The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

Old Speartip's wounds multiplied as time passed, and his steps became clumsy. Gradually, the blood flowing from his wounds as well as the wounds themselves also took on a dark hue.

Witchers relied on crossbows, alchemical bombs, and magical signs to fight and retreat. Meanwhile, Mousesack's spells slowed the giant down, making his gait clumsier.

The cyclops looked frightened and turned to flee. It was then that the witchers raised their swords, knowing that the decisive moment had arrived.

The wounds had limited the Cyclops' agility, and the experienced witchers saw this as their opportunity to approach without scruples.

Ten agile figures surrounded the monster, dancing around it like shadows. Every time the cyclops tried to react, five or six hands would stun it with the Axii Sign, leaving it completely disoriented.

The Old Speartip let out a howl of pain, before falling motionless, paralyzed in place.

Its arms now moved clumsily, kicking up dirt and leaves every time the Cyclops shook them. However, he was unable to reach any of the witchers.

Meanwhile, the poison continued to spread throughout his internal organs, slowly devouring his already weak vitality.

At one point, Coën realized that the cyclops was reaching its limit. Rolling towards the monster's left leg, Coën placed his palm against the cyclops' thick hide.

[Aard Sign]!

The impact of the Sign resounded like an explosion, shaking the air. The blow was so strong that even Coën was thrown back, spinning twice in the air. Despite this, his experience allowed him to quickly recompose himself in the air.

The Old Spear Tip fell back to the ground after the direct impact, each breath he took so labored it felt like his lungs were about to burst.

A golden flash lit up the air as Lann teleported to the Cyclops' back. With the sword Aerondight raised, his magic, energy, and adrenaline began to subside, focusing on his most powerful attack.

Old Speartip, sensing danger, tried to rise, but Lambert threw himself under his gigantic head, raising his left hand in a last desperate attempt. All his strength was channeled into his Sign.

Geralt, Eskel and Vesemir then joined.

[Axii Sign]*4

The combined power of the four Mental Signs left the monster completely helpless, unable to resist.

Meanwhile, Lann's sword glowed like a torch and with a fierce shout, Lann brought his sword down in a brilliant arc of light. The invisible blade extended further, lengthening the sword as if it were turning into a gigantic guillotine.

The blow was silent, without the typical sound of flesh being cut. Lambert, who was lying under the cyclops, felt something cross in front of his eyes and superficially cut the skin of his hand.

Immediately afterward, a shower of foul blood fell upon Lambert, drenching him. Before he could react, two arms grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and dragged him out from under Old Speartip.

A second later, a dull thud echoed as Old Speartip's head fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Looking up, Lambert saw that the monster had been decapitated, its thick neck cleanly severed by Lann's blow.

Lambert was met with shocked expressions from Geralt and Eskel, who had just pulled him out from under the monster.

"You know?" Geralt said, wiping his sword. "You were almost crushed by that head."

Lambert was about to refute him when he realized that his Quen shield had vanished at some point.

Breathing heavily, Lambert felt a mix of emotions, but in the end only anger remained.

"Pah!" Lambert spat a mouthful of thick phlegm fiercely, and then kicked the Old Speartip's head.

"This is for Voltehre, you damn monster." Lambert muttered, his chest heaving violently. "And I... and I will continue to live!"

[Mission - Revenge of the Wolf - Completed]

The sound of the system notification echoed in Lann's mind, then he checked his experience points; after the recent massacre at Hagge Castle, there was still a long way to go until his next level.

…

The feared enemy had fallen, and the witchers came closer to admire their work, exhausted but satisfied.

"A Cyclops… there must be something useful in its body, some mutagen. Although I don't know how we're going to dissect it, its skin is very tough."

Geralt sighed. "This is the most difficult battle I've ever fought, and this is also the strongest enemy I've ever encountered. But miraculously there were no casualties."

Lann nodded, patting Geralt on the shoulder. "Perhaps this is the true way we should fight: in groups. That is why I want to restore the Order of Witchers. To help each other, to look out for each other."

"If the witchers who have been trained with great effort and decades of time are killed or injured because of a monster, it is really not worth it."

While everyone was looking at the corpse of Old Speartip, Coën was focused on something else.

Coën noticed that on a rock wall far from the center of the explosion, several stones cracked and broke into pieces. Alchemical bombs alone cannot create such an effect. The stones dissolved due to the high temperature. Obviously, this is the effect of Vesemir's sign.

Coën approached Lann and asked quietly: "Can you do that?"

Lann shook his head. "My sign covers a larger area, but it doesn't generate as much heat. They're just regular flames."

Looking at the damage Vesemir had caused, Lann figured he would need to upgrade his own Sign to Tier 3 to achieve such an effect.

This is the [Igni Sign], capable of causing rock to crack in a matter of seconds. Currently, Lann knows that only Jerome can surpass it, and its seal can melt rocks into magma.

But Jerome had been strengthened for over a hundred years by the second mutation, something unmatched. Lann even wondered if, if Vesemir underwent the additional mutations, his signs could also melt rocks into magma.

He wasn't sure if the other master of the Griffin school, Keldar, would have a similar power.

After hearing Lanen's answer, Coën compared his own sign to Vesemir's and shook his head while sighing. "My sign doesn't even come close to that power."

"This is the result of the strengthening provided by the Circle of Elements." Vesemir explained, always friendly with young people from other schools. "When they get there, they might even surpass me."

Eskel made a dismissive gesture. "I'm not so lucky."

Vesemir raised his voice upon hearing this: "That's because you haven't trained enough!"

Eskel shrugged, indifferent, accustomed to Vesemir's temperament.

The death of Old Speartip had dissipated the tension in the witchers of the Wolf School, and for the first time in a long time, the sky seemed brighter.

But the journey was not over. For the rest of the witchers, there was still one destination left to reach: the Circle of Elements.

Lann placed his left hand on the cyclops' corpse and stored it in his inventory before heading towards the entrance of the collapsed cave.

Mousesack's figure glowed with natural magic once again as the witchers, using the sign of Aard, helped him. After about fifteen minutes, the rocks blocking the entrance were cleared.

The old druid transformed some plants into supports for the tunnel, arranged in such a way that if a similar explosion occurred again, it would not collapse.

Although the Wolf School planned to move to Cintra, Kaer Morhen, and especially the Circle of Elements, could not be abandoned. This place, which could permanently enhance signs, was unique among all schools, and even among sorcerers it was hardly heard of.

This is the true foundation of a witcher school. Lann even thinks that around this Circle of Elements, a school of magic comparable to Aretuza could be built, or a gathering of spellcasters could be established like the Circle of Druids in Skellige.

This location should have been carefully selected by the sorcerers of the Order of Witchers. From this, we can see how wasteful the Wolf School was. They have a literal mountain of treasure, but they haven't developed their forces at all.

…

As they walked out of the cave, the horizon clear before them, Lann suddenly remembered something and asked the Wolf School witchers meaningfully.

"Is there anything else we need to worry about before we reach the Circle of Elements?"

Geralt and the others were already on guard, looking around, prompting Lann to ask the question.

"If I'm not mistaken, there is still a family of rock trolls in this area." Geralt recalled. "Three in total. When I did my trial, there was only one, and with the Axii Sign I handled it without problems."

Lann smiled and pointed at his group. "With all of us here, those trolls won't be a challenge."

"But we just made a big noise, with the bombs and the avalanche, and Old Speartip's roar and screams. Those trolls must have hidden themselves a long time ago."

And so it was. They moved forward without encountering any trolls, which left Lann a little disappointed, since he had never seen these creatures before.

However, his attention soon turned to the Circle of Elements.

Before them was a clearly artificially excavated platform, in a style reminiscent of an altar: simple but solemn.

Stairs led to the altar, although many of them had collapsed, indicating that no one had visited the place for years. The group avoided the collapse and climbed up. There they found remains of candles and four braziers.

Perhaps because of the strong wind in the mountains, these objects are not covered with dust.

Beneath the candles, on the stone railing, were inscriptions of runes and ancient scriptures that divided the circle into four sections: spring, symbolizing water; summer, symbolizing fire; autumn, earth; and winter, air.

Water, fire, earth and air, the fundamental elements in modern magic. What a pity that ether, the element of spirit, was missing, Lann thought.

All the witchers felt a slight tremor in their medallions, a sign that the chaotic energies of the place were unusually intense.

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