From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 549 Awakening
“When the spark of true heroism begins to flicker, the eyes of the dragon will awaken brilliantly…” Will murmured the hint from the “Anzu Legend,” his eyes widening as he searched for clues in front of the two symmetrical dragon-head torches. “They’ve already been lit… What should we do with them?”

Ivy snapped her fingers lightly, and crackling lightning struck the unwavering flames of the two dragon-head torches, turning the orange wicks into a dazzling blue-white.

The wall that Will was facing suddenly disappeared, revealing a cave with a slightly decaying smell and rampant moss and fungi inside.

“If you connect ‘flickering sparks’ with bronze dragons, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely electric sparks.” Seeing that the passage had indeed opened as he had imagined, Ivy explained softly, “Let’s go, let’s go meet Baldur’s Heart.”

As the adventurers passed through the cave, they saw a series of toppled stone pillars. Fortunately, they were not used to support the cave itself; otherwise, the ancient bronze dragon's lair would have been buried under the collapsed boulders long ago.

Behind a rusty iron grille door appeared something that excited Will—a statue of Bodyan and three murals depicting dragons and adventurers.

“It all matches up!” Although it is ancient, the colors of the murals are still very vivid because there were few visitors, and the majesty of the dragons is well displayed. “Bodean and his dragon friends built this city together, then left Anzu to guard it, while he set sail... I have seen his nautical records in the High Hall. They were brought back by Flamefist from an island in the western Sword Sea decades ago. They were stranded on a deserted island for a long time... It is a pity that these friends from different races could not see each other one last time.”

Whether out of admiration or displeasure for Will, the statue of Bodyan immediately recited a few lines of poetry: "Disaster strikes, my territory,"

"The rock face collapsed, and the earth trembled,"

"Dark blood, servants assemble."

"Beneath this place, a giant dragon slumbers,"

"Just waiting for the hero to arrive,"

“Save my heritage from this fire and water.”

"Those from all walks of life, please disperse immediately."

"If you are a hero, please answer:"

Are you qualified?

“Alright, now we know that Bodean and Ansuli have someone who uses magic talk quite well.” Ivy commented easily. As soon as he entered the hall, his arcane vision detected the illusion magic attached to the statue.

The Spell of Words is a second-circle ritual spell that infuses a pre-set message into an object, triggering only when the conditions are met. However, making a Spell of Words repeatedly triggerable or to follow a pre-programmed question-and-answer sequence requires some thought.

Ivy patted Will on the shoulder: "Go, Border Blade, and tell him you're the real hero."

“Me?” Will asked, somewhat surprised. “Is that appropriate?”

"You solved Bodean's mystery, didn't you?" Ivy never cared about empty titles like "hero."

Will no longer hesitated, stood in front of the statue and said loudly, "Open the way, great Bodyan, I have come to participate in the trial!"

"Ancient Anzu, hear my words: A warrior has volunteered, the trial begins here, the warrior is to be judged by you." The magic spell on the statue was triggered once more, and as the message was conveyed, the tightly sealed door shook off a cloud of dust and opened to the adventurers.

Behind the door is an even larger cave. The center of the cave is paved with bluestone slabs to resemble a plaza. Bridges leading in different directions connect to a series of closed rooms. In front of each door stands a statue of Bodean in a different pose, making it look as if many founders of the city are having a meeting.

"It seems that behind the door lies the trial that true heroes of Baldur's Gate will face, which fits the metal dragon's fondness for convoluted paths." Ivy stared at the largest, heaviest, and completely cast steel gate in the center of the plaza. "Or we could just open that door directly, and Ansu is probably sleeping behind it."

"Of course we have to explore every single door!" Evil Thought raised a different opinion. Apart from investigating the Water Queen's palaces of Jahira and Minsk, almost all the other interested adventurers in the group were here. "This is considered a dragon's lair, right? What if that ancient bronze dragon has arranged treasure rewards behind every trial? I've heard that dragons are all rich guys!"

“Then you should have heard about the dragons’ stinginess beforehand.” Ivy shook her head helplessly. However, following the test of the bronze dragon was indeed a way to build a good relationship with him in advance, since barging in directly would be rather impolite.

“Let’s see what questions the dragons have left behind. It won’t waste too much time, Ivy.” Will didn’t stop and went into the room on the left side of the square first.

The center of the room was shrouded in thick black fog, through which several stone platforms could be vaguely seen. In the places beyond the reach of the black fog, many oil paintings hung on the walls. Together, they told the story of a thief who gave alms to orphans who stole sacred artifacts from the followers of Gonde, was then arrested, imprisoned, and sentenced to hanging by a bribed judge.

As soon as Will stood before Bodyan's statue, Bodyan, holding the scales, announced the room's test: to restore justice.

“Justice. There is no forgiveness without repentance, no punishment without mercy.” Will recalled his Duke’s teachings, “The path of justice often lies between two extremes.”

"Are you so sure that the Bronze Dragonflight's sense of justice aligns with yours?" Asdalon, who served as an inquisitor at Baldur's Gate two hundred years ago, offered a different opinion. "Perhaps he would believe that justice should be a cruel lesson. They are dragons, not humans, right? We are as weak as ants to him."

“Perhaps.” Will looked at the black mist in the middle of the room. “My magic eye can see that there is a ghost in the middle of that black mist. Perhaps we should deal with him first and see what answers the dragon has provided for us to choose from.”

The ghost trapped between justice and injustice is none other than the bribed judge in that series of narrative paintings, and his fate makes it easy to discern Ansu's inclinations.

So Will didn't hesitate much and made his decision: the thief was imprisoned and paid the price of his freedom.

Bodyan's statue was pleased with Will's verdict, claiming that the move upheld the balance of justice.

"What are you looking at, darling?" Judging from the soft voice and the touch of a hand on her shoulder, Yingxin was undoubtedly asking her lover. "They've already left for the next room."

“Look there.” Ivy gestured for Shadowheart to look up. Some shimmering, incomplete symbols had been drawn on two stone walls by someone.

“These are…” Yingxin felt they looked familiar. “Did Bodyan write them?” “Ah…” Yingxin skipped over the wall with more text and pointed to another wall with only three lines of text. “It’s Elvish! I recognize these—'happened in…', 'or through a god', 'where is so-and-so'… They’re so incomplete, I don’t know what they mean…”

“The other wall is also in Elvish, but it’s been mirrored and flipped upside down,” Ivy explained, his finger starting from the bottom line and reading each Elvish word one by one, “The transfer of power… from living flesh to rotting bones… granting resurrection… the greater the rage, the more successful the resurrection… repair or rebirth… but it cannot stop me… I will make this power submit to my will…”

“I’m not surprised you know Elvish…” Shadowheart frowned, “but these words sound a little unsettling…”

"It's like casting necromancy, isn't it?" Ivy curled the corner of her mouth and looked at the bribed judge who was bound between justice by Bodean or Ansu. "I have a feeling this trial won't end so easily."

When Ivy and Shadowheart finished deciphering the Elvish script on the walls of the Chamber of Justice and returned to the hall.

Will also successfully passed Bodgan's other two trials.

These are, respectively, the insight trial of identifying warmongers among three advisors, and the strategy trial of playing a game of Go.

Now, only one statue of Bodøan in the hall remains unlit.

"Even if the rain pours down and the wind howls, the flame of the warrior will not be extinguished." When Ivy and Shadowheart returned to the group, the magic words on the Bodyan statue were recounting the rules of the trial: "Hold the torch, face the wind and rain, and prove your courage."

“It sounds like all we have to do is make sure the torch doesn’t go out in the wind and rain…that seems pretty simple…” Will didn’t hesitate much and stepped forward to pull out the eternal torch in front of the Bodyan statue.

It is a magical item created using the second-circle Evocation spell, Undying Flame. It is a sought-after item by many churches, and for adventurers who frequently explore dungeons, the Everlasting Torch is a very helpful item.

The moment the torch left its base, unusual wind and water elemental forces began to gather within the cave.

The wind and rain that Bodean mentioned were not real weather, but a group of creatures from the elemental plane.

Unfortunately, Bodean clearly underestimated the strength of the adventurers when setting up these trials. The elemental creatures didn't even have a chance to display the power of nature before they were wiped out by the combined efforts of numerous adventurers.

This storm came quickly and went quickly.

"Your courage, like a beacon, guides people without distinction. May the raging storms never harm you! Go forth." The statue of Bodean blesses the heroes and also signifies that the gate to the ancient bronze dragon Ansu's lair has been opened.

Behind the door was a secret chamber filled with bluish-white crystals, the floor of which was covered with patterned mosaic tiles. A statue of Bodyan, gazing into the distance, was welcoming the heroes who had passed the trial.

"Bodean has quite the romantic flair, doesn't he?" Evil thought stood with his hands on his hips in front of the statue, and after listening to the poem praising the hero, he said smugly, "Next up is the ancient bronze dragon's lair! What kind of treasures await us?"

"Damn it! The ancient dragon is now just a pile of bones and memories!" Will stared in shock at the scene behind the door.

After Bodean's flattery ended, the real dragon's lair finally appeared before the adventurers.

It was a beautiful hidden gem in an underground cave, with white resonant crystal pillars adorning every corner of the lair, and waterfalls cascading down the rock walls providing an extremely comfortable living environment for bronze dragons.

As a marine metallic dragon, bronze dragons typically choose to build their nests on coastal cliffs.

Although this dragon's lair is hidden underground, its abundant moisture and rich magical energy are clearly the kind that bronze dragons prefer.

However, the Baldur's Heart, which was said to silently guard the entire city underground, has now become a pile of highly decomposed corpses. Apart from the solidified dragon bones, only some not-yet-completely-rotted skin remains.

"Who did this?!" Will quickened his pace, reaching out to touch the dragon's carcass. "I thought there would be a kind dragon here that could offer help..."

Water vapor rose from the pool surrounding the dragon's lair, suddenly forming a cloud in the air. Before Will's fingers could touch the dragon's carcass, a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of him.

Half of its head revealed stark white bones, while the other half remained covered by highly decaying skin. Bluish-white lightning shot from the dead dragon's eyes, linking it to Will.

The whirlwind swirls up water vapor, and lightning flashes within it.

The dragon's carcass shattered into countless pieces amidst lightning and thunder, only to reform into a whole again in the wrath of the legendary creature.

It was as if someone was reaching out and dragging the timeline of this place. The corpse of the ancient dragon was like a broken mirror being mended. The bones and the few remaining scales were reassembled according to its appearance in life. Although the heart no longer roared in the empty chest cavity, the rage and storms still provided power for this long-dead body.

"I am Anzu, the Heart of Baldur—body destroyed, spirit immortal." The dragon's vocal cords had long since decayed, and these words were spoken through Will's mouth.

The bluish-white electric light linking the two had suppressed Will's own mind, and even through the Mind Flayer tadpole in his brain, it detected the Mind Flayer Lord hiding in the Astral Prism.

“Answer me, Faessi (Dragon language: coward), why have you come?”

Suddenly, the astral prism in Xie Nian's arms emitted a burst of orange light, floated above Will's body, changed its facets, and opened a portal.

The Mind Flayer, carried by its own psychic energy, passed through the portal and appeared in the dragon's lair hidden deep underground.

“Bodean.” The dragon Ansu’s voice echoed in the dragon’s lair like thunder, “Your appearance excites me just as before. I have awakened…”

(End of this chapter)