From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 256 The Hobbit (1000010000)

As a wizard, Gandalf is particularly good at playing with fire and flash, which is why he also became a master of fireworks. Poor Bilbo Baggins in the expedition was deceived by this unscrupulous old man into Thorin's dangerous mission to restore his country because he saw him set off fireworks in the Shire when he was a child.

Now all the fires in the Orc dungeon have gone out, and the only source of light is the Orc King who is still howling. The oil in this human-shaped torch is still very rich, and it will take a long time to burn it all out.

At this time, Gandalf lit his staff and led the expedition team to a smoke-filled passage. Gandalf knew the nature of fire very well and knew that smoke would always move towards a place with air circulation. As long as there was air circulation, it meant that the place was definitely not far from the exit.

And Ivy stayed where he was. He hadn't taken the head of the Orc King off his shoulders yet. How could he leave?

Ivy used the thunder wave to sweep away the orcs rushing towards her, and began another round of killing. The wave of fear caused by the beast bite sword surged back and forth among the orcs, causing these poor guys to flee in all directions, but they could never escape the capture range of the blade in Ivy's hand.

Although the orcs lived underground for many years and had the ability to see in dim light, in such a horrible battlefield, no orc could calm down and identify the way out. They could only blindly follow the crowds running around in the underground city's corridors. However, the crowds running back and forth were also made up of confused orcs, so it was even more impossible for them to find the few ways to survive.

Ivy swung the Beast Bite Sword wildly, and the dragon head on top of the ebony staff spit out terrifying thunder again and again.

The battle was truly over only when all the fat on the Orc King's body was burned out and there was no Orc in the entire Orc dungeon who could use his legs to escape from Ivy.

The continuous fighting had left Ivy's spirit on the verge of exhaustion, and his muscles felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

He took out the Hufflepuff gold cup and took three big gulps before he recovered from the shock.

Ivy activated the Beast Bite Sword Lightbringer's ability again, creating several bright flames to illuminate. The Orc King's horrible charred corpse collapsed to the ground in a very terrified posture, as if he was using all his strength to stay away from Ivy.

You have to know that his whole body was completely on fire. He could pose like this regardless of the pain. He must have been deeply shocked inside.

Ivy put away the golden cup and chopped off the orc king's shriveled and charred head with a sword. Even though only the skeleton was left, the head was larger than those of many wild beasts.

Ivy found a piece of hemp rope and passed it through the black eye sockets, then tied the black skull head around his waist. Looking at it from left to right, he felt that it was not very beautiful, so he found a piece of relatively clean cloth and wrapped it up, which made it look less scary.

The Golden Horned One, who had been standing on a high place waiting for a long time, came to Ivy as if nothing had happened and nudged his arm with his big golden head.

"Ah, you're hungry too? Right?" Ivy fumbled in the saddle bag and took out the last handful of elven oats. It had been nearly a month since they left Rivendell, and they had also been trekking in the Misty Mountains for a month. This little bit of elven oats was saved for Golden Horn by Ivy's persuasion.

After licking the last grain of oatmeal stuck between Ivy's fingers, Jinjiao nodded with satisfaction and leaned over.

Ivy jumped on the horse and patted Goldenhorn's neck: "You can find Gandalf and the others, right?"

Jinjiao snorted, stepped on the corpses on the ground, and ran forward quickly.

At this time, Ivy finally had time to take out the Grimoire of Destruction to check his status.

The spell slots of the Supreme Warlock and the spell points used for metamagic spells have all been used up, as has the spell slots of the Swordmaster. However, there are still a few arcane points left. Apart from enchanting the weapon, Ivy did not consume much in the battle.

The spell slots of the Scribe and Mage are the most consumed, with only 3 spell slots left for the first ring, more for the second ring, 5, and only one left for the third ring. Fortunately, the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rings have not been consumed much, with 5, 6, and 3 left respectively.

After paying such a high price, Ivy certainly did not gain nothing. He gained a lot of experience points, enough to push the career level of the Sword Master to level 11. If the experience points were divided equally with the Supreme Warlock, it would be enough to raise both of them to level 9 respectively.

After just a little thought, Ivy made a decision.

At a time when a mage's spell slots cannot be restored, it is extremely important for Ivy to replenish his spellcasting resources. The Swordmaster profession brings almost no increase in spell slots. Although increasing the level will make the Swordmaster's spells more powerful, for Ivy, spellcasting is always his most important job.

So without hesitation, Ivy immediately distributed the experience points equally to the two professions.

After a quick inspection of the new job features, Ivy knew that he had made the right choice.

The [Dazzling Warlock] from the world of Magic: The Gathering has demonstrated extremely powerful destructive ability and plasticity. If it were before Ivy's time travel, no DM would have released it for players to play.

The fourth-level Dazzling Warlock obtained a feature called [Changeable Casting], which converts spell slots into spell points. If Ivy's spell slots can be restored as usual, this ability will turn him into a super magic turret, which is very powerful. However, with limited spell slots, the existing 12 spell points are enough for him to use.

Then there is another sixth-level occupational feature [Heart of Elements], which allows Ivy to choose two of the six elemental damages of strong acid, frost, fire, lightning, poison and thunder to gain resistance every day. And when releasing a spell with the selected element of resistance in the spell description, as long as the consumed spell slot is higher than or equal to the first ring, the elemental magic will burst out with Ivy as the center, causing half of the elemental damage to all targets within 10 feet to the class level of the dazzling warlock, and the range of this effect will be affected by [Wild Element Surge].

This is a very powerful area damage ability. Although the number seems small, a ninth-level Supreme Warlock can only cause 4 points of damage, but it is triggered frequently. As long as Ivy chooses the main spells to be used in the next day and then chooses a corresponding damage type, it can be triggered frequently. More importantly, Ivy can even trigger this feature through the Scribe and Mage's ability to change the damage type.

The eighth-level Dazzling Warlock's professional ability is [Element Shaping], which has a very simple effect but is very effective, and also has a linkage effect with [Heart of the Elements]. With it, Ivy can freely shape when releasing spells containing the resistance element selected by [Heart of the Elements], leaving a safe space for teammates.

Next time when a teammate is captured, Ivy won't have to watch Gandalf grab the kill and do nothing. He can just cast a fireball that can autonomously distinguish between friend and foe, and even the experience points on the throne will be his.

As for the two specialties at level 4 and 8, Ivy chose [Mounted Combat] and [Mounted Casting]. This allows Ivy to control the Golden Horn more easily without causing spellcasting failures or attacks to miss due to its high-speed movement.

After the last experience of getting hit on the horse's back, Ivy really didn't want to experience it again.

The Sword Master's level is also very useful after it is upgraded.

Ivy had the opportunity to grow her attributes at level 18 and level . After collecting two points, Ivy could increase her agility attribute to points, which just met the prerequisite for [Backhand Strike].

As for the seventh and ninth level specialties, Ivy chose [Five-foot Quick Step] and [Mastered Heavy Attack]. The former allows Ivy to move five feet after launching an attack, so as to facilitate the next attack. The latter doubles the threat range of the heavy attack of the beast bite sword in Ivy's hand, which means that the critical hit rate increases from 15% to 30%.

Originally, spellcasting professions did not meet the prerequisite for [Improved Critical Attack], but the ninth-level Swordmaster's professional feature [Perfect Critical Attack] allowed him to skip the prerequisite and directly learn this feat.

In addition to the level 9 [Perfect Smash], the Swordmaster also has a professional feature at level 7 and level 8, namely [Lightning Draw] and [Mastery of Spell Combat]. The former allows Ivy to quickly draw her weapon even when she is caught off guard, and always be one step ahead in battle. The latter comprehensively strengthens the Swordmaster's ability to cast spells while fighting, making it less likely for Ivy to fail when she is multitasking.

Looking at his attribute panel, Ivy's nerves, which had been tense since he came to the world of Arda, finally relaxed. Because the ninth-level swordmaster provided two fifth-ring spell slots and two fourth-ring spell slots, and the ninth-level dazzling warlock also added three third-ring, three fourth-ring and one fifth-ring spell slots.

This is undoubtedly a great enhancement for Ivy. He can now cast spells that he usually dared not use. After all, both the Swordmaster and the Warlock can automatically restore their casting resources in this world.

As long as she completes a long rest in a safe situation, Ivy will completely get rid of the situation of lack of spellcasting resources.

But they couldn't be careless yet. There were definitely more than the few hundred orcs in the dungeon that Ivy had killed. They were scattered throughout the interconnected tunnels, and there might be other settlements. Ivy was in a bad condition right now, and she had to stay alert before she met up with Gandalf and the others.

Jinjiao had been running in the passage for quite a while. Apart from a few corpses lying on the ground, there was no living thing. It seemed that there were only a few orcs chasing the expedition team. This made Ivy feel a little relieved.

As the distance increased, the height of the passage became lower and lower. Ivi lay flat on Jinjiao's back. For a while, he suspected that he had taken the wrong path, until he followed Jinjiao to an area full of forks in the road, and saw a pale figure there.

Due to the presence of the West Wind Horseshoe, the Golden Horn did not make any sound when moving, so the figure sitting near the tunnel entrance did not notice the approach of Ivy and the Golden Horn at all.

As he got a little closer, Ivy knew who the pale and thin shadow was. After all, it was a classic image in film history, and it had a profound impact on people's minds. As soon as Ivy saw it, he immediately associated it with the name "Gulu".

————"Cough——" Gollum coughed loudly, scaring Bilbo who was about to take action beside him.

It turned out that after Bilbo fell into the goblin's lair from the cave where he was resting, he was ignored because of his inconspicuous nature. Until all the dwarves were taken away, no goblin found him. He was very lucky at first, and wanted to see where the goblins would finally lock the dwarves. However, he had just poked his head out of his hiding place when he was discovered by a goblin who was also alone.

After a fight, he fell deep underground, but luckily he fell on a pile of mushrooms and survived.

Then he saw Gollum and witnessed Gollum killing the orc who fell with him. Bilbo tried to escape but made a noise and was discovered by Gollum. Gollum had already eaten almost all the edible parts of the orc and did not intend to kill Bilbo directly. Instead, he played a guessing game with him.

After a battle of wits, Bilbo won the game by answering a nearly cheating question: "What's in my pocket?" He felt a little guilty about cheating, but then he realized that Gollum had never intended to keep his promise and let him go. The guessing game was just a pastime for him before killing Bilbo.

The two were chasing each other in the tunnel. Bilbo fell and accidentally put the thing in his pocket on his finger, so he also discovered the magic of the ring.

This magical ring that gave Bilbo the ability to become invisible was the most powerful of the rings of power forged by Sauron, and the one that Saruman secretly coveted - the One Ring.

Bilbo, who had the ability to become invisible, followed Gollum all the way to this intersection where there were many forks in the road. He heard Gollum mumbling to himself, and he told him the correct direction to leave the underground.

But Gollum was blocking the right path, and Bilbo had no chance of getting through unless he got rid of it. He had drawn his dagger, but the kindness and pity of the hobbits prevented him from doing so, even though the little monster had threatened to kill him only a few minutes before.

"Cough!" Gollum coughed again and stood up from the ground in an awkward posture.

No. Bilbo found that Gollum was not standing up, but was lifted up by someone's neck.

"Thief! Baggins... You stole our gifts!" Gollum looked almost unable to breathe, and his eyes were full of tears, but even so, he could not forget the ring on Bilbo's finger, "We hate you! We will always hate you!"

For a moment, Bilbo even suspected that he had lifted Gollum up. The ring gave him the ability to be invisible, so why couldn't it give him an invisible hand?

But he soon found out that he was extremely wrong.

Because a wizard with a magical blue light in his eyes appeared from another tunnel, still accompanied by the golden unicorn, who was tall and almost twice as tall as Bilbo.

"Baggins?" Ivy's voice was steady and powerful, but it was hard to hide his fatigue. "What did you do with our Master Snitch?"

The spell that strangled Gollum's throat was the Hand of the Telekinetic Mage. After studying the five-ring spell Bigby's Palm, Ivy was able to use this basic spell to do something more useful. However, as a creature that was not very strong, Gollum could not break free from Ivy's magic.

"Wizard!" Baggins took off the ring on his index finger and appeared behind Ivy. "I'm here?"

"Mr. Baggins?" Ivy tilted his head to look at the hobbit. Long before casting the spell to subdue Gollum, Ivy had thoroughly checked the situation nearby and even used spells such as invisibility, but still found no trace of anyone.

The power of the One Ring was far greater than he had imagined.

"Are you hurt, Mr. Baggins?" Ivy continued.

"What? Ah! Not at all." The Hobbit looked very embarrassed. He pulled his fingers out of his pockets, raised them to his chest and then put them down, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Very good, once I kill this evil little thing, I will take you out of here. I thought you were eaten by the orcs." Ivy drew the beast-biting sword from his waist, raised the sword and approached Gollum who was held in the air by the invisible hand.

"Wait! Wizard! Wait!" Bilbo waved his hands and approached Ivy, while Ivy tilted her head and waited for Bilbo to continue.

"Can we... not kill it?" Bilbo rubbed his hands.

"It hates you, absolutely hates you," said Ivy. "It would kill you if it had the chance, Mr. Baggins."

"But he has no weapon... and is all alone in the goblin territory... He is quite pitiful..." Bilbo tried hard to find a reason to let Gollum go, and selectively ignored its hateful eyes and its crimson face.

"According to my experience, your kindness now is likely to cause greater disasters in the future. Even so, are you going to let it go?" Ivy continued.

"After all, that's in the future, isn't it?" Bilbo dusted himself off and buttoned up his clothes. "Look, after this job, I'm going to go home and retire, and never do anything adventure-related again. Even if it searches for me for its whole life, it won't be able to find me. Maybe it will be trapped underground until it dies!"

"So... please let it go, wizard. Please," Bilbo begged.

"If it's willing to swear," Ivy said.

"What?" Bilbo didn't understand, but seeing Gollum rolling his eyes while being held in the air, "It's dying. Let it down first, okay? Wizard?"

Ivy withdrew the Mage's Hand, but did not remove the invisibility skill that was currently being activated.

Gulu fell to the ground, holding his throat and breathing heavily.

"As long as you swear, little thing." Ivy pointed the beast bite sword at Gollum, "As long as you swear that you will never hurt Mr. Baggins in your life, I will let you go."

"No!" Gollum refused loudly. "Thief! Baggins is a thief! ... Gollum... Gollum... We will never swear!"

"If you don't swear, the wizard will definitely kill you, and then you will never be able to find me again." Bilbo actually began to persuade Gollum, "You said I was a thief, but I didn't hurt you! As long as you swear not to hurt me, you can live. Only by living can you have a future and hope!"

Gollum stared at Bilbo with his big watery eyes for a long time, and finally said with difficulty: "We swear, we swear never to hurt Mr. Baggins in our lifetime."

"Very good." Ivy used the wizard's hand again, picked up Gollum and threw him behind him, and then cast a sleeping spell to prevent the manic little thing from following them.

"We're going this way, right?" Ivy asked.

"Ah! Yes!" Bilbo was still looking back at Gollum, as if he was worried that Ivy had used some spell to kill it silently. "It said that's the back door..."

"Don't worry, it's just asleep." Ivy explained, "Since it's a backdoor, there must be someone guarding it. Can you hide it again?"

"Of course!" Bilbo disappeared as soon as he finished speaking. Ivy looked back for a while but found nothing.

"I'm here! Wizard!" Bilbo suddenly appeared in front of Ivy again, waved at him, and hid his other hand in his pocket and refused to take it out. "Let's go!"

Ivy used the invisibility detection skill to confirm again and again, and found that Bilbo's shadow was indeed nowhere to be seen. Only then did she completely believe that the spell that Sauron attached to the One Ring was far more powerful than he had imagined.

Ivy stared at Bilbo's hand in his pocket for a while, and only spoke when he began to get uneasy: "That's not your power, Bilbo, don't rely on it too much. Okay, let's go."

　Done!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)