From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 405 The God's Gaze

Although buried deep underground, the Underdark is not completely without any light.

Blue-purple phosphorescent mosses climb and spread on the rock walls; glowing spore threads hang from the caps of giant mushrooms; the jagged stalactites and stalagmites are like the fangs of giant beasts, and appear particularly creepy under the illumination of fluorescent minerals; the rushing dark river carries plankton, and the fluorescence they emit makes people feel that it is the blood vessels flowing with the beating of the heart; the tangled snake vines coil into a web, and the translucent mushrooms spray spores, as if they are breathing like living creatures; the highly poisonous spores diffuse everywhere in the sultry air, making the underground maze without the sunshine of the sun and the moon form a magnificent and strange ecological environment.

"Beautiful and deadly." Kalak squatted down and carefully looked at the green fluorescent mushrooms on the roadside. "The Underdark is exactly as I thought... maybe even more beautiful than I imagined. It's great to be able to escape from hell!"

"Don't laugh!" Asdaelon warned hastily, "This is not a wilderness or a forest. Your hyena-like laughter will definitely bring us a lot of trouble!"

“Watch your hands, tiefling.” Minsara, who was walking in front, said without looking back, “If you get any closer, it will explode.”

"Have the drow always lived in this environment?" Laizel carefully dodged a blue mushroom at his feet. It looked like a tongue sticking out of the mouth of a hanged ghost. "It seems worthy of the respect of a Githyanki warrior..."

"Ah, the respect recognized by the Star Bay Queen, Leizer!" Kalak retracted his finger and caught up with the team again.

"Ivy said that 'Star Bay Girl' means I'm smart, Kalak." Laizer stepped on a poisonous insect that passed by her feet, "but I heard something different in your tone. If that kind of jealousy can give you motivation, then stick with it. Sooner or later, you will achieve the same success."

Kalak, who never fails to keep a conversation going in every sense, now doesn't know what to say.

Will, who had horns on his head like her, quickly took over the conversation: "Léezer, your eyes are so beautiful and flawless, just like the golden sand of Karim."

"Your skull is soft. A ghaik's tentacles could easily penetrate it."

"Is this... a compliment?" Will had never communicated with any alien other than Laizer, so he wasn't sure of her speaking style.

"No, just stating the facts. The creatures of Furen are ridiculously fragile." Laizer held the hilt of the sword and crawled through the aerial roots hanging above the cave.

There was a muffled laugh coming from the front of the team.

Will, who is talkative and likes to flirt, still refuses to give up: "Laire, do you believe in love at first sight?"

"I don't believe in love at all." Laizer ended the topic.

“Oh↓——”

"But I believe in physical pleasure." Laizer started the conversation again.

"Oh↑!"

The others in the team pricked up their ears as well.

But everyone's wait was in vain, as Xingwan Girls' University showed no intention of providing further explanation.

So Will had to say, "I've never met anyone like you, Lyzel."

"Yes," Leitzel looked back at Will, "many people praise me for my humor."

"Did anyone really say that?" Will couldn't help but believe it.

Xingwan Girl gave him a deep look and said in a drawn-out tone: "No——"

Will realized that the alien was difficult to deal with and turned his gun in time: "Ah, Yingxin, I'm so lucky to be so close to you."

Yingxin looked straight ahead, "I heard your conversation with Laizer, and I don't want to pick up the leftovers of someone like her. Try to find someone who hasn't heard you flirting with her."

The team fell into a long silence - but Ivy nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that there was no need to worry about them not being able to pass the saving throw against Tasha's laughter.

"Has this team always been so lax?" Mingsala turned around and asked Ivy.

"For a group of people who live from hand to mouth, enjoying life while they can is the best way to enjoy life." Ivy played a piece of music and helped the team to keep running.

If it weren't for the fact that they always had to pass through caves of all sizes in the Underdark, Ivy would have summoned a phantom horse for everyone to ride.

"The Raisven region is shrouded in the Shadow Curse. How does the Supreme True God Cult protect those cultists from being affected?" Archdruid Harsin has been thinking about this question for a long time. "I heard that the True Souls are calling on all believers to go there."

"Because of the Moon Lantern." Minsara replied, "It is a tool developed by the necromancer Balthazar. As long as you get close to the light of the Moon Lantern, you can avoid being harmed by the Shadow Curse. Do you see the lyre on my back? As long as you play it at the designated location, the 'driver' of the Supreme God will come to you, carrying the Moon Lantern. We need to use it to sneak into the Moonrise Tower and investigate the truth behind Catheric's immortality."

"Magic props..." Halsin nodded to show his understanding. "It makes sense. Maybe after we use them up, I can figure out a way to solve the Shadow Curse..."

As they were talking, the adventure team, which had been lined up in a long snake formation, finally walked out of the cave and came to a cliff area with uneven heights.

"Why did the team stop?" Xie Nian asked, sticking his head out.

"I saw a sword stuck in stone." Minsara frowned. "That's strange. Stranger than walking ten miles in the Underdark without encountering a hostile creature."

"Maybe it's a magic weapon!" Xie Nian has always been interested in collecting treasures, so his eyes lit up after hearing Mingsala's words.

"This is the Underdark!" Minsara frowned and emphasized. Xie Nian looked around at the various mushrooms: "I know... except that it's a little darker and there are more mushrooms, I don't think there is any difference."

"It's easy for the lives in the underground world to set a trap just to satisfy their desire for killing." Minsara seemed to be trying to intimidate evil thoughts.

"That sounds a bit half-baked. If killing is not for the enjoyment of blood, then it is meaningless." The evil thought said belatedly, "I seem to have said something terrible again? It must be my evil thoughts that are causing trouble again... Recently I feel that it has become more and more hidden, as if it wants to influence me inadvertently... Is this normal?"

"Like the whispers of the devil?" Ivy felt that Xie Nian's mental state was a little worrying. She was the key to this drama and the focus of the gods and demons. "Then I think you need to be more vigilant. And try to vent your desire for killing in battle. Fortunately, there are believers of the Supreme God everywhere."

"Okay, okay, let's talk about this magic sword." Xie Nian waved his hand indifferently, climbed to the platform where the sword was in three or two steps, and lowered his head to look at it carefully.

It was a slender and elegant drow sword, which had been standing in silent guard, gleaming brightly under the illumination of the giant fluorescent mushrooms.

"It's stuck directly into the stone, and there are many runes engraved on the sword!" Xie Nian was very interested in it. If it weren't for Mingsara's warning, she would have already grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands and started trying to pull it out.

"There is also a helmet on the platform - ah, I see." Minsara also followed, with contempt in his eyes, "A weak man sacrificed himself here for the amusement of his god."

"So... this is part of a religious ritual?" Xie Nian asked with interest, "How can we get this magic sword out? Considering that there is a wizard in the team who swallows magic items from time to time to fill his stomach, we can't miss it! Half of the people haven't got the magic weapon yet!"

"Just a little blood will do." Gale, the former Chosen One of the Magic Goddess, said, "The one who stuck the sword here was a paladin of the Dark Maiden Eilistraee. We should comfort his heroic spirit with blood."

"Voluntarily donating blood to the weak," Minsara sneered, "is also a blasphemy to Rose."

"Considering that we are still in the Underdark, I still suggest not to stir up..." Minsara paused, suddenly remembering that she had already betrayed the Spider Queen Rose. The contemptuous smile on her face quickly disappeared. "No, I didn't say anything. It's up to you."

Ivy thought of what he had read in the book: Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden, one of the main gods of the drow. Contrary to the stereotypes of the world, there are also good gods in the drow pantheon. He is the god of freedom, moonlight, hunting, dance, song, and swordsmanship. Many half-elf bards choose him as their faith. It is said that he is a naked drow with long hair that reaches his ankles and flows like silver light, and his holy symbol is a silver giant sword in the full moon.

"I remember you were trained as a matriarch by the Banrui family, Minsara?" Ivy asked.

"Yes."

"In that case, you must have been not only a paladin of Rose, but also her priest. All the drow matrons and matron candidates in Menzoberranzan are priests of Rose," Ivy speculated.

Before becoming a True Souler, Minsara was a dual-class boss, but her betrayal of Rose caused all the power she gained from the gods to disappear.

"I was destined to become the mistress of Menzoberranzan, but everything was ruined by the Supreme God." Minsara tilted her head and glared at Ivy, as if she didn't like to talk about this topic.

"There is an opportunity for you now." Ivy pointed to the long sword of the Eilistraee believer stuck in the stone. "You have already betrayed Lolth and escaped from the control of the Supreme God. Now you are on the road to freedom. And Eilistraee is the drow goddess who represents freedom."

"This is impossible!" Mingsala jumped back as if she had been electrocuted, staring at Ivy angrily, her purple lips opening and closing as if she was about to spit out countless vicious rebuttals, but in the end she found herself speechless.

Because she knew that no matter what she did, she could not return safely to Rose's web, and her former underground home, Menzoberranzan, had become a place she could never return to.

"When I get rid of the Supreme God, I swear that all my future actions will be in accordance with my own desires!" Minsala took a deep breath and tried to raise her voice to make her words more credible. "I will never be manipulated by any god again!"

"That's good, it suits you very well." Ivy's calmness made Minsara's anger crash into the ocean and disappear in the blink of an eye. "But I think you shouldn't miss a magic sword made by the drow. From my point of view, it is light and durable, extremely sharp, and even has additional magical effects. It is perfect for you. If I'm not mistaken, only one of your two maces is a magical weapon, right?"

"I have to admit... you are right..." Minsara took off her weapon, the hard hammer made by the gray dwarf slaves in Menzoberranzan, and stared at the spider web pattern carved on the hammer head. "Exyanti, once received Rose's blessing, can make the enemy feel endless pain... Rose took away its power while taking away my power..."

Minsara put the mace back on the weapon hook on her back and took two steps forward to the stone platform where the sword was inserted. "I will take out this drow sword according to the ritual of Eilistraee, but..."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Xie Nian said indifferently, "It needs someone to wield it so that it can drink the blood of its enemies. Besides, Will and I both prefer dueling swords."

Hearing this, Mingsala no longer hesitated. He stretched out his hand and grasped the blade of the sword that was exposed on the platform. He slid it down slightly, and blood soaked the sword body and the stone platform.

The drow words engraved on the sword began to flicker and glow.

It rose from the stone, floated in the air, and silently waited for its new owner.

When Minsara reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword, all the victims of the mind flayer tadpole couldn't help but raise their brows.

"What a beautiful and gentle melody..." Harsin smiled, "This must be the Dark Maiden's sacred thanks."

"How could this happen?" Minsara's doubts were not fake. She stared at her gradually healing wound and said puzzledly, "I have never prayed to her, nor have I ever silently recited her name in my heart... Why did it attract the attention of the gods?"

The Darkmaiden welcomes every lost drow into her arms, and it is thanks to the psychic network between the mind flayer tadpoles that the adventurers share that feeling from Minsara.

The priest Halsin had always been sensitive to the surge of divine power. Although Eilistraee was not the Oakfather he served, he still vaguely caught the sacred melody.

Ivy was the only one who was not bothered by the Mind Flayer Tadpoles and was not a clergyman. Therefore, he was the only one who knew nothing about the feelings of his teammates.

However, Ivy still learned a fact from the side: the attention paid by the gods of Faerun to this team far exceeded expectations.

If you want to fight with the real gods, you must first figure out what they are. Ivy's attempt was not successful, but he knew that better samples would be delivered soon.

(End of this chapter)