From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 423: Mushroom Circle and Ghost Crypt
"There's a mushroom circle up there! It's glowing with magic!" Evil Thought, who was sent up there by Ivy's flying spell, stood on the edge of the cliff and waved, loudly telling his companions what he saw and heard, "Maybe there are friendly fairies nearby!"

After the Iron Hand dwarves joined the team, the number of people in this adventure team was close to twenty. If Minsara's six drow followers had not stayed in the Adamantite Forge, the number of people in the team would have exceeded the limit long ago.

Although Ivy had many spell slots, it was obviously unrealistic to use the flying spell to send everyone up. Fortunately, the Ironhand dwarves were not unprepared when they entered the Underdark. As a race native to the underground, they brought a variety of exploration tools, which not only allowed them to find supplies locally, but also had long and strong ropes to help them climb up the cliff.

The evil thought flew up with a rope. Under the protection of the safety rope, the team will try out every mushroom platform that can be used to land, to prevent anyone from repeating the unlucky Zhuo Er's mistake.

"Don't be in a hurry to stand in there!" Harsin grabbed the rope thrown down by the evil thought and wrapped it around Bedron's waist a few times. "The Fairy Wilds is not a good place for mortals. You may only stay in there for a second, and the outside world may have changed drastically! And the ones who leave mushroom circles are not only kind fairies, but also uglier beings that hate humans!"

Ivy remembered that there was a mushroom circle here that led to the witch's swamp, but he was not sure if it was the one that Xie Nian saw, so after casting the flying spell on himself, he also arrived above the cliff.

With the help of his arcane vision, Ivy recognized at a glance that the mushroom circle emitting green light was a short-distance portal used to cross the cliff.

In other words, the witch has hidden another mushroom circle.

The witch's illusion magic was useless to Ivy's arcane vision. Passing through the phantom stone wall, Ivy came to a cave filled with many man-made objects.

In the center of the lit candle, Ivy saw another mushroom circle. Before he could study it carefully, he heard evil shouts from outside.

"Ivy! Ivy!"

Xie Nian, who was standing on the edge of the cliff helping to pull people up, looked back and found that Ivy had disappeared, so she immediately shouted: "Ivy is gone!"

"I'm here. There's a mushroom circle covered by phantoms over there." Ivy passed through the phantom stone wall again and came to Xie Nian's side. At this time, several Iron Hand Dwarves were already standing on the cliff. He looked down the cliff and silently used the loud voice to raise his tone. "The mushroom circle discovered by Xie Nian is a short-distance portal. The other entrance is on your right! The rest of you don't need to climb up anymore. Stand in the mushroom circle and I will teleport you up!"

"Oh - why didn't you say it earlier!" Gail, who was hanging in the air with a rope, couldn't help complaining. He was a physical idiot and climbing the cliff had already cost him a lot of energy.

"Sorry, Gail. But more exercise is good for your physical and mental health." Ivy cast a spell to activate the mushroom circle's teleportation magic, and blue magical light lit up simultaneously on both sides of the cliff.

The effect of this mushroom circle is not much different from that of a teleportation array, but what connects the space between the two mushroom circles is spores and mycelium instead of magic runes.

Although the manifestation is different, Ivy has a good attainment in space teleportation and can easily activate it according to his wishes.

There are a large number of adventurers, but the size of the mushroom circle is limited, so they can only be teleported in two batches to bring everyone up.

Gail, who was hanging on the rope miserably, was the last person to arrive.

"These mushroom circles... remind me of some unfriendly creatures..." Halsin stood behind the phantom stone wall, looking worriedly at the mushroom circles on the ground that were emitting a soft glow.

"Your muscles, like a city wall, must have defeated many powerful enemies. What kind of monster worries you so much?" Will guessed, "Some kind of monster with sharp teeth and claws, that can fly and breathe fire?"

Will's outrageous guess brought a smile to Harsin's face. "I'm sure you're describing a dragon, but it's not a dragon that left this mushroom circle... It originated in the Fey Wilds, but became a scourge on the Material Plane. It's dressed simply, and its clothes are always torn and dirty... Its shrunken face is covered with torn long hair, its pockmarked skin is covered with scary moles and tumors, and its thin fingertips have claws that can easily cut through flesh and blood."

"Is there a hag living here?" Will stopped laughing. "I heard they are almost synonymous with cruelty and evil, and like to make dark deals with mortals. I have killed hill giants and minotaurs, but I have never dealt with a hag."

"We're going through a hag's territory? That doesn't sound like good news!" Bacchus shrieked. "Isn't there a safer way?"

The other Iron Hand dwarves behind him nodded in unison.

"This method is not only fast, but also safe." Ivy helped Gale sit on a stone and entered the cave hidden by the witch.

"The mushroom circle in front of us connects to several different destinations." Under Ivy's spell, the mushroom circle emitting soft light changed colors three times in a row. Each different color indicated a location marked by the hag. "I guess some are the hag's safe passages, and some are its storage rooms and secret bases. This cunning monster always leaves a way for itself to escape, and we just happened to block it."

"It's just a hag that can't escape. It's no more difficult to deal with than an adamantine golem."

Remembering how Ivy used his two magic paws to manipulate the adamantine golem like a little girl's doll, the Iron Hand Dwarf and the adventurers nodded in approval.

“What is your plan, DOOM?” Minsara took a step forward, the reflective plates of the adamantium armor shining on her body.

"It's very simple. We stand inside and activate the mushroom circle, then kill the witch, and finally pack up all her collections and take them away." Ivy shrugged. "After the transmission is complete, I will completely block the connection between the mushroom circles. The witch will never be able to use it to escape again."

"I like simple plans." Kalak grinned, "I can't wait to let that hag have a taste of Mother Ka's axe!"

"We still have a lot to do, and we can waste even less time on the witch. Let's get moving." Yingxin, who got the new shield, was the first to stand in the mushroom circle.

"We still have to teleport in two batches. Remember to walk out of the mushroom circle after completing the teleportation, but don't run further unless the witch is right next to you." Ivy gave his final instructions and immediately began to cast a spell.

As the world spun around, the adventurers found that the scene around them had changed. In addition to the mushroom circle under their feet, there were many other things around that made people's hair stand on end. Silk threads were used to imitate the shape of spider webs on the randomly growing thorns, and several unlucky birds were hung on them. I don't know if the witch wanted to imitate the dream catcher or show off her evil aesthetics.

"Another cave?" Ying Xin raised her shield and looked around. As a heavily armored priest who could remove curses, she naturally walked in front. "Uh - the air here is even more turbid than underground!"

"It seems the hag is not at home." Minsara passed Shadowheart with her sword in hand and stopped in front of a standing stone covered in blood. She snorted, "Blood sacrifice... corrupted creature."

"Those are all human bones..." Harsin frowned as he studied the offerings placed in front of the standing stone. The bones had turned yellow and were covered with dirt from nowhere. "The witch has lived here for a long time... I can connect with the nature here... This is my jungle!"

"What's in these bottles?" Xie Nian picked up a ceramic bottle from the stone platform opposite the standing stone. They were of different sizes and shapes, but each one was sealed tightly.

She shook the bottle with evil thoughts, and the sound of gurgling water continued to come out. She put her nose close to it and sniffed it, and couldn't help sneezing: "The aroma of cinnamon and cardamom... some kind of spiced wine?"

"I think you'd better put it down." Ivy led the Iron Hand dwarves out of the mushroom circle and saw the evil thoughts shaking the bottle at a glance. "In addition to the wine, the bottle also contains a curse. The distorted aesthetics of the hag."

"It's really quite deformed..." Will picked up a bracelet from the table with his rapier, with a look of disgust on his face, "Who would use an eyeball as a jewelry?"

"I guess it once belonged to an unlucky guy who made a deal with a hag, and this eye was made into a hag's eye." Ivy took a glance and recognized the true appearance of the bracelet.

"Hag Eye?" Gale walked around the Iron Hand Dwarf and walked towards his companions. "I heard that a hag can see things far away through that spell. If it is really a hag eye, we have definitely been exposed."

"The Hag's Eye must rely on a living being to share its vision with the Hag. Since the Hag has already taken this eye out of its owner's eye socket, it proves that it is now just a decoration." Ivy counted the number of people and found that no one was thrown into the rocks of the Astral Realm like the unfortunate Neuer.

"Very good. Take everything you like and let's go find that hag." Ivy instructed the Iron Hand Dwarf to put the hag's potions and staff into the mediocre treasure chest. Then he drew out the Beast Bite Sword and pointed it at the wooden door in front, leading several adventurers to walk in the front.

The witch has obviously been running this underground space for a long time. There are twisted tree roots and vines everywhere, and the fetid mist makes the surrounding air full of toxins. At least the exiles in Menzoberranzan have tasted several different toxins.

"Stay away from those evil plants!" Harsin reminded the Iron Hand dwarf behind him, "The hag will cause abnormal changes to the surrounding landscape. This land has been poisoned by that evil guy for too long. Nature here is no longer friendly to living things... Maybe those vines will grab your ankles and drag you deep into the thorny bushes!"

"Don't worry, Archdruid." Minsara used her sword to split a charming flower. The sharp petals shot out, but apart from making a tinkling sound on the adamantine plate armor, not even a scratch was left. "The dwarves will never die without making a sound. Their shrill voices can help us quickly find their location."

"There are traps and pustules filled with venom everywhere!" Xie Nian couldn't help but complain. The light armor meant flexible movement, but it also meant low defense. She had to be careful to disarm every trap and couldn't just break through like Mingsala.

Climbing over vines and crossing waterfalls, the adventurers, led by Ivy, walked into a winding dungeon.

Unlike the inner chamber where only traps existed, servants wearing masks were walking around in the crypt, seemingly completely confused as to why a stranger appeared from behind.

The order they received was to prevent foreign invasion, but they had no way of telling whether the people coming out were enemies or not.

"...Are you also part of my aunt's flock?" A half-drow covered in mud and holding a war hammer stood in front of Ivy and asked hesitantly.

"I think the duties assigned to you by your aunt do not include questioning visitors coming out of the inner room." Ivy kept walking, answering the questions of the masked servant perfunctorily.

The long-term mental control had obviously destroyed their logical thinking. Banzhuo hesitated for several seconds before returning to his post.

Ivy signaled to his teammates through gestures to pay attention to the masks on the servants' faces.

Fighting side by side for a long time allowed the adventurers to develop a tacit understanding. The clever team members quickly determined their positions and approached the servants who were wandering around in the dungeon.

As Ivy waved his hand violently, he released the extremely powerful first-level spell, sleep.

The masked servants fell limply into the mud of the crypt before they could react.

The adventurers removed the witch's mask from the servant's head and threw it far away.

Minsara put the sword that failed to drink blood back into the scabbard with dissatisfaction: "These fools actually thought they could make a deal with the hag? They don't deserve your mercy, DOOM. Their minds have been controlled by the hag for too long, and perhaps they will never be freed. I think the only way to truly free them is to end their lives."

"Just destroy the masks and let them stay here for a while." Ivy said indifferently, "As long as we kill the witch, those among them who can figure out the current situation will leave on their own."

"A door with a face!" Xie Nian stood in front of the exit of the crypt, "It's a bit like what we saw in the red-robed wizard's basement."

"This is an extremely evil creation..." Harsin said word by word, "The hag transformed a living person into the wooden door in front of us! I can't wait to cleanse the corruption of nature!"

(End of this chapter)