From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 416 The Price of Betrayal

"Elder Blisval!" The young gray dwarf warrior couldn't help but scream as he watched the elder in front of him fall down.

But before he could reach out to help, Elder Bliswal had steadied himself.

The old dwarf swayed and staggered a few steps, keeping his balance by holding on to the railing.

"You..." Elder Blisval shook his head, stopping the other dwarf warriors from drawing their weapons. "You are not a slave of the True Soul... You don't have the stench of the Mind Flayer... Who are you?"

The old dwarf's question made Ivy's companions all alert. Evil's universal prosthetic hand was slightly raised under the control of her forearm muscles, which was a preparatory action for ejecting the hidden blade. Ivy had no doubt that she had the ability to cut the old dwarf's throat with a wave of her hand.

In fact, Ivy himself was also very curious. Legilimency was a very advanced spellcasting skill for wizards, because the brain was not a book that could be easily read by a wizard like turning pages. However, once wizards truly mastered Legilimency, the damage they could cause was very terrifying, especially since this magical damage was aimed at someone's brain, emotions, and memory.

Although Ivy's counterattack on the spiritual level was just a warning, he didn't expect the old dwarf in front of him to be as unresponsive as a stone. An average wizard would have fainted by now, and ordinary humans who didn't understand magic would have a high probability of becoming demented. However, the old dwarf in front of him only lost consciousness for a few seconds, and then stabilized his body with the balance of a warrior.

As for the explanation of this situation, Ivy could only think of one possibility, that is, a unique power in the DND world, psychic power.

As a race that has also been enslaved by the mind flayers for many years, the gray dwarves have mastered psychic powers in the fight against the mind flayer slavers, and have developed a means of identifying the mind flayers based on psychic powers. Their cold hatred for the mind flayers has turned this race into a natural psychic race. Every gray dwarf who has received tribal training and reached adulthood has mastered a certain amount of psychic power. The psychic test used to distinguish the true souls in the Church of the Supreme True God is one of the unique talents of the gray dwarves.

Perhaps it was his talent for psychic power that allowed the elderly gray dwarf in front of him to easily resist Ivy's Legilimency counterattack. However, it could not be considered a complete resistance. Although the impact damage of Legilimency did not affect the gray dwarf elder, as one of the wizard's magics, Ivy still found the information he wanted in his mind.

"Forget it. I don't care about your true identity... But in my opinion, you must be here to cause trouble for those soul farters." Elder Blissval's next words made the adventurers feel relieved. "You came from the other side of the lake, not from the Shadow Cursed Land of Resven. Although it smells like a mind flayer has pulled a worm in your brain, you are very different from those soul farters."

"Do you know a lot about True Souls?" Ivy asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Because I can judge people very well." Elder Bliswal showed a cunning smile, "Every True Soul is arrogant. They may act in a group, but it is impossible to expect them to obey the orders of someone who doesn't smell like fart. I think the leader is not the female drow in front, but you!"

"You do have a keen eye, but your use of psychic power needs to be improved." Ivy nodded and acknowledged the identity of the leader of the adventure team. "I can tell you that the Church of the Supreme God is closely related to the Mind Flayer. Every True Soul has been parasitized by the Mind Flayer tadpoles."

"This is impossible!" Ivy's words undoubtedly challenged Elder Blissval's past worldview, because normally, the mind flayer tadpoles would not stay in the brain of a victim for such a long time without transformation. It had been quite some time since they entered this long-abandoned temple, and the True Soul Ninner showed no signs of turning into a mind flayer.

"The Mind Flayer tadpoles in the brains of these True Soulers have been cast into a special kind of magic, so they are kept in a stagnant state. But this also makes it easier for them to distinguish between friend and foe, just like you can tell who are the True Soulers." Ivy glanced at Minsara who was talking to Sergeant Major Slin. The situation was good. At least their newly arrived team had not aroused widespread suspicion.

"If what you said is true... then it can explain the sergeant major's abnormal behavior..." Elder Blisval also glanced at Sergeant Major Slin, a female dwarf standing barefoot in the hall. She looked strong and sturdy, and was no different from other believers of the Supreme God. She was fanatical and eager, and seemed to be thinking about how to dedicate herself to her god every second.

"Many of the guys were not happy with the commission, but she promised that Nine would give us a large sum of gold, but in fact we haven't even seen the shadow of the deposit. Since the landslide, Sergeant Slin has ordered the slaves to dig out the rocks. She thinks this is some kind of behavior that can glorify the Supreme God. But we don't care about the Supreme God and his shitty glory, we only care about money!" Elder Blisval's anger has begun to rise. He spat on the ground impatiently and rubbed it away with his boots. "I suspect that Nine has pulled a worm into her brain... They have been in bed every day during this period, and everyone knows it!"

No wonder the pirate Greymont used words like "chickens" to describe the relationship between Sergeant Major Slin and Nine.

"If what you said is true, then Nina must not be allowed to live!" Elder Bliswal's face was gloomy. "I have a plan, surface man. I wonder if you are very interested in gold? Slin once assured us that Nina had a large sum of money. I can only pray that what she said is true. Let's help Slin get Nina out of there first. It would be best if he is dead in there... If he is still alive, we will kill him, and then the gold on him will also be yours..."

Elder Bliswal's eyes wandered over the giant axe behind Kalak and Harsin's bulging muscles, and then he said, "You all look like good fighters... How about this, we split it in half. But before that, you still have to undertake some extra work - see that magic eyeball? It is said that it can directly transmit the situation here to the headquarters of the Church of the Supreme True God. We can't attract more fart souls, so you have to poke it! And you must not be discovered!"

"We will cooperate, Elder Blisval." Ivy flicked his finger and a gem that reflected green fluorescence popped out. The gem drew a perfect parabola in the air, but it did not land in the old dwarf's arms.

Blisval was already quite old, otherwise he would not have been the elder of such a gray dwarf mercenary army. But age did not make his senses deteriorate, nor did it bring him physical problems. At least when faced with a gem that was about to fall to the ground, he showed the same reaction ability as a young man. The gray dwarf elder leaped forward, and his hands full of thick calluses firmly held the emerald before it fell to the ground.

"Damn it! What are you doing!" Elder Blisval cursed as he got up from the ground. "I have never seen an emerald with such a perfect appearance! As long as it is carefully carved, it will be the most precious gem on the Duke's finger!"

Money has no appeal to an alchemist like Ivy who can make gold, not to mention that his trip to Lonely Mountain also brought him as many jewels as gravel. He has many gems of similar quality to those in Blissval's hands in his treasure house. Since he didn't plan to expose the Destruction Grimoire too early in Faerun, Ivy took out a small bag of easy-to-carry gems as start-up capital. But for now, he hasn't encountered any treasures that he must buy.

"If it really breaks, it means it has no chance of being in the Duke's fingers." Ivy's movements and expressions perfectly illustrate what nonchalance means. "But since you caught it, its fate is up to you, Elder Blisval."

"What do you mean..." Elder Blisval pinched the flawless emerald with two sturdy fingers, rubbed it against his chest again and again, and then put it in front of him to look at it carefully.

"This is a deposit." Ivy said calmly, "You have discovered that my friends are all victims of the Supreme God, so I will not miss any opportunity to strike at the power of the Supreme God Cult. We will work together to make Ninne's head move, there is no doubt about that. But after that, I need you to guard this forge for me. You will cooperate with the drow over there and work together to make this place a reliable stronghold, doing things like clearing rubble, paving roads, and rearranging fortifications."

"I am very satisfied with your price." The old dwarf's greedy eyes moved around Ivy's waist pocket, but his long-term mercenary career made him know what kind of people can be provoked and what kind of people can't be provoked. "We will take this job! Of course, after dealing with Nin and his lackeys. I can assure you that our Huoyin clan is absolutely capable of helping you guard this furnace."

Elder Blisval pointed at two gray dwarves who were surrounding a ruin and said, "There is a stonemason in our clan. He spends all day with his apprentices studying the statues and building structures here. He is an absolute expert! And these dwarf slaves! They are all qualified laborers! Even if they don't obey, just give them a beating!"

"I'm sorry you have to do it yourself, elder." Ivy cast his eyes towards the dwarves who were digging stones. "Those dwarves can still be useful to me. I'm going to take them all away."

These deep gnomes are from the Iron Hand clan, and they are outstanding craftsmen in Baldur's Gate. Ivy wants to use them to help research and upgrade the golems.
"Slaves have a different price!" The gray dwarf elder was very stingy.

"All the gold on Ninah belongs to you." Ivy looked at the old dwarf in front of him calmly. "I'm not short of money, but I'm not a sucker. How many gray dwarves in the Fire Shadow Clan have joined the ranks of the Supreme God? I must remind you that your strength and performance will affect the final amount, Elder."

"Okay, okay." Elder Bliswal bowed tactfully. "You have the final say, boss."

Although the gray dwarves are more cunning and mean than their surface relatives, they also have the usual stubbornness of the dwarves. The reason why Elder Blisval made such a big concession was that the emerald that Ivy threw to him was enough as a reward for this mission. After Sergeant Major Slin led a group of people to serve the Supreme God, the coins that each clan warrior could get even more.

Standing guard and repairing fortifications for a generous boss sounded much more cost-effective than charging on the front line. Elder Bliswal came here for money from the beginning, but it was not in his plan to have the life to earn money but not the life to spend it.

If the new boss asked them to go to the front line to fight against the Supreme God, he would quickly disappear into the winding tunnels of the Underdark with the entire Huo Yin Clan, and take away everything he could find. Anyway, the boss had already paid, and quitting while he was ahead was the only way to ensure that he would live to spend the money.

"...that jaluk (Elf language: bastard) has told me all about his situation through the mental link between the true souls." Minsara in front of the gray dwarf sergeant Slin rubbed his temple and showed a cruel smile, "The passage is full of poisonous gas, and a humble slave has died from the poisonous smoke. Do you think he can hold on until your slaves dig out these stones?"

Sergeant Major Silin's attention has been completely attracted by Minsara. She is very concerned about Nina, maybe because the "Chicken" didn't eat enough: "But... we don't have more manpower! True Soul... what should we do! As long as Nina can be rescued, I am willing to sacrifice everything!"

"It seems that you and he both need a way to quickly clean up these fallen rocks." Mingsala's red eyes revealed a kind of joy, and she felt that she was beginning to control the situation again.

"You mean... explosives?" Minsara's hint was already very obvious. Sergeant Major Slin's brain was not much eaten by the Mind Flayer tadpoles. At this time, she quickly understood Minsara's hint, "A few days ago, a dwarf did take away a barrel of tobacco powder... maybe..."

Sergeant Major Slin looked at Minsara with an expectant look, and this look undoubtedly angered the nobles of Baenre in Menzoberranzan.

"Do you think I will go find that lowly slave? Just to save a jaluk (Elf language: lowly) who has lost all the trust of General Som?" Minsara smiled contemptuously, "This is wishful thinking, Sergeant. I can give you another suggestion - let's start the docking work. Tell me the entire structure of this temple, and maybe I can find another way to bypass these boulders while completing General Som's mission."

(End of this chapter)