Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 211 The Magic World Has Also Made Progress

After observing for a moment, Rice felt that the giant spider in front of him matched the description of a magical creature called the eight-eyed giant spider mentioned in the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

He approached the complete spider's body, counted its eyes—there were indeed eight—and combined with other characteristics, Rice was certain that the creature before him was an eight-eyed giant spider. These giant spiders live deep in the dense forests of Borneo in Southeast Asia; they are a species bred by wizards to guard their dwellings or treasures.

"It's a newly bred species," Rice realized.

Although in some respects the modern magical world has regressed significantly compared to the magical world of a thousand years ago, there has always been some innovation and development in the magical world over the millennia.

For example, the new species, the eight-eyed giant spider.

After a brief exchange, Rice was certain that this thing was designed specifically to target wizards: it appeared and disappeared unpredictably, emitted no magical energy, attacked with incredible speed, and even appeared in groups—a nemesis for wizards who were weak in close combat. The only drawback was the "click-clack" sound it made when it moved.

If I hadn't been in charge, if I had reacted a little slower, Astoria might have been kidnapped. Daphne had a necklace to protect her, so it wasn't a big problem, but Astoria didn't have such good equipment. Considering the octopus spider's cruel nature and its fondness for eating human flesh, being kidnapped would probably have led to a grim fate.

"It's an eight-eyed giant spider. I didn't expect there to be such a thing in the Forbidden Forest—we don't need to look for that wild boar anymore." The little sparrow that Rice released sent back the information. The wild boar he was looking for was currently covered in spider silk and hanging on the treetop not far away.

Rice felt that his basilisk might prefer these spiders to the foul-smelling wild boar.

"Eight-eyed giant spider, I think I saw it in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'..." Upon hearing Rice's words, Daphne stopped cleaning the spider fluid off her body and instead recalled the description of the eight-eyed giant spider in the book.

"I've seen this creature in a pharmacy before. Its venom is very valuable; a pint can sell for a hundred gallons," Astoria suddenly said.

"Huh?" Rice suddenly looked up.

One pint costs 100 gallons?! Really?! Are wizards too focused on animal conservation and sustainable development to have kept this creature from being hunted to extinction?

The two spider corpses in front of Rice gradually changed in his eyes; they were no longer spiders, but two piles of gold.

"Really? Its venom is that valuable?" Rice happily pulled out a crystal bottle and a pair of dragon skin gloves, and then began searching for the spider's venom sacs in the spider's carcass.

Although he left behind a considerable amount of "burial goods," one can't just sit around and do nothing, right? Having additional income would certainly be fantastic.

A pint costs 100 Galleons. How many goblins would you have to kill to earn that much?

More importantly, Rice didn't think all modern wizards were vengeful creatures. The fact that the venom of the eight-eyed spider could sell for such a price meant that it could definitely be used to make very precious potions.

Astoria hesitated after being asked by Rice, because she wasn't sure if the venom of the eight-eyed giant spider was really worth that much money—her father had been ripped off by merchants countless times in order to treat her illness.

"It should be able to sell for that much," Daphne, a beat behind, offered her analysis for Rice: "Giant spiders aren't easy to hunt; they're too dangerous."

At this point, she also felt a lingering fear: what if she had been even a second later...

Rice is probably chasing spiders in the dense forest right now.

Rice thought she made sense, but such things are still valued for their rarity. If he were to release several gallons of venom all at once, he could probably crash the market price.

The venom of living organisms generally has a short shelf life, so even if you buy it and hoard it, it's useless because it will spoil in a short time.

Thinking of this, Rice quickened his pace. Following the spider's fangs, he successfully located the venom glands of the eight-eyed giant spider. Rice was lucky; neither the wind blade nor the attack magic damaged the venom glands of the eight-eyed giant spider.

Compared to their enormous size, the venom glands of the giant eight-eyed spider are much smaller; the three spiders together only produce one pint of venom. Considering their immense size, this venom is likely used more for digesting food.

After collecting the venom, Rice casually cleaned the dirt off Daphne's robe—this did not shake Daphne's resolve to throw the robe away. Disposing of the spider's corpse was the last thing he wanted to do before leaving.

"I have a feeling there aren't just these three spiders in the Forbidden Forest. There's a good chance there's an eight-eyed giant spider's nest deep within it," Astoria concluded after glancing at the three-headed spider's size.

"It's obvious," Rice agreed with her. The three spiders were similar in size and of the same sex, making it hard to believe they were lone wolves.

However, Rice had no intention of tracing the trail to their lair and wiping them out completely. In his view, the killing of the eight-eyed giant spiders should be restrained; these treasure troves should not be wiped out, nor should the existing venom trading market be disrupted.

As for the risks brought by the eight-eyed giant spider, the Forbidden Forest is a place full of dangers. If it is not dangerous enough, how can it serve the purpose of training students?

He even planned to send Astoria back into the Forbidden Forest for training.

Rice used a freezing spell on the three corpses, freezing the cut surfaces of their wounds, and then applied an illusion spell to them one by one.

As the three-headed spider gradually disappeared from her sight, Daphne's expression relaxed considerably: those three big guys looked really creepy!

Astoria noticed the change in her sister's expression and a thoughtful look flashed across her face.

When the three of them embarked on their return journey, Rice had the Greengrass sisters walk in front, while he used a levitation spell to keep the three corpses of the eight-eyed giant spiders floating behind them, and he himself fell to the very back of the group.

Astoria spent a little time pinpointing the location of a spider, then gently pointed her wand at it, and the spider's leg lifted up, poking Daphne's soft flesh at the waist.

Daphne let out a scream and leaped into the distance, jumping nearly two meters.

When she realized it was her sister's prank, she immediately swung her fist and charged at Astoria.

Astoria laughed happily and ran quickly along the path.

Daphne snorted and raised her wand. A vine that Rice had cut earlier shot into the air, tripping Astoria. While Astoria was getting up, Daphne rushed over, straddled her back, and started tickling the soft flesh under her arms and on her stomach.

Rice watched the two bickering and shook his head with a helpless smile: he couldn't control these two girls anymore!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Second update! Goodnight everyone.

∪ω∪

The next update will be at the usual time tonight.

Continue drawing, start!

First, a picture of the Greengrass sisters)Д）っ

(End of this chapter)