From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 403 Dream Man

In view of the old gravekeeper's astonishing magical abilities, all the adventurers in the camp unanimously agreed that Xie Nian should put the 200 gold coins back.

After all, only 200 gold can buy a life, and the adventurers have already made a profit. Stealing the money back is really a bit of treason.

The matter between Varo and the gravekeeper came to an end, and the adventurers finally had time to deal with the Minsa frog in Kalak's pocket.

The moment Ivy lifted the Transfiguration, the drow raised their weapons and prepared to attack, but Ivy's next spell arrived as expected, and Minsara froze in place in a very impactful posture, like a vivid wax figure.

"Come on, friends, let's figure out how to use the Astral Prism." Ivy interrupted the evil thought of pinching Minsara's cheek.

"The Star Prism seems to have its own consciousness... This makes me feel uneasy. When I think of our lives being held in the hands of a relic..." Ying Xin said unhappily, because the first time the Star Prism showed its power, it flew out of her hand. But when Ying Xin needed it, it did not play its due role.

"Because you stole it from the Son of Gis!" Laizer unceremoniously opened his palm to Shadow Heart, "Let Queen Vlaakis's most loyal warrior operate it!"

"It is related to the lives of all of us. I hope you don't forget that your own life is included in it!" Ying Xin threatened before throwing the icosahedron in his hand to Laizer.

The Astral Prism did not emit any light in Laizer's hand, like a piece of stone. No matter how hard the queen's loyal warrior tried, he was unable to unleash the power of the Astral Prism.

Shadowheart, who was sitting across from her, couldn't help but laugh. "Ha! I knew it! This relic must have been taken from a world by the Githyanki, and your queen took its power for herself, pretending it was part of her own. Now, we all see the truth."

“Kainyank!” Laetel said indignantly, “This artifact must have a special way of using it, or only the queen can use it!”

"Of course I understand," Shadowheart said immediately, "your queen used this artifact in a special way and used it to protect our brains from being eaten by mind flayer tadpoles. How true!"

Laizer said no more about the Astral Prism, but stared at Yingxin with murderous eyes: "I hope you still remember the duel at dawn tomorrow..."

"Alright, alright!" Xie Nian took the Astral Prism from Leizel's hand and said, "Don't let Zhuo Er laugh at you. Let me try this thing."

What no one expected was that the stubborn icosahedron changed as soon as it fell into the hands of the evil mind. The Githyanki runes engraved on each face began to ooze orange light, and floated in the air, and kept spinning.

Mingsala, who was fixed in place, looked at the icosahedron in front of him. The mockery in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a fear of an unknown force.

The Astral Prism was spinning faster and faster, and when it reached a certain critical point, it suddenly stopped in mid-air. Then all its metal edges and panels separated outward, and the light seeping from the runes became brighter and warmer, as if the whole world was shining because of it.

The drow's eyes, like her body, became dull, as if frozen in the light projected from within the astral prism.

After a moment, the light dimmed, the edges and panels closed again, and the Astral Prism fell from mid-air and fell back into the stunned hands of Xie Nian.

Ivy snapped his fingers and removed the spell from Minsara.

The drow elf, who had been holding his weapon high, slowly put down the two hammers in his hands and stood there with his head down, thinking.

For a moment, the only sounds were the occasional crackling of the campfire and the expectant gasps of the adventurers.

"...I feel dizzy," Minsara had put away her weapon and covered her forehead with her hands, "but it is no longer blurry...The truth is, I served a lie and betrayed Rose..."

"You saved me, adventurer." Minsala continued, "No matter what the reason is, this is undoubted... But let's save those words for tomorrow... I need to think and have a good rest..."

"You can choose a place by yourself, Minsala." Ivy threw a roll of bedding to Minsala, "Before you leave tomorrow, introduce yourself."

"Wait!" Asdaelon stared and raised a finger. "She, a drow! Just joined our camp like that? I really don't want you to think that I'm targeting you, Ivy. But this is all your idea. If you wake up tomorrow morning and find a dagger stuck in your neck, it will be your fault."

"Don't worry, Asdaelen," Ivy said lightly. "There's more than one night owl in our camp. If they all decide to move at night, we're bound to run into them. We'll all be warned by then, right?"

"Okay, okay!" Asdeln, who often went out to look for food at night, rolled his eyes. "If you want, take her with you. Just know that I will rest with one eye open anyway."

"Great!" said Shadowheart. "Then the night watch will be left to you, Asdaelon."

"Of course, dear," Asdaelon smiled and showed his fangs, "if you don't mind me biting your neck."

Shadowheart replied, "Lady Shar watches me, especially in the dark. This is certainly not a threat, but I think you should be warned."

"Is your friendly interaction over? Can I find a place to rest?" Mingsala asked with a frown while standing in place.

“Not just you, but all of us should rest. We’ve been through too much today, the fire in Waukeen’s slumberland, the Githyanki centurions and red dragons on the Path of Ascension, and the battle in the goblin camp…” Ivy gently stroked the strings of the harp, playing a series of soft notes, “As promised before, I will play a song to help you sleep and coax you into a peaceful dream.”

The music played by Ivy was like the sound of a spring and the falling rain.

One after another, the adventurers yawned loudly, felt sleepy, and went into their tents.

----

Lying by the campfire, Xie Sin felt his body floating into the clouds, like an almost weightless dandelion seed.

The soothing piano music still echoes in my ears, but the touch on my back is no longer soft clouds, but cold and hard ground.

"Oh! I must have done something bad again! Otherwise they wouldn't have thrown me off the quilt!" This was the first thing that Xie Nian thought of before he opened his eyes.

But when she opened her eyes, Xie Nian realized that she was totally wrong.

She lies in a mysterious lavender starry sky, and the twinkling stars seem to be right at hand. But she is not floating, but in a marble pavilion, which stands on a floating island with green plants and flowers.

Even more eye-catching was a Tiefling who looked incredibly beautiful. She was playing a gorgeous harp and was sitting next to Xie Nian.

"Ivy?" Xie Nian called out in a daze. Among her friends, only Ivy was a bard, and it was Ivy's piano playing that sent her to sleep before.

Xie Nian has figured it out. This must be her dream. "I'm so sorry that you turned into a woman in my dream..."

Xie Nian scratched his short scarlet hair and began to doubt his sexual orientation.

The person in the dream laughed, and the harp in her hand turned into a halo and disappeared, but the sound of the harp that enveloped the entire dream did not disappear.

"I am not your fellow bard," the dreamer said. "Think carefully, and you will know who I am."

Xie Nian recalled the mysterious voice that saved him from harm when the Snail Shell fell: "You saved me? When we were on the Snail Shell?"

"That's right," the dreamer said, extending his hand to the evil thought sitting on the ground, "and I'm here to save you again this time. As long as I'm here, you won't become a mind flayer. I will protect you."

Xie Nian frowned, and without relying on the power of the person in the dream, he stood up from the ground by himself.

"Independence, very good." The dreamer withdrew his arm without any embarrassment, "We don't have much time, you must listen carefully."

“There is a huge potential hidden in your body. It comes from that parasite, and your instinct is to resist the power it gives you, but you must accept it and nourish it.” The man in the dream turned his back and stared into the depths of the starry sky. “I will stop it from devouring you. But for all of us, you must learn to control it.”

"Accepting the power of the Mind Flayer Tadpole? This doesn't sound safe..." Xie Nian was of course reluctant, "My brain is already full of holes. Who knows how much of this can be attributed to the Mind Flayer Tadpole?"

The person in the dream smiled and waved his hand to show her another scene - a giant skull wearing a crown floating in the sea of stars. Xie Siang couldn't help but feel that it came from a dead god.

When I looked closely, the skull seemed to be protected by some kind of power. The shield refracted multi-colored light and beat like a heart, and there were many glowing human figures on the surface attacking.

The voice of the man in the dream seemed to come from the sky: "This battle concerns the fate of the entire Faerun, but we are about to lose. But this is temporary. You can change all this, but the premise is that you must accept your potential."

"Our enemies are everywhere... You have to believe in me, just like you believe in yourself..." The man in the dream flew up and stared at the evil thoughts below, "Think about it, didn't I help the drow regain his freedom today according to your idea?"

"Are you the being in the Astral Prism?" Xie Nian asked in astonishment, "Then why don't you use that power to completely overthrow the rule of the Supreme True God?"

"Because that power does not belong to me, but I borrowed it from others. Protecting all of you has almost consumed all of my energy, and I really don't have the strength to share with others." The man in the dream said, "Your bard was very cautious and did not act rashly against the mind flayer tadpoles, otherwise you would all die. The mind flayer tadpoles are just a symptom of the greater disease that the continent of Faerun is facing."

"If we fail, the consequences will be several times worse than the worst result you can imagine. Whether for the sake of this world or yourself, you should accept the power of the Mind Flayer Tadpole." The voice of the person in the dream sounded very sad, and it seemed more convincing with her non-human appearance.

But the evil thought only wanted to tear her head off from that swan-like graceful neck, break off the curved horns on top of her head, and write blasphemous words on her face with the blood flowing from her neck...

Xie Nian was frightened by the bloodthirsty impulse that suddenly popped up in her mind, and then shook her head and stopped looking at the person in her dream.

"I... need to calm down... let's talk next time..."

"There is a Soul Flayer's Mind Flayer tadpole in the bard's backpack. You should open your mind to it...you know what to do..." The man in the dream said the last sentence and waved his hand to send the evil thoughts out of the dream.

"You could have ignored it, but now things have come to this. This is your own choice."

Xie Nian, who had just woken up from a dream, turned around and saw Ying Xin riding on Laizer.

At this time, she stepped on Leizel's arm with one foot and held a dagger across the neck of the Gisyanki female college student with her right hand.

"No need to explain, you coward!" The Star Realm Girl was still being stubborn.

"If anyone asks, I'll say you're showing signs of transformation. Don't expect anyone to mourn for you." Ying Xin's ruthlessness scared Xie Nian a little.

"Don't! Shadow Heart!" Xie Nian turned over from the bed, "We all know that kind of excuse is untenable! Ivy has already told us that the Mind Flayer Tadpoles have a kind of stasis magic, which will not cause us to show symptoms of transformation for the time being."

"She's a problem—and what we need is a relic, not an uncooperative Githyanki—" Shadowheart didn't move the dagger away.

"Let me up, and you'll know what will happen to you." Laizer didn't seem to think his life was hanging by a thread.

"Please! We just defeated the believers of the Supreme God entrenched in the woods, and now a True Soul has joined our team... Can't you be a little more cooperative, Laizer?" Xie Nian felt a terrible headache.

"No way! A thief doesn't deserve such luxury!" Laizer turned his head to the side, not looking at Yingxin.

"Put aside your damn pride, even for a moment, okay? We don't need to be enemies - especially in the Underdark where dangers abound." Yingxin sounded quite earnest. They had fought side by side for several days, and although the time was short, it must not feel good to cut a teammate's throat with one's own hands.

"Chk! So what do you want? We can be friends?"

Either an enemy or a friend, Laizer's idea seems a bit too extreme.

Ying Xin was also a little stunned, but she still regarded this as a concession from Leizel: "There's no need to be so anxious."

She removed the dagger from the neck of the Star Bay Girl, and carefully restored Laizer's ability to move. Then she said, "If we can transfer our hostility to the enemy instead of each other, imagine what we can achieve! The Supreme God will not be an obstacle to us!"

(End of this chapter)