From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 414: Golem Bernard

There are many things well preserved in the Offa Tower, which is very lucky given that many bricks have fallen off the outer wall. It is very likely that the air flow in the dark area is not violent and there is no precipitation.

"Hey! Look at this!" The evil thought held up a silver disk, "Does it look like the map we got from the Githyanki? Laizer must know what this is!"

If the hall with the arcane turrets is counted as the first floor, then the greenhouse where Lenore cultivates various Underdark specialty mushrooms is on the underground first floor, the power room is on the underground third floor, the elevator connected to the power room by a wooden staircase starts on the underground second floor, and the hidden basement is on the underground fourth floor.

The three Ivys are now on the second floor, which appears to be Lenore's living room.

In addition to the stone bookshelves that lined the walls, this floor was filled with a lot of dusty furniture, including a comfortable armchair, several cabinets, a large bed and desk, and a bathtub hidden by a screen.

The silver disc in Xie Nian's hand was found on the stone table next to the magic elevator.

"It looks like a code book..." Ivy scanned the text on the disk and made a simple judgment, "Some kind of deciphering method of ancient Gis language. Their text is similar to the shape of a circle or a wheel, and the forks and spokes in different positions represent different meanings."

"Lenore looks like an artistic priest." Gale picked up the book in the center from another large stone table, "Another script."

"From here you can see the big Whispering Tree on the other side of the river!" Xie Nian lay by the window, staring at the silver-foil-like leaves of the Whispering Tree below through the telescope that Lenore had placed there. "It's quite interesting to live this kind of solitary life... Build a tall tower and live alone in it forever... You are a professor at the School of Magic, Ivy, do you have your own wizard tower?"

“I built a white tower at the academy I attended.” Ivy looked up from the Githyanki code book and immediately noticed the other Githyanki disks on another bookshelf. “However, I haven’t lived in the White Tower much since it was built.”

"Of course, you have to teach students." Xie Nian moved his eyes away from the telescope beside the bed and said hesitantly, "If... I mean if, we all survived safely, would you invite me to your wizard tower to play?"

"You can stay as long as you want." Ivy did not hesitate. The Son of Bhaal was also a good research material. Even if he made the request as a friend, Xie Nian would not refuse to provide some blood.

"Hehehe!" Gale loudly reminded himself of his presence, "Don't let the topic deviate from anything else, okay? I also have a wizard tower in Waterdeep. If we can both survive this conspiracy, I will give it to you, Evil Thought. Of course, there are no magic props you like in it. I have eaten most of them."

Evil Thought chuckled. "What do I need a tower with nothing in it? Besides, I don't know anyone in Waterdeep except you."

"The same can be said about Ivy. In his magic academy, it's impossible for you to know anyone except him." Gale made some straight male remarks. It seems that he really won the favor of Mystra with his talent, rather than sweet talk and ways to pick up girls.

"Alright, alright." Xie Nian rolled his eyes impatiently and got angry at the two mages who were immersed in Lenore's collection of books. "Gentlemen! We should go upstairs! The top floor should be up there, and the roof of this tower has disappeared."

"Perhaps Lenore didn't design a roof when she built this tower." Ivy looked up. "Remember, we are in the Underdark, and this is a huge cave. There is no need to protect it from the wind and rain, so there is no need to build a roof."

"Really?" Although it made sense logically, Xie Nian still couldn't accept it emotionally. "They built a tall tower, but there's no roof...sleeping in the open air...it's too weird."

Ivy cast a spell to pack up all the books he liked, and stood on the lift again with his two companions.

The elevator to the top floor no longer has a glass cover, which makes the space feel at least twice as large.

Six constructs, one large and five small, stood on the top floor. They seemed to have been activated by the Whispering Flower that Gale put into the boiler.

The tallest construct is a carefully assembled golem, while the other five constructs standing throughout the tower are animated suits of armor created by magic.

Living armor is a common guard for mages. They are composed of a whole set of plate armor and gain the ability to move by the power of conjuration spells. These hollow armors only have scripted intelligence. Even if the creator has given them the ability to talk, it is limited to the lines designed in advance.

Since their mobility is completely dependent on magic, once they enter the anti-magic field, they will be directly disabled and become an empty suit of armor that cannot move. Therefore, Whispering Flowers can easily suppress their mobility.

However, the leading golem looked much more refined. Brass gears and springs made up its transmission system, and the heart in its chest that kept exploding with sparks was a power source injected with magic.

"Ah, a very traditional choice." Gale commented immediately after seeing the guards on the top floor, "I don't have to face some weird alien creatures. It really makes me feel a lot more at ease."

"Have you seen similar things in other wizard towers?" Ivy asked, turning around.

"I believe we are all familiar with similar wizard towers. I don't believe you didn't place some necromancy creatures as guards in your wizard tower... Especially since you are so good at necromancy." Gale replied, "So in the wizard towers of wizards who are particularly good at summoning from other worlds, triggered teleportation magic and alien creatures are always common... In fact, when I was an apprentice at the Black Rod Academy, I once... Oh, that golem is coming."

Since the disc was not rising very fast, Ivy and Gale were able to chat for a moment before the guard golem noticed them.

The brass construct stared at him with a pair of bright blue eyes, clacking and clacking as it came over. It asked in a very mechanical voice, "I heard the evil, arrogant footsteps that penetrated the dark and damp rain curtain. Is it the enemy?"

"I just read the script." Gale stepped forward, cleared his throat, and recited aloud, "Or a friend who saves me from loneliness!"

"May you come for love, not for weapons." The golem Bernard's body trembled slightly as he spoke the second half of the line. Then the golem bent its metal body and bowed to Gale: "At your command, my lord."

"Mystra... Although I like literary works such as poetry like other mages, using these things as commands to control constructs... is still a bit too arbitrary." Gale expressed his objection to Lenore's design.

"Why do you say that?" Xie Nian reached out curiously to touch the body of the golem Bernard. The electric arc that bounced out made a "crackling" sound and hit her fingers.

"Ouch!" Xie Nian pulled his hand back, put it in his mouth and sucked it for a while, "It's leaking electricity!... I mean, aren't those lines quite poetic? What's wrong with that?"

"Those works are not Lenore's personal creations, but popular publications," Gail explained carefully, "which means that even if she doesn't put these works on the table, they may be discovered by others who are familiar with this field. Do you want the thieves who patronize your house to ignore these guards?"

The evil thought that liked to take treasures from others rather than have his own treasures taken away nodded in agreement: "That makes sense! It is indeed a bit willful and reckless."

"Here is a magic ring." Ivy picked up a ring on the workbench with many mechanical parts and threw it to Xie Nian. "It should only provide some lighting, which is quite useful in the dark area."

"I don't mind it!" Xie Nian happily put it on his finger, then pointed at the disc on the ground and shouted, "Hey! There's one more button here!"

"Illusion magic." Gale used the light from the ring to see the hidden button. "Except for being easily gullible, Lenore has always been a qualified follower of Mystra, especially her intelligence."

"It should lead to the hidden basement. I've already visited there." Ivy fiddled with the damaged mechanical parts. Although the gears were bent and deformed and the transmission rods were broken, two abbreviations could still be seen on the copper surface, LDH and YTS, which obviously referred to Lenore, the priest of Mistra, and her boyfriend, the inventor Lightning Ir.

"So, the top of the tower is where Lenore makes golems?" Gale looked around the simple studio and found nothing special. Compared with the other carefully designed rooms, this place was undoubtedly too simple, and even made people feel that it was a completely temporary structure.

"I guess we can't do without Lightning El's help." Ivy picked up two tools from the table, walked behind the golem Bernard, and inserted them directly into the golem's heart, its power source, through the cavity of the metal frame.

After a burst of not-so-intense sparks, Bernard's limbs twitched and he fell to the ground motionless.

"You all saw that this thing is powered by electricity. It is also equipped with a magic long-handled knife that also leaks electricity." Ivy threw away the tool in his hand. His research on alchemy and constructs allowed him to quickly determine how to shut down the golem Bernard.

"Is this our final harvest in this wizard tower?" Gale looked at the golem that had stopped moving. "A metal golem? What are you going to do with it?"

"I've told you before, study it." Ivy picked up a bench from the corner and lifted Bernard up with one hand. "I'm going to put it in a box and take it away."

"Oh..." Xie Nian looked at Bernard in Ivy's hand in surprise, "I didn't know you had so much strength! You can do magic, play musical instruments, are smart, and are fast... and now you have so much strength! I really don't know what else you can't do."

"It's mainly thanks to the bench in my hand. It's a magic item." Ivy showed his two companions the magic runes engraved on the legs of the bench. "Hill Giant Super Strength Bench. Using it can gain the power of a hill giant. Although usually speaking, 'using' means sitting on it, it can also be effective if you hold it in your hand. For two people who are not very tall, making a metal golem like Bernard is really not an easy task. Just moving the parts is hard enough. I guess that's why they made this super strength bench. But now it belongs to my research auxiliary prop."

"I only studied small constructs in the past, and I also had this consideration... Although I use magic instead of arm strength in most cases, it's quite interesting to really become a strongman." Ivy waved the metal golem in his hand, and when the air flow passed through the metal cavity on Bernard's body, it triggered a shrieking sound that made people's scalps numb.

"Hey! Hey! Be gentle!" Gale took several steps back, fearing that the metal golem's limbs would hit him. "Since there's nothing for me to do here, I'm going to go back to sleep!"

"Okay," Ivy nodded. "We are heading to the Adamantine Furnace tomorrow, so it is very important to get a good rest. But, help me bring this to Laizer."

Ivy laid Bernard out on his workbench and pulled out a stone disk from the satchel behind him, a text on the lost history of the Githyanki that he had taken from Lenore's bookshelf.

"What is this?" Xie Nian asked, "Is it also a map?"

"It's a historical story about Orpheus, the prince of comets," Ivy introduced briefly, "Star Bay Girl will definitely be willing to explain it to you in detail. By the way, please help me bring up the mediocre treasure chest as well. I plan to pack up everything in this tower and take it away."

"Are you serious?" Gale frowned and said, "We may meet the followers of the Supreme God in the Adamantine Forge. Everyone needs you to maintain your vigorous energy! Moreover, these constructs cannot move without energy. Without this tower, they are just some scrap metal."

"I have a lot of potions that can help you regain your energy, don't worry." Ivy smiled easily, "I have a feeling that tomorrow's adventure will be exciting."

"It's a pity that you will miss the campfire chat tonight," Xie Nian said regretfully. "Halcin just promised to tell us some special chapters of his story."

"Is it the 'special' thing I imagined?" Gale looked troubled and activated the button of the lift. "Don't forget that there are several drow in our team. Their concept of chastity has always been less conservative..."

"Halcin is definitely worse than them!" Xie Nian has no resistance to bizarre topics, "Did you know? He actually dated a three-headed chimera..."

Ivy was a little annoyed with his overly sensitive senses. When he realized what he had heard, it was too late...

(End of this chapter)