, it would only take a few minutes.
Learning the ancient incantation for the first time was undoubtedly very difficult, as it was akin to a baby learning to speak for the first time—a process from zero to one.
Think about it, from the first time Soren came into contact with the ancient runic magic (having seen the Fairy Sacred Fire Kaunaz last semester), to finally mastering his first ancient rune spell "Guard" (Eihwaz) in its entirety, allowing him to materialize it and showcase its full power, how long did it take in total?
Although "Freeze" and "Guard" are vastly different in both their graphical representations and their intrinsic meanings, the experience can be referenced.
Soren raised his right hand, drew the "Freeze" rune symbol in the air with his index finger, and the rune took shape in midair, emitting an astonishing chill, transforming into a white light that shot into the magic circle.
It worked!
Perhaps Soren still couldn't fully materialize the "Freeze" rune, but being able to shoot the rune like a spell and feeling the inherent chill already indicated that he had initially grasped this rune.
Aside from "Guard," "Freeze" could be considered the second rune he mastered, which is already a remarkable achievement. Thinking of those predecessors from his previous life who could casually treat ancient runic magic as a toy, Soren felt a wave of envy and jealousy.
The magic circle was successfully broken, and the emerald green glow gradually faded.
Soren raised his right hand and gently waved it in the air; the floating seven-colored energy flew into his hand.
As soon as his hand touched that energy, he felt an extremely cool and magical power pouring from the top of his head down to his feet, causing noticeable changes in his body. His bodily functions, from skin to muscles to bones, were enhanced, and even his senses of sight and hearing became sharper than ever. The magical power he had exhausted from using the Fiery Spell not only recovered instantly but began to grow wildly, stopping only after increasing by about 30%.
Soren knew this energy was the "Source of Life" described on the elven stone tablet, which, like Ravenclaw's "Crystal of Wisdom," belonged to the highest tier of magical power.
After absorbing the Source of Life cultivated over a lifetime by Hufflepuff, Soren's body resembled a perfect alchemical item, with various intricate magical patterns appearing on his skin. The patterns were not black; instead, they emitted a sheen of seven colors like a rainbow.
Soren could feel his body filled with intense vitality, which continuously transformed him, granting not only a stronger self-healing ability but also the potential to hold more magical power. His body felt like an expanded container; as the internal space grew larger, so did his magical power.
Soren carefully sensed the changes in his body and the accompanying ultimate skills. The profound knowledge left by Hufflepuff could stimulate the vast life force within him, allowing any severe bodily injury to be healed instantly as long as he did not die.
[Hufflepuff Exclusive Ultimate Skill - Creation of Rebirth Acquired!]
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