In LOTR with Harry Potter Sign-In System!

With the giant octopus now submissive, it naturally couldn't remain in the chest.

Kael left the chest space, then took the chest and flew on his broomstick to the Black Lake below the mountain. There he released the giant octopus from the chest.

The giant octopus Kraken became excited upon seeing the lake, like a thirsty person finding an oasis in the desert. With Kael's permission, it eagerly entered the lake.

Water was Kraken's source of power. Nourished by the lake water, it became lively again, its severed tentacles rapidly regrowing. It waved over twenty thick, long tentacles, joyfully stirring the lake and raising huge waves.

Kraken's massive size, hardly much smaller than the dragon Smaug, naturally caught the attention of Hogsmeade residents across the lake with such commotion. Seeing the enormous octopus appear in the lake startled them at first.

But sharp-eyed people quickly noticed Kael's presence. Seeing the giant octopus seemed to defer to Kael, they relaxed and quickly accepted it.

After all, their lord already had a dragon, a giant eagle, and apparently a great serpent. Adding a giant octopus wasn't so strange.

Kael also noticed the residents' reactions and commanded the giant octopus Kraken. "Remember, you're not to attack the humans on the other side, understand?"

Kraken nodded. Apart from being unable to speak, its intelligence was no less than human. It understood the master's special regard for those humans and naturally dared not disobey.

Just then, urgent hoofbeats sounded. Mayor Luke had come riding fast. Due to Kraken's powerful presence, the horse refused to approach within a kilometer. Mayor Luke didn't force it, dismounting and running quickly toward Kael.

Luke looked at the massive octopus with unavoidable alarm but still steeled himself to approach Kael respectfully. "Lord Kael."

Kael spoke directly. "You're here about the octopus?"

Luke nodded. "My lord, will this octopus be living in the lake from now on?"

Kael nodded, indicating he needn't worry. "Don't worry about it bothering you. It's a guard I've stationed in the lake. With my orders, it won't attack Hogsmeade residents. Everything continues as usual."

Luke relaxed but still hesitated. "My lord, some residents want to fish in the lake. I wonder...?"

Kael waved his hand. "That's not a problem. From now on, half of the lake near the castle belongs to Kraken's territory, and the other half to the townspeople. As long as they don't get too close to the castle side, anything else is fine."

"My lord is merciful!" Luke said happily.

Luke then brought this good news back to town. Soon fishermen who made their living from fishing appeared on the Black Lake. The fishermen were very tactful, only fishing in the half near the town, never crossing the line to the other side.

Until once when a fisherman accidentally capsized and nearly drowned, a tentacle rescued him to shore. The previously separate fishermen and giant octopus Kraken finally had contact.

Gradually, the fishermen became familiar with the giant octopus. The fishermen often brought various things for the giant octopus to eat, with alcohol being Kraken's particular favorite.

The giant octopus also frequently drove lake fish toward the fishermen's side, letting them return with full catches.

As the octopus's relationship with Hogsmeade residents improved, the giant octopus would even swim to the town's side of the lakeshore, sunbathing while accepting various offerings.

Bold children would play with the octopus's tentacles or hug them while playing in midair. Adults completely trusted their children playing with the octopus, not worrying about drowning risks at all.

Visitors, merchants, bards, and others from afar came specifically to see this marvel, amazed yet not daring to approach.

After settling the giant octopus Kraken, Kael returned to the castle. This time he planned to build a furnace.

Since acquiring goblin forging techniques, Kael had planned to utilize them. He had several chests of mithril ore from Balin, and Moria would continue sending mithril.

In the magical world, mithril also existed and was called goblin silver. Goblin forging techniques used much mithril. It was a very important magical metal.

If Kael wanted to master goblin forging, he'd inevitably need mithril smelting and processing.

Under dragon Smaug's resentful gaze, the mithril ore he hadn't yet warmed was ruthlessly taken entirely by Kael.

Kael specifically chose the thirty-third floor of the tower, converting it into a forge.

But first, Kael went to the underground passage leading to the lake below, using magic to excavate a tunnel through the mountain's interior to the deep underground until finding an iron ore vein.

This was only a small vein that the dwarves had deemed worthless when excavating the underground passage. But now it suited Kael perfectly.

He went to where the iron ore was most concentrated, then took out a fist-sized piece of Mother of Mithril and placed it at the iron vein's core.

Then he opened the mithril box, removed the flame crystals, and following the structure of the Balrog's former lair, built a shell-like crystal barrier around the Mother of Mithril.

The flame crystals' extremely high temperature quickly melted the surrounding iron ore into red-hot magma.

Kael had drunk fire-protection draught beforehand to avoid injury from the scorching heat.

This magma surrounded the Mother of Mithril like a magma river. Kael could sense the Mother of Mithril emitting invisible radiation that slowly influenced the surrounding metal magma, gradually converting it toward mithril.

This conversion was extremely slow. Initially, perhaps only a gram of mithril would form per year.

Simultaneously, the flame crystals continuously strengthened and purified the Mother of Mithril, accelerating its radiation and conversion speed.

Without Kael's goblin sensitivity to metal and magic, these changes would be imperceptible.

Having done all this, Kael didn't linger. Now he need only wait quietly. Perhaps in decades or centuries, a mithril vein would form here.

Though incomparable to Moria's mithril output, it was still a mithril source.

As for Moria, though he owned one-tenth of the mithril rights, that was fine under Balin's leadership, but once Balin passed away, it was completely uncertain. After all, dwarven contract-breaking wasn't a first or second occurrence.

Leaving the iron vein, Kael collapsed and sealed the tunnel. He then went to the thirty-third floor and began busily constructing the goblin furnace.

He planned to use flame crystals for the furnace's fire bricks, but flame crystals were too hot, capable of melting surrounding stone walls and iron implements.

So Kael could only splurge and build a furnace from mithril.

Mithril had a miraculous property. It wasn't difficult to melt the first time, but once forged and completely cooled, it became extremely solid and heat-resistant. Even thrown into volcanic magma, it would be very difficult to melt.

After preparing forging tools, Kael took a mithril container, expanded its internal capacity, first placed several flame crystals at the bottom, and then successively added mithril ore.

Under the flame crystals' high-temperature roasting, the mithril ore gradually melted into flowing, scalding silver liquid.

Through continuous purification, Kael slowly poured the molten mithril metal into molds. After solidifying, a mithril furnace took shape.

It still couldn't be allowed to cool. Kael held a hammer with added mithril, continuously striking the furnace's inner and outer walls at a peculiar frequency, reciting incantations with each strike and channeling magic power through the hammer.

This technique came from the goblin forging concept that "metal has memory." Goblins believed metal possessed "memory," and forging was not just shaping but "communicating" with metal.

So the most important step in goblin forging was awakening metal's memory and connecting with it through spells, runes, and mental power, making the metal remember the creator's intent and imbuing objects with unique magical properties.

Each hammer strike on the mithril furnace wall produced magical sparks. Simultaneously, Kael's channeled magic power continuously fused with the mithril through striking, filling the already magically attributed mithril with magic power.

After completely saturating the mithril furnace with magic power, Kael used a mithril engraving tool to inscribe goblin runes on the furnace's inner walls.

By the time he finished, a week had passed.

Even with fire-protection draught, Kael was covered in sweat, whether from heat or exhaustion.

Looking at the person-high furnace before him, Kael waved his wand. "Aguamenti!"

Cold spring water gushed forth, pouring over the furnace. The furnace hissed and steamed instantly.

Waving away the indoor mist, he looked at the finished furnace.

The furnace was entirely silver, oval with a large belly, somewhat resembling an alchemy furnace, with mysterious runes covering its surface.

Kael then took several flame crystals from the mithril box and placed them in the furnace.

Though uncovered, the flame crystals' scorching temperature was miraculously contained within the furnace. Even touching the furnace walls only felt the metal's coldness.

Looking inside the furnace revealed a seemingly infinitely vast space filled with extreme heat and flames.

Kael threw in a piece of mithril ore, which instantly melted with all impurities burned away, leaving only the purest molten mithril metal.

Seeing this, Kael directly threw in the remaining several large chests of mithril ore.

Each chest of mithril ore appeared large enough to fill the furnace from outside. But even throwing them all in, the furnace accepted everything and instantly melted all mithril ore while burning away impurities.

Kael lightly tapped the furnace with his wand. Each tap automatically shrank it until it became a palm-sized miniature furnace.

Even so, the molten mithril metal inside didn't overflow.

This was the magical furnace Kael had created using goblin forging techniques.

The furnace not only had an automatically expanding internal space that grew larger as more ore entered, but also possessed abilities to enhance firepower and purify impurities.

For example, if the flame crystals had a 1,000°C temperature, the furnace could boost internal temperature to 10,000°C, enough to melt the hardest, most heat-resistant metals.

The furnace also had size-changing abilities. Wand taps controlled its size for convenient movement and operation.

Most importantly, the furnace had its greatest ability: It could absorb characteristics of metals smelted within, making itself more solid with self-repair capabilities.

With this furnace, Kael had the most solid foundation for becoming Middle-earth's forging master.