manynovel Chapter 303 The Silent Lake
Chapter 303 The Silent Lake
Chapter 303 The Silent Lake
The immense pressure increased with each dive, but Karen was already familiar with it, especially since he wasn't alone this time; his instructor was with him.
Castor remained half a body length to the side and slightly behind Karen, clearly entrusting the task of leading the way to the student who was more familiar with the waters.
Karen, without hesitation, skillfully adjusted his direction, drawing on his experience and memories from previous explorations. He gestured to indicate a ditch to the right that was prone to entanglement with aquatic plants, and the two tacitly turned left to bypass it.
Guided by Karen, the descent, though still shrouded in cold silence, was much smoother. Karen's "Eye of Truth" activated the moment she entered the water, and the deep blue magical aura permeating her vision was like a luminous veil stirred by an invisible force, growing brighter and more active the deeper she went, confirming the accuracy of the astrological predictions.
However, this body of water, which was expected to be bustling with activity due to the surge of magic, was eerily silent. The large aquatic creatures that were anticipated to be attracted or disturbed did not appear, and even the usual Grindylows and schools of fish that frequented the area had vanished. Only tiny planktonic organisms, emitting a faint bioluminescence, drifted silently past their path like cosmic dust.
The excessive silence made Karen uneasy. He slowed down, approached Castor, and tried to transmit his voice through magic: "Professor, it's too quiet. It's very different from the previous visits; we haven't even encountered a merman patrol."
Castor's grey eyes, illuminated by the light of his wand, swept across the surrounding deep blue waters, his gaze sharp as a hawk's. He responded in kind, his voice reaching Karen's ears directly: "Although Nico and I had anticipated potential aquatic disturbances, the powerful, periodic magical fluctuations will also strongly influence the instincts of all creatures in this area. The weak will flee, the strong will lie low, or—be drawn to a more central area, waiting for their share. Quiet doesn't mean safe, Hawthorne. It often signifies greater unknowns and potential clustered dangers. Stay alert, pay attention to any anomalies, not just magical fluctuations, but also subtle changes in water flow, temperature, and even sound."
Karen nodded in response, expanding his field of vision like an invisible net, closely watching not only the increasingly dazzling magical light streams, but also paying close attention to the subtle eddies in the water, the abnormal gradient changes in the water temperature, and any sounds that did not belong to the two of them.
Under his guidance, the two continued their steady descent.
Finally, the familiar, massive, sloping rock wall came into Karen's view. He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and made a "stop" gesture. The two of them stopped kicking at the same time, using the slight buoyancy to float in the water about five or six meters above the rock wall.
"This is it, Professor," Karen transmitted, pointing a beam of light from her wand at the center of the rock wall. "The unusual magical energy and those ancient patterns we detected earlier are concentrated in that area."
Within the "Eye of Truth's" vision, the deep blue magical network inside the rock wall, densely distributed like giant blood vessels, emitted a dazzling light, pulsating slowly but powerfully, transmitting immense energy into the unseen depths, like a giant heart slowly awakening from its slumber.
Castor carefully observed the direction Karen pointed in for a moment, then raised his hand, signaling Karen to extinguish the flame. The two extinguished the light of their wands almost simultaneously, and the surroundings instantly fell into near-absolute darkness. Only the intense magical light inside the rock wall was clearly visible in Karen's special vision, like a beating heart in a dark abyss.
A few seconds later, Castor's wand lit up again, but he deliberately dimmed the light to a very low level, just enough for them to see each other's gestures and facial expressions. "Check your surroundings and keep quiet," he transmitted again, his voice even lower.
Karen nodded, and the two began to carefully and slowly swim around the rock wall. Castor's wand meticulously swept over every inch of rock, every crevice. His method of examination differed from Karen's previous simple observation and recording; it was more systematic and sophisticated. Occasionally, he would stop to gently touch certain unusual patterns with his gloved fingers, or take a small silver object from the inner pocket of his cloak, hold it close to the rock wall, and carefully observe the trembling of tiny pointers on its surface. He would even sprinkle some extremely fine, shimmering silver powder from another small bag. This powder did not dissolve in the water but instead spread autonomously across the rock surface as if it possessed a life of its own, forming an extremely complex, fleeting, and rapidly disappearing network of detection runes.
Karen, relying on his familiarity with the area, focused his inspection on several places he had previously suspected might be hiding mechanisms or energy gathering points, gesturing to Castor as he went. Throughout the process, the two exchanged very little, relying mainly on gestures and eye contact, yet a tacit understanding was quickly established in silence.
About ten minutes later, the two swam back to their starting position. Castor looked at Karen, his eyes questioning. Karen shook her head, indicating that she hadn't made any new discoveries.
"No actively triggered magical traps or surveillance magic were detected," Castor concluded telepathically. His gaze returned to the center of the magically surging rock wall. "The protective mechanism is more likely integrated into the entrance itself, or activated by an internal magical hub under specific conditions. This is very much in line with the legendary Salazar Slytherin, whose arrogance stemmed from his bloodline and talent, and whose confidence that outsiders could not find or understand how to open his secret chamber."
He glanced at the small, waterproof timer on Karen's wrist: "How long until the predicted peak?"
Karen glanced at the glowing hands on the watch face: "Twelve minutes left, teacher."
Castor nodded and said nothing more. He chose a relatively flat spot on the back of a rock, gestured for Karen to move closer to him, minimizing the disturbance caused by the water flow. Then, he completely extinguished the light from his wand.
Utter darkness and absolute silence descended once more, and this time, even the last faint glimmer of light vanished.
All Karen could hear was the rhythmic bubbling of her own breath as she used the Bubble Head Charm, and the increasingly loud and clear thumping of her heart. Thump—thump—thump—each beat seemed to be a countdown to that crucial moment.
Floating idly in the icy lake, waiting, seemed to accelerate the loss of body heat. The biting cold seeped in relentlessly, forcing Karen to expend more magic to maintain his temperature—a continuous drain on his energy. He couldn't help but glance in Castor's direction. In the "Eye of Truth's" vision, his mentor was merely a blurry humanoid heat source, his magical fluctuations perfectly concealed, almost blending into the frigid environment, displaying astonishing control and patience.
The waiting seemed to stretch on endlessly, each second agonizingly long. Karen's mind raced with uncontrollable thoughts: What if the astrological model's calculations were wrong? What if she couldn't meet the opening conditions? What if opening the entrance was too loud and attracted creatures lurking in the shadows? What if the chamber was empty, or filled with a terrifying curse far beyond their control—
He forced himself to stop these useless guesses and began to silently review the complex ancient runes in his mind, trying to shift his attention to academic thinking.
He turned his gaze back to the rock wall. The magical energy flowing within grew brighter, and its pulsation seemed to quicken slightly, as if the enormous heart was making final preparations for its ultimate awakening. He could even sense extremely subtle vibrations emanating from the water, originating deep within the rock wall.
Just then, Castor beside him shifted very slightly, adjusting his posture. Karen immediately noticed this movement and looked at him. Even in the darkness, he seemed to feel his mentor's sharp gaze, as if silently reminding him: "Concentrate, the crucial moment is approaching."
Karen took a deep breath, completely clearing his mind of all distractions. He focused intently on the central area of the rock wall, pushing his perception to its limit, not missing a single change in the form or flow of magic. His right hand gripped his wand tightly, while his left hand unconsciously rested on the small pouch at his waist, his fingertips able to touch the outline of the cool, anti-curse potion inside.
Time ticked by, second by second. The illuminated numbers on the timer slowly and steadily advanced toward the appointed moment.
The surrounding lake water seemed to sense the approaching critical point, becoming more viscous, and the current slowed and became heavier. The low-frequency vibrations originating from deep within the rock walls became more pronounced, clearly transmitted to their bodies through the water.