From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 554 Gathering Magic
Between two points, a straight line is the shortest.

Although the Tide Cave Maze built by the All-Seeing Pearl Sisters beneath the Water Queen's Palace was an intricate three-dimensional structure, the various defensive measures set up by the witches were completely useless in the face of Ivy's magical abilities.

Whether it's monsters lurking in the shadows or traps hidden beneath the floor, they all become mere decorations in the face of adventurers who take the unconventional path.

“We’re close enough. Prepare for battle.” Ivy stopped using earth elemental power to push aside the surrounding rocks and instructed her companions behind her. “The nearest hag is still over a hundred feet away as the crow flies. But considering that hags also need space to move around, it wouldn’t be surprising if the stone wall in front of us turned into a cave at any time.”

The first to respond was Minsk's talkative swordsman. Even with the ugly face on the hilt wrapped in bandages, Liracoul's muffled voice still echoed through the passage: "Ugh... mmm!"

Even with so many people staring at him, the bald ranger Leatherman never felt embarrassed: "Minsk can't wait to go on a killing spree! Those witches hiding here are the embodiment of evil! Let's give them a good kick in the ass!"

The loose rock wall collapsed completely, and in addition to the sound of stones hitting the ground, there were many small, noisy sounds of objects falling and rolling in the environment.

After using his telekinesis to sweep away the boulder, Ivy was finally able to assess his surroundings.

This is a magnificently decorated palace; "glittering with jewels" is the most fitting description.

Pearls of various colors and crystals mined from the seabed were piled up around the palace in a staggered manner, reflecting the tide light from who-knows-where into the entire palace.

It's less like the witch's lair and more like the mermaid king's palace.

The adventurers seemed to have entered from behind a dressing table, which was made of colorful corals and had fallen to the ground. Many pearls that were waiting to be ground into powder were scattered all over the ground and rolled in all directions.

“Impossible…” Minsala’s sharp face was filled with deep doubt. “No mushrooms, no foul smoke, no dried-up corpses, and no spider webs everywhere, what kind of witch’s lair is that?”

"Intruders! How dare you?" The adventurers had made quite a commotion, so how could the two witches hiding in the Pearl Palace not notice them? "We are the All-Seeing Pearl Sisterhood, and we are certainly different from those country witches!"

The large, fat, pointy-headed hag sneered, "Intruders have actually come to my palace, and you haven't even noticed, dear Sister Ethel. We'll talk about your dereliction of duty after we've dealt with these little pearls! But I assure you, you'll miss it terribly."

"Wait a moment, okay?" Ivy could tell that the unfamiliar hag on the other end was the type to talk a lot of nonsense, so she gestured to pause the conversation. "We still have a few teammates who haven't come out yet."

That's exactly how one-way passages are, not to mention that they only allow one person to pass at a time.

"Relax, make yourself at home, handsome. I can't resist flirting with a good-looking man." The disproportionately large hag chuckled. "You might end up staying here for the rest of your life!"

"I'm going to tear that mouth apart," Ivy heard Shadowheart whisper behind her.

The adventurers filed out of the passage behind Ivy. The two hags, who had been able to maintain their smiles, immediately changed their expressions when they saw the large number of talented adventurers assembled.

"So many intruders have infiltrated my palace, and I haven't received a single warning! Ethel! Alandra! You two fools! Do they look like harpists?" the great hag screamed, her voice echoing throughout the Pearl Palace.

As soon as the great witch Black Mawen's call faded, a series of murky bubbles burst around her, and another incredibly ugly witch was added to the Pearl Palace.

“This is impossible…” The sea ghost Alandra stared wide-eyed at the adventurers in the palace, racking her brains but still unable to understand how they had gotten here.

“Nothing is impossible.” Now that the team had assembled, there was no need to delay any longer. Ivy raised her staff and used the multicolored rainbow light shining from the Arkenstone as the initiation spell.

"Shameless and rude!" The old hag pulled a bag from the fat around her waist, took out most of the pearls, and threw them at the adventurers.

The rainbow light clashed with the pearl thrown by the old hag, instantly creating a cloud of smoke and dust. This smoke and dust was entirely composed of fine pearl powder, which might even become a popular cosmetic for wealthy women.

Pearl dust filled the air between the adventurers and the hags. The rainbow light emanating from the tip of Ivy's staff reflected repeatedly in the dust, dimming as it failed to penetrate the seemingly thin mist.

Seeing that her counterspell had taken effect, the old hag immediately cackled, "Do you know, little pearls? Faerûn is about to welcome a new god! Blackmaven, the goddess of waves and pearls. What do you think of the name? My church is in dire need of talent. If you can surrender and lay down your arms, I might be able to make you priests or some kind of chosen people."

Several melee fighters among the adventurers had already launched their charge, ignoring the ugly hag's ravings.

Although neither Ethel the Green Witch nor Alandra the Sea Witch are particularly powerful characters, they are both inherently witches.

The three witches who form the gathering will gain spellcasting abilities far exceeding those of the past.

This feature, known as Gathering Magic, allows three members to share spell slots and spell lists when they are within a certain radius.

With a legendary witch in the group, the spellcasting abilities of the green witch Ethel and the sea witch Alandra improved dramatically.

The green hag, chanting strange incantations, shook her head and made all sorts of odd hand gestures with her long fingernails. Suddenly, a large hailstone mixed with a cold wind appeared out of nowhere and pelted down on the unsuspecting melee adventurers.

Neither the paladin Minsara, wielding his longsword, nor Shadowheart, holding his adamantite shield, nor Minsk, charging at the forefront, showed any intention of avoiding the ice storm summoned by the witch.

Because resisting magic has never been their job.

Archmage Gale of Waterdeep City was surrounded by a series of blue runes. A thin bolt of magical lightning was generated from his fingertip, instantly turning the ice storm covering the melee classes into a harmless drizzle.

As the adventurers, charging through the drizzle, were about to close in, the sea witch Alandra immediately let out a series of piercing shrieks to attract their attention.

The adventurers, on guard, looked up at the swollen sea hag, who resembled a floating corpse, wary of any possible attack she might launch.

However, this subconscious action caused them to fall under the sea witch's spell. The sea witch's swollen, fish-like eyes had become completely black and empty under the influence of the fear energy. The moment their eyes met, Minsk, who was charging at the forefront, slowed down, and a foolish smile appeared on his face.

But before the witch's magic could even take effect, the magic sword Liracoul, which Minsk had been holding, shouted, "Waaah...you Leatherman idiot!"

The bald man with purple skin regained his senses and roared as he swung his broad magic sword. The bandages wrapped around the hilt had fallen off under Liracoul's persistently funny expressions, and he immediately laughed and cooperated with Minsk's sword moves.

The sharp blade sliced ​​through the sea monster's forearm as she tried to block, aiming straight for her head.

The seemingly unavoidable sea monster dropped an arm, and its entire body once again turned into a series of filthy bubbles, causing Minsk, the nearest city, to stumble from the stench.

“Uh…it’s worse than the stinky socks Minsk wore for three days…” Minsk mumbled, pinching his nose.

"Why do I feel fine..." Liracoul belatedly exclaimed, "Did you wipe my sword with your stinky socks?!"

Even though the three witches were all powerful spellcasters in the gathering magic, the difference in numbers still put them at a disadvantage.

"Summon my followers! Alandra!" The Great Witch unleashed a series of magical lightning bolts from her thick fingertips, engulfing everyone in front of her and becoming the first spell to cause damage in this battle.

Fortunately, the adventurers were equipped with excellent gear, which had been enchanted by Ivy, so even though they were hit head-on by the Great Witch's curse and lightning, the damage they received was still within their tolerance range.

Despite missing an arm, he used bubble magic to escape. As soon as the sea hag appeared, he faithfully began to carry out the hag's orders.

The roar of the raging tide echoed throughout the interconnected Pearl Palace, dissipating along the tide tunnels leading in all directions.

Seeing this, the old hag Black Mawen was very satisfied, and her triangular eyes flashed with an evil light: "It's too late to escape now! If you surrender, I might consider making good use of your bodies."

"The Black Maven sisters!" Ethel, the green-haired hag who had already died twice at the hands of adventurers, shouted a warning, "That harpist! Jahira! She seems to have cast some kind of spell on the passage!"

It's not hard to guess what kind of magic Jahira used; it was naturally the famous Power Wall spell, an essential tool for home, travel, murder, and robbery.

The servants of the three witches were all fish-men with brains no bigger than walnuts, so they couldn't possibly dig holes in the walls to enter the battlefield like Ivy. Therefore, as long as all the entrances and exits of the palace were sealed off in advance, the three witches could be left isolated and helpless.

Besides Jahira and Halsin, who were casting spells using magic scrolls, Ivy also instantly cast a Force Wall spell to seal off the battlefield. Even Gale, who had just completed a counterspell, was chanting the incantation for a Force Wall spell.

"Tongue tied in knots!" the furious old hag shrieked, pointing at Gail who was chanting the spell.

The latter's incantation malfunctioned, as if its tongue had actually tied itself in knots. The force wall spell, meant to seal the last entrance, naturally failed to cast.

“! It’s hard to predict and unpredictable, these wild demons and monsters are all here! Be careful!” Gail, covering her mouth, uttered a series of incoherent words.

“You’re cursed, Gale.” Ivy diagnosed Gale’s condition at a glance. “Some kind of reverse speech curse. In this situation, unless your spells contain no language at all, they will absolutely fail. Fortunately, it won’t last long; you’ll be back to normal in a little while.”

The Grimoire of Destruction appeared in Ivy's hand with a trail of light. He flipped open the pages, reached inside, and pulled out a large bunch of alchemical potion bottles tied together, tossing them to Gale: "Before you can cast spells normally, throw some alchemical items; they're all lethal."

“Okay!” Gail had no choice but to take the bunch of glass bottles.

Since the curse wouldn't last long, Ivy didn't waste time and energy on it. Instead, she immediately began preparing the next spell after tossing the alchemy potion bottle to Gale.

The iridescent light refracted from the dazzling gem at the top of the mithril staff reassembled in front of Ivy, and a semi-transparent force field, about the size of the Great Hag, clenched into a fist and unleashed a fierce punch.

The clenched force field hand perfectly replicated the movement of Ivy's right hand, using a swift hook punch to bypass the big hag's sharp nails and strike her side, causing her obese body covered in pustules and moles to ripple through the flesh.

If it were an ogre swinging a club at the Great Witch, her repulsive fat would obviously provide some cushioning. But Bigby's Palm unleashes a powerful force field attack, and the Great Witch's bloated flesh, aside from hindering her dodging, offers absolutely no additional defensive capabilities.

Just as Gale was wondering which alchemical potion bottle to throw away, his eyes lit up and an idea suddenly came to him. He recalled the scene of Ivy smashing the Vengeance Guardian with her force field hands at the adamantite forge, and immediately found the only one he recognized among a string of glass bottles.

The bottle has only a handprint on it, exactly the same as the one Ivy had previously dropped on the adamantite forging platform.

The vial that sealed the living Bigby's Palm shattered, and the translucent gel-like substance inside, resembling a lump of soft mud, immediately expanded, transforming into another shimmering translucent palm in less than a second.

"Haha!" Upon seeing this, Gale immediately raised his fist and began to swing it in a very professional manner, intending to fight by manipulating force field palms like Ivy.

However this is impossible.

Animation Spells are mud monsters created by Ivy using alchemy and magic. Without a mind link, bottled Animation Spells will at most treat the person who throws them as a neutral target and will never obey commands.

But what Gail didn't know, the witch obviously didn't understand either.

Ethel the Green Witch witnessed the Great Witch being struck by a heavy blow, so when she saw the second giant hand that Gale had conjured with a projectile, she immediately chanted a spell to launch a counterattack.

A series of snowballs appeared around the Green Hag, crashing down like a storm onto the melee adventurer in front of Ethel, and the animated Bigby's Palm a few steps away.

(End of this chapter)