From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 612 Planeswalker Survival Guide

"The Planeswalker Spark originates from the soul; in other words, it is the power deepest within your soul, not a gift or an uncontrollable external artifact. If you want to master this power, the most important thing is to understand yourself. Do you understand, Kun?"

Inside a magical laboratory in Striderham, Planeswalker instructor Kmina is giving a lesson to her new students.

Her proposal, "Opinions and Methods for Recruiting and Training Planeswalkers," submitted at the inter-institutional meeting, has been successfully passed. The first task after the proposal's passage is naturally to rescue the unfortunate new Planeswalkers from the gap between the two worlds.

Ivy also participated in this magical experiment as Kmina's assistant.

Between the massive pillars, lightning and sparks continued to unleash their power, holding the baby elephant Quintor in an extremely uncomfortable position in mid-air.

“Even if you put it that way, I still don’t quite understand…” Quintorli was a complete theorist, preferring books to practice. Therefore, when faced with the “feeling-first” Planeswalker Spark, he found it difficult to grasp. “Without standards and annotations, asking me to travel through time based on my personal feelings and self-awareness seems too much to ask.”

“If we can’t do that, we’ll be torn apart by two worlds that are drifting further and further apart. How about that?” Ivy said, glancing at the readings on the instrument, offering a solution that sounded rather cruel.

The baby elephant was terrified by this description and began to tremble, its ears tucked between its legs.

“Alright, Professor Doom.” Kmina rolled her eyes, her honey-colored hair bobbing as she shook her head. “Give Kun more time. Mastering the Spark is a challenge for every Planeswalker. Don’t be discouraged, Kun. We all know you’re a very talented student.”

"But not in terms of time travel..." the little elephant said pessimistically.

"Professor Doom? Are you there? I'm sorry to interrupt your experiment, but there are some things that require your signature..." Another voice came from outside the laboratory, and a gigantic figure entered, twice the width and twice the thickness of a normal human, and at least one or two heads taller. However, in terms of weight, she wasn't much heavier than an average human. Because she was an Owlman, she looked like a giant, upright-walking owl.

Okay, all birds seem to be able to walk upright. But the Owlmen are different. In addition to a pair of wings that help them fly, they also have a pair of forelimbs, or rather, hands, that they use to hold pens and do work. Besides looking like owls, the Owlmen's body structure is also very similar to that of owls. Their heads can rotate more than 200 degrees, their bones are very light and strong, their huge appearance is almost entirely covered by fluffy feathers, and they also have a pair of long legs.

"Come in, Mavenda." Ivy stepped away from the instrument in front of her, which was borrowed from the Institute of Quantitative Analysis. It was called something like "Spacetime Curvature Mathematical Analyzer," or in short, a new term that was a bunch of convoluted words piled together.

"Hi! Kmina! I heard you got promoted! And you're the new head of the teaching program! But I didn't get an invitation to your promotion dinner." Mavenda saw her best friend Kmina as soon as she came in. The two of them were student counselors together last year, and this year Kmina became a student mentor and even has the right to lead an entire teaching program.

“Because that dinner party wasn’t in my plans.” Kemina sighed. “You’re here to see Professor Doom, right?”

“Oh.” Mavenda handed over the documents, along with a thoughtful explanation, “This is a list of personnel and supplies from the Ferren Admissions Office. If you think there are no problems, please sign here. I will inform them to hold a meeting this afternoon at the Student Activity Center on the first floor of the Modian Pavilion. You can check and verify the information again then to prevent any mishaps during the interdimensional transfer.”

“Okay, let me see…” Ivy took the parchment scroll and began to scan it quickly.

“Cross-dimensional topology…information exchange and relay…homology groups…” Ivy pointed to the words that took up three lines on the parchment and asked, “What is this? I don’t remember applying for it?”

“Oh! It’s equipment from Professor Tika of the Quantitative Analysis Academy. It’s said to have been personally approved by Dean Imbaham. It seems to use some kind of equation for experimental communication, but I don’t really understand it.” Mavenda leaned her large, hairy head closer for a look and immediately offered her explanation. “However, Dean Imbaham specifically mentioned that this is an experimental project under the Interdimensional Portal, aimed at collecting experimental data at the Faerun Admissions Office. Ideally, you could use it to communicate across dimensions with the Strychwyn headquarters!”

“Oh. Quantum communicator.” Adhering to the principle of “when in doubt, quantum mechanics,” Ivy gave the prototype device of the Quantum Analysis Institute a new name.

“Yes, this is a quantum communicator.” Mavenda readily accepted the new name for the experimental device and watched as Ivy put a checkmark next to it with a quill pen.

“Okay, I have no further questions. I’ll be at the afternoon meeting on time.” Ivy signed her name at the end of the document.

"But I have a problem!" the little elephant floating in the air cried out, sticking out its trunk. "Your machine keeps flashing a red light, Professor Doom! I have a bad feeling!"

Ivy returned to the spacetime curvature mathematical analyzer, watching the crystal pointer used to display the degrees swing back and forth, flashing red light on and off.

“It seems we don’t have much time to let Kun get used to the Spark. We have to use my method.” Ivy reached out and summoned the Grimoire of Destruction from the void, then took out a set of tattoo needles from it.

"What do those readings mean?" Kemina asked nervously, also moving closer to the instrument.

"You graduated from the Institute of Quantitative Analysis, so why are you asking me?" Ivy glanced at her and asked in surprise.

“I’m from the School of Materials… The numbers and formulas in the School of Theory make me sleepy and give me nightmares…” Kemina shuddered as she recalled the dreams she once had dominated by mathematics.

“Okay, basically it means that the instability of this spacetime is increasing, and if we let it go, Little Kun will either be torn apart or crushed.” Ivy began to apply magic ink to the tattoo needle.

"Is your method really safe? Banishing Little Kun from our world?" Kemina hesitated, looking at the baby elephant in the laboratory, where the lightning and firelight around him intensified.

“There’s never a completely safe way. We can only hope that nothing happens to him. Since he’s stuck between two worlds, as long as we use the banishment spell to push him out of this world, the spark in the other world should automatically pull him there. It’s just that confirming the location will be a bit troublesome. If Xiao Kun can’t master the spark’s ability to travel through time and space on his own, then we don’t know how long it will take for him to come back.” Ivy filled all the tattoo needles with ink and waved them in front of Xiao Kun.

“To ensure you can return to Strelhaven to complete your studies, I need to leave a magical tattoo on your body for location tracking. That way, even if you can't find your way home, I can bring you back.” This was something Ivy had been wanting to do ever since she learned of Kmina's Planeswalker identity—to leave a mark on the Planeswalker through some means, and then use that mark to explore new worlds. However, according to Kmina, Planeswalkers rarely carry items when traveling through time, so for safety, a magic circle engraved on the skin is less likely to be lost or destroyed.

Seeing the electric light reflected from the needle tip, the little elephant Kuntoli closed his eyes in fear. Even though he was an elephant with a thick skin, he was still afraid of sharp metal objects.

“Talk to him, Kmina.” Ivy’s first injection made the little elephant tremble for a long time.

Although the needle was being used on someone else, the two women in the room quietly took a few steps back, unable to bear watching the scene.

Kemina craned her neck and asked, "What? What did you say?"

“Anything will do, just help him calm down. Oh, let’s talk about some precautions for time travel. The usual landing points for Planeswalkers, how to deal with the wilderness, and how to use magic to protect yourself.” Ivy gave him a second injection, but after hearing that he could learn new knowledge, the little elephant was much more relaxed.

“That’s right, this should be in my lesson plan…” Kemina twirled a strand of hair behind her ear, organized her thoughts, and began to talk about the Planeswalker World Travel Guide.

"Water, food, and shelter are the essential problems for survival in the wilderness. However, since we are all mages, it's much easier to solve them with magic."

"Hengjian Academy should have taught archaeology-related life skills, right? Sunscreen, windproof, and how to quickly build a shelter. After all, archaeology always takes place in sparsely populated areas. So as long as you can remember to use them, it shouldn't be difficult to protect yourself in the wilderness."

“So what I’m really trying to say is that it’s in a completely different society.” Kmina held up a finger. “First of all, language. Many Planeswalkers encounter language problems after traveling through time. After all, it’s a completely different world, so communication is the first problem to solve… Have you ever studied to be fluent in any language?”

The little elephant nodded, then shook its head: "I've seen it in the library of the Modian Pavilion, but I've never tried it myself..."

“Alright, I’ll cast one for you first, just in case you run into communication problems as soon as you get there. But before the magic wears off, you’d better make sure you understand the situation beforehand with someone you can communicate with.” Kemina drew a few runes in the air, and the little elephant’s body lit up slightly, but it was barely noticeable in the blinding lightning and fire.

“Now that you’ve seen the model of this spell, try to recall it and master it completely. I believe in your learning ability, little Kun.” Kmina held up her second finger. “Use your identity. Magic isn’t something that can be universally mastered in any world, so you should make good use of your identity as a mage to help yourself. However, in some worlds that are prejudiced against magic, revealing your identity could cause some trouble. So before you decide to reveal your identity, please find out what kind of attitude the people around you have towards magic.”

“Third, try to make yourself look intimidating.” Kemina looked the baby elephant up and down, its size far exceeding that of a normal human. “Your size is already very intimidating to people who don’t know you. All creatures will subconsciously avoid things that are bigger than themselves. But when you’re facing humans, remember to lower your voice and don’t stare into those clear eyes or frown.”

"Alright." Ivy finished the last stitch of the tattoo, watching the magic mark flicker on the elephant's arm. "Don't overthink it. Just be aware of your surroundings and watch your safety, that's enough. I'll come find you as soon as possible."

"Do Planeswalkers allow carrying spatial equipment? For storing emergency supplies or something?" Ivy turned to ask Kmina.

“In my experience, no way.” Kemina shrugged. “My first dimensional bag was destroyed like this. Everything inside disappeared, leaving me with only a tattered cloth bag.”

“Alright, then I guess I’ll just have to carry it on my back.” Ivy tore a piece of paper from the Grimoire of Destruction, reached inside and pulled out a huge backpack, then used telekinesis to hang it on the little elephant’s back.

"The bag contains essential adventure supplies: a long rope, a pulley system, a warm blanket, a crowbar, pitons, and a hammer. I've also included some magic potions; you can definitely tell what their effects are. Don't drink them if they don't look good. There's also a box of animal magic cookies that will transform you into the corresponding wilderness form shown on the cookie. The effect only lasts a minute, but it's enough to handle some unexpected situations." Ivy explained briefly, then used telekinesis to straighten the little elephant's clothes.

This makes Quintorli, dressed in archaeological attire, look more like one of the three main characters in an adventure story: an archaeologist.

Animal Magic Cookies were developed by Ivy based on the Weasley Brothers' Canary Cookies from the Wizarding World. They incorporate Druid Wilderness Transformation, allowing the user to transform into the corresponding Wilderness form within one minute. The box for the baby elephant was filled with flying and diving creatures to suit different environments.

“Thank you, Professor Doom!” Kuntori’s eyes glistened with tears as he expressed his gratitude loudly.

“Wait… since you’ve already left a magical mark on him, couldn’t you just go over and pull him back as soon as he landed?” Kemina suddenly noticed the blind spot.

"Logically speaking, yes. So these things are for dealing with emergencies—unable to locate, the integrity of the tattoo being compromised, or my magic being insufficient to cross the barrier of space and time." Seeing that preparations were complete, Ivy's mithril staff automatically flew up, outlining the runes of the banishment spell in the air.

"Don't worry, Kun. I'm watching you." Ivy pointed to her eyes with two fingers, then to the little elephant's. "Now, count to three."

The baby elephant sniffed and counted loudly, "One—"

But before the little elephant could finish speaking, the lightning and fire brought by the Planeswalker Spark all disappeared.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Kemina shouted in dissatisfaction.

“No, it wasn’t me.” Ivy pointed to the rune array on the mithril staff that was still being channeled. “He ran away on his own.”

(End of this chapter)