From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 422 Heading to the Surface
The Vengeance Guard finally knelt down on the forging platform.

After finding the Adamantine Golem's prefabricated personality rune, Ivy imbued the Blademaster's arcane energy into the Beast Bite Sword, easily breaking through the Golem's defenses. Even though Shirov Yari had encased the core of the Vengeance Guard with adamantine, the Beast Bite Sword was definitely not made of mortal iron, let alone with the Blademaster's arcane energy.

Without the obstruction of the Vengeful Guard, the forging of adamantine equipment proceeded smoothly. Clearly, the greatest beneficiaries of adamantine equipment were melee classes, and the duergar and drow had only found a few molds. Until Ivy refined the molds, the types of adamantine equipment that could be crafted were limited. Aside from plate armor, which was the most material-intensive, the only options were longswords, shields, maces, scale mail, and scimitars.

Xie Nian, Will, and Asdaelon all needed lightweight, one-handed weapons. While adamantine longswords were certainly useful, they weren't the best. Furthermore, all three preferred lightweight, flexible leather or cloth armor. Leather armor with a chest plate was their upper limit, so none of them planned on taking adamantine gear.

Laetzel was unwilling to take off the silver armor of the Githyanki, and the Everburning Blade in her hand was not much inferior to the adamantine sword, so she did not change her equipment.

Armor is not a necessity for the Hell Champion Warrior. In Kalak's own words, her instincts and muscles are enough to protect her in battles of average intensity. If she really encounters a battle where she must fight to the death to win, an extra piece of armor will not change the overall situation. It may even reduce her chances of escaping due to the extra weight.

As for replacing a fine gold weapon, although Kalak was very envious of the indestructible properties of fine gold, her favorite giant axe was not among the three well-preserved molds, so she did not act rashly.

However, she also made an appointment with Ivy that once he finished adjusting and reshaping the mold, he would help her forge a giant axe made of adamantium.

Aside from Archdruid Harsin who didn't need metal weapons, there were only two people left who needed adamantium equipment.

One was Minsara, who had recently joined the team. Her drow armor was originally magical, but due to the light of the surface world, it lost all its magical properties. A similar situation also occurred with the Whispering Flower. If this magical flower came into contact with any rays of the surface sun, it would completely wither and lose its ability to absorb magic.

In addition, Minsara is the leader of the drow who will be stationed in the Adamantine Forge, so it is completely reasonable for him to get a piece of Adamantine armor.

The ore found in the furnace area is enough to make two sets of adamantium plate armor, which is the heavy armor with the largest metal usage. If all the adamantium used in heavy armor is used to make other equipment, it can make a set of semi-adamantium scale armor, six adamantium shields, about ten maces, and more longswords and scimitars.

Therefore, how to use the raw materials found becomes the next issue to consider.

Especially after learning that Ivy could also provide enchants for freshly-made adamantine equipment, Minsala thought for a quarter of an hour before finally deciding to create a piece of adamantine plate armor and asking Ivy to increase the effects of reducing weight and allowing for flexible movement.

As for Shadowheart, she received an adamantium shield. For some ulterior motive, Ivy added a rebound effect to the shield. Simply put, it automatically returns to her hand after being thrown. Combined with the adamantium's extreme toughness and hardness, it's practically a magical Vibranium shield. Furthermore, the adamantium shield boasts recoil and immunity to critical hits, enhancing this Shar believer's offensive and defensive abilities.

Making magic equipment is not something that can be accomplished by just talking. It requires Ivy to pay time and magic cost. Although as a talented alchemist, Ivy has the Philosopher's Stone to help him, but when making some magic equipment of extremely high value or difficulty, he cannot complete it within a day.

Fortunately, the flexible mobility adamantine plate armor that Minsara expected was not a difficult enchantment, and Shadowheart's rebounding adamantine heavy shield was also one of the basic enchantments for throwing weapons. Ivy was able to complete both in a relatively short time.

But while Ivy was enchanting the adamantium equipment, the adventurers did not plan to wait here, but to take a boat back to the other side of Ebon Lake, and bring the two fresh mushrooms collected from the Arcane Tower to Omiren in the Fungus Village, asking him to mix the potion that could affect the Mind Flayer tadpoles, and to find the Fungus King to claim the deserved reward. If there was still enough time, they would explore the route to the surface mentioned by the deep gnomes.

However, since they cannot move too far away from the Astral Prism, they have to act as a group. Halsin has long been unwilling to stay in a furnace full of stone statues and mechanical structures, so he chooses to act with Xie Nian and the others.

Ivy was intrigued by Omiren's mushroom potion. He suspected it might be a remedy that could stimulate psychic abilities. He had even considered witnessing the scene after Xie Nian drank it. However, everything has its trade-offs. Given the team's limited time, splitting up was a reasonable solution.

But that didn't mean Ivy would completely miss out on Omiren's mushroom potion. He used his evil mind to buy the potion formula from the Radiant Order. The reward was a gem worth a thousand gold, or other magical items of equal value, or an alchemical potion formula unique to Ivy. Ivy didn't think the Radiant Order, a group of scholars who valued knowledge, would refuse his proposal.

According to the plan, the team of Mind Flayer victims will camp in the myconid village or the Arcane Tower. Ivy will find out the specific location through SMS tomorrow morning.

As for the gray dwarves hired by Ivy, they will camp in the adamantine furnace with the drow and gradually clear the ruins in the temple, trying to get the furnace to fire again.

The underground gnomes chose to set up camp far away from the gray dwarves, next to the treasure chests that stored rune gunpowder and adamantium golems. Tomorrow morning, they will follow Ivy across Ebony Lake, reunite with the adventure team, return to the surface world together, and then go to the Verdant Woodland, taking the tieflings with them to the direction of Baldur's Gate.

Of course, don’t forget to stop by the Githyanki breeding room on the way. It is hidden in the mountains to the north of the Path of Ascension, with an abandoned temple of Lathander as its cover.

In order to find out the true nature of the gods' power, Ivy had long planned to get the blood of Lathander. He had been coveting the blood of the true god sealed in amber for a long time.

----

The next morning, after Ivy deployed several small constructs for communication and surveillance, he led the deep gnomes across Ebony Lake and headed for the Arcane Tower.

Through the message sent by short message, Ivy learned that the adventure team was parked outside the Arcane Tower. They had found a road leading to the outside world, not far from the Arcane Tower. The information that short message could convey was very limited. Apart from this location, Ivy could only hear that Xie Nian was a little excited.

This excitement did not subside until Ivy reunited with his companions.

As soon as they met, Xie Nian raised her finger to show off. A not-so-pretty ring was on her index finger.

"Guess what this is?" Xie Nian asked with his chin raised.

"A magic ring, your new acquisition?" Ivy's arcane vision allowed him to see the protective magic aura shining on the ring. It was of medium strength and not too valuable, but certainly not cheap either.

"This is the Ring of Mind Protection!" Xie Nian said happily, and spread his palm to admire the two emeralds on the ring. "It was this ring that protected Omiren from the attention of the Mind Flayer Mastermind. It can definitely protect me from the magic of the Supreme God!"

Ivy raised his eyebrows. He almost forgot about it.

In the game, the protagonist of Origin can use Mind Flayer Tadpoles to enhance his Mind Flayer power. Although the ring provided by Omiren can prevent the influence of Mind Flayer Tadpoles, the feedback from the game system is that it is just a useless thing that can provide resistance to charm, which does not live up to its description at all.

Now that it's in the real world, this Ring of Mind Protection is definitely more powerful than this. Maybe Ivy can even learn how to fight against psychic energy by disassembling this magical item.

“If it can really block the sight of the Supreme God, it will be no less effective than a divine weapon for you. It’s a pity that there are too few of them, and we can’t carry out combat in teams with balanced numbers.” Ivy looked at the metal used in the ring carefully. It was not a material he was familiar with. Considering that the mind flayers and the Githyanki are both interstellar species, the material of the ring might have come from some alien world.

Hearing Ivy's words, Xie Nian immediately seemed to have thought of something. He took off the emerald ring from his only remaining index finger and handed it to Ivy: "You can make magic items, so you can definitely make magic rings, right? If I ask you to copy its power, can you do it?"

Xie Nian's words made the other adventurers who were deeply troubled by the Mind Flayer tadpoles see the dawn of hope. Even Mingsara, who was originally quite jealous of her good luck, couldn't help but reveal a longing expression.

If one could really obtain such a magic ring, it would be equivalent to being liberated from the shackles. Although it did not solve the problem once and for all, at least one would not have to live in fear every day and entrust one's destiny to the elusive existence in the astral prism.

Ivy's gaze lingered on Xie Nian's face for a moment before she smiled. "There's a certain chance of success, but the ring must be completely disassembled. I have to warn you, the magic on the ring isn't my forte. If I fail to master that kind of magic, you'll completely lose a magical item that can protect your sanity. It's priceless."

"Take it." The evil thought, who even spared the treasures hidden on the goblins' toes, was surprisingly generous at this moment. Her expression was frank, as if she didn't care at all about losing a life-saving equipment. "I have confidence in you. Our team has come this far by relying on each other's support. We still have a long way to go to fight against the Supreme God, and the way to gain true freedom can only be found from the source. If we can't defeat the Supreme God, there is no point in keeping my life alone. Besides, I am willing to share the chance of saving my life with my friends."

Ivy had no idea what kind of person this Son of Bhaal was in the past, but judging from the fact that she was willing to give up her magic ring to fight for a future for her companions, she could be considered a kind and good person.

"I won't let you down." Ivy took the emerald ring from Xie Nian's hand. "Even if I can't copy it successfully, I will help you gain true freedom. I promise."

Xie Nian also smiled and carelessly put his arm around Ivy's neck. Judging from his stiff movements, he seemed to be imitating Kalak's usual style. "You'll never guess how we found the road to the surface."

She pulled out a silver necklace from her collar. The pendant on the necklace was a skull biting a scroll. After passing by the tomb of Jergal the Fate-Recorder, Ivy recognized it as His style at a glance.

"I found this necklace from the gravekeeper's coffin. It's a treasure that can release the dead to talk!" Xie Nian shook the necklace and stuffed it back into his collar. "You'll never believe it! The village of the fungus people was built on the base of a drow. It was the drow who came with Dawn and the others to find the adamantium furnace. His name is Shagrim, and he was killed by the Observer Eye Demon summoned by Firro. But considering that his body appeared in the cave of the fungus village, I think he fled back to his base because of his serious injuries, but because he couldn't heal himself, he died in the cave!"

It seems that Firlo, forgotten in the Horrorclaw's lair, had truly orchestrated a plan to harm the Three Sages. By summoning a single Watcher Beholder, he had eliminated three drow mages, himself included, and the Adamantine Forge was only revealed decades later.

But it was also because of him that Ivy was able to take advantage of such a big opportunity and obtain a complete adamantium golem.

Ivy was much taller than Xie Nian, and it didn't feel good to have his arms folded all the time, so Xie Nian put his arms down before he walked far. However, his bright red lips continued to speak, sharing with his companions the rest of yesterday's adventure: "... Later, we saw the body of another drow outside the Arcane Tower. After using the Talk with the Dead, we actually found a way to the outside world. We just needed to jump onto some mushrooms cast with illusion magic. The drow fell from the mushrooms and died. Gale's magic level was limited, and he couldn't let us all fly up, so we spent the night in the Arcane Tower, waiting for you to send us all up."

Looking at the cliff covered with giant mushrooms in front of him, Ivy finally remembered whose territory it was.

Instead of starting to cast a spell, he directed the deep gnomes to bring over the mediocre treasure chest, which contained Minsara's agile and mobile adamantine plate armor and Shadowheart's resilient adamantine shield.

(End of this chapter)