Auden ran through the forest using the branches of the trees. He used his senses to the maximum to make sure he did not get close to any creatures while doing so. He might have learned about the creatures in the forest, but he had no practical experience with most of them. The ones he had experience with were the owls, Thestrals, and a few creatures Luna had introduced him to during their regular outings in the forest. But the original Forbidden Forest was filled with inhabitants that had not even been completely catalogued yet. So Auden was careful about his steps.
He had to also make sure that the dementors in the forest remained unaware of his presence, and for that, he could not use his magic. Thankfully, the training given by Gryffindor had strengthened his body enough for him to easily go through the forest without making any sound.
"Are we there yet?" he asked.
"Yes, just a few more kilometers," Gryffindor replied while scanning the entire forest for any anomalies.
Within half an hour, they reached the place that Gryffindor wanted to bring him to. After reaching the location, Auden did not find any difference in the place compared to the rest of the forest. The only thing that was significant was a stone slab nearby, but it did not have any sort of design or decorations on it.
"Lie down on that slab, kid, and take out your sword," Gryffindor said, and Auden took the sword out of his ring.
He climbed on the slab and lay down on the cold stone, looking straight towards the sky, which had a full moon. Plus, Hogwarts was far away from cities that used electric lights, so the sky was filled with a lot of stars that were not hidden by light pollution.
Gryffindor at the time took his sword and muttered a few incantations silently, and then the letters on the blade that spelled his name began to shine red-hot, like it was filled with lava.
He then brought the sword towards Auden and placed its tip right where his heart was.
"Please keep your hand steady, alright? I don't want to end up dead because that sword is filled with basilisk venom," Auden reminded Gryffindor as he felt the sword's tip press up on his clothes right above his chest.
"Oh, don't worry about it, kid, my hands are steady as—"
Hoot. Hoot.
Right at that moment, an owl hooted, and suddenly the sword slipped slightly from Gryffindor's hands. He immediately caught it back, but it still pierced Auden's clothes.
For a moment, there was absolute silence. Immediately, Gryffindor pulled up the sword, and Auden sat up as well. He scrambled to remove his clothes to see whether he was cut by the sword.
As he removed them and checked the area, he found that there was a small scratch. But thankfully, it had not reached deep into the skin and was only a surface wound.
Auden sighed in relief and then looked at Gryffindor with a judgmental stare. Gryffindor, seeing that Auden was safe, was trying his best to look at anything but him.
"Dude, what the hell?"
Gryffindor just scratched his head with an awkward smile. And Auden could swear he saw a few drops of sweat on the side of his head. Ghosts don't do that.
Once again, Gryffindor brought the sword up as Auden lay down on the stone surface.
"
Alright, I'll start explaining what I'm about to do," Gryffindor said as the sword started to grow slightly silver. It seemed to leech the light from the moon and the stars. "To awaken Salazar's bloodline, your blood reacted in resonance with a special frequency that the basilisk had released that day. It gave you the ability to recover when your body is tired due to magical activity. But my bloodline is a bit different. While Salazar had an ancestry of wizards, mine was filled with knights and warriors.
That is what prompted me to use swords in battle. Most wizards looked down on it until I bashed and cut them down with it. And to use a sword skillfully, you need a strong body, and to use it in a fight between wizards where a spell takes less time than it requires to draw the sword from the scabbard to kill a person, you need to have the strength of a monster," Gryffindor said as suddenly the sword started injecting the energy it had gathered till then into Auden.
Auden was able to feel the energy empowering him while flowing all throughout his body. But the next moment, he froze, and suddenly his body began exhibiting a familiar set of sensations.
His blood began to flow faster than before. He was able to hear his heartbeat loudly beating in his ears. He also felt like his vision was blurring, but at the same time, he felt an extreme case of vertigo in his head.
"Damn, this is just like the time in the chamber when I awakened the Salazar Bloodline," Auden thought as he tried to fight the dizziness.
"Don't fight it. It's uncomfortable, I know, but it's supposed to happen. Resisting it will only increase the duration of your agony." Hearing Gryffindor's advice, Auden calmed down, and within a few minutes, the problems began to vanish one by one.
Finally, Auden felt that everything was over, and he stood up from the altar and jumped down to the ground. The moment he did, he felt as if he had jumped onto a bed and not on the rough forest ground. It was as if his joints were now filled with shock-absorbing springs.
"Well, the enhancement of my bloodline is obviously aimed at increasing the body to optimal battle conditions. It strengthens the bones, modifies the ligaments to be more resilient and strong. The muscles will become denser and increase in strength without impeding your movement at all.
And most important of all, today you will learn the Patronus spell that I used in the chamber while you are supercharged with natural energy."
A/N- hope you like it.