From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 381 Apprentice Roland
"Okay, Sevlo, I only have one last question." Ivy looked at the depressed Hell Knight Commander and said, "I want to know, does anyone in this camp know Neuer?"

"Noelle?" Sevlo wiped his face hard with his hands, trying to cheer himself up. "This name is too common among tieflings. What's his last name? Who are his parents? Does he have any living brothers or sisters?"

"I don't know exactly what his last name is, but he told me a very interesting story, so I know a little about him." Ivy thought about it for a while and was sure that the repeater from Terry College did not tell him his last name.

"Neuer is a tiefling from Eltoril, a wild magic sorcerer. It is said that when his magical talent was first displayed, he burned down the hay storage of the Knights of Hell. The commander of the Knights at the time did not hold him responsible, but asked him to use magic to serve the Knights of Hell. For this purpose, he was sent to the tiefling archmage Silvira Savicas of Candlekeep, hoping that he could return after completing his studies." Ivy briefly summarized the life journey of the unlucky Neuer, "But he was very unlucky to encounter a portal accident. It was because of this that I met him working in a tavern at a magic school."

"I don't remember the name Neuer." Sevlo smiled, "But I heard about him burning down the Hell Knights' hay barn. If there's anyone in this camp who could be related to a tiefling spellcaster, it must be another tiefling spellcaster. Go meet the Roland siblings, they're still arguing about whether to stay or go."

It seems that the fact that the entire tiefling community was in a tizzy over Neuer's wild magical talent was just his self-boasting, otherwise how could Sevlo not remember his name.

Ivy thought about it, nodded to the Hell Knight Commander, then turned and left the room hidden behind the stone door.

The Roland siblings that Sevlo mentioned were not difficult to find, because the sound of the three of them arguing could be said to be echoing throughout the entire camp.

"Damn it! We can't just leave like this! They are our compatriots!" The tiefling woman with a longbow on her back was obviously the Leah mentioned by Seflo, the eldest of Roland's siblings.

The other two tiefling men standing with her were Leah's two younger brothers. The one wearing the wizard apprentice robe was Roland, the only spellcaster among the tiefling refugees. The one standing with Leah was Carl, who was dressed like a warrior like his sister, but they had no money to buy metal armor, so the boiled leather sleeveless armor on their bodies was their only protective gear.

"I will not bet our lives, our futures, on men who already have one foot in the grave. We must get to Baldur's Gate—now!"

The three siblings disagreed on whether to leave the refugee group. Leah wanted to act with the refugees to help them, while Roland believed that they should get rid of the burden and quickly head to Baldur's Gate.

Apparently this kind of quarrel had occurred frequently over the past few days, otherwise their youngest brother Carl wouldn't have such a helpless expression on his face.

"Yelling is so helpful! Can't you just calm down?" Carl, with a spear on his back, tried to act as a lubricant between the eldest sister and the second brother, but obviously no one wanted to listen to his opinion.

"If we're not going to use them, then what's the point of learning spells and honing our combat skills? These people are not warriors, but we are!" Leah was very emotional. It was estimated that all the tieflings in the camp knew about the dispute between the three siblings.

"It's definitely a mistake to stay here! We're just waiting for others to attack us! This place is hopeless!" Roland raised his voice, both to ensure that he was as powerful as his sister and to increase the persuasiveness of his words. However, the effect was almost negligible. "But the Gate of Boldness means new hope! A bright future and a prosperous life!"

"Excuse me," Ivy interrupted the conversation before Leah could retort, and asked knowingly, "Who is Roland?"

"It's me!" Roland glanced at Ivy impatiently and answered in a gruff voice, "Who are you? Can't you see we're busy?" Obviously, the wizard apprentice hoped that Ivy would back down.

"Don't talk to him like that! Roland!" Leah shouted and stopped her brother's rude behavior, and then said in an admiring voice, "He is the savior of the camp! You didn't even see how he chopped off the heads of fifty goblins with that scimitar!"

"No magic... just a scimitar? That's absolutely impossible!" Roland denied it without hesitation. He was a man who believed in magic so much that he refused to believe that there was any power in the world that could be compared with magic.

"Idiot! I saw it with my own eyes!" Leah elbowed her brother beside her, "You saw it too, right? Carl?"

“No…that’s right…maybe there are more than fifty goblins…” Carl said reluctantly, rubbing his side.

New rumors have begun to emerge, because Ivy personally counted and found that only twenty-three goblins were killed by him, and two were killed by Border Blade Will.

However, he did not intend to clarify. Instead, he raised his chin slightly and smiled at Leah. His expression clearly said, "Yes, it was me who did it."

Perhaps out of vigilance against strangers, or perhaps out of jealousy of Ivy's handsome appearance, Roland frowned and said sarcastically, "Great! Now that the great hero of the forest is here, we don't have to worry about those burdens anymore! Anyway, he can handle the entire goblin camp by himself! And protect the refugees from leaving the forest at the same time."

"In my opinion, you are also one who needs protection, apprentice." Ivy was not moved by Roland's provocation. "This forest is too dangerous for an apprentice like you who is not familiar with magic. You may be hurt by the fangs of poisonous snakes, enter the goblin camp by mistake because of losing your way, or fall into a magic trap that you are unable to identify. You should set off with us to Baldur's Gate, so as not to die before you smell the stench of that city."

"How dare you! The one standing in front of you is the greatest magician in Sword Coast, the master of the Ramages Tower, and the only apprentice of Master Lo Ruo Kan, Roland! Whether it is magical attainments or talent, few can match me. In time, I will become another master of magic! I can guarantee that today's meeting will become a topic of conversation for you in the future! So you'd better show me some respect!" Roland said passionately.

"You listed such a long list of titles just to prove that you are an apprentice who hasn't met your mentor yet? Then for the sake of your bright future, you should set off with us. If you die on the way, Sword Coast will lose a great wizard!" Ivy would not feel disgusted by the self-boasting of a rookie, but would find it funny. After all, the person standing in front of this apprentice was a genuine legendary spellcaster.

"I will never allow you to insult a future great wizard!"

Ivy didn't use any dirty words, but the apprentice was still furious. After shouting out the threat, he immediately began to prepare a spell. But in a moment, Roland had completed the gesture and spell, and the surging lightning began to burst out of him. "Don't!" Roland's sister Leah wanted to reach out to stop him, but Ivy was faster than her.

He just snapped his fingers lightly, and the power of the transmutation spell surging in Roland's body was completely silenced.

Roland's most skilled spell should be Thunder Wave, which is also one of the spells Ivy often uses. Therefore, the noise made by the mage apprentice can't be hidden from Ivy's eyes at all. He only needs a simple gesture to counter Roland's spell.

And it wasn't just a misfire. Roland's magic power continued to surge after it stopped for a moment. He thought his spell had not failed and was about to use the thunder wave to affect the air around Ivy as he had practiced countless times.

But Roland suddenly lost control of his magic power, and before he could figure out what was going on, a loud bang exploded in his chest.

Roland, who was dazed by the thunder, staggered to the ground. His brown hair was no longer smooth as usual, but had turned into a completely black afro.

"Roland!" The mage apprentice's sister and brother rushed towards him together. Leah tried to help him up, while Carl pointed his weapon at Ivy.

"What did you do to him? If anything happens to Roland, I will make you pay with your life!" Carl said sternly, but his hesitant steps ultimately exposed his inner anxiety.

"No, Carl..." The wizard apprentice exhaled a puff of black smoke and struggled to get up with the help of his sister, "He just countered my spell..."

The dark-faced wizard apprentice put his hand on his brother's arm to stop him from raising his weapon, and then said to Ivy: "You are a wizard... This is impossible?"

Even though Ivy couldn't see Roland's expression clearly because of the black dust on his face, it didn't prevent Ivy from hearing his shock from his tone.

Generally speaking, counterspells are not in the bard's repertoire, but Ivy is not a normal bard.

Not only does he possess the means to counter spells that ordinary bards don't have, he even found a new way to combine it with the bard's professional ability [Breaking Song].

[Breaking the Curse] was originally a professional ability that consumed the ability to sing to play songs and interfere with magic within a certain range that required sound components (spells) to take effect. After Ivy combined it with the counter spell, it only required simple movements to trigger it, and it had a strong ability to interfere with magic that required chanting.

This method of countering spells no longer consumes the ability to chant, but requires Ivy to consume a second-level spell slot. However, this is an enhancement to both methods of interfering with the effectiveness of spells. Ivy does not need to spend a certain amount of time playing the lute to make [Breaking Spell] effective, nor does it require the consumption of a third-level spell slot like the original counterspell. It is a very successful combination of abilities. After all, Ivy has a lot of low-level spell slots to squander.

But there is no need to tell the mage apprentice in front of him all this.

"You are obviously just a wizard apprentice, but you have arrogance that many old wizards who have been immersed in this field for many years do not have. What makes you look down on others? Your magical attainments, magical talent, or your mentor Luo Ruokan whom you have never met?" Ivy asked.

"I..." Roland hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and said in shame, "You are right, knowing a little magic is nothing great... I have just embarked on this path, I should not be complacent about it..."

"Very good," Ivy smiled with satisfaction, "Now can we have a normal conversation? Do you know Neuer? Neuer, the Tiefling wild magic sorcerer who studied with the Tiefling Archmage Silvira Savicus in Candlekeep?"

"That arsonist, Neuer?" The three Roland siblings looked at each other, "Is he still alive?"

"He encountered a portal accident and is now studying at a magic university in another world." Ivy said simply, "Do you know how his parents are doing? He told me before that he wanted to go back to Eltoril, but considering that he hasn't graduated yet, he finally gave up the idea."

"His parents are both dead...died in Avernus...After returning from Hell, Eltoril is no longer the home of any tiefling..." Roland said, "He has been a lucky boy since a long time ago. He burned the hay barn of the Hell Knights but was not punished. He was even sent to the Tiefling Archmage for further study...Even the portal accident did not take his life. He was allowed to study at a university in another world, and he escaped the baptism of Hell by accident..."

"This is never good luck, Roland!" Leah, who was supporting her brother, shook her head in disapproval. "Think about it, Neuer left his hometown when Banyang was at its peak and went to Candlekeep for further studies, but unfortunately encountered a portal accident... I dare not think about how he managed to hold on all by himself... But now? His former homeland no longer welcomes him, his parents died tragically in hell, and all the places that can be called home in his memory no longer exist... He doesn't even have brothers and sisters like us! This is not luck, but a terrible curse! How I hope he will never hear such bad news in his life."

After a moment of silence, Roland spoke again: "You are right, Leah, we should do the right thing... These people are our only remaining compatriots... I will stay."

Carl and Leah both smiled, and even though their brother's faces were dark, they both knew that Roland meant what he said.

"What about you, hero?" Roland asked again, but this time to Ivy, "Will you really stay and help us reach Baldur's Gate?"

"And I'll bring a group of reliable partners with me," Ivy promised.

(End of this chapter)