Jerome let out a long sigh. "After seeing the disaster in Kaer Seren that day, I never imagined that I could be here now, together with my former companions, drinking soup in front of the fireplace. Thank you, Keldar."
Unlike what Jerome remembered, the witcher in front of him no longer had thick brown hair. Now, that hair had become as white as the snow outside, and as dry as hay.
Even when Jerome first met him, Keldar's presence was like rotting wood in a swamp.
But thanks to Jerome's observation, during these days as they worked together to restore Kaer Seren, the old witcher seemed to be regaining vitality with each task, showing renewed vigor.
At this moment, Keldar had taken off his silver armor and was only wearing a yellowish-brown tunic, gulping down the soup he had made, until it was all gone.
Like Jerome, he let out a sigh and said: "It wasn't winter when you returned, and I should have been wandering around Kovir at that time."
"Since the disappearance of the Griffin School, I have been too depressed in the past hundred years. I only stared at the glory of the Griffin School but did not try to revive it, so when you returned you could only see ruins."
"I have to apologize to you for that, Jerome."
This topic made the room fall into silence again. Jerome looked at the heavy snowfall outside the window, wishing that he could use his magic power to evaporate all the snow at once.
"I am the one who should apologize for disappearing when Kaer Seren needs combat power the most." Jerome said regretfully, but he quickly reorganized his thoughts and perked up again. "But now I see the future of the Gryphon School and I have taken on an apprentice."
Although they were of the same generation, Keldar seemed to be aging while Jerome still had a vigorous appearance.
Keldar smiled and said: "Speaking of which, although I have been obsessed with magical research for a hundred years to escape reality, I still found time to accept an apprentice."
"If he returns to spend the winter here, I can introduce him to your apprentice."
"I can also help you teach your apprentice. Although our library was destroyed, all the knowledge has already been memorized in my mind. My apprentice does not have any magical talents, maybe your apprentice will be different."
Jerome laughed and nodded, and added: "Recently, while rummaging through piles of snow, I found some surprises. Many weapons were not taken by the mages, and many materials in the laboratory are still there, probably they were not interested..."
Before he finished speaking, Jerome felt the notebook in his lap shake.
"Ha, he sent me a message!"
The letter written by Lann gradually appeared in the contact book of the Griffin School. When he saw the words 'Dear Teacher' at the beginning, Jerome couldn't help but start to raise the corners of his mouth. But then, his expression gradually became serious.
Keldar asked with concern: "What's wrong?"
"My apprentice... seems to want to escape."
...
In the town of Brokilon, Lann felt his notebook vibrate slightly. Apparently Jerome had already replied.
After reading it carefully, Lann smiled slightly. It seems that before going out, I have to go to Kaer Seren with Mousesack. After all, as a new gryphon school witcher, I have to go to the base camp to report.
A week later.
Lann had already finished packing his things and organized his companions.
He is now the apparent leader of Cintra, so it is naturally impossible for him to run out alone.
Lann planned to take the remaining two [Followers], plus forty city guard cavalry, all among the most prominent troops available.
Mousesack and the old steward wanted to send more people at first, but the situation in Cintra still required troops to maintain, so Lann refused.
Similarly, Lann also didn't bring anything like carriages, maids, servants, etc.
In this week, with the joint efforts of the city guard, the security team, and the Lion Order, Lann finally heard the pleasant system prompt tone again.
[Character level up +1]
The experience gained in Brokilon Town raised Lann by two levels in total.
At the same time, during this period, House and Milva had been helping people in the territory, handling urgent matters such as revenge, kidnappings, and ransoms that could not reach Lann's hands for approval.
The 30% experience shared by the followers after completing the mission also gave Lann a lot of improvement. Milva and House also improved several levels in the process and experienced an improvement in strength, leading them to regard Lann with greater respect, a type of respect that goes beyond simple loyalty to a lord.
As a result, the Lannister retainers in the territory became unanimously praised, and these praises were eventually fed back to Lann, once again improving Lann's prestige.
At this moment, Lann assigned the first ability point to the skill [Rend].
[Rend]: Deals additional damage in proportion to the Stamina consumed. Ignores enemy Defense and increases critical hit chance by 10%. Adrenaline increases total damage by 33%. Adrenaline gain: +1% (1/5)
Although Lann is now a witcher of the gryphon school, specializing in Signs, most of his opponents have excellent magic resistance. Although Lann's Signs skill makes it easy to eliminate most enemies thanks to the magic power bonus, facing enemies with high magic resistance will be quite a challenge.
Therefore, the sword is still an indispensable means for him, and it is also an indispensable fighting method for all griffon witchers.
After investing in the [Rend] ability, Lann's sword combat system was established. Unless you face specific enemies that require specialized skills, you will not invest more points in the [Combat] branch.
And the second skill point will naturally and without discussion be used in the [Signs] branch skill series that Lann has been waiting for.
Because Lann has the [Magic Tide] feature that increases the level of each learned magic skill by 1, he only needs to open each Sign skill to the first level to access the level two skills.
Lann at this time, is more interested in the new special effects that Signs can acquire by unlocking new skills and is not as concerned about strengthening the effects of Signs by leveling up skills. The Source of Magical Energy can compensate for the level difference in skills to a certain extent. Therefore, many skills only need a beginning level or even do not need to be learned.
For example, the skill [Far-Reaching Aard] that increases the range of the Aard Sign, is insignificant for Lann at this time since he can compensate with the Source of Magical Power, and it is not worth investing his precious ability points.
Among the four first-tier skills, considering that he would need to frequently socialize in unfamiliar environments when negotiating in various nations, Lann carefully considered and selected the next skill: [Axii Sign] skill [Delusion].
[Delusion]: The target does not move towards the caster while casting Axii. Increases Axii's effectiveness in dialogues. Reduces Axii's casting time. And combat stamina regeneration is increased. (2/3)
This is one of the most useful abilities outside of combat, as it could allow Lann to avoid unpleasant situations during social interactions that would result in unnecessary bloodshed and/or loss of money.
Of course, this skill cannot be fully effective until level 3. Lann wants to try to see if using more magic power can achieve this effect in advance.
Even if he cannot reach the level of being able to hypnotize others, this ability can still increase others' sympathy towards him, influence others' judgments, and play many roles in social situations, being the preferred choice for social events.
After completing a wave of missions and gathering all the troops, there is only one last thing left before leaving...
In the back garden of the lord's mansion, in front of Lann and Mousesack, a portal opened, and strong winds flew.
This portal was not opened by Mousesack, because the other end of the portal is a place that even Mousesack, who has traveled most of the continent, has not been able to set foot - Kaer Seren, the headquarters of the Griffin School.
Lann took a deep breath to prepare himself, then rushed inward, fell to the ground, and retched.
The standard process.
When Lann regained some energy, he looked up and saw the familiar Jerome and another unfamiliar old witcher from the Griffin School waiting for him.
…Wait a minute, when did the Griffin School gain another person?
Lann wondered, and looking past the two people, he saw that they were in what appeared to be a magic laboratory, with the two witchers surrounded by flasks, alchemical bombs, and various objects.
"Lann, aren't you going to introduce me?" Behind Lann, a kind voice full of natural atmosphere came. "Good morning, both of you. I am Mousesack of Skellige, Lann's first teacher."
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