From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 375 The Dead Man

a man.

A man with a broken hand.

At this moment, he was lying on the ground unconscious, constantly uttering low cries of pain.

Large amounts of blood soaked his sleeves, and the ground beneath him turned brown.

Even though the man in the blue-purple wizard robe tightly grasped the broken part of his forearm, blood still gushed out.

Ivy was still unsure whether he should offer him help. In fact, he himself had just arrived here.

This is a cliff by the roadside. Low shrubs and tall trees grow on both sides of the road. The purple teleportation array on the stone wall is gradually becoming dim.

There was only one thing Ivy was sure of, this was definitely Sword Coast.

The tiefling sorcerer at the Archend Tavern was named Noshir, which roughly means wanderer or traveler. The tuning fork he sold to Ivy was a magical item used to locate the lower planes of Faerun.

Relying on frequency resonance, Ivy can make precise plans for the landing points of the gate or teleportation spells. Therefore, a minute ago, he had just returned from Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells.

What greeted him was not the sunshine of Sword Bay, but a young armless wizard lying on the ground covered in blood.

And he looked like he was about to fall into a coma from excessive blood loss.

Just as Ivy was thinking this, the painful groan of the young mage with the broken arm completely disappeared, and the hand that was holding his forearm loosened powerlessly, only the speed at which the blood gushed out became faster.

"Heal quickly." Ivy chanted the wizard's healing spell softly, watching the uneven cross-section of the wound on the wizard's arm gradually heal into a rough scar.

There is good news and bad news.

The good news is that wizard magic is not completely banned by Faerûn's goddess of magic.

The bad news is that the wizard's magic also requires the consumption of spell slots here, and the spell effects will change according to the consumed spell slots.

The previous healing spell just used up a first-level spell slot, so it could only stop bleeding and heal wounds, but could not remove scars or regenerate limbs.

But even at Hogwarts, it is very difficult to grow a broken arm again, otherwise Professor Sylvanus Keltborn wouldn't have to live with a pile of wooden prostheses.

Ivy collected his scattered thoughts and carefully checked the still unconscious Mage with the Broken Hand. Although his wound had healed, the blood he had lost had not been replenished, so he would not wake up for a while.

The robe on this man looked very luxurious, and he should be a guy of considerable status. However, judging from the magical aura on him, he was no different from a novice who had just learned how to cast a first-level spell.

He didn't have any magical equipment on him, and his poverty was almost written all over his face.

"The direction of these blood vessels is so strange..."

Some dark green lines clung to the young wizard's neck. They were very similar in color to the veins under the skin, but their direction was very strange and did not look like the result of natural growth at all.

Ivy used the mithril staff to lift up the man's collar, leaving a faint mark on the man's skin beneath his clothes.

It was a circle with many arcs representing fire or magic.

Ivy recognized the pattern; it was the Sphere of Destruction.

The young wizard carrying the orb of destruction is none other than Gale from Waterdeep, the former chosen one and old lover of the Goddess of Magic, a victim of the Mind Flayer, and a walking super bomber.

"Ah... How amazing." Ivy couldn't help but smile. "There should be a crashed conch ship nearby. It looks like the protagonists just escaped from a plane crash..."

Ivy looked at Gaal, who was still unconscious on the ground, and his broken arm. "But who chopped off the hand of the Archmage of Waterdeep? The chicken-raising girl? Or Asdaelon? Although their camps tend to be evil, they should not have conflicts with Gaal, who has no grudges against them. What's more, they all share the same suffering, trapped in the Netheril mind flayer tadpoles in their brains..."

"Netheril..." Ivy smiled and repeated the name of the lost magic empire in a low voice. "The crown on the head of the mastermind and the Netherite in the hands of the Chosen of the Three Gods of Death will be my biggest goals. That is what the Devil Duke and the Three Gods of Death want, and it is definitely worth studying..."

But Ivy will never forget the gods on the continent of Faerun, so disguise is necessary. If he wants to become the winner in the competition among multiple forces, whether overt or covert, he must maintain absolute patience and restraint, as well as astute planning.

Although Ivy was unable to complete the third chapter of the game due to poor optimization before traveling through time, most of the forces involved in this drama have already appeared in the first two chapters of the game. The plan of the Three Death Gods to use the Crown of Karsus to manipulate the main brain was also revealed by Gotash himself at the coronation ceremony in Feilong Pass.

Therefore, compared to the still confused protagonists, Ivy undoubtedly has a huge advantage. As a legendary spellcaster hiding in the dark, Ivy may be able to fight with the gods, demons and various forces involved in this matter.

Therefore, he concealed all the magical equipment on his body, leaving only the simple lute on his back, a light cloth armor, and the beast bite sword hanging at his waist.

He will act as a Bard, seeking new inspiration for his great work, while collecting books, letters, and legends scattered across the Sword Coast.

And Gale, who is missing one hand, will be the best proof for him to join the group of protagonists.

Ivy stretched himself and turned around in a showy way. This was the first time he appeared in front of the world as someone other than a wizard or mage. He would make a stunning debut as the old lover of the goddess of magic, so that his identity as a "bard" would be deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Just as Ivy was thinking about what kind of music to use to announce his debut, Gale, whose wound had healed, suddenly made a painful sound.

Ivy leaned over to check. Dark purple blood vessels appeared from under his skin, making Gale's already pale face even uglier. A large amount of sticky and smelly liquid flowed out of his mouth. Gale, who had lost one hand, twitched unconsciously.

Just as Ivy was thinking about what state Gale was in and what spell to use to counter this effect.

The unfortunate mage died. "It seems to be some kind of severe toxin?" Ivy thought with a headache, because he could rely on entering the state of [Summoning Earth Element] to be immune to toxins and acid damage, so he never considered death by poisoning. This resulted in Gale's poison taking effect, and he was unable to find a suitable way to detoxify in a short time.

"Maybe I should use the Philosopher's Stone on him..." Ivy scratched his chin. "Complete recovery will definitely work... Never mind, it doesn't matter if I use the Philosopher's Stone to revive him... It's not me who died anyway..."

Before Ivy reached into his arms to take out the Philosopher's Stone, a projection with a lavender glow appeared out of thin air. The projection was wearing the same clothes and had the same hairstyle as Gale, who was lying on the ground, and perhaps even spoke the same accent.

"Hello!" The projection greeted Ivy warmly in a ghostly voice. "I am a magic projection, belonging to the genius wizard Gale Dekalios of Waterdeep! If you see this projection, it means that I died earlier than expected!"

"Huh?" Ivy was quite surprised. This was a triggered projection magic, and Ivy's arcane vision didn't notice it at all. He began to believe that Gale was a genius wizard.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you the specific reason, but please help me bring the dead back to life as soon as possible when it's convenient. This is of vital importance!" Projection Gail just stood next to his own corpse and gave a speech. He didn't care at all about the impact this scene had on Ivy. Even a ruthless person like him who kicked Voldemort's head like a ball, he never thought of making a magic projection triggered after death to talk to others.

"You can rest assured that my goal is not just to save myself. I must complete the resurrection within two days, and this concerns many lives, even yours!" Projection Gail continued, "Have I made it clear enough?"

"The 'unexplainable reason' refers to the tattoo on your chest?" Ivy pointed at Gail's open-armed body.

"Did you see it? Did you guess it? Okay..." Gale's projection tried to interact with the collar of the original body, but the fingers made of magic could not touch real objects.

"I tried to save your life when you were bleeding and missing a hand," Ivy explained. "But you were also poisoned by something I didn't expect. It was this poison that caused your death."

"You are a really kind person." Gale's projection changed the subject, "So you must be willing to help me revive? I should have a valuable and rare item on me that can help, but it is protected by multiple security protocols. What we need to do now is to quickly and correctly cancel these protocols and obtain the scroll of complete resurrection inside."

"The scroll of complete resurrection?" Ivy repeated it in surprise. This was a plot he had never experienced in the game, otherwise it would have been very impressive. Complete resurrection is a nine-ring spell that only exists on the priest and druid spell tables, and is at the same level as the nine-ring spell prayer that Ivy uses the most. To make this spell into a scroll, it takes a lot of energy and time, and a wizard like Gale must pay money to buy it.

"That's right." Gale's projection raised a finger, "The first step is to remove the small bag on my chest..."

Ivy saw the small bag on Gail's body and picked it up. There were three yellow, purple and red silk threads wrapped around it, making it look like a time bomb.

"I got it, now what?" Ivy turned the bag around in his hands twice, scanning all the details into his mind.

"...Be careful!" Gale's projection had a frightened expression, "Can't you wait until I finish speaking before taking action? If you make a wrong move, thousands of people will go to heaven with you!"

"Don't worry, I'll do what you say." Ivy comforted him with a smile.

"Okay..." Gale's projection couldn't touch the entity, so he could only compromise, "Untie the purple stitches in a counterclockwise direction, and don't touch the other threads!"

Ivy followed the instructions on Gale's projection and gently pulled the purple thread. After a puff of purple smoke, the package opened, revealing the wooden flute and paper inside.

"You need to play the notes with this flute. The details are on that piece of paper..." Gale's projection continued, "You look like a bard, so you must be able to correctly identify the most basic scales, right?"

"It's hard to say. I usually play according to my intuition." Ivy made a little joke, holding the wooden flute with a little magical power in his hand, and unfolding the page of paper in the package with his other hand.

On the four corners of the parchment, there were four capital letters written.

"The answer is 'dead'?" Ivy chuckled. "Mr. Decarios, I quite like your 'dead' humor."

"In clockwise order... Well, you've guessed it, it's the 'dead'." Gale's projection also smiled, "The concert will summon a magma bat..."

Generally speaking, an octave scale has only seven notes. Although seven letters from A to G are used, the familiar "do" is represented by the capital letter C.

So Gale's riddle actually sounds like "no, mi, la, no."

When Ivy finished playing, a burst of magma exploded not far away, and a not-so-large red elemental creature spread its wings and flew into the air. Just as Gale's projection said, it was a magma demon bat.

The magma bat asked in a hoarse voice with a hoarse accent.

Ivy nodded and looked at Gale's projection: "It asked what its name is?"

"K'hs...wait, can you understand the Fire Tribe language?" The projection that had just started stopped, "This language is not easy to learn..."

"I'm a bard, so I know a little bit of everything."

"I don't think all bards understand the language of the Fire Tribe..." Gale's projection complained while answering the magma bat's question.

Just as Gale's projection said, not all bards understand the language of the Fire Tribe. Ivy can understand the language of elemental creatures because of his occupational feature of [Dazzling Warlock] - [Original Speaker].

This trait allows him to understand elemental creatures who speak four different dialects of Primal Tongue, which obviously includes the magma bats that speak Ignan.

After getting the correct answer, the Lava Bat sprayed a mouthful of hot lava on the parchment with the word "dead" written on it, successfully turning it into a scroll of complete resurrection.

Seeing this scene, the projection Gail was obviously relieved: "You got the scroll! Just use it on me, and my hands, which were cold due to death, will soon be filled with the warmth of life again, and I will shake hands with you and thank you with infinite gratitude!"

"Now you only have one hand left, remember?" Ivy shook the magic scroll in his hand.

"Whatever! Resurrect me as soon as possible, okay?" Gail's projection shook his head, turned into a burst of light and dissipated in the air.

Ivy unfolded the scroll of complete resurrection, admired its completely different principle from arcane spellcasting, and then stuffed it into the Grimoire of Destruction.

"It's such a waste to use a nine-ring spell to revive someone who just died less than an hour ago." Ivy took out the Hufflepuff gold cup, "Good steel should be used on the blade!"

(End of this chapter)