HP: The Arcane Thief (LitRPG)

Chapter 66

Martina had been in quite an internal conflict these days. So far, her life in this world has been very peaceful and fulfilling. She has quite a loving and caring family, and magic has been such an entertaining factor that she can keep researching it all her life. 

But, it can't be forgotten that this world isn't exactly as safe a place as it appears. It's the Potterverse, where, even though there's no Harry Potter, there is still Voldemort. She confirmed it herself last year. And even though the canon plot is not the same, some factors still have not changed. For example, last year, even with so many things changing, Voldemort still came after the stone and ended up endangering the lives of the students. 

So, this year, however unlikely it may seem, there is a chance that the chamber of Secrets might be opened, and a Basilisk might start to roam free in Hogwarts. Heck, it might have already been opened for all she knew. Thus, as someone who knows the plot, she has been agonizing over what to do. 

In the original story, it was only through sheer luck that know one died in the second year. Somehow, every time someone saw the Basilisk, it was through some sort of reflection, and no direct eye contact was made, thus only resulting in the victims petrification and the Basilisk didn't attack directly as well, or it could have simply eaten a few students. But now, after everything has changed, would such lucky coincidences still occur? She can't take such a chance. After all, a lot is at stake here. 

A Basilisk is actually a big deal. It's one of the most dangerous XXXXX creatures. If someone is actually killed by a it, the influential families from all over the world, whose precious children are studying here would be beyond outraged. Specially since there has already been a troll incident before. 

They would politically tear down the School, and her parents would be leading the charge. Not to mention that the cooperation with Mahoutokoro might end, leaving her research of her magic incomplete. 

Thus, the Basilisk needs to be taken care of, as soon as possible. Martina had already made preparations for this years ago, but now that she was actually going to do this, she was having second thoughts. It was a Basilisk! And this wasn't some fantasy! It's easy to think about it but it's much more difficult to actually do it in real life! One wrong move could cost her life. 

But Martina had already made up her mind. 

'If a twelve year old boy with little to no magical training can do it, then why can't I, a reincarnator with so many cheats, do it?! I even have the [Linguist] Skill, so Parseltongue won't be a problem,' she thought positively.

As a reincarnator with high karma, she had been able to get a few cheats with her reincarnation, one of which was [Linguist]. It basically makes her adept in all languages of this world. That includes magical and runic languages. 

So, she can access the chamber without needing a Parselmouth's help and actually communicate with the Basilisk since it's not under the control of the diary Voldemort yet. Maybe, just maybe things could be settled peacefully, and if not, then she has made so many preparations as well. 

For Basilisk venom, she had some Phoenix tears. In fact, her parents have always had her carry some with her for use in case she even gets a scratch.

For its Deathly gaze, she has prepared special goggles that'll protect her eyes. For her body, she was wearing an enchanted cloak which has many enchantments, and her staff, it's something that has a much better magical conductivity than wands. 

And lastly, she has even brought with her a flock of roosters, who's cry are the only weakness of Basilisks. 

'Yes, with this much, I can do it!' She thought, trying to push down her nervousness. Besides, she also wants to explore the Chamber of Secrets. She should explore it before the plot starts. 

....

Looking at Martina going into the Bathroom, Axel frowned. As far as he knew, this Bathroom was out of order. And on her way here, she had already passed by another girl's bathroom which was perfectly in order. Coupled with other circumstances like her unusual attire, demeanor, and time, she's likely not using the bathroom for its intended use. 

Then, what's going on? All sorts of reasons came into his head. Though at this moment, something happened. 

*Ding*

[Special Quest Triggered] 

[Snake Hunting: Get rid of the Basilisk.

Reward: ???]

Axel was pleasantly surprised to see the notification. After all, special quests have always given him good rewards. He got the [Light Magic Infusion] and [Light Armor] skills from special quests, both of which have proven to be quite useful. 

He readily accepted the quest. 

'So, what's this Basilisk and where is it?' He asked the system. As a person who just got acquainted with the wizarding world, he of course had no idea what the fuck a Basilisk was. But he figured it was just a creature that somehow got into Hogwarts like the Troll. 

It wasn't until the system gave him the information on the Basilisk did he realized, this might be a scam.

[The Basilisk known also as the King of Serpents, is a dark creature which may reach gigantic sizes, and live many hundreds of years. It's highly resistant to magic (except light magic) and highly venomous. It has a murderous stare, and the Beam of its eyes can be fatal. Young Basilisks are weak to rooster's cry, but it's effect diminishes with the Basilisk's age. The size of the Basilisk can go upto to 50 metres...] 

Going through the information, Axel realized that he might have bitten more than he can chew this time. He was particularly intimidated by the 'Death Stare' skill. This thing can kill with just eye contact. How crazy is that?

'System, how am I supposed to handle the Death Stare?' He asked the system incredulously. If not for that skill, he could have still managed, but if he's going to die even if he made a direct eye contact by accident, then it's too risky. 

[Axel, death stare is not an absolute skill. There are ways it can be avoided. If you just close your eyes, it can't affect you.] 

'Then how the fuck am I supposed to fight?' 

System: [Arcane Eyes]

Damn...

'The venom...' he began. 

[Leftover phoenix tears.]

Fuck.

'Sigh...' No excuses then. 

It would seem that he has some snake hunting to do. 

...

Entering the Bathroom, Martina went straight to the sink with the small serpent. 

$"Open"$ she said and the old mechanism came to life as the sink sank out of sight.

'I don't want to do this...' murmured Martina, looking into the wide aperture that appeared in front of her. Her feet left the ground as she started to float in the air without the help of any broomstick. She then flew into the huge aperture, the long tresses of her purple hair fluttering behind her. 

*crunch* *crunch*

When she reached the bottom of the tunnel and landed on the ground, the crunching of bones beneath her feet creeped her out. She tried to ignore the huge snake skin that was lying not far away from her. Looking at it only made her determination waver. 

Walking into the passageway for a while, she came across another door. It had two stone serpents entwined carved on it, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. 

"$Open$" Spoke Martina once again in a low, faint hiss. The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, and Martina, shaking slightly due to nervousness and anticipation, walked inside. This was it. This was the Legendary Chamber of Secrets, built by Salazar Slytherin. This place has such a high archeological value, and they were never explored further in the books. It's called the Chamber of Secrets, surely it should contain some other secrets as well apart from a giant Basilisk, right?

Stepping past the parted walls, she entered the dimly lit chamber. From what she could see, it was a huge area, at least two football fields. Towering Stone pillars entwined with life-like carvings of giants serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd greenish gloom that filled the place. 

A stone pathway, wide enough for two cars to pass side-by-side led to the wide expanse further into the chamber, with had the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin. 

Greenish water surrounded either sides of the pathway which she walked on, as she fixed her attention on the giant statue with some anxiety, specifically, its mouth. That was the area which is supposed to open and free the Basilisk. Thankfully, it was closed. 

Sighing in relief, Martina decided not to open it yet. She will make all the preparations before she makes her move. 

While she was walking on the long pathway, her attention was diverted due to the amazing architecture of the Chamber of Secrets. She was itching to explore the wards and enchantments placed around this place.  

That's why, she was taken completely by surprise when something grabbed her hand from behind and attempted to drag her back forcefully. 

"!!!"

Martina screamed as her magic lashed out at whatever was trying to pull her. 

"What the fuck?! For fuck's sake, Don't cause a commotion and quickly come!" A low voice came from right infront of her, making her freak out of even more. 

How can someone else be in the chamber of secrets?! And, why does this voice sound a bit familiar?

Instead of going towards the voice, Martina instead began backing away as she raised her voice. "Y-you! D-Don't come near me!  I-I-I know v-very PoWerFulL MaGic!" She yelled, raising her staff infront of her as a magical shield was raised around her.

There were more curses from the other side. "—Dumb bish is going to get me killed as well," muttered the voice in  frustration as a person suddenly became visible, making Martina widen her eyes in shock. 

"Axel?!" 

...

Axel was stealthily following Martina into the Chamber while gathering more information from the system. 

It seems the Basilisk is inside a secret chamber of Salazar Slytherin (thank god it's not roaming around freely like the troll) and Martina is going to Hunt it down. Well, she does seem well prepared about the task and she's a powerful genius. So, Axel figured he would just watch from the sidelines and help out in case of emergency and claim the rewards afterwards. After all, the system only asked him to get rid of the Basilisk. He doesn't need to do everything by himself. 

Thus, closing his eyes and activating his Arcane Eyes, Axel followed Martina, using her as a testing rat for traps and attacks. 

And as expected, Martina seemed to know her stuff since while Axel was constantly on edge, trying to search for the Basilisk in the shadows, while Martina was navigating the place familiarly and wasn't even surprised by the life-like statues and Basilisk skin. 

'As expected, this girl is on a different league,' thought Axel as he looked at Martina who was walking along the pathway without triggering a single trap with some respect. She even had the time to admire the scenery while he worked hard to step on the exact steps she had taken. He had a headache just thinking about coming all the way here while checking for traps and wards by himself, especially since the wards of this place were quite complicated when he once increased the intensity of his Arcane Eyes and caught a glimpse of them. 

(Meanwhile, the unaware Martina who just didn't bother about that stuff due to her reliance on canon knowledge and lack of practical experience: transmigrators☕ )

While walking along the pathway, Axel realized that the woman had completely ignored the seemingly deep water that was surrounding them from both sides, just like how she had ignored countless traces of the Basilisk's existence around them. 

A doubt came into Axel's mind. 

'Does this girl really know what she's doing?' 

If the Basilisk is not in that water, then where is it? Not trusting her, Axel increased the intensity of his Arcane Eyes as he peered into the waters on either side of them.

'Fuck!' 

His heartbeat accelerated as he saw a giant shadow faintly glowing at the depths of the water through his xray vision granted by his Arcane Eyes.

'It's huge....' He thought, looking at Salazar's snake. And it was getting bigger and bigger.

Axel looked back at Martina and still found no reaction from her. The huge serpent was coming closer to the surface. It was moving very slowly, as if to not make any disturbance in the water.

'Even if she's using herself as a bait, this should be enough, right?' he thought, as he still saw no magical fluctuations coming from Martina, neither did he see her put up her guard or set up a trap. His suspicions of her kept increasing as time ticked by. 

A few seconds later...

'If she's still intentionally not doing anything, then I really admire her patience and balls,' he thought as the shadow of the snake was even closer to the surface. It seemed like it would reach the surface very soon. 

A few seconds later...

'...System, she has no idea, does she?'

[No.]

"Fucking hell," he muttered as he hurriedly tried to pull her back. 

Why did he not run away at this moment? Because of the thing called 'Life Debt.' This girl had saved his life when he was attacked by Dementors on the previous Halloween. Now, he can't just let her die, can he? 

That's why, Axel tried to pull her away. But, Martina had the leisure to scream like a little girl and even lash out at him with her magic. 

Curses flew out of Axel's mouth as he realized that the snake was now just beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to pounce on them. He tried to persuade her to come quickly, but Martina still didn't seem aware of the danger. 

"Y-you! D-Don't come near me!  I-I-I know v-very PoWerFulL MaGic!" She yelled, backing away from him and going even closer to the Basilisk. 

'Damn it!' In his frustration, Axel canceled his stealth as he quickly pointed at the waterbody beside her. "There's a Basilisk down there!!" 

He thought this would be enough to make her prepare her overpowered magic and also back away, but… it would seem that he had overestimated her intelligence. 

Martina looked alarmed, but also confused, "No, the Basilisk is obviously inside the statue—"

*BOOM*

At this moment, with a huge splash, something huge broke through the surface, coming straight towards them with a surprising agility. 

A.N.: Next Chapter: Snake Hunting.