From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 406 Stone Sculpture
After Minsara pulled out the Sword in the Stone, the team continued their journey in the Underdark to find a way to the outside world.

"If the direction is correct, we should be almost below the abandoned village..." Ivy looked around and tried to compare the directions of the surface and underground in his mind.

However, such a transformation of the brain space is not simple, because to advance in the underdark, one always has to go through caves from time to time, jump over towering stone pillars, and even land on the giant mushrooms growing on the edge of the cliff.

The people standing on the high ground were trying to find the big hole that might exist above their heads. Mingsala, who was on the lookout, was the first to notice the abnormality. The vision of the drow was very advantageous in the dim lighting conditions underground.

"What is that?" Minsala pointed to a canyon not far away. "There are traces of intelligent life, but it's unclear what species left them..."

"We don't have to worry about what the other party does." Gale still craned his neck, "We just need to find the hole that leads back to the ground."

Minsara disagreed with Gale's statement: "The malice in the Underdark never needs a reason. If you don't take the initiative, you will only become prey. Besides, that valley is very suitable for ambush."

"DOOM." Minsala turned to look at Ivy. "Use another jump spell and let's go over and take a look. If we can find some locals, it will definitely speed up our progress. If they are willing to obey our orders, then ask them to lead the way; if they are unwilling to obey our orders, then kill some and capture some, leaving one alive to lead the way."

"Efficient," Leitzel commented. "I agree."

There were few opponents in the team regarding Minsara's proposal.

So, with the help of Ivy's piano music, the adventurers transformed into martial arts masters, jumping back and forth on the towering stone platform, and soon approached their target.

"Just a bunch of unlucky guys." Mingsala, who was walking in the front, could not hide her disappointment in her tone. She wanted to try the sword of life and death, but a group of stone statues were obviously not suitable opponents.

The canyon was full of minerals that emitted purple fluorescence. It was because of their existence that Minsara could see the rare traces of human activity here. A team of drow elves in the form of stone statues were scattered throughout the canyon, and each of them looked terrified. Even though they had stretched out their arms to stop it, they still could not escape the fate of being petrified.

"All I saw before were some empty bottles of expired potions and backpacks covered in moss." Minsara used her drow sword to pry open the backpacks on the ground in case there were traps underneath.

The backpack rolled to the side and spit out several badly decayed props. Anyone could see that the backpack had been left here for many years.

"A petrification spell." Gale, who was the last to arrive, looked at the stone statue of the drow elf in front of him. "It looks like it has been going on for a long time... If it's not the work of a great wizard, then the culprit who caused all this is likely to be nearby."

"Are there many monsters that can cause petrification?" Xie Nian asked curiously.

"Indeed, there are quite a few. For example, the most famous ones are petrified lizards and gorgons. They can turn their victims into stone by staring at them. The most common ones are chicken snakes and snake chicken beasts. They can petrify their victims through toxins. There are also less common petrified cows. They can turn enemies within range into stone sculptures by spitting poisonous gas. There are also some less common ones, such as..."

Before Gale could finish his words, Minsara had already kicked over a drow statue.

"These lowly men are just a bunch of fools, otherwise they wouldn't have stood here for so many years." Minsara cast an undisguised contemptuous look at the stone statues, "The mistress who sent them on the mission either wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife or just for fun. Unless we help to remove the petrification, there is no need for these guys."

"DOOM, can you free them from petrification?" Minsara raised her chin at Ivy.

"It's not difficult to remove petrification. I learned how to use potions to remove petrification when I was in school. But there are no raw materials here, so Advanced Restoration is more suitable." As a level 6 [Bard/Superb String], Ivy had already added the most cost-effective 5th-ring spells to his spellbook. It would not affect the casting effect due to Ivy's lower caster level. "But, maybe it's my illusion... Why do you always emphasize my last name when you call me?"

Before Ivy's questions were answered, new developments arose.

The evil thought of trying to get some gold from the stone statue spread the fastest and had already penetrated deep into the canyon, disturbing the monster that had been guarding this place for many years.

A giant beholder.

The Eye Demon that suddenly appeared was spherical in shape, with a purple-red body covered with keratinous protrusions. A huge, bulging eyeball was located in the middle of its body, and below the single eye was a bloody mouth with countless razor-like teeth. Four eye stalks that looked like octopus tentacles extended from the back of the Eye Demon, staring at the adventurers in the canyon with the evil little eyes at the end.

“YAaaaa——”

The Eye Demon roared loudly, announcing that his raid was a success.

As a large-scale evil demon, the evil nature of the beholder can often be seen by people at a glance. These guys are full of hatred, very greedy, and highly aggressive. They generally won't stay in one place for too long, let alone a small valley in the dark area.

Almost all beholders are independent and exclusive creatures. They believe that they are excluded by other creatures because of their magical and brilliant power, so they will recklessly expel or kill other lower creatures. In the cognition of beholders, any creature other than themselves is inferior and lowly, even including other individuals in the beholder group.

Because they always fantasize that they have enemies all over the world, every beholder is extremely insecure. They use the disintegration rays released by their huge eyes to dig caves, and then use the small eyes on their eye stalks to carve details to build a beholder nest for themselves. Therefore, they will never move in such open terrain.

Of all beholder-like creatures, only a summoned beholder behaves in this way.

Because the Watcher Eye Demon will continuously guard the location or treasure designated by its summoner for 101 years. During this period, it will stay in place without moving, and use magic to make food and water to sustain itself. Once anyone who is not the summoner breaks in, it will launch a violent attack.

But as a low-level evil demon, the Observer Eye Demon has no petrification ability at all. It can only emit four different eye-wave rays from the secondary eyes on the four eye stalks, which cause confusion, paralysis, fear and injury respectively.

As soon as the huge Observer Eye Demon appeared, it launched a swift attack.

The eye rays of all beholders are a kind of spell-like ability. Although they can cause spell effects, the working principle is completely different from the casting principle of the spellcaster. It is more like some kind of biological instinct, and therefore cannot be countered.

Moreover, the launch of eye wave rays is very concealed. After all, it is a ray attack released through the eyes.

The Watcher Beholder waved its tentacle-like eyestalks and fired a ray at the male drow who had turned into a stone statue.

The gray stone surface quickly faded from the drow's body, and the adventuring party was able to see his attire clearly - a wizard in gorgeous robes.

The Observer Eye Demon's actions have not stopped yet. It floated around several drow that were blocking its way, opened its big mouth and bit at the evil thoughts closest to it with its sharp teeth.

The Beholder appeared without warning, and all the adventurers in the team were in a state of shock. Except for Ivy, the Sword Master, no one was able to move. Although Xie Nian was the closest person to the Beholder in the team, the canyon terrain had limited space for movement, and most of the team members were actually within the range of a fireball spell.

Ivy's professional ability [Lightning] from the Swordmaster allows him to launch an opportunity attack when he is attacked. If his level reaches level 13, [Deadly Focus] can allow him to act completely and freely under the enemy's surprise attack. And the 19th-level professional ability [First of All] will even give him a means to counter the surprise attack. It is always regarded as a natural 20. A successful first attack will allow Ivy to control every battle with an incredibly fast reaction. Because one step ahead means every step ahead, which is even more important in the battle of the caster.

Although Ivy's Swordmaster level is only 11, and she has not yet obtained the two subsequent professional features that enhance the ability to take the initiative, but in narrow terrain conditions, Ivy, whose opportunity attack range has been increased by [Combat Alert], can still use the Beast Bite Sword to assist the evil thoughts in defense.

The shadow cast by the bloody mouth of the Observer Eye Demon shrouded half of the evil thought, and the crazy beauty couldn't even draw her weapon, let alone react.

The razor-like teeth were so close that Xie Nian could already imagine the consequences of being bitten. The best result would be complete disfigurement, and the worst result would be half of the body disappearing.

But for a son of Baal like me, death might not be a bad thing. Ivy will definitely lead everyone to the end anyway...

Xie Nian's mind was already racing with thoughts, but Ivy's sharp knife light arrived first, leaving a huge wound on the place where the Eye Demon's nose used to be.

The blood splattered on her face and the painful roar of the Eye Demon in her ears reminded Xie Nian that she was still alive.

No time to think too much.

With a flip of Xie Nian's wrist, a sword blade suddenly popped out of the universal prosthetic hand produced by Ivy. The green sheen of the blade proved that it had been fed with poison.

Crouching to avoid the eye demon's eyestalk that was waving wildly in pain, Xie Nian stabbed the hidden blade into the gap of the chitinous shell and dragged the blade horizontally along the direction of the gap.

Although the hidden blade is limited in length, the poison coated on the blade by evil thoughts is not just for show. You should know that the virginity of the bomber in the team is thanks to it, and it even helped Ivy obtain a scroll of complete resurrection by accident.

The Observer Eye Demon, whose surprise attack failed and who suffered continuous severe injuries, became more and more crazy, with blood flowing out of each of its eyes, and it randomly fired colorful eye rays.

A gray-green ray hit Ying Xin who had just raised her shield, instantly putting her in an awkward position where she could not move.

However, except for Priest Shar, who failed the physical immunity, the other members of the team finally took action.

Will was the one who acted the fastest, and although he preferred to wield a duel sword to show off his swordsmanship, in this situation, it would be more timely to call on the power of the Demon Lord.

"This is the torture of hell!" A scarlet beam of light was emitted from his palm, causing the Observer Eye Demon, who was already wailing in pain, to stagger again.

Although it didn't seem to cause much damage, it at least gave Xie Nian a chance to draw the dagger from his waist.

At the same time, the other three people holding melee weapons also drew their weapons and rushed towards the Eye Demon along their respective routes.

However, it is not only the team members who are able to act on the battlefield. The drow mage who was previously freed from petrification by the beholder is now falling into the charm and regards the beholder that harmed his group many years ago as his companion.

After reaching the top of the canyon using the Phantom Steps, he was now chanting magic spells in the Elvish language loudly.

"It's Fireball!" Mingsala, who often fought for the family, understood immediately and reminded his teammates loudly, "Be careful to hide! And be careful of the flash dust that will come later!"

Fireball and flash dust that can cause area blindness are almost the two most commonly used spells on the battlefield. In the dark areas with lack of lighting, although both spells have the risk of exposing the position of the caster, the excellent tactical effects always allow drow commanders to abandon their concerns and order the mages to attack. When the battlefield caster is a man, female drow commanders are even more reckless.

Mingsala, who has experience in legion combat, gave very precise reminders.

But after all, she is not a trainer who aspires to become a Pokémon master, and the adventurers are not Pokémon who can communicate with her mind, so "get out of the way" does not have that magical on-the-spot effect.

A flash of magic appeared in the drow mage's hand. If the fireball exploded in such a narrow terrain, the cloth armor professions in the team with little defensive ability would definitely be the first to suffer.

"Snapped!"

At the critical moment, a crisp snap of fingers suddenly sounded.

That is Ivy's masterpiece that will be passed down through the ages - [Breaking the Law with a Fingertip].

It only takes one bard's bardic spell or a second-level spell slot to initiate a spell counterspell as a reaction, and it also has an additional bonus for spells that require chanting.

It is commendable that a wizard who has just awakened from a petrified state can recite the spell completely, but only a perfect spellcaster can be able to handle any situation with ease.

If there is a paper titled "Why is the Master a 'God'?"

Then Ivy definitely has the most say.

What a loser warrior can do, a god-like mage can do.

What a ghostly stealth warrior can do, a godlike mage can also do.

A healer who can rescue the wounded and revive the dead is of course an indispensable role in the adventure team, but a god-like magician... perhaps an ordinary magician can't do it, but Ivy, who has multiple roles, can!
Ive can do what others can do, and he also has solutions for things that others cannot do.

So, why isn't the mage a god?

(End of this chapter)