From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 365: Journey to the Ruins of Seidun
Located on the southwest side of the river outside Mihua College, far beyond the radiation range of the Torch of Enlightenment, a lifeless castle ruins stood dilapidated and dull among the gloomy dead trees.

This is Mogasso's hiding place, and also Ivy's destination.

As a creation of more than a dozen centuries ago, the former Seidun Castle has long since become a ruin. Perhaps the castle was located on a major traffic route, which is why it attracted the attention of the local warlords of Akavivo.

But after more than a dozen centuries of changes, the reasons for those warlords to fight no longer exist. Now, all that is left here, except for the creepy cold wind, are the bones that can still move driven by black mana, the Madwug Wizard hidden in the deepest part of the fortress, and Mogasso who is blinded by blasphemous knowledge.

Ivy used magic to hide his figure, opened his secret vision and secretly observed the entire ruins. He had already called on the power of the wind element and floated in the sky like a feather. All the ceilings in the castle had long since disappeared, and the only place where Mogasso could hide was the original underground structure of the Thurn Castle.

But it is not an easy task for a group of college students who have not yet graduated to sneak in silently.

Ivy looked coldly at the bullywug who climbed up the shaky stairs in the basement with his gait.

The fact that Mogaso still had the mind to wander around meant that his ceremony had not officially begun yet.

Several Orikos wearing scarlet masks also followed him through the ruins of the castle, setting up traps and defenses everywhere.

Ivy raised his eyebrows. He thought that Oriko and Mogaso were complete allies. Now it seems that this organization of dropout students, which is two sides of the same coin with Strixhaven, is likely to be just a mutually beneficial relationship with the Mad Frog Mage.

Either Oriko didn't believe in Mogaso's magical ability at all, or Mogaso didn't fully confess his own plan, otherwise there shouldn't be only these few people standing here.

"I want a flat ground!" The bully's cries echoed in the ruins that were always filled with cold winds. "There are cracks and shattered garbage everywhere! Even runes for defensive magic are hard to carve on the ground!"

Master Oriko did not say anything in response, but simply spread out in silence, looking for any ground that could meet Mogasso's requirements.

Sparks exploded, and the angry roar of the bullywug was heard again. In addition to cursing Strixhaven with vulgar and poor words, the bullywug did not spit out any useful information.

Ivy squinted his eyes and tried to identify Mogasso's spell. Judging from the scale and effect of the magic sparks, it seemed to be some kind of triggered defensive spell. It was not an advanced emblem spell, but more like a hypnotic pattern of illusion.

Sparks exploded once or twice before Mogaso completed this not-so-difficult spell. His temper grew worse after repeated failures, but he still managed to find two other intact tiles in the ruins, completing a defensive measure that was better than nothing.

Ivy believed that the nemesis from Strixhaven would not be stupid enough to step on those tiles that looked neater.

The sun was setting, the temperature in the ruins was growing lower and lower, and the surge of black mana was growing stronger.

Mogaso seemed to enjoy this atmosphere as well. He quacked twice, and the wizard Oriko, who had gone to other places to set traps, gathered around him again.

When the bullywugs stopped roaring angrily, it was hard for Ivy to hear what they were saying, but it was probably some words about assigning defense responsibilities.

Ivy saw the Oriko spellcasters go underground again and return to the surface with a grayish-white ball of flesh.

There were many arms and legs sticking out of the flesh ball, which should be the eclipse energy center kneaded by black mana. In Ivy's opinion, this was undoubtedly a creation of black magic, but it had almost no aesthetics, just a few useful things kneaded together by necromancy. As long as the right place was found, a successful physical attack could make it collapse.

The meat ball created by Mogasso should be some kind of triggered defense measure. Ivy did not see the Oriko mages activate it.

As night fell, the ruins of Seidun gradually became noisy.

In the moat surrounding the castle ruins, many broken bones crawled up and began to wander aimlessly with green soul fire.

Ivy had thought there was at least some water in the moat, but now it seemed that there was nothing but bones in the deep river.

The tragic war ended everything here, and the dark power released by the massive death has made these unlucky ghosts unable to rest in peace until now. They trample on each other and curse each other, and no one can truly escape from this land of death.

Until now, these soldiers who fell in the moat have become the source of power for Mogasso's dark magic. The Madwug Mage will not stop until they are drained dry bit by bit and completely turned into a pool of fine sand.

As Ivy stared at the bones in the moat, both Master Oriko and Mogasso had disappeared from the ground.

Ivy decided to activate the badge to summon the students in Strijhaven when Mogasso officially began to cast the spell. With Mogasso's spell accomplishment, once this ritual began, there would only be two results: success or failure, and there was no option to pause midway.

Therefore, after the ceremony started, the Nemesis Team would not face a full-scale attack from a fallen archmage when they launched the attack. They would only have to deal with some skeletons and Strixhaven dropouts, which should not be a difficult task. Moreover, appropriate challenges would also help these students grow. As an excellent and responsible professor, Ivy would ensure the safety of the students to the minimum extent possible.

In other words, as long as you don't die, that's enough.

Besides, in this land of death, it is difficult to truly die. The greater possibility is to directly transform into an undead creature. If Mogasso's magic ritual to extract the vitality of the teachers and students of Strijhaven can work, under the influence of the magic source of the Akaivivo conflict, perhaps those who should have faced death can unexpectedly save their lives.

Ivy sensed the green mana beneath this land. It should be suppressed, not completely disappeared. As long as they find a gap for venting, they will burst out and coexist with the opposing mana like other places in this time and space.

The moonlight pierced through the dark clouds. Mogasso in the basement remained motionless, and Ivy had lost his patience.

He tilted his head to think for a moment, and finally decided to give Mogasso some fun. Ivy took out a small glass bottle from the Destruction Grimoire, which contained a pool of jelly-like gelatinous substance.

This is one of Ivy's latest scientific discoveries as an [Alchemist], [Bottled Mud Monster], or [Bottled Slime].

Ever since transforming Ariana Dumbledore's Obscurus into an animated spell-ooze, Ivy has begun the process of studying these soft-bodied creatures.

As an amorphous creature, the only purpose of an ooze's life is to eat, which means that it is very susceptible to the effects of food.

The mud monsters created by Ivy's alchemy are very interesting magical creatures. They will show different characteristics depending on the food they eat, and Ivy can also actively inject them with magical powers.

Ivy has already conducted experiments on various elemental subspecies. They are similar to the activation spell, except that the elemental subspecies mud monsters do not simply survive on the power of magic, but can also eat other organic and inorganic substances, and have no intention of restraint at all.

In fact, in Ivy's laboratory, the biggest cause of death of mud monsters is overeating due to excessive eating.

The crisp sound of the tiny glass bottle falling into the pile of bones did not alert anyone, because the noise made by those pitiful wronged souls and bones was loud enough.

The [Bottled Mud Monster] that Ivy dropped was a special version with a stronger digestive ability. Even if it continued to eat without sleep, it could sustain itself for at least seven days before bursting.

The bones in the moat didn't have much nutritional value, but they did have plenty of black mana and necromancy. Ivy estimated that this slime monster could live for a while longer.

With its appetite, it might surprise Mogasso, who was hiding underground. If he found it too late, he might face a real undead creature, which has all the characteristics of the undead and can continue to eat and grow like a living creature. If it weren't for the fact that the minds of these [Bottled Mud Monsters] were too simple to distinguish between food and themselves, Ivy would have wanted to keep some of them as pets.

At the same time, this is also a localized experiment of [Bottled Mud Monster]. Perhaps the abnormal mana structure of Akaivivo can make this tenacious and greedy creature show completely different properties.

In addition to the slime that caused trouble for Mogasso, Ivy also left behind a small dormant construct that Ivy developed to replace his eyes.

Just like the "reconnaissance guards" in various MOBA games, it has a certain ability to perceive information. However, this technology requires the support of prophecy spells, and Ivy has not yet been able to completely etch the prophecy spells that can share vision and hearing on a small construct. So this spider-like gadget, consisting of a big eye and four sharp claws, can only transmit some very basic information at present.

However, Ivy thought that the ritual spell used to monitor Mogasso was more than enough. A ritual spell with such a large movement could not be carried out and unfolded silently. If this monitoring construct was destroyed, Ivy would be able to know it from a distance. So it was still capable of basic warning functions.

After finishing everything, Ivy smiled silently, then continued to rise into the air, completed the teleportation magic in a place far away from Mogasso's perception, and returned to Strijhaven.

All that was left was to wait. Once the arrogant Mogasso had activated the spell, he could summon the Nemesis Team to conduct this extracurricular practice of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Next, Ivy will attend an inter-departmental meeting tomorrow. It was because Ogeta's invitation was sent to Ivy's dormitory tower that prompted him to conduct a forward-looking exploration of this practical course.

----

Maodian Pavilion.

Students have restricted access to the second floor.

In a circular conference room, ten deans from various colleges have all arrived.

"I heard that the Holy Oracle herself will also attend this inter-college meeting?" This voice, with a pleasant cry, came from the mouth of an elegant snow-white owl. She was the Brilliant Dean of Silver Hair College, Shayir. "This is very unusual. In the years I have served in Strijhaven, I have met the Holy Oracle herself only a few times, but in just a few months, I have met her twice!"

"Is it also because of the freshman from outside Akavivo?" Ambos, the dark shadow principal of Yinhao College, his gray beard and fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes add a lot of majesty to his face. He is one of the faculty members that Yinhao students dare not offend the most.

"Don't call him a freshman!" said the fire giant Nasari with a smile. The dean of the Treasure Academy had only met Ivy a few times, but he was unexpectedly enthusiastic. "He will soon become our colleague. Even in Strixhaven, where there are many talented people, his talent is unique!"

"I have my own judgment, Nasari." There was no expression on Ambos' face, and he never smiled at his fire giant colleague.

"Another wizard who likes explosions and roars? Huh? Nasarius?" The person who spoke this time was sitting on Nasarius' left hand side. She was dressed in a shining blue with very few red decorations on her body. She was Uveda, the advanced dean who was in charge of Turi Academy together with Nasarius, a water elemental.

"I believe that the explosions and roars are only a small part of what he shows. What is more important is his soul, which is a blazing fire that will never go out!" Nasari stuck out his tongue made of lava and made a naughty face.

"I've never heard that you study souls," a hoarse voice sounded from the other side of the round table. A figure wrapped in a black robe revealed only two skinny arms. It was the bloodline dean of Mihua Academy, the vampire Valentine. "Are you going to make souls into some kind of bomb or fireworks now?"

"Let's stop with the pleasantries." The Chaos Dean of Hengjian College, a half-orc named Pag, interrupted the voice in the conference room, "Don't you all have your own work? Let's get this meeting over with! I still have great war history to dig into."

"Before the Holy Oracle and Ivy Dum, who made the request, arrive, let me first talk about the most important topic of this inter-college meeting, so that you can be mentally prepared in advance," Ogeta, an old acquaintance of Ivy and the initiator of this inter-college meeting, finally spoke, "Ivy Dum, who was originally scheduled to join the faculty team in the next school year and is now leading students to fight against Mogasso, hopes to study the Strixhaven Magic Vortex located below Maodian Pavilion."

The deans sitting at the round table were silent for a while.

Then an angry voice sounded: "He is wishful thinking!"

(End of this chapter)