From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 477 Target: Baldur's Gate

Star Castle has absolutely no interior decoration whatsoever.

Originally, Grand Fortress, as a conjuration spell, could only create a fortress that lasted for seven days. Only by casting Grand Fortress again at the same location every seven days could the fortress be made permanent.

Ivy transformed it from a spellcasting spell into a transmutation spell. Although it could no longer directly use magic to create interior decorations, provide magical feasts, or serve as invisible servants like the original, it reduced the spell, which required fifty-two consecutive casts, to one. This minor flaw was acceptable.

Aside from the dark walls, there wasn't much to see inside Star Castle. Even the torches that provided light were inextinguishable flame torches that Ivy had just conjured up.

In the firelight, Leizer looked at Shadowheart, whose appearance had changed drastically, several times until the latter became somewhat uncomfortable. Only then did she ask, "You look... different... Perhaps there are more wrinkles on your face? Or are there new battle scars that I haven't noticed?"

Yingxin rolled her eyes as she twirled a strand of white hair behind her ear, shook her head, sighed, and was about to explain.

“God! Lyezal! You can notice the tiny twitch in the muscles of an enemy’s arm before they draw their sword, but you’re completely oblivious to the changes in Shadowheart’s appearance?” Karak laughed and patted Star Bay Women’s College on the shoulder. “Shadowheart is simply dazzling like gold! I never imagined that seeing someone’s forehead could excite me so much!”

“I was a little worried when I saw you sneaking around at night with a knife,” Halsin said. “But it looks like it was just used for cutting hair. The new look suits you well, Shadowheart.”

Yingxin shifted her shoulders uncomfortably and looked at Aivi for help: "Was my previous bangs... really that bad?"

"At least it makes you less dazzling," Ivy offered a fair assessment. "I think that's perhaps why you sealed away your looks before the mission. Fortunately, it's been revealed again, just like your past. I really like this new look. By the way, you're very skillful; if possible, I'd like you to help me cut my hair."

"I'm so glad someone likes it." Yingxin breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe I still need to get used to... Besides the new look, there are many other things I need to get used to... As for the haircut..."

Yingxin squinted and carefully examined Ivy's head. Her smooth hair shimmered with a magical luster, making her look very much like a mysterious archmage.

“I don’t see the need for trimming,” Yingxin said with a smile. “But if you insist, I can certainly help—at most in the opposite direction of elegance and mystery.”

While Ivy was busy preparing the hair growth serum, Yingxin cut off her bangs and dyed her once black hair, which was as clear as the night sky, snow-white, making her look completely different.

When she made a teasing remark about Ivy at this moment, she naturally carried a relaxed and self-satisfied demeanor, which was completely different from Yingxin in the past, who was full of bitterness and resentment and secrets.

With a slightly sorrowful smile, Ivy nodded to Yingxin: "Let's talk about this privately. In short, I trust your skills."

Ivy definitely needs someone with skillful hands to help her cut her hair right now.

The hair growth potion the Weasley twins used for their pranks was too strong; even though Ivy was very careful and only drank one-tenth of the recommended dose, she still ended up with a frizzy, afro-like hairstyle.

He can manage his chin-length eyebrows and beard comparable to Guan Yu's, but the hair on his head is something magic can't solve.

Previously, Ivy never had to worry about his hair. Although his hair wouldn't automatically revert to its original state like Harry Potter's, spells like "restor to its original state" could still help Ivy maintain his hairstyle without significant changes.

But after all her hair was burned off this time, the new hair that grew back was not very obedient. The restoration spell could only make it revert to the frizzy, afro-like hairstyle that had grown right after she drank the hair growth serum, and could not restore the dashing and charming hairstyle that Ivy used to have.

Ivy, who hadn't learned hairdressing from Master Wang at the village entrance, really didn't have any hairdressing skills, so his current hairstyle was practically like a dog chewed it.

Ivy had originally planned to use illusion magic to manipulate the scissors with telekinesis and cut them based on the reflection in the mirror. However, manipulating the scissors through the reflection in the mirror was indeed difficult and slow.

Judging from her teammates' performance, Yingxin's skills as a Tony (hairdresser) are undoubtedly qualified, and Ivy is confident in entrusting this matter to her.

After returning to the End of Light Inn yesterday, Shadowheart sought confirmation of her origins from Irene, the daughter of Serene.

As most people guessed, she was a Serene follower who had been abducted by the followers of Shar, and she herself was even aware of this.

As a child, Yingxin participated in a ceremony of the Serene believers and found her way home alone through the forest. However, the headmistress of Kesha'er found her first and even captured her father, who had turned into a gray wolf and was following her.

Shadowheart's past was fabricated, and even her fears were the result of Shar's deliberate manipulation.

All that the Lady of the Night did was to put on a show for her sister, Serene—to have her followers kill her daughter with their own hands.

Unfortunately, the drama abruptly ended at its climax, with Shadowheart discarding Shar's dagger and betraying the doctrines she had always believed in.

What's truly puzzling is Shar's attitude towards Shadowheart.

The play, which took years to stage, failed to come to a satisfactory conclusion; Shar only punished her with the mark she left on the back of Shadowheart's hand.

Compared to what she did to her sister Serene, it was almost merciful.

At the end of Eileen and Shadowheart's conversation, Shadowheart also learned that her parents were still alive, in the Shar Monastery in Baldur's Gate, and that they were the ones Shadowheart had been training with all these years.

Upon learning of this, Ivy immediately realized that she was not extreme enough.

Ivy didn't think Shar would prevent the abducted children and their kidnapped parents from meeting in the same building.

Considering Sharna's divine power to erase memories, Shadowheart may have already encountered her parents multiple times.

As for her cruel yet efficient interrogation techniques, they were probably honed using her own parents as "practice material."

Shar is a perverted goddess; she is entirely capable of doing such a thing.

His preferences are beyond the comprehension of ordinary beings. Ivy argues that, to some extent, Shar's "abnormality" is also a manifestation of divinity.

Shadowheart's desire to travel to Shar's Abbey at Baldur's Gate to rescue her parents was likely also partly due to Shar's machinations.

At least Shar should be happy to see this happen, otherwise wouldn't it be more satisfying and direct to kill Shadowheart in her own territory?
What the Lady of the Night needs is not pleasure, but the pain in Shadow's heart.

Baldur's Gate is truly a place of great fortune. Even setting aside the matter of the Supreme God and the Chosen Ones, Ivy's teammates all have reasons to go there.

Star Bay Girls' College student Lyezel's idol, the Red Dragon Knight Voss, hopes to meet her at Baldur's Gate to discuss rescuing the comet prince Orpheus.

Karaq has a grudge against Gotash, who sold her to Grand Duchess Zaril of Avernath, and even though he is not a voter of Bann, Karaq intends to twist Gotash's head off.

Asdalon must return to Qazador's palace. As a vampire avatar controlled by others, he yearns for only two things: freedom and the sun. These are both firmly in the hands of his master, Qazador. Although he has temporarily obtained these two coveted things thanks to the mind-flayer tadpoles within his mind, once the Supreme God is destroyed, he will revert to his pathetic, lifeless state and be sacrificed by Qazador to Mephisto for power.

For survival and freedom, Asderon must return to the palace in the Upper City of Baldur's Gate and personally end the evil life of Qazador.

Will is the only son of Duke Ravengard, and with his father's whereabouts unknown, finding the Supreme God is his only clue. The Supreme God himself has already retreated to Baldur's Gate with the remaining two Chosen Ones, so Will has no reason to wander off elsewhere.

Her evil intentions were similar; as a descendant of Baal, she was destined to fight her bloodthirsty kin, Olin. Moreover, she hoped to return to Baal's murder tribunal to find a way to escape the god of murder.

Minsara desires greater power and has recently lobbied Ivy multiple times, hoping that after defeating the Chosen Ones, he can use the Netherstone to regain control of the Mind Flayer's mastermind and thus bring the entire Order of the Supreme God under his control.

Of the team members, Halsin's goal was the simplest: to save the world and restore the balance of nature.

As for Gale...

This talented young man from Waterdeep had been incredibly excited ever since he saw the crown of Karthus atop the Mind Flayer's head.

“That’s Netheril magic!” Gale exclaimed excitedly, glancing at the small pouch at Ivy’s waist, which contained the Netherite he had taken from Katheric. “So pure—so intact—I didn’t even recognize it at first…because most Netheril relics retain only a very faint trace of power—like the echoes of bygone history. But that crown is different!”

“I can’t understand why such a miracle would exist—things similar to it were undoubtedly destroyed along with Netheril, and even the Netheril Destruction Orb on my chest was just a large fragment…” Gale suppressed his excitement and said seriously, “Perhaps besides violently destroying the Mind Flayer’s mainframe, we can use more mage-like methods.”

"Looks like the gleaming orb of destruction on your chest hasn't taught you a lesson. Are you planning to drag DOOM into playing with fire again?" Minsara sneered.

Gail didn't turn her head at all, but simply held up a finger to signal Minsala to be quiet.

The new city lord of Twilight Star City was about to say something, but after seeing the interested look on Ivy's face, he ultimately shook his head and remained silent.

“This is not playing with fire…” Gale nodded seriously. “Understanding that the Mind Flayer’s mastermind succumbs to the magical nature of the Chosen Ones might reveal another path to victory.”

“Continue.” Ivy nodded with interest. “Your method of figuring out the true nature of the crown certainly wasn’t by capturing the mastermind wearing it, right?”

“Studying the physical objects is certainly the most effective method.” Gale smiled at Ivy’s teasing. “Fortunately, we’ll soon arrive at the Wizarding General Store, one of the best bookstores outside Candlekeep. We’re sure to find the knowledge we need there!”

"A general store?" Xie Nian asked curiously. "We're not going to find needles and thread to sew shoe soles."

“Ha!” Gale chuckled. “The Wizarding General Store is more than just a trading post selling magical items; it has actually served the arcane world for centuries. Netheril texts are not commonplace, and I’m sure there must be one or two in its collection.”

“I know you definitely won’t miss it, Ivy!” Gale said with a confident expression.

That's true. Ivy's Grimoire of Destruction can indeed exchange knowledge by consuming experience points, but for certain knowledge that is more difficult to acquire physically, the required experience points will increase exponentially.

Items like the Strych textbooks, which are printed in large quantities in a world, require several thousand experience points. They are Netherian texts, which are exclusively supplied to Forthrean and are most likely unique copies. They are definitely not something that Ivy can easily acquire.

Even if he has just gained a large amount of experience points, it won't work.

In fact, he had already squandered all the experience he gained from the army of supreme gods.

Although there seem to be many people, the total number of soldiers of the Supreme God is not particularly exaggerated. After all, it is located next to the barren and cursed land of Shadows, where supplies are indeed difficult to obtain.

In addition, given the significant disparity in individual strength between the two sides, the experience points Ivy can gain will be further reduced.

Therefore, even after killing nearly two thousand soldiers of various types, Ivy only managed to raise his legendary class, [Realm Explorer], to level 23. He then used the remaining experience to raise [Transcendent String] to level 5, bringing his [Bard] total level to 10.

The upgrade to [Wall Explorer] grants Ivy a new trait called [Persistent Gate], which allows her to always consider the Ninth Ring Gate spell as ready and extends its duration from one turn per caster level to a full day.

Although it may seem like just a super magic effect equivalent to a [Persistent Spell], as Ivy's strength increases, the effect of [Persistent Interdimensional Portal] can continue to increase, from one day to two days, two days to four days, and four days to eight days.

For adventurers fighting in small groups, the increased duration of the interdimensional portal spell is not very useful. But if Ivy has his own army in the future, wouldn't he be able to send troops across dimensions?
When encountering a large enemy force, Ivy won't have to go through the trouble of casting spells herself; wouldn't it be better to just call for reinforcements?
The upgrade of [Transcendent String] not only allowed Ivy to master several new chanting techniques, but also granted him some freedom and a new specialty slot.

Ivy added 25 points to her Intelligence, which increased her stat modifier and gave her a few more bonus spell slots.

As for his specialty, Ivy was thinking about whether he could solidify his experience with cooperative super magic and turn it into a more user-friendly power through this specialty.

(End of this chapter)