From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 407 News about the Golden Furnace

However, with just a snap of his fingers, the drow mage's almost fully formed fireball spell disintegrated into a ball of sparks.

The drow mage, who was caught in a brief magical disorder, was unable to cast another spell, and several melee teammates on the field also knew who the biggest enemy in this battle was.

The high-speed operation of the Purgatory Engine brought Kalak the blazing rage of Hell, and the roar that burst out from his chest echoed in this dark and deep underground world. The Hell Champion Warrior jumped high, swung the giant axe into a burning red arc, and aimed at the giant eyeball of the Eye Demon, which was blinking frequently due to the toxin.

Laizer rushed in from below, dragging the silver giant sword on the ground, sparks flew up, and then tore the air with a scream. Her target was the wound left by Ivy before. The military education in Xingwan raised her in the habit of hitting the enemy's weaknesses.

The determination for revenge turned into holy light on Minsara's magic sword, and the paladin's oath was as sharp as a fine gold blade. The magic sword was whistling with separation of life and death, singing a harsh funeral melody for the enemies of the Knight of Vengeance.

The screams of life and death passed back and forth between the three weapons, merging into a shock wave that should not be underestimated, and the weapons of the three melee adventurers hit the Eye Demon heavily.

As the longsword of Eilistraee's followers, the magical effects of Life and Death are extremely powerful. The holder can switch it between the screaming and singing modes. The screaming state will emit harsh sound waves, which will have a negative impact on enemies near the holder and make them take an additional d4 thunder damage when they are damaged. Although it is called thunder damage, this type of damage has nothing to do with lightning, but is more like a shock wave. The singing of life and death is an effect that amplifies teammates within melee range. Since people holding longswords are generally fighting on the front line, the effect of singing is not very practical.

It had been only minutes since Minsara's death, but she had already mastered the use of Eilistraee's magical sword.

The Eye Demon, which was hit by the Holy Slash, the Burning Slash and the Giant Weapon Strike at the same time, was still not dead. Blood spurted from its huge eyeballs. Its four long eye stalks were aimed at the adventurers huddled in front of it. An ominous red light was quickly condensing.

Ivy sensed the magic power that the Observer Eye Demon was mobilizing, and guessed that the eye wave ray it was going to launch next would be the disintegration ray that the Eye Demon clan loved and was most proficient in.

Disintegration Ray is similar to Ivy's favorite sixth-ring Transmutation spell Disintegration, both of which can cause force damage and decompose matter into powder.

If the damage of the disintegration ray exceeds the range that several melee adventurers can bear, they will be directly transformed into a small pile of dust, and only the full resurrection spell and the wish spell can save them. However, considering that the old man Yager has been staying in the camp, this is not a big problem.

But he still had to strike when the time came. From the start of the battle till now, Ivy had only used up one opportunity attack and one reaction action, and he still had plenty of concentration and mobility to use.

At this time, the teammates are facing a crisis and need a god-like mage to come to the rescue.

The notes that Ivy played casually turned into chains in the air, binding all four eye stalks of the Eye Demon that were ready to strike.

The floating Eye Demon's body was also recaptured by the gravity of the earth. The melee adventurers who had been ready for battle rushed forward and turned the motionless Observer Eye Demon into a corpse that was still emitting heat.

"Hehehe! Keep that dagger away from my neck!"

The tense voice attracted the adventurers who were looking for spoils on the corpse of the beholder in the canyon. They looked up and found that Asdaelon had already held the drow mage who had just been freed from petrification hostage.

"Don't worry, dear. As long as you don't act rashly and answer our questions obediently, I promise that your life will not be in danger." Asdeln's eyes swept over the drow mage's carotid artery and he licked his lips involuntarily. The vampire spawn had not drunk blood for some time, and it was obvious that his teammates did not intend to share their blood with him.

"Alright, alright..." The Drow Mage glanced at the adventuring team in the canyon and raised his hands in surrender. "Can I spit? There's so much dust on my tongue!"

After a while, the kidnapped drow mage returned to the canyon and stood beside the Observer's Beholder's body, which had been broken into pieces, waiting to be questioned.

"Say it again, Gale. Why do we need to take meat from this monster?" Laizer asked with a frown as he cut off one of the Observer's eye stalks with a knife.

"To put it simply, it's for cat food." Gale was in a good mood. "My pet is a winged cat, and she likes to eat beholder meat jerky the most... Although the observer beholder can only be regarded as a low-level beholder, the guy in front of us can not only use petrification rays, but can even move like a real beholder. I think the meat quality can't be too bad. By the way, a winged cat is a kitten with wings."

"The 'kitten' you are talking about, is it a ferocious beast?" Laizer asked again.

Gale was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Laizer was concerned about cats themselves: "Well... they are very small, have whiskers and soft fur, and can meow... they are cats."

"What is the purpose of this creature?" asked Laizer.

"Well...farmers will use it as a rat catcher to keep their crops free from hamsters." Professor Decarios continued to explain diligently.

"Oh." Leiser nodded, "Then it is indeed a ferocious beast."

“Wait? Beasts?” Will asked incredulously. “I thought you were going to say cats were useless animals… Is this some kind of Githyanki joke?”

"If this creature can catch a hamster as big as a bear, then it is undoubtedly a beast," Leitzel explained simply.

"What kind of hamster is as big as a bear?" Will became more suspicious that Xingwan Girl was showing her "humorous and funny" side again.

"Giant space hamsters." Ivy helped Will answer his questions. "A species specially bred by the dwarves in the astral plane. Originally, they were used to drive spaceships in hamster wheels. But later, some of them escaped from their cages, so they took root in the astral plane and multiplied everywhere. The reproductive ability of these guys is no different from that of ordinary hamsters, so they were everywhere soon. And because their strength is no different from that of an ordinary bear, many astral races are troubled by this."

"You seem to lack common sense, Will." The Star Bay girl nodded in agreement with Ivy's words and looked down on the Duke's son for his academic qualifications. "That's not common sense in Baldur's Gate..." Will muttered softly and did not continue to argue with Laizer.

Minsara had already found the drow wizard and said haughtily, "Explain, jaluk."

With the exception of the drow who worship Eilistraee, most drow societies are unequivocally matriarchal.

Therefore, Minsara's attitude not only did not anger the drow mage, but instead helped him quickly understand the situation.

"Sorry... Mistress. I'm Dawn, the third son of the Bartol family, a first-level shaper, and the new ..."

"I am not interested in your title, jaluk (Elf language: bastard)." Minsara interrupted Dawn impatiently, "I am concerned about why you are here, and the Observer Eye Demon and these jaluk (Elf language: bastard) stone statues. If I find you talking nonsense again, your tongue will become a decoration."

"...This matter is a bit complicated." Dawn was obviously reluctant to follow Minsara's instructions, but after seeing her eyes, he immediately backed off. "But I will try to be brief and let the respected hostess understand the whole story..."

Dawn reached into his backpack and pulled out a piece of dull amethyst, its light so dim it was almost invisible.

"No! No! Dear underground gods, no!" Dawn stared at the crystal in his hand and shouted in despair.

“Hmm.” Minsara blew out a breath. “Whatever you put into the memory crystal, it’s almost gone. You’ve been petrified for a long time.”

Dawn raised the dimmed memory crystal and said unwillingly, "It's been much longer than I thought... Does that mean my opponent has found the furnace? Which bastard stole my glory? Shagrim? Firro?"

"Ah, there are two more names I need to know." Mingsala raised her chin and motioned Dawn to continue.

"You haven't heard of their names? That doesn't make sense. The name of the Master of the Adamantine Forge must be well known throughout the Underdark, and everyone must be in awe..."

"Adamantine Forge?" Minsara's eyes lit up. "That memory crystal contains information about the Adamantine Forge? Very good, give me the crystal and I will take care of the rest."

Dawn's eyes widened. "I'm afraid that won't work, mistress... We have all spent a lot of effort on the research of the Adamantine Furnace, but everyone only has a few fragments... If we don't gather all the information, it may not be easy to find the Adamantine Furnace... The most important thing is that I conducted this research on my own initiative, without being assigned by any faction or family..."

"You are from the House of Bartol? I almost forgot the name of this loser family." Minsara laughed contemptuously, "During the time you were petrified, Menzoberranzan had already undergone a lot of changes. Your family has become the nourishment of Baenre. I will do it myself. What is the name of the matron of the House of Bartol? Meryl? Or Miria?"

"It's Merile... the respected mistress..." Dawn's body swayed and he almost knelt in front of Minsara.

"No matter what her name is, I have cut off her head with my own hands and placed it on the altar of Banrui." Minsara was very satisfied with Dawn's performance.

"...I am willing to dedicate this research result to you, the mistress of Banrui... Its codeword is 'Archmage Dawn'... It is just a small ambition for a talented mage like me..." Dawn took a few sharp breaths, knelt on one knee on the ground, and raised the dim memory crystal above his head with both hands, "I hope you can give me a chance to let me join the Banrui family..."

Menzoberranzan is an underground city with the drow as its core race. The city's power body is the Council of Matrons, which is composed of the top eight families in the city.

Although it sounds like a fairly democratic institution, it can actually be simply divided into two parts, those who belong to the Banrui family and those who do not.

The power belonging to the Baenre family accounts for more than half of the overall power of the city of Menzoberranzan.

Therefore, after realizing that Minsara was just such a high-ranking noble from the Banre family, Dawn knelt down on the ground without any principles and offered his only bargaining chip with both hands.

"You are a sensible jaluk." Minsara was very satisfied with today's harvest. "But I am not going to continue using the surname Baenre, nor am I going to return to Menzoberranzan. I will occupy the adamantium furnace you mentioned earlier, build a city that is completely my own from scratch, and create a family that belongs to me!"

Minsara turned and looked at Ivy, her purple lips curled up into an unfathomable smile: "You asked me before why I always emphasized your last name, DOOM? Now, I can tell you generously, because I like that word! I once considered taking your last name away, but now, I find that you play a vital role in our adventure to defeat the Supreme God! Now I am more inclined to win it. The adamantium furnace mentioned by jaluk (Elf language: bastard) will continuously forge precious weapons for me, which is the foundation for the rise of a war city. City of Destruction, what do you think of this name? When we completely destroy the Supreme God, the power vacuum left by it will become the soil for our rise! A legendary city spanning the surface and underground!"

Minsara didn't see any excitement on Ivy's face. This was the first time she met someone who had no reaction to the vision she described. She narrowed her eyes and continued to lobby: "The position of professor at the magic academy is not worthy of you! My throne is waiting for you. As long as we join forces, we can easily conquer a large area of land here!"

"Wow," Shadowheart exclaimed dryly, "this is really exciting. Has the drow's way of courtship always been so primitive? Your words sound like a squirrel showing off its food storage. Maybe even worse, after all, the squirrel really has a food storage, but your city may still be just a ruin."

Minsara glared at her. "The words of Shar's followers are poison that stirs up chaos. This proverb is absolutely true. If you can't speak, shut up! Miss Stone, you can't contribute anything to the battle!"

The petrification ray of the Observer Beholder takes effect in two stages. In the first stage after being hit, the victim who fails the immunity will be bound; the second stage starts after the binding effect ends. If the victim fails the second immunity, he will immediately turn into a stone statue.

Yingxin had just been freed from the petrification effect by Ivy using advanced restoration magic.

(End of this chapter)