From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 508 Gale's Living Horcrux Plan

With immense resentment, Gale closed the Calsas Almanac again, and with a bitter smile, said to Ivy, "You know, Ivy? When you handed it to me so easily, I couldn't help but fantasize: perhaps some kind of destiny had already revealed to me the path to greatness..."

"For so long, I have felt... inferior—because a simple act of enthusiasm in my youth was forever rejected by fate."

“I got a little carried away. I thought the crown could give me back what Mystra took from me, or even heal me…”

Ivy smiled and shook her head: "Can releasing the Destruction Orb really be called a 'simple act of enthusiasm'? The fact that you didn't die the moment the Destruction Orb backfired is already a mercy from Mystra."

"Come on," Gale waved his hand. "Haven't you made any mistakes by indulging your curiosity? It's just that my mistakes were a bit too big... As for Mystra... I know she saved my life, but sometimes lingering on is more cruel than a quick death."

“I…” Gale wanted to say something more, but in the end only a bitter smile appeared on her face.

He handed the Almanac of Karthus back to Ivy, saying, "Perhaps this is my destiny, to detonate the Orb of Destruction before the Mastermind, to destroy two scourges for Mystra at the same time: the Crown of Karthus and the Orb of Destruction. Ah, and perhaps myself as well."

“I have an idea, Gale.” Ivy’s fingertips traced the metal cover of the Netheril grimoire. “It might save you from death and the Orb of Destruction on your body.”

“I promised to replace Karak’s heart, remember?” Ivy reminded him. “Just like replacing parts in a broken machine, a living being’s limbs can also be replaced. But in your case, it’s not just about replacing one or two parts, it’s about building a completely new machine.”

“I can use your flesh and blood as a catalyst to create a body that is exactly the same as yours now, or even younger.”

"If your current situation is like a room with a bomb, then my spell is like creating a new empty room. After the bomb explodes, I can transfer your soul here."

Gail's eyes lit up for a moment, then dimmed again: "The connection between the Orb of Destruction and my soul is quite close, even closer than the Mind Flayer tadpoles in my brain. If the Orb of Destruction explodes, my soul will probably not survive."

“You should admit that we know very little about the soul. But by comparing it to the methods of the devil, we can see that the soul is quite malleable.” Ivy inscribed a few runes on the surface of the Almanac of Karthus. After a faint but brilliant light, two identical books appeared in Ivy’s hand. He placed one of them back on the shelf of the Karthus Vault, while the other slowly disappeared from his hand.

Unlike the "Red Knight's Strategic Guide," the "Almanac of Karthus" is not a magical book that provides special skills, but a guiding Netheril glyph containing the enemy's greatest secrets, making it far more important.

That's why Ivy used the wizard's magic "Duplicate" to create a copy that wouldn't last long.

Although the Almanac of Karthus contains the secret of the only twelfth-circle spell, Karthus's Ascension, the magical aura emanating from this massive tome is not strong due to the fact that both Karthus and Netheril have perished. If Ivy were to forge it, a copy would be indistinguishable from the outside, not to mention that the owner of the sorcery general store, Lorokan, was merely a mediocre mage.

“The principle behind cloning is quite simple: it involves using flesh and blood to cultivate a soulless spare body. Once the original body dies, the soul is transferred to the spare body.” Ignoring Gale’s gaze fixed on his empty hands, Ivy continued to explain the spell’s principles. “However, due to the high degree of connection between the Destruction Orb and your soul, I plan to make a small change to cloning.”

"You've heard of liches, haven't you?" Ivy asked.

"A blasphemer who turns himself into an undead? Most of the red-robed mages in Sel's world aim to become liches..." Gale didn't quite understand Ivy's purpose at first, but he quickly realized it. "You've got your eye on... the Chalice of Life? You plan to use it to preserve my soul? Impossible. My soul is linked to the Orb of Destruction. I can't think of any Chalice of Life that can hold the Orb of Destruction. Even if I succeed, I still won't be able to get rid of the Orb of Destruction."

“The spell I’m about to describe is similar to the Horcrux; it’s a kind of evil dark magic from my home world.” Ivy gave a nostalgic smile; Voldemort’s Horcruxes had been a great help to him. “Some wizards with profound knowledge of dark magic invented a spell that allows them to split their own souls. They place the fragments of their souls onto certain objects, forming a type of dark magic object called a ‘Horcrux.’ When these dark wizards die, their souls don’t go to the afterlife, because some of their souls remain in the real world. Through the connection with the fragments, the dark wizards can manage to break free from the shackles of death and return to the real world.”

"Split one's own soul? That's even crazier than a lich..." As an archmage, Gale had no shortage of knowledge. Although he didn't know exactly how to do this spell, he immediately saw the problem with it.

“You’re right. Creating Horcruxes to escape death is indeed a crazy act.” Ivy affirmed Gale’s judgment. “Unlike liches who transform themselves into undead, wizards with Horcruxes are not undead, nor are they living people. They are just pitiful wandering souls in between, but this state does not affect their spellcasting abilities.”

“When I was still in school, a Dark Lord caused great turmoil in our magical world. He planned to perform the Soul Split spell six times, splitting his own soul into seven parts. Because in our world, ‘seven’ is considered the most magical number.” Ivy recounted the story of Voldemort creating Horcruxes. “With his immense personal strength and Horcruxes, the Dark Lord almost ruled the entire magical world, but because of a prophecy, he faced his defeat and, by a twist of fate, created a seventh Horcrux.”

"This unplanned Horcrux is different from the others; it's a living Horcrux, a newborn baby."

"Because he split his soul too many times, the Dark Lord's soul was already very weak. The creation of the living Horcrux did not follow the usual process of Horcrux manufacturing, and therefore exhibited some very strange characteristics."

"As the little boy carrying the Dark Lord's Horcrux grew up, he exhibited many traits unique to the Dark Lord, and we could even communicate with each other through a soul link. When I destroyed the Dark Lord's Horcrux near him, the little boy even felt excruciating pain, pain from the soul. This is an inner connection that even the Dark Lord himself does not possess or perceive."

Ivy's gaze was intense, and Gale, standing opposite him, felt as if he had been doused with cold water, a chill spreading from the tips of his hair to the soles of his feet.

But then, a burning impulse surged from the bottom of his heart, dispelling all the chill, and Gale couldn't help but say, "Make my clone into a living Horcrux of myself?"

"—Then, through the connection between the Horcrux and the soul, I'll gather your soul back together from the pieces blasted apart by the Destruction Orb, and finally reshape it." Ivy raised her chin. "That's my idea."

"You also possess magic capable of reshaping shattered souls?" Gale asked in astonishment.

Ivy shook her head at Gale's expectant gaze: "I wouldn't say I've mastered it. It's a method that only works on Horcruxes. I've only heard about it, and I've never actually tried it, since I don't need Horcruxes to prolong my life. Of course, those who have created Horcruxes haven't tried this method either. But it was proposed by my headmaster, who is known as the greatest white wizard in the world."

“The headmaster of Strelhaven…should be reliable, right?” Gale asked. “What do I need to prepare?” “The headmaster of Hogwarts, an old man with a ridiculously long name. Hogwarts is the school I attended before I gained the ability to travel through the multiverse.” Ivy corrected Gale’s misconception. “You don’t need to make any special preparations. Because this method really doesn’t have many requirements, it’s just very difficult for truly depraved dark wizards—repentance, genuine remorse.”

“Repentance?” Gale repeated doubtfully. “To Mystra? Or some deity from your world?”

“It’s not Mystra, nor is it a deity of our world. In fact, I’m starting to doubt whether a deity truly exists in my world. — It’s just repentance, repentance for one’s own actions.” Ivy spread his hands, explaining that splitting one’s soul to create Horcruxes, and then receiving redemption through sincere repentance, was a process he was very curious about. Since he didn’t intend to experiment on himself, witnessing the whole process through Gale would give him a more complete understanding of Horcruxes. “You’re a good person, Gale. Repentance shouldn’t be difficult for you. Because what needs saving is your own soul, not someone else’s.”

“That’s… quite reasonable…” Gale hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. “When do we begin?”

"So, we've decided to try this method?" Ivy confirmed again.

“Go for it, I believe in you.” Gail nodded firmly.

"We can begin cultivating your clone. Although magic can accelerate the process, it will still take at least 120 days for the clone to fully mature. But don't worry, even if you die before the clone is fully mature, I have a way to activate your clone. It's just that you might have to experience the process of growing up all over again."

“You mean I’ll become a little Gale? Sounds like my mom and Tara would be thrilled to see him.” Gale scratched his wild, unruly beard.

“Furthermore, to ensure that a part of the Destruction Orb isn’t cut off during the creation of the living Horcrux, you must cooperate with my research.” Ivy reached out and tapped Gale’s chest lightly. “We need to determine the extent of the Destruction Orb’s influence and then ensure that your soul fragments are not contaminated.”

Studying the Destruction Orb was another very important objective of Ivy's. Judging from Gale's previous words, the Destruction Orb was also a creation of Karthus, but it did not exist in the blueprints of the Almanac of Karthus.

That was a creation of Karthus in the instant he became the God of Magic, a magical net belonging to Karthus. However, because Karthus could not bear the weight of the magical net, he perished in an instant. Thus, Karthus's magical net, having lost its master, became a scourge, a destructive orb that greedily devoured any existing magical net.

Ivy believed that by studying the Destruction Orb, she could further uncover the secrets of the Karthusian magic and the goddess of magic.

“That’s exactly what I was worried about…” Gale said understandingly, “And then what?”

"Find a safe place to put the petri dish, that's all." Ivy brought Gale's living Horcrux project to a close.

"Two masters?" Tolna's voice came from outside the door. "May we go and see the Sakyas Code?"

“Magical knowledge is calling.” Ivy gave Gale a smug smile, then raised her voice and called to Tolna outside the door, “We’re coming!”

“The necromancy tomes locked in the Elminster vault.” Gale shook his head. “I can assure you that necromancy is one of the least used types of magic in Elminster.”

"You mean Lorokan should change the name of the secret vault to the Zazarstan Secret Vault?" Ivy joked.

As the names of the Shadow Valley sages and the chief of the red-robed mages were turned into jokes by the two archmages, Tolna respectfully distanced herself from them.

The layout of the Elminster Vault is largely the same as that of the Karsas Vault, except that the bookshelves and weapon racks have been replaced by display cases and treasure chests placed on stone platforms.

The grimoire, constantly radiating the aura of necromancy, is kept in a glass display case. Its malevolence is so palpable that even through the glass, it sends shivers down one's spine and makes one feel uneasy.

After reluctantly leading the two to the entrance of the secret vault, Torna took her leave.

Ivy walked up without ceremony and took out the grimoire from the display case, but before he even opened the first page, he laughed: "This is not the 'Sarchiat Codex' at all. Lorokan doesn't even understand the meaning of its name."

The letters engraved on the cover consist of two parts: "Tharchiate" and "Cypher".

The latter means password or code, and translating it as "secret manual" is also quite reasonable, after all, it is the name of a book.

The translation of "Tharchiate" is problematic.

This is a compound word, derived from "Tharchion" with the suffix "-ate".

"Tharchion" is a position of a red-robed mage in Sel, whose power is second only to Zul'kir. They are local officials appointed by the Zul'kir council, roughly equivalent to the governor of Sel. The suffix "-ate" indicates the position, which is a more official and formal way of writing it.

Therefore, the two words together should be translated as "The Secret Book of the Governor of Ser".

It seems that Luo Ruokan is not only lacking in magical power, but also an ignorant and incompetent fellow.

(End of this chapter)