False Emotions Pry Open True Desires

Three days before the holiday, in the early morning.

The clouds were thick, preventing moonlight from penetrating; the Forbidden Forest was as black as ink, its canopies blending together into one.

(Go for it! [Super thoughtful website!])

Regulus landed with the Levitation Charm, his feet touching the open space next to Hagrid's Hut. The Big Dog Flossy, was still unconscious.

He took a few steps toward the Forbidden Forest and Apparition.

This time, I didn't fully utilize my Magic Perception.

He usually lets his senses spread naturally, like having an extra layer of vision. He doesn't need to think about it; he can naturally detect any movement or sound around him.

When you use that state for a long time, even the boundaries between what you see and what you perceive become blurred; they mix together and become the same thing.

But at this moment, he withdrew his senses, maintaining them only within about ten meters of his body.

The image from last time was still etched in his mind; he didn't want to receive any new ones.

He can't completely retreat either; the Forbidden Forest isn't safe at night. Ten meters is enough; if anything gets close, he'll have time to react.

The foothold was on the rock at the edge of the depression.

The moment I stepped on it, the spider web trembled, and the vibration traveled along the silk into the nest faster than sound.

Regulus knew that Baruk could sense it.

Spiders perceive the outside world differently than humans; light and smell are secondary, while the vibration of spider silk is the primary source of information.

They can tell what's caught in which net, from what direction, how heavy it is, whether it's prey or their own kind, just by stepping on it.

Baruk is Wise Spider; it's not difficult for him to determine who is approaching by the vibration of the spider silk.

Before long, the shadow at the entrance to the nest shifted.

Baruk climbed out from inside.

Its eight legs swayed back and forth, moving quickly, its chelipeds opening and closing, making a clicking sound twice as fast as usual.

Eight eyes glowed in the night, fixed on Regulus's direction.

It had a string of things trailing behind it.

The cocoons, some large and some small, were pulled forward by the spider using its hind legs.

At the front were several Gnomes; the little creatures were still moving, their bodies arching within the spider silk.

Behind them was a gray rabbit, wrapped up so that only its ears were showing, and its ears were twitching.

Behind that was a bird, I don't know what kind it was, the color of its feathers was hard to see, its beak was tangled and it couldn't make a sound.

The last one is the largest.

Centaur.

The horse's lower body was completely wrapped in spider silk from its belly to its hooves, with only the tip of its tail showing. It tried to shake it a few times, but couldn't.

Its upper body was exposed, but its hands were tied behind its back, and its mouth was wrapped several times with spider silk, making it unable to speak.

The Centaur was still struggling, its upper body twisting and turning. Although its legs were wrapped up, it was still kicking on the ground, leaving marks.

He looked quite unhappy; his brows were furrowed, his eyes were fixed straight ahead, he was breathing heavily, and his nostrils were flaring.

Regulus glanced at it but ignored it.

Baruk dragged the long bundle of things up to him and stopped.

Its chelicerae opened and closed twice, producing a series of rapid clicking sounds. Then, its eight legs curled up slightly, and its body lowered so that the height of its carapace was just at Regulus's hand.

Regulus reached out and patted it; the carapace was hard, cool, and damp with the night's moisture.

Baruk's carapace trembled slightly, like a cat's reaction after being scratched on the chin, but it quickly subsided.

It turned around and pointed with its front legs to the cocoons behind it.

First came a series of clicking sounds as its chelicerae opened and closed, its forelegs gesturing in the air a few times, followed by a string of meaningless syllables.

Then it finally managed to utter a few words, haltingly. "I... catch..."

The chelicerae opened and closed twice more. "Waiting for you... to come..."

Regulus looked at it, then glanced at the pile of cocoons behind it.

Gnomes, rabbits, birds, Centaur were tightly bound together, but they were all still alive.

The spider caught it itself, saved it up, and waited for him to come.

It used itself as a test subject.

Regulus found it interesting.

The Acromantula is a social creature; their logic is that the group is greater than the individual, with Aragog at the top and all the offspring below.

There is no complex hierarchy; whoever is stronger occupies more resources, prey, space, and mating opportunities.

The law of the jungle prevails; it's simple, direct, and uncompromising.

But Baruk's behavior reveals a sense of individuality; it knows it is different from other spiders and is fighting for itself.

For an Acromantula, this kind of consciousness is abnormal in itself.

Perhaps it was because it was Aragog's most intelligent offspring, or perhaps it was because of something left in its spider brain after that Light Magic experiment.

Or perhaps it's for some other reason.

Regulus didn't care about the reasons; he liked seeing this change.

Baruk's increased strength was certainly useful to him, but the very fact that an individual was being separated from the tribal system was what he found more interesting.

If Baruk were to fully awaken, what would he do within his tribe?

Replace Aragog and become the new leader?

Or should we leave this place, find another location, and establish a Spider Colony under its own rule?

Both are possible.

Regulus snapped out of his thoughts, patted its carapace again, and praised, "Well prepared."

Both are possible.

Regulus snapped out of his thoughts, patted its carapace again, and praised, "Well prepared."

Baruk's chelicerae opened and closed, producing a short, sharp click.

Then it started circling Regulus, its eight legs moving alternately at a fast pace; you could tell it was happy.

Regulus watched it circle around once, then said, "You can watch the experiment first; it might be a little dangerous."

Baruk stopped, all eight eyes fixed on him, his chelicerae spread wider, and he tapped the ground twice with his forelegs.

excited.

Regulus crouched down, extended his finger, and pointed at the Gnomes at the front.

The Severing Charm has adjustable levels; the lowest level will make the target feel nauseous and uncomfortable, causing a slight vibration in the Magic Power structure but preventing it from disintegrating.

Adjusting it a little higher brings you to the middle setting he designed, which theoretically can loosen the Magic Power structure of Magical Creatures in certain areas without causing death.

He switched to the middle setting.

A grayish-green light flashed from his fingertips and struck the Gnomes.

There was almost no process.

The Gnomes crumbled from the outside in, faster than the blink of an eye.

The skin decomposed first, then the internal tissues, muscles, bones, and organs, until finally nothing was left but a small clump of ash on the spider silk, which was scattered by the night wind.

Baruk stepped back on its hind legs, its eight eyes widened simultaneously, its chelicerae extended to their maximum extent, and it emitted a sharp, rapid squeak.

fear.

The Gnomes was left with nothing; it didn't even struggle, didn't even make a sound, it was just gone.

Baruk was still squeaking, his voice even sharper than before, his eight legs thrashing back and forth, as if he wanted to run but didn't know where to go.

Regulus lowered his finger, looked at the clump of ash, and ignored Baruk's reaction.

This is already the lowest theoretical level; any lower and the Magic Power structure simply won't open.

The Gnomes couldn't withstand it, probably because its Magic Power level was too low and its structure too fragile.

The intermediate level of the Severing Charm was no different from the lethal level for it; its Magic Power structure simply couldn't withstand that force and collapsed instantly.

In fact, he wasn't sure if Baruk could handle it.

The theory is feasible, but a theory is just a theory.

He hadn't actually tested this level with any creatures before, but now that he had, it didn't work, at least not with Gnomes.

Perhaps the defining characteristic of the Severing Charm is the absence of an intermediate state; it either causes nausea and discomfort or results in immediate death.

If you can dodge it, then dodge it; if you can defend against it, then defend against it. But if you get hit, there are only two possible outcomes.

But that's not necessarily true.

If the target itself is powerful enough and its Magic Power structure is stable enough, it might be able to withstand the intermediate hurdle.

But targets at that level are out of reach in the short term. There are definitely some in the Forbidden Forest, but he doesn't want to go through the trouble of hunting them down.

He glanced at the pile of experimental subjects that Baruk had brought.

Rabbits and birds are nothing to write home about; they're even worse than Gnomes.

As for the Centaur...

Regulus glanced at the Centaur.

The Centaur was wrapped in spider silk, its upper body twisted around, glaring at him with anger in its eyes, and something else entirely.

Hatred?

almost.

His mouth was gagged, so he couldn't speak, but his eyes conveyed a clear message: you wizards are all bad.

Regulus looked away, not taking it seriously. He was already in such a sorry state; why would he bother glaring at him?

Being killed by the Severing Charm is considered a quick death; if you can't even get a chance to be a test subject, then you'll just have to be eaten by spiders.

Baruk was still in a panic. The speed at which his chelipeds opened and closed slowed down, but his eight legs were still trembling slightly. He retreated, then stopped, wanting to get closer to the clump of ash but not daring to.

Regulus waited a while.

Baruk quieted down, staring at the clump of gray, its chelipeds no longer opening and closing, its eight legs firmly planted on the ground, its body motionless.

The spider's stillness is different from a human's stillness; there are no changes in breathing, no relaxation of muscles, it just stops suddenly, as if a pause button has been pressed.

After a long while, it finally spoke, "Centaur... try..."

Regulus shook his head. "No, you're different."

Baruk grew impatient, increasing the speed at which his chelicerae opened and closed, his eight legs thrashing back and forth, and his forelegs tapping the ground a few times, making a rapid tapping sound.

It turned around, its rear end facing the Centaur, and sprayed out a stream of spider silk, covering the Centaur from its chest to its knees with another layer of silk.

The Centaur grunted, his body jerked backward by the spider silk, and his eyes grew even fiercer.

Baruk ignored it, turned back, and opened and closed his chelicerae. "Other... spider... experiments... after... I..."

After saying that, it crawled up to Regulus, slowly curled up its eight legs, and lowered its body so that its top pair of eyes were level with Regulus's.

It showed no emotion; its chelicerae were closed, its forelegs were tucked to its sides, and its entire posture was still.

Regulus looked at it.

The spider said it would experiment on other spiders first, and only after that would it be successful, then it could be used on this spider.

It doesn't care about its own kind; it's willing to use its own kind as test subjects in exchange for the opportunity to become stronger.

Regulus found this fascinating; the spider's mind was even more sophisticated than he had imagined.

Baruk's logic lacked any sense of tribal morality; it was solely driven by the desire to become stronger. In a sense, Baruk was more of a pure individual than many of the people he knew.

That previous experiment with the Light Magic really left a deep impression on its spider brain.

Arrogance, contempt, and eagerness—these emotions are false, but they have stirred up genuine desires.

Baruk tasted power, even if it was just an illusion, and it remembered it, wanting the real thing.

"Alright," Regulus said to Baruk, "Not in the Forbidden Forest, come with me."

Baruk tilted his spider head, his chelicerae opening and closing. "Where?"

My home.

"... your... ethnicity..."

Regulus nodded. "Yes, my people."

Baruk was silent for a moment, then his chelicerae twitched slightly. "Aragog... Father..."

"Go and call it out," Regulus said.

Without hesitation, Baruk stood up on his eight legs, turned around, and crawled back to the nest.

After a while, Aragog emerged, its eight legs moving, its largest pair of eyes gleaming white, staring at Regulus.

It was much larger Baruk, its carapace gleaming darkly in the night, its chelicerae outstretched, revealing the dark red inner walls.

Baruk crouched low behind Aragog, his eight legs tucked in and his chelicerae closed.

Its forelegs, hidden beneath its body, twitched gently, once, twice, as if giving a secret signal.

"You want to take my offspring away?" Aragog's voice was deep and trembling.

Regulus caught Baruk's subtle movements out of the corner of his eye, but remained impassive.

"I'll borrow it," he nodded, his tone calm. "I'll return it to you in a few days."

He won't reveal his true purpose, so what can he say?

I'll make your offspring powerful, and then you can come back?

Aragog paused for a few seconds. "Baruk is my smartest child."

Losing one offspring means nothing to it, and losing its smartest offspring means nothing to it either.

The colony consists of several hundred spiders; losing one will not affect hunting, defense, or anything else.

But it simply didn't want a wizard to take away its offspring.

Regulus looked at it, his tone unchanged. "So it's the most suitable."

Aragog's pincers twitched, the top pair of eyes fixed on Regulus, while the lower pairs of eyes glanced elsewhere.

"Conditions," it said.

Regulus frowned slightly.