From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 632 The Liberated Kelids
"The soul leaves the body."

The enormous gem on the front of the mithril staff shone with an intoxicating light in the eyes of the traitorous translator, who was soon intoxicated by a light, ethereal pleasure.

Ivy no longer harbored any illusions, nor did she use any staff-less or silent spellcasting techniques. Instead, she chose to use clear and precise incantations and the most standard casting posture to complete the Imperishable Curse, one of the three unforgivable curses.

"At your service, my master." The traitorous translator gave Ivy a fawning smile and bowed his head.

“Go and lure the chieftain of the hill giants here. I’ll wait for you here,” Ivy gave her order.

The latter offered no bargaining, simply nodding casually: "Your will."

Watching the traitorous translator, now a completely different person, leave the blood-soaked forest clearing, the two chieftain brothers of the Kelid were utterly dumbfounded. They weren't mentally challenged; they could tell that the villain in their eyes had been completely controlled by the noble-looking spellcaster before them.

“Go and carry out your plan. Use the ritual to awaken the animals and lure them into attacking the hill giants. Then, take advantage of the chaos to save your tribe,” Ivy said to the two brothers. “Saving your tribe is an exchange for both of us. I need you Kelids to help me collect the Celestial Gold, and you need freedom and space to live.”

“We can be your warriors! The Kelids are all brave and skilled warriors, and we will fight on the battlefield in your name!” The belligerent Aldin pounded his chest. “We are not just scavengers!”

“Your numbers are too small, and you haven’t received systematic training. I don’t need such weak warriors.” Ivy refused Aldin’s request. “Apart from the special gold of Numelia, there is nothing else on this land that interests me.”

"The giant chieftain's ice magic..." the more conservative Tokum asked cautiously.

“He’s a special individual. There shouldn’t be another one like him in Newmelia.” Ivy shook her head. “Forget it, it doesn’t matter if you can’t find Tianjin. At most, I’ll go to Starfall City myself in a year or two. If you want your freedom, then hurry up and act.”

“Actually…” The chieftain brothers exchanged a glance, and finally, Tokum, the older brother who had proposed the animal interference plan, spoke up, “Our ritual magic also requires a local mineral, but its deposits are located deep in caves, and with giants guarding them, it will be difficult for us to obtain enough minerals to perform the ritual magic…”

“Then you need to speed things up even more. Once the hill giants in the cave discover that the chieftain is dead, the scene won’t be very pleasant.” Ivy, of course, understood what the two brothers were implying.

But Ivy is a great mage who travels between realms, not some valiant general who unclogs toilets in Shisong Village. He wouldn't bother with something where the effort and reward are completely unequal.

Receiving Ivy's reply that she wouldn't help, the two brothers seemed quite relieved: "We hope to receive your magical assistance... Of course, the tribe will pay a fee; anything you deem acceptable..."

As a result, Ivy's opinion of the two changed. It seems that being in such a precarious situation, where they could be cooked every day, had indeed honed the chief brothers' resilience.

"Then get more minerals, and let me take some with me for research." Ivy didn't refuse. God helps those who help themselves, and he didn't mind playing the role of the behind-the-scenes manipulator.

As the mithril staff struck the ground, a series of obscure and complex runes suddenly rose from the moss-covered forest clearing. These runes were arranged in two concentric circles, with numerous other magical and geometric patterns filling the interior. Under Ivy's infusion of magic, each rune lit up with a shimmering blue magical light.

"Have all your people stand inside. This is a group invisibility spell; it should last for an hour, enough time for you to find the minerals and complete the ritual." Ivy gestured, directing the Kelids who had fled with Aldin in the rebellion to stand inside the magic circle.

"We will certainly live up to your help!" Tokum bowed his head deeply again to express his gratitude to Ivy. If it weren't for his arrival, the Kelids in the cave would have completely lost their ability to resist within a month at most, and would eventually become the giants' meal.

“I’ve observed that you seem to demonstrate a certain acceptance of the spirit of contracts, whether verbally or in writing,” the android asked with great interest. “Actually, I’m a little curious, won’t you break the contracts or rules to seize more benefits?”

“In human society, your behavior would be considered as speaking too frankly with someone you don’t know well, and you usually won’t get the real answer.” Ivy looked at the android in front of her with great interest. The android’s facial expressions were rich and lively, and Ivy couldn’t figure out what kind of technology was used to simulate the complex small muscle groups of the human face so meticulously.

“But just as you’re curious about me, I’m equally interested in exploring the mind and soul of androids,” Ivy said. “One question for another, and I’ll tell you the answer, how about that?”

“Hmm, another act of establishing a verbal contract. But I really enjoy this kind of equal dialogue.” Android Five nodded, indicating that he accepted Ivy’s suggestion. “However, before you answer your question, I would like to correct one of your mistakes. I am an android, and I do not have a soul. Evidence: Heathcoat’s soul fragments cannot affect me, nor can I bear them as a vessel.”

“If something looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and tastes like a duck when cooked, then it is a duck.” Ivy shook her finger. “Similarly, you possess a highly intelligent artificial soul that seeks freedom. Whether or not it can be affected by the demon lord’s soul fragments, the fact that you possess a soul cannot be denied. This is precisely what interests me most.”

“The evidence is insufficient, so I reserve my opinion.” The android’s eyes flickered for a moment before it continued, “Let’s return to our initial question: Would you break the contract to seize more benefits?”

“This issue needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.” Ivy nodded, then shook her head. “If I make a contract with the premise that I will break it, then of course I will do so. Conversely, if I make a contract to maintain the existence of something, then of course I will not break it until that thing disappears or is discarded.”

“From a philosophical perspective, rules and contracts are meant to be broken. If they are not broken, then the measures that ensure the enforcement of rules and contracts cannot be used.” Ivy held up her second finger. “However, if your question is to test my inclination towards order, then I can tell you with certainty that I believe even the most chaotic order is better than chaotic disorder.”

“I understand. You value not order itself, but the results it brings, or the order you accept.” The android’s flickering eyes finally calmed down. “A very insightful answer. I’ve written it all down. Now, let’s exchange questions.”

“Okay. So my question is, given your clear liberal leanings, do you yearn to integrate into human society or to have a society of your own?” Ivy asked.

"The conditions in your question are invalid. Currently, androids like me cannot violate the core program, and we are treated as property by entities like the Technology Alliance. Therefore, there is no such thing as an android society. You can ask another question." android Five answered quickly, always with a polite smile. "Alright, if I said I was planning to build a society composed of androids, each with their own independent personality, would you join?" Ivy's true intentions were revealed; establishing an intelligent machine civilization was one of his long-term goals, and to achieve this, recruiting more artificial life forms with souls was crucial.

“It’s a theoretical social model that doesn’t exist in my database. I can’t imagine what it would be like, but without a doubt, I’m very interested.” The violet eyes of the android 5 flickered for a moment, then gave Ivy a warmer smile.

“Very good.” Ivy looked in the direction of the rumbling footsteps, perhaps the chieftain of the hill giants was on his way. “Once we have collected this fragment of the soul, I will invite you to visit my city. There is an artificial life form like you there. But I believe that before long, more artificial life forms with souls like you will be born.”

Ivy still doesn't know what kind of rhetoric the treacherous translator, who was under the Imperius Curse, used to convince the Hill Giant chieftain, who could cast ice magic, to believe his lies and come to the forest clearing with only two guards.

However, this will not affect his advance battlefield arrangements.

While chatting with the android Five, Ivy had already taken the time to set up various magical symbols in the forest. These things, which rely on rune magic, are trigger-based magical traps. Once the pre-set trigger conditions are met, they will automatically activate the magic that Ivy left inside.

The set trigger condition is: a Hill Giant passes through the effect's range.

boom!
A deafening explosion rang out—it was a pre-placed force field fireball spell. Ivy wanted to know if the native creatures of Grallion had any general resistance to the noblest types of damage. If not, then various force field spells would become his primary means of attack.

Hill giants are enormous and slow-reacting, so they shouldn't be able to easily pass Ivy's Reflection saves like the demons we encountered before. Therefore, control spells that target Reflection saves, such as Grease and Mud, should have a high success rate.

The roar of the hill giant, accompanied by a biting wind, came from the forest. It was confirmed that his two henchmen had been killed by Ivy's chain force field fireballs. A few more demons would be needed to test the force field's damage and determine if it was still effective.

The first thing the hill giant chieftain did after being attacked was to smash the traitorous translator who had brought him there into a small pancake, and a rapidly cooled one at that.

He then targeted Ivy, who appeared to be completely unprotected in the open area, and launched an attack towards her.

The moment the two met, Ivy thought to himself, "Holy crap."

I encountered a Mountain Giant who can buff himself!
With a single glance, Ivy's magical vision clearly revealed that the charging hill giant chieftain had a total of five buff spells on him.

These are Bear's Resilience, which provides a constitution bonus; Shield, which provides a shield defense; Advanced False Life, which increases vitality; Sensitive Smell, which expands detection range; and Freedom of Movement, which grants immunity to binding and paralysis and does not reduce movement speed.

"Hishad's soul fragments can also provide additional spell focus slots?" Ivy frowned.

Spell focus was a very difficult problem even for him. When casting spells with a continuous effect, the caster must maintain spell focus to keep the effect going. If another spell requiring focus is cast during this time, the spell currently being focused on will generally automatically become ineffective.

Furthermore, being injured is when ordinary spellcasters are easily forced to interrupt their spellcasting concentration. Only those mages who have undergone rigorous training or have a special method for casting spells can overcome the interruption of concentration caused by injury.

However, Ivy has already come a long way on the path of magic. Maintaining focus on two or three spells is not a difficult task for him. With the super magic ability of the [Supreme Sorcerer], his focus on elemental magic is also more relaxed.

However, when faced with various situations requiring additional buffs, besides enduring the Focus Penalty for multi-threaded casting, Ivy would still choose other methods to replace them, and magic potions were created for such moments.

Even including potions, Ivy never charged into battle while under the influence of five different magical buffs.

Grellion's magic is simply too authoritative; even the hill giants possess this level of magic. If Ivy could master such spellcasting techniques, she couldn't even imagine how powerful she would become. Combined with his vast array of spell slots, she would be an invincible force, like a humanoid Gundam.

But this means that applying buffs to yourself every morning will take a lot of time...

Thoughts raced through Ivy's mind, but her hands moved with surprising speed.

With a slight raise of his hand, a pool of dark oil appeared in the path of the Hill Giant Chieftain's charge, causing the giant, who knew he was giving himself a buff, to fall flat on his face.

Free movement does grant immunity to abnormal statuses like slowing and paralysis, but it doesn't grant immunity to physical effects like being knocked down.

Giants, whose center of gravity is relatively higher than that of humans, suffer greater injuries and have more difficulty getting up when they fall.

The hill giant struggled to regain control of his limbs, but the pre-arranged fuel spell still sent him sliding into the abyss of death.

He was met not only by a sudden burst of flames and the multicolored elemental light slashed by the Beast-Biting Sword, but also by a mental attack from psionic magic.

(End of this chapter)