The wind in the Forbidden Forest rustled gently through the trees.
Feeling the Shield Charm shatter, Leo still picked up the Qilin horn. Looking at the short horn in his hand with its white jade-like texture, smooth as polished stone—it was like a work of art.
Could it dispel magic? This thing was absolutely overpowered.
Time to test it again.
Leonardo casually transfigured a pebble on the ground into an elegant teacup and summoned it to his hand. As the Qilin horn approached the cup, the cup instantly reverted to a pebble.
Leo raised an eyebrow—it could even break Transfiguration. As for distance, about one centimeter from the horn's surface would produce this anti-magic effect.
If it could be crafted into a weapon... Made into a bullet tip, the effect would be devastating. Ignoring magical defenses, shooting directly into the target's body.
If Belated Truth could be loaded inside the bullet to produce an explosive effect or contain some poison... Creating shields, light armor, and other protective gear might also work, though the required amount would be quite large.
"System, what's the cycle for Qilin horn shedding?"
[Qilins in their growth period shed horns once every six months.]
Normal, but in that case, the quantity was indeed limited. Leonardo wouldn't deliberately saw off Aurelius's horn—he wasn't a monster. Moreover, he probably couldn't even cut it off.
If waiting for natural horn shedding, there would be four horns per year. For protective gear, the volume might not be enough.
He didn't need much—what he wanted was the Qilin horn's inherent anti-magic ability. If a thin layer of Qilin horn or powder also had this effect, then a smaller amount wouldn't matter. Made into the surface of protective gear or refined into interlayers, as long as the shell thickness was within one centimeter.
There was just one small problem.
Leo looked at the Qilin horn, then at his wand. Anti-magic—then how could he use magic to process it? Moreover, even Transfiguration would be broken, so conjured tools couldn't be used either.
Did he need to get some cutting machines or something from the Muggle world? He didn't even know the Qilin horn's hardness yet.
If it couldn't be processed, how could it be used? This small horn wasn't even sharp; it couldn't even count as a small dagger. Moreover, a wizard playing as a melee assassin—wouldn't that be ridiculous?
In that case, it would be more practical to have Aurelius flash behind the enemy and directly ram them.
Leonardo felt a headache coming on—it was like discovering a treasure chest but having no key to open it. Forcing it open might not even work.
Just as he was about to instinctively stuff the Qilin horn into his Undetectable Extension pocket, Leo's hand froze.
Could this thing also break Undetectable Extension Charms? What effect would that produce—would items in the space simply vanish or explode outward? Not only could it not go into the pocket, but even carrying it was problematic.
What if he accidentally brought the Qilin horn into one of those Undetectable Extension spaces—what would happen to him?
"System, can shed Qilin horns be placed in the system space? You always said only system-produced items could be stored. Wasn't the Qilin produced by you? Then the horn that fell off should also work, right?"
[...]
[The host is correct.]
In an instant, the Qilin horn in Leo's hand disappeared, having been stored in the system space.
Looking at the lonely short horn on Aurelius's head, Leonardo instructed, "Next time your head itches, pay attention to whether the horn has fallen off. If it does, remember to pick it up. I need it."
"Okay, Master. Oh right, what about the scales I shed?"
Leo didn't hesitate. "Keep those too."
Although testing showed the Qilin horn's anti-magic effect was far stronger than the scales, the scales had much greater quantity. Looking at Aurelius's size, almost as large as a horse, who knew how many scales would come from shedding this whole body?
Even if they weren't convenient to process with magic, simply stringing them into light armor or embedding them in a shield would be sufficient. They could still block most conventional magic. Anyway, better than taking spells with bare skin.
"Alright, let's go find the Mooncalves."
Inside a dark cave, the tip of Leo's wand emitted a soft bright light. Several pale gray Mooncalves with two round eyes bulging on their heads scampered before him, dancing around Leonardo and Aurelius.
"Aurelius, help me ask if they're willing to come with me?"
Hearing this, Aurelius began communicating with these Mooncalves. But this took some effort, because Mooncalves didn't belong to highly intelligent magical creatures—there were some obstacles in the explanation.
"Master, their meaning is roughly that they want food, a burrow, moonlight, and to be able to dance."
Leo nodded—translated, didn't this just mean room and board plus entertainment activities? Moonlight wasn't difficult either—Newt's letter had already explained how to create these conditions. On full moon nights, they could also be let out.
Honestly, these Mooncalves' dances under the moon were quite charming too.
After Aurelius conveyed Leo's promised conditions again, those Mooncalves danced even more enthusiastically.
Leonardo wasn't surprised at all by the smooth adoption process. With Aurelius's innate animal affinity, plus the conditions he could provide, it was perfectly normal for magical creatures to line up willingly.
Taking out a white flask, Leo first collected these Mooncalves inside. Then he also entered the flask, having Aurelius help guard.
Inside the flask space, Leonardo waved his wand, and a burrow gradually formed in the barren land. Then following Newt's guidance, he used alchemical methods to create a miniature moon lamp.
Enlarging the moon lamp and making it float into the air, soft moonlight gently fell. Those Mooncalves immediately poked their heads out from the burrow, running one after another into the moonlight.
Bathing in this radiance, they were initially somewhat puzzled. But after one Mooncalf took the lead and started dancing, the others quickly followed the steps.
Watching this scene, Leo also felt a sense of accomplishment and comfortable relaxation. Like opening a ranch, managing a small zoo.
Now these Mooncalves were the first residents. This was after all just a single space. If raising them, it was best to keep magical creatures with similar habits to Mooncalves, equally gentle.
Leonardo left the flask space. Next he still needed to solve the food source problem. Fortunately the Forbidden Forest was rich in resources—normally he could also have Aurelius collect some while here.
Leo put away the white flask and walked out of the cave.
"Aurelius, let's go. Let's visit Aragog and the others again."