Chapter 30. Basilisk Hunt. Part 2. Evolution
Alan looked around with mild interest at the gloomy, but rather spacious room, illuminated by a dim swamp-green color, with a huge number of snake statues standing on either side of the stone path along which he was currently walking.
Alan's hand gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. Even with a perception-enhancing spell, he couldn't pinpoint the basilisk's exact location, and the feeling of being watched was a slight irritation.
Hidden in the snake's mouth... As soon as Alan remembered these words, he stopped abruptly and, turning around, returned to the beginning of the path and began checking the mouths of the snake statues...
And so, after nearly ten minutes, he finally finished the last one with slight disappointment and stood before a stone human face with a long beard and matching hair, carved into a huge rock and surrounded by a thin layer of water. Its mouth was unnaturally open, which looked rather suspicious, so Alan stopped only ten meters away.
"Apparently, that's where his lair is."
"Be careful..."
"Oh, so you've already forgiven me?"
"If you die, who will feed me and talk to me...?"
"It makes sense, since you're asking me to be careful..." Under Nagini's puzzled gaze, a fireball erupted from his hand...
~ BOOM!!!
Not a second had passed before a furious hiss echoed through the air, nearly causing poor Nagini to faint. Alan himself felt no fear, but rather a mild anticipation. And the basilisk itself didn't keep him waiting long: like an arrow, it leaped from the rubble, jaws open, and, having covered the distance separating them in a split second, was ready to swallow Alan whole. But Alan had been expecting something like this, so even as the monster was about to attack, he had already cast a speeding charm on himself and, with a gentle gust of wind, moved aside without much effort, allowing him to finally get a proper look at it: it was a fifteen-meter-tall monster, poisonous green in color, as thick as a pillar. His huge yellow eyes with vertical pupils emitted a terrible oppressive feeling, and his giant fangs, from which dripped poisonous saliva that melted the stone floor, caused real horror, but...
"Is that all?" Alan grumbled, looking the monster straight in the eye with a hint of irritation. "Damn! Are you trying to make fun of me like that?! And that basilisk worm?! In that case, even a chicken could be called a Phoenix!"
Even the monster froze at this tirade, staring in bewilderment straight into Alan's eyes, wondering if the man had gone mad, and why he wasn't turning to stone. Of course, the basilisk was intelligent and could easily understand that it was being insulted, and this reignited the flames of rage within it. With a wild roar, or more accurately, a hiss, the monster lunged toward Alan, but, as before, he was able to dodge it without much difficulty. However, the snake didn't stop there, for at that very moment its tail lashed out at Alan's face.
Of course, Alan didn't try to block the attack, as that would have been foolish: he would have simply been blown away like a house of cards. So he parried the attack, leaning on his right leg and lowering his sword slightly, causing the snake's tail to slide across the flat of the weapon and strike the stone floor beneath his feet, sending him jumping back a couple of meters.
This sent the snake into a stupor once again, which Alan, of course, took advantage of by leaping onto it and leaving several deep wounds in the monster's tough hide, from which blood flowed profusely, triggering another fit of rage. The creature, turning sharply, attempted to claw at Alan again, but he managed to jump off its back, leaving another wound in its wake.
Landing on the stone floor, Snape looked thoughtfully at the snake.
Rather tough hide... apparently, instead of growing in size, he chose leather and poison over other materials. And thanks to that, his speed increased and his physical strength decreased, but the powerful poison almost completely offset this weakness... ah... I made the mistake of a novice warrior, judging my opponent's strength by appearance. Looking up at the colossal snake rushing towards him, he smiled wryly, and the runes on the blade glowed. "Okay, I've more or less assessed your strength and mine, so consider this my apology for underestimating you..."
The next moment, the mouth closed on the very spot where Alan stood, but the snake only blinked its eyes in bewilderment.
~ Hessssss...?
But the surprise didn't last long, as she hissed in pain from the many wounds that opened up in one second, and she began to writhe furiously, and the floor became covered with more and more blood...
At the same time, Alan, standing in the distance, thoughtfully looked at the slowly crumbling sword.
"Only two seconds, and I only applied the simplest runework. Too bad. Looks like I'll have to search for a decent sword for a long time... oh... my back... it'll definitely hurt for a week now," Alan muttered mournfully, clutching his lower back and watching the basilisk, whose movements were gradually becoming more sluggish, and his hissing ever quieter. "Forgive this pain, but I need you alive..."
Only ten minutes later did the snake stop twitching, and Alan was finally able to approach it. It was on its last legs due to massive blood loss.
"Eh... I've never liked hurting animals," he reached out and touched the basilisk's forehead, creating a small seal on it. "Stop peeking, it's time to start your treatment now." He poked Nagini's forehead, peeking out from under her collar, and removed his hand from the monster's forehead.
"Using only one sword, you were able to defeat such a terrible monster... Are you really human?"
"Of course I'm human, but unlike simple wizards who only develop their magic, I've also improved my body and studied the way of the sword. Once you become human, I can teach you."
At first, she still wanted to agree, but the next moment, remembering the training Alan had gone through and the terrifying loads he had handled, her desire completely disappeared, and when she was about to answer his question, Alan's next actions made Nagini freeze in shock, and then, with horror in her eyes, hide under her clothes from the blood streaming down the face of the "indifferent" basilisk.
"Why are you doing this?!"
"For you, you will have to eat them."
"I won't eat his eyes!"
"You will."
"I won't!"
"You will."
"I won't!"
"You'll booooood..." Alan sang more tenderly, and Nagini's voice only made her tremble even more intensely, and with real horror in her eyes she looked at Alan's smiling face, covered in blood, peeking under his sweater.
"NOOO..."
An hour later, two snakes lay on the floor. The first had been reduced to a skeleton after an hour of "work," while the second looked like an inflated balloon. Its eyes were tightly closed, and a star-shaped pattern shone on its forehead.
"Rest in peace, basilisk, I will never forget your sacrifice," Alan muttered, folding his hands together. Then, throwing the skeleton into his wallet, he looked towards Nagini. "The evolution is almost complete, which is good news," he said, approaching her, cutting his finger and dripping blood directly onto the seal.
The next moment, she was engulfed in a bright light, accompanied by an unpleasant crackling sound. It only stopped a minute later, and the light began to fade, revealing to Alan a huge, ten-meter-long snake, half the thickness of the basilisk. Its coloring also changed: from greenish-brown to pale green, with hints of brighter shades of yellow and green.
"Now she shouldn't be in danger of memory loss, but her snake instincts have also intensified. I hope I can still find the last three ingredients..." He smiled warmly, extending his hand, and, surprisingly, she responded, lowering her head into his palm. "Congratulations on your successful evolution."
"Thank you... but I've only gotten bigger, and this strange feeling... why can I sense your emotions?" Her voice became much gentler and sounded younger than before, thanks to her increased lifespan.
Basilisks could easily live for several thousand years, and thanks to the absorbed bloodline, Nagini's lifespan also increased dozens of times.
"Do you know who familiars are?"
"This is the first time I've heard this term."
"This is a creature that has entered into a contract with a wizard, thanks to which a certain connection appears between the familiar and the wizard."
"Connection...?"
"I can understand you without an artifact, sense your emotions, and know where you are, even if you were to go to the other side of the world. You can do the same," he said, sensing the confusion emanating from his companion and smiling. "Don't worry, you can cancel it at any time." Now Alan felt a surge of discontent.
"I get it... it's convenient, now you won't have to risk carrying that artifact around with you, but... why can't I sense your emotions...?" she hissed, narrowing her gaze.
"I closed my mind."
"So you can read mine, but I can't read yours?!"
"Don't think I don't trust you, I'm just not used to showing my emotions to other people. Over the past three months, you should have realized that I never pretended when I was with you, and I won't do so in the future." Right before his eyes, Nagini began to shrink until she was the same size she had been before.
"Okay..." She became very embarrassed by such "openness" on Alan's part and quickly slipped into her sleeve to hide it, as if forgetting about the connection.
"That's great, now all that's left is..." He looked up at the half-destroyed face from which the basilisk had crawled out earlier and began clearing the rubble...