From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 446 War preparations
Under the internal pressure from the Harpist and Flame Fist, and the external pressure from the cultists of the Supreme God and the devil, the Evil Thoughts led the adventurers on a journey to the Tower of the Moonrise to investigate and rescue the hostages early the next morning.

"I'll miss your magic, Ivy," the wicked thought said reluctantly, standing at the inn's entrance. "Oh, I already do miss it..."

“The magic of the Archmage of Waterdeep is not much worse. In fact, he surpasses me in many ways,” Ivy comforted softly. “This journey will certainly be very difficult. You must support each other and achieve our common goal.”

“Yes, to detect the entire environment and structure of the Tower of the Moonrise, to find out how the Supreme God controls the Mind Flayer Tadpoles, and to rescue important hostages and prisoners.” Asdellen listed the tasks the adventurers had to complete one by one. “To be honest, I didn’t mean to compare the High Duke of Baldur’s Gate to the devil, but from a factual point of view, they are both prisoners of the Supreme God.”

“Don’t forget Ironhand the Dwarf, and other unfortunate souls who might be stuck in the dungeon!” Karak added.

“Good heavens…do we really have to be these kinds of heroes?” Asdell pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, looking like he couldn’t take it anymore. “Shouldn’t we just pull the leaders of the Supreme God’s Order down and sit on their thrones ourselves?”

“Good idea,” Shadowheart commented. “But considering that our team has two archmages, a son of Baal, the heir to the High Duke of Baldur’s Gate, and a drow elf with an unimaginable thirst for power, don’t you think you’ll have a hard time finding a comfortable spot? I don’t know, maybe an armrest, or maybe half a backrest?”

“Oh! Sweetheart! Look how mean you are!” Asdell rolled his eyes. “While I certainly don’t expect anything in return from a follower of Shar, this betrayal came way too fast! And don’t forget you haven’t given me the ‘detailed account’ you promised!”

A blush crept across Yingxin's fair cheeks; it would be hard to notice such a detail unless one's attention was entirely focused on her: "I never agreed to that."

Although she didn't verbally admit defeat, at least Yingxin stopped contradicting Asdalon.

“Alright, alright. Since we have such a heavy responsibility, we’d better get on the road sooner rather than later.” Asdell sighed dramatically. “Being a hero has never been my first choice, but now it seems I have no other option… I just hope that the Tower of the Moon isn’t full of filthy goblins and stinking ogres.”

“Your disappointment is inevitable, Asdalon,” Lyezal hissed. “If, as Minsara says, there really is a Mindflayer colony beneath the Tower of the Moon, then the stench of Mindflayers will permeate the entire building. By comparison, you might find goblins and ogres to be more pleasant to smell.”

“Alright, it’s time to go.” Will’s expression was serious. “There are many innocent people waiting for us in cult prisons. My speed is their life!”

Apart from Ivy and Minsara, almost the entire adventurer party was mobilized, including even the Archdruid Halsin.

In his own words, he hadn't had much of a chance to explore this land in the past hundred years, but now that the Father of Oaks had presented it to him, how could he not seize the opportunity?

Before setting off, all the adventurers received Serene's protection from Isobel, but Shadowheart firmly refused this protective magic.

Because of Shar's blessing, she was not supposed to be harmed by the Shadow Curse, and receiving protection from her own goddess's mortal enemy was obviously not something she would be happy about.

As for Minsara, a True Soul who had been appointed as the leader of the goblin camp, returning to the cult's stronghold after losing her own camp was certainly not going to end well, so she stayed behind as well, taking with her the Mind Sanctuary Ring that Evil Thought had obtained in the Underdark.

The entirety of Resven is the territory of the Supreme God. If it were too far removed from the Astral Prism, there was no guarantee that Minsara wouldn't fall under his control again. It was for this reason that Ivy assigned that exceptionally precious magical ring to Minsara.

As his teammates journey to the Tower of the Moonrise, Minsara will act as a general, training young people and children among the Tiflin refugees who are determined to protect their families and friends.

While this arrangement might seem like overkill, it at least ensures that Minsala won't get into trouble because he's too idle.

Incidentally, Ivy planned to restore order in the camp. After the various groups had become familiar with each other, she sent Minsara with a small squad of soldiers into the adamantite forge to bring back some usable weapons and equipment, as well as the most important Whisperflower.

The Tower of the Moonrise they were attacking was a formidable fortress, standing strong on this dark land even after numerous battles. The Harpist and the Flame Fist had few heavy weapons, so their only hope of breaching the walls lay in Ivy and the Iron Hand Gnome crafting siege engines and bombs by hand.

Therefore, as an abandoned military factory, the adamantite forge was extremely valuable. The materials and combustibles inside could be used to fight the Cult of the Supreme God. Ivy had no reason not to collect them, especially since he didn't even need to do the work himself.

After seeing the adventure team off, Ivy's own work was about to begin.

Repairing and modifying the adamantite golem is no easy task.

Adamantite is a product of mithril material under high heat and strong impact. In addition to mass conversion using steam hammers and magma furnaces like the Adamantite Furnace, there are also some native Adamantite veins on the continent of Faerûn.

Most of them were formed by meteorites impacting the Earth's surface or by volcanic eruptions caused by tectonic movements, achieving the two necessary conditions of high heat and high pressure through the great power of nature.

Adamantite's unique formation conditions have endowed it with extremely indestructible properties. Therefore, in the basement of the End of Light Inn, which lacks a magma furnace and a steam hammer, it is virtually impossible to alter or repair an Adamantite golem.

Fortunately, when Ivy destroyed the Adamantine Golem, he mainly damaged its intelligent circuitry, which is equivalent to erasing the software data of the Adamantine Golem hardware. As far as the appearance is concerned, the parts of the Adamantine Golem are still intact.

However, Ivy was not content with simply repairing the adamantite golem. As a mage who had been researching constructs for a long time, Ivy's ambitions went far beyond that.

He not only had to make the adamantine golem move obediently, but also give it a completely new appearance and weapon system. After all, the Whispering Flower obtained from the Arcane Tower could not be exposed to sunlight; this underground plant would wither instantly and lose its anti-magic properties once exposed to sunlight.

Fortunately, Resven is a land shrouded in shadow all day long. As long as Minsala's team uses the elevator in the Adamantite Forge to go underground, Whisperflower will be kept out of the sunlight. In this way, Ivy can complete the upgrade and modification of Whisperflower's power plant inside the End of Light Inn.

A golem that can absorb magic power—Ivy really can't imagine what on the surface could destroy it.

Ordinary methods would clearly be ineffective in modifying the adamantite golem. However, Ivy still had her most proficient magic to rely on. Although Divine Craft was only a fourth-circle spell, it could be effective on any raw material and manufactured product.

Once the intelligent circuits are gone, the adamantine golem is nothing more than a large lump of adamantine waiting to be used, and Ivy can certainly use his superb skills to reshape its parts.

Although the Master Craftsmanship can only create one component at a time when performing such operations, Ivy's ample spell slots and the Sorcerer's ability to convert spell slots and spell points into one ([Variable Casting]) will definitely be enough to meet the needs of improving the Adamantine Golem.

After witnessing Ivy use magic to sculpt the parts of the adamantite golem, the talented craftsman Ironhand Gnome couldn't resist wanting to join this great project.

“The Vengeance Guard was made by the Ironhanded Dwarf Blacksmith! We have many new ideas that we can apply to the golem!” Bacchus was very enthusiastic about this matter, as if in his opinion, once the adamantite golem was completed, destroying the supreme god would be an easy task.

“Of course.” Ivy wouldn’t refuse to help, since no one else here had enough spellcasting ability to change the form of adamantite. “But remember, this is my golem, and you are my assistants.”

“Understood! Of course we understand!” Bacchus nodded repeatedly. Ivy’s superb magical skills had impressed the arrogant Ironhanded Dwarf, and he no longer appeared domineering, but rather very cooperative.

"I've long heard that the Gond followers of Baldur's Gate are planning to create some mass-producible giant steel soldiers, but when you put their work next to your blueprints, it's just a pile of dog shit!" Bacchus looked at the giant blueprints that Ivy had magically levitated, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Ivy didn't take Bacchus's compliment to heart. The steel soldier he just mentioned was clearly the steel guard that could be seen at the very beginning of Chapter 3 of the game.

The advantage of this giant construct lies in its mass production, and it is clearly not the same type of product as the adamantite golem that Ivy personally crafted.

If given the chance, Ivy would very much like to see how Gotash produces these things. If he could find something of value in the design of the Iron Soldiers, Ivy might as well replicate a production line.

Thanks to Ivy's vast number of spell slots, Ivy had already reassembled the Adamantite Golem on just the first day.

However, excellent designs are only achieved through repeated trials and verifications. Ivy, together with several Iron Hand Dwarfs who also had some experience with constructs, redesigned a second version of the scheme based on this, awaiting verification and improvement tomorrow.

With plenty of time remaining, Ivy finally had a chance to read the "Necromantic Spellbook of Sel" that she had obtained in the abandoned village.

Although the red-robed mage who fled to the abandoned village was just a nobody, the "Necromantic Spellbook of Sel" that he stole from the Red-Robed Mage Guild was no ordinary thing.

The fact that the red-robed mage was worried that the great lich Sazarstani would send people to hunt him down before his death shows how precious this necromancy tome is.

As a massive tome containing countless precious necromancy spells, Ivy obviously couldn't simply use Scholar's Touch for a quick read.

Otherwise, excessive and obscure knowledge of necromancy could very likely cause irreversible damage to his brain.

Moreover, as a very evil book, the knowledge written on it is powerful in itself. If one does not study and refer to it with vigilance, it is equivalent to opening one's mind indiscriminately to an evil magic weapon.

Back on Earth, Ivy learned of this important point through Voldemort's evil Horcrux diary, even though Voldemort had long since been reduced to ashes by Ivy's own hand, his head even transformed into a harmless necromancer. But Ivy's personal experience continues to provide him with new guidance.

The Necromantic Codex of Sel is an encyclopedia of necromancy, containing not only many spells that Ivy hasn't yet had the time to learn, but also some large-scale, high-level ritual spells that require a lot of resources.

These advanced ritual spells were what Ivy was truly interested in.

For example, there is a crafting method for a legendary magical item called the "Horn of Death".

Once activated, the [Call of Death] will produce a magical effect called "Crimson Death," which expands its range by thirty feet each round. This red mist will last for ten minutes, and before it dissipates, any creature with 9 or less health will be instantly killed and transformed into mindless undead creatures—zombies.

These zombies will obey the commands of the creator of the "Death Call" until they are destroyed.

Judging solely from the effect of the [Death Call], it may not be particularly outstanding; it is merely a magical item used to kill civilians.

However, when combined with another advanced necromancy ritual called the "Black Mass," the effect becomes truly astonishing.

The Black Mass can guide all marked souls within a very large area to complete higher-level spells, or to extract the power of these souls for its own use, or to make a pact with certain beings in lower planes, thereby engaging in a substitute transaction.

Ivy has already come up with many uses for it, I really don't know what kind of tricks the great lich Zarzastan would come up with if he were here.

Creating a terrifying, gigantic undead or wandering spirit, or even simply establishing a death zone, are all predictable uses. Furthermore, the cost of using the Black Mass is paid by the souls of those unfortunate souls; therefore, with proper planning, a skilled lich can frequently replicate the spell's success.

However, the Black Mass will obviously be attacked by forces representing justice.

Therefore, Ivy felt that if she were to use the Black Mass someday in the future, she would probably repackage and modify the spell to make it resemble a willing sacrifice or something similar.

(End of this chapter)