Chapter 106

An hour after Severus patched up the monsters and they were no longer in danger of death, they continued on their way towards the second "safe zone". But, of course, he was in no hurry to let them out of the cages for Nellie's safety, otherwise they could attack her, which would not be very good. In addition, the wizard also dug into their heads, first depriving them of consciousness so that it would be easier to do this, but to his disappointment, what he was looking for was not there, and it was almost impossible to digest a hundred years of life in a couple of minutes, so , Severus  limited himself to a superficial examination, and after waking up, he asked a couple more leading questions from above, but everything was to no avail, they did not know anything about the crystal, similar to the one he had previously found in that cave.

 But still, Snape did not remain empty-handed, he combined their memories of the inside of the "Magic Jungle" over the past three years and now the Slytherin knew this place like the back of his hand, especially the black hound, who never sat in one place and constantly moved through the forest, changing the place of deployment almost every day. And because of that, Severus updated his route to collect some of the ingredients that only existed in this part of the jungle.

 Also, from the bear, Snape was able to find out what kind of fruit it was. It allowed monsters to evolve with some chance, which is why it was called the "Fruit of the Beast King". After all, anyone who ate it, even if it was some kind of weak beast, could become many times stronger, thereby being compared with the most powerful creatures of the forest. And it was a similar fruit that the black hound ate.

She was lucky to become the strongest monster of the jungle, from just a normal wolf. Therefore, the bear was then furious, finding tiger fur near the tree where the fruit had previously ripened, thinking that he was going to feed it to his cub. Having learned the whole story, Severus finally began to guess how the snake could start evolution, but he still had doubts, because, although the fruit had such a wonderful property, but to make a dragon out of a snake, it had to have a fantastic good luck and eat at least twenty such fruits and maybe then there will be at least some chance. 

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Jumping onto a small slope, the wizard bent down and picked a purple flower, and then, almost immediately, threw it into a small box specially made for herbs.

"… but I'm still surprised you let them live." Nagini said, looking at him.

"Since when did you become so bloodthirsty?" Severus asked with a chuckle, straightening his back and looking up at the sky, on which the sun had already begun to sink. on the ground a tree torn by claws, "And you know, I also have a conscience, if I had killed them after I robbed them, I would definitely feel bad. At first, I generally wanted to buy them(monsters) out, but after the attack, I changed my mind, let them hang on a tree and think about their behaviour."

"Aren't you worried that some beasts might find them?"

"For that matter, I covered them with an eye averting charm, why do you think I gathered them in one place?"

"I see." Although her voice sounded indifferent, but through the connection, Severus felt pride and a bit of joy. 

The wizard did not comment on this somehow, nevertheless, he understood Nagini better than anyone and that she really did not like to kill and hurt people, unless of course it threatened her or his life, therefore, the snake was glad that he did not take their lives. 

By nature, she was a very kind "person" and it was this quality of hers that he liked in her. 

Moving forward, the wizard saw more and more footprints in the trees, and after a few minutes he stopped in a half-empty clearing, where there was already a trodden path leading to the cave. 

This place was the lair of a bear, but Severus did not go inside, instead he walked past it and stopped in front of a small palm tree, on which this fruit once grew, and if possible, he wanted to try to take it with him. 

As soon as he touched the trunk, bewilderment appeared on the wizard's face, because he almost did not feel magic from it, as if it were a simple Muggle tree, and looking at the leaves, Snape noticed that they began to gradually fade. "Could it be that after the fruit is plucked, the tree simply dies? But then, as they grew again… Wait! If I remember correctly, the tree on which the fruit that the black hound ate grew was different, it looked more like rubber, and this is generally a palm tree …"

"Reminds me of the parasites you once told me about, they also ate all the nutrients from the body and when the victim died, they spread to a new one …" Nagini commented from the side.

"It may very well be," Severus did not deny

Nagini's theory, because in the world of magic anything is possible.

"At first I thought about giving it to you to eat, but after that…" chuckling, he shook his head with a bit of disappointment, "We have nothing more to do here, and I have already collected the necessary herbs."

"Is it possible that these fruits grew in that underground forest?" the snake muttered thoughtfully as she looked at him. "Then that might explain how that snake could, as you said, "evolve into a dragon."

"Hmm… I don't even know, everything can be, but even if it's true, nothing can be changed, because it will mean that he ate everything, since we didn't find a single such fruit there, and after that, I'm even a little afraid to use this snake for the ritual," he turned around and headed along the path back into the dense thicket of the forest, "As we go back, we need to look for more similar fruits, I need to understand what they are and whether they are harmless."

"Of course, of course, don't rush! Don't put pressure on yourself, Study everything well!" the snake chirped cheerfully, patting his shoulder with its tail, which caused a mocking smile on the face of Severus, at the sight of which, she turned away in embarrassment, she really did not want to eat the heart or brain of that snake.

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Still, the inner part of the jungle was almost five times smaller than the outer one, so getting to the "safe zone" was not difficult, although along the way they encountered several monsters, as well as a plant that tried to eat them, but dealing with them was just a matter of minutes, these magical beasts were no match for those three, although if they got into the outer part of the forest, they would definitely become kings. 

The next "safe zone", compared to the last one, looked more like an abandoned village surrounded by a stone fence four meters high, but not simple, but almost completely inscribed with runes, and besides them, many enchantments were also applied. The wizards seemed to fear that the dome might someday disappear, although Snape, who had examined it, could say with certainty that this was unlikely to happen,

Although vaguely, the buildings were very similar to those that stood in the previous "village", only they were pretty "worn", covered with dirt, with holes in the roofs, and stones and pieces of wood lay here and there on the ground, and hanging dark clouds, gave the town a special "charm". 

In addition to the buildings, one could also notice several tents, near which stood wizards in dark outfits that were not the most attractive appearance, and there were not so many people in the "safe zone". 

From the moment Severus entered through the front entrance having already paid ten mouros, only half an hour had passed and during this time, the Slytherin met only about forty wizards, while he still managed to go around the whole village, because like the inner part of the jungle, this place is also almost several times less than the previous "safe zone". 

Of course, these were not all people, most of them were mostly in houses and chambers, but still, something surprised Snape and it was seven "Masters" in such a small place, although he thought there would be much less, but Severus was sure that these were not all , at least two were still in the jungle, and it's possible that there were a few more out there as well. 

On Brew's recommendation, this time, Severus did not stay at the inn, but set up a tent outside and paid a hundred mouros to a member of some group, he received their sign, which he hung on it. 

With this, the chance of someone trying to attack and rob was minimal, mainly due to the rule established between them about non-aggression against each other, and in hotels that belonged to different gangs, deaths were commonplace, because in any moment could poison food or kill at night. 

Such was the situation in the "village", in which there were no laws, except for one, and this is the "law of power", whoever is stronger is right. 

After placing additional protective and signalling charms on the tent, the wizard stepped inside, ignoring the glances of some certain individuals. 

Severus was not a lover of luxury, so he limited himself to only four rooms, one of which was a kitchen, the other a shower and a toilet, and two living rooms, one for him and Nagaina, and the second for the house elf. 

"I don't like this place…" Nagini said, shaking her head.

"Don't worry," Severus said calmly, stroking the worried snake, nevertheless, Snape was not particularly surprised by the gloomy atmosphere of the village, yet there were hundreds of similar places in his world, you can even say that he felt like a fish in water in this place. 

"Mr." the excited little house elf appeared next to him, "the Serpent woke up." 

"Okay, I'll come right now," having gone into one of the rooms, Severus threw off his robe on the bed and placed a simple-looking wooden box on the table, and the next moment he disappeared ...