Inside the Hufflepuff Dormitory, Lynn lay sprawled on his bed in a "star" shape, staring at the ceiling and muttering gloomily:
"The main structure of the rod is almost finished, with the Dragon Heartstring and Walnut wood fused together. The feel and flexibility are perfect!"
"But this damn fishing line... where can I find something thin and transparent, yet strong enough to withstand the big fish in the Black Lake?"
"It's been over a week, Lynn. Has your legendary fishing rod still not been born?"
Edgar looked at the half-finished fishing rod on the table, which had already taken shape and was shimmering with a faint magical glow, and couldn't help but ask.
"It's still missing its most crucial soul—the fishing line!"
Lynn sat up with a kip-up, striking the pose of a master.
"Ordinary materials like Unicorn tail hair are too soft and brittle; they simply don't match the style of this fishing rod, which is destined to go down in angling history!"
"Oh, come on. Why don't you just say that after buying those insanely expensive Potion ingredients, your few Galleons can't afford magical silk at all?"
Edgar ruthlessly exposed the truth.
Lynn rolled his eyes, unable to refute the claim.
The "huge sum" he had exchanged before the start of term had indeed dwindled to almost nothing after the frantic consumption of Potion ingredients and the trial and error of his first alchemy attempts, making him deeply realize what a money-burning hobby "magical research" was.
He slumped back down, his gaze wandering aimlessly across the dormitory ceiling, looking at the nearly invisible spiderwebs gathered in the corners... Suddenly, his eyes lit up!
---
The Forbidden Forest at night was deathly silent.
Lynn, alone, trudged deeper into the Forbidden Forest, relying on his perception of danger and a rough memory of directions.
"Where on earth is the Acromantula nest? Why is it so hard to find..."
Lynn complained softly while observing his surroundings, his wand gripped tightly in his hand.
After bypassing several swamps filled with Venomous Tentacula, avoiding a group of sleeping Fwoopers, and nearly stepping on a Puffskein disguised as a rock, he finally reached an area.
The trees here were exceptionally twisted and eerie, the ground covered in slimy white webs, and the air filled with a faint scent of fishy sweetness and decay.
'The visual and olfactory effects are maxed out; this must be the spiders' luxury nest.'
Lynn muttered to himself, feeling both nervous and a bit excited.
He cleared his throat and pressed his wand against his neck.
"Sonorus!"
Then he shouted toward the cave entrance in a voice as "polite" as possible but loud enough:
"Hey! Spider friends inside! A guest has come to visit! Is it convenient to come out and chat for a bit? About borrowing some of that sturdy silk you produce!"
After he finished shouting, no spiders came out to greet him warmly.
'Looks like I'll have to pay a visit myself.'
Lynn cast a continuous Shield Charm on himself, took a deep breath, and stepped into the cave.
The interior of the cave was larger and more complex than he had imagined, with tunnels branching out in all directions.
On the walls, there were also many webs wrapping around "cocoons" of various sizes.
'What's inside these?'
Lynn's curiosity was piqued. He approached a smaller "cocoon" and carefully guided a small cluster of "Incendio" from the tip of his wand to burn open the outer layer of webbing.
A comatose Jobberknoll was revealed inside.
'Man, their business range is quite extensive.' Lynn clicked his tongue, extinguished the fire, and continued deeper.
Just as he was walking along what seemed to be the main tunnel, Peters Jolt suddenly gave a sharp warning!
He dodged to the side almost instinctively.
A dark shadow with a foul wind lunged past the spot where he had just been standing!
"Depulso!"
Lynn reacted extremely fast, firing a Banishing Charm that sent the dark shadow tumbling away and hitting the rock wall with a dull thud.
At the same time, he clearly "heard" the spider's appetite-filled cry: "Food! Food delivered to the door! Attack!"
Lynn: "..."
Man, the Affinity ability isn't meant to be used like this! Is this intimacy enough to treat me directly as a snack?
"Hey! Big guy, let's negotiate."
Lynn tried to communicate, pointing his wand at the spider that had regained its footing and was ready to pounce.
"Are you sure you want to treat me as food? Maybe we can make a deal?"
"Wizard! Flesh! Tasty!"
The spider's words were simple and crude as it rushed forward again, waving its chelicerae.
'Why is it like an idiot? Can't it communicate?' Lynn complained internally, but his movements were not slow.
"Flipendo! Alarte Ascendare!"
He waved his wand repeatedly, using a combination of the Knockback Curse and the Rocket Charm to flip the pouncing spider over and smash it onto the ground again and again, leaving it dazed and its carapace cracked.
"Still want to eat me? Answer me! Look at my eyes!"
Lynn pointed his wand at the spider's cluster of compound eyes, attempting a final "persuasive education."
"Eat!" The spider struggled, still stubborn.
"Damn it, why is it so stubborn!"
Lynn completely gave up on the idea of communication.
"Then there's no other way... Sectumsempra!"
A sharp blade flashed, and the stubborn spider was instantly sliced open, blood splattering as it stopped moving.
"Sigh, why bother."
Lynn sighed and flicked his wand.
"I just wanted to find some sensible spiders to do business with."
He continued deeper into the nest.
The rest of the journey became a process of Lynn's one-sided "clearing" and "persuasion."
"Sectumsempra!" — The spider trying to ambush from above was gone.
"Diffindo!" — The spiders blocking the way were gone.
"Reducto!" — A spider lunging from a side tunnel was blasted away.
"Confringo!" — A group of small spiders gathering around was blown away.
Beams of Spell light flashed in the cave, accompanied by the hissing of spiders and the sound of cracking carapaces.
Lynn "reasoned" his way all the way to the core area of the nest.
Finally, in a relatively open cavern, Lynn was surrounded by a large group of remaining spiders.
But these spiders had clearly been intimidated by the miserable state of their companions and this Wizard's terrifying "reasoning." They only surrounded him, not daring to step forward.
Lynn looked around, tapped his palm with his wand, and asked in a "gentle" tone:
"Are you the only ones left? Is there anyone more powerful, like your boss or something? Call them out so we can chat."
"No... no more! Really no more!" a slightly larger spider, seemingly of some status, said tremblingly.
"Very good." Lynn nodded in satisfaction, pointing to the exceptionally thick main spider silks shimmering with a silver-gray luster behind them.
"Then I won't be polite. I'll borrow some silk—no problem, right?"
"No... no problem! Take as much as you want! Just please... stop using that terrible 'reasoning'!"
After Lynn's hands-on and thorough "persuasion with reason," this group of Acromantula finally deeply understood the principles of "a guest is a guest" and "spending money to avoid disaster," becoming incredibly well-behaved and cooperative.
Lynn happily accepted the bundle of top-tier spider silk, whose strength exceeded his imagination and which he had exchanged for "reasoning," and waved to the shivering spiders:
"Thanks! Let's cooperate again if there's a chance!"
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