Unable to stand Wayne's urging, Geralt set off with him after breakfast.
Geralt and Wayne set off on their journey to the Circle of Elements after breakfast, despite the challenging path that lay ahead. To reach their destination in the mountains behind Kaer Morhen, they knew they had to overcome several obstacles. These included swimming across a lake next to the castle using a boat, navigating a rugged mountain road, and eventually passing through a dark cave to reach their goal. Their determination to reach the Circle of Elements drove them forward, despite the difficulties they anticipated on their path.
Geralt and Wayne bid farewell to their fellow companions and swiftly departed from the castle, making their way to the lake. Wayne's prior efforts had cleared the lake of the troublesome water monsters, making their journey much smoother. With no more interruptions from these bothersome creatures, they easily located a dilapidated boat and embarked on their swim to the opposite shore of the lake, one step closer to their destination.
After boarding the boat, Wayne adjusted the direction of the sails. Seeing the nostalgic expression on Geralt's face, he asked, "Geralt, what are you thinking? Look at your expression, did something happen here?"
Hearing the words, the white wolf stretched out his hand to touch the lake water, his expression dazed for a few seconds, and then he showed a bitter smile and said, "It reminds me of something from the past. Wayne, Kaer Morhen has fewer and fewer apprentices now, and many of the previous rules have been abandoned, so you haven't experienced it. When I became a witcher, the Trial of Green Grass would take away more than 50% of the lives of apprentice witchers. And even if we have passed the grass trial and completed the basic training, we still have to accept the final trial. The path we are taking now is the path of the last trial."
Geralt raised his head, looked into Wayne's eyes, and said with some regret, "At the beginning, there were a total of eight apprentices who passed the green grass trial with me, but only four of them passed the final trial. And a year later, the other two died at the hands of other monsters, leaving only me and Eskel".
Wayne's silence spoke volumes about the grim reality of being a witcher. As Geralt's words sunk in, he considered the numbers – more than 20 children had started their training alongside Geralt, and yet less than one-tenth of them had survived to become witchers. The odds of survival in their line of work were indeed grim, highlighting the harsh and unforgiving nature of the path they had chosen.
The conversation between Geralt and Wayne underscored the harsh reality of their profession as witchers. It served as a stark reminder that the life of a witcher was far from glamorous and came with significant personal sacrifices and a high price to pay.
After sailing on the lake for approximately half an hour without any mishaps, Geralt and Wayne appeared to be making good progress on their journey. However, their luck took a turn for the worse as they disembarked from the boat on the other side of the lake. There, they were suddenly confronted by a group of about a dozen harpy birds, who wasted no time in launching an attack on the two witchers.
Seeing the group of monsters attacking from the sky, Geralt put a Quen Seal on himself
without saying a word, and took the lead in rushing forward with his sword.
In the face of the harpy bird attack, Geralt displayed his combat skills by deftly dodging and using his silver sword to fend off the creatures. However, the sheer number of harpy birds made the situation challenging, and Geralt began to appear somewhat overwhelmed.
Wayne was not reckless. This was the first time he had seen a harpy bird, and it was also the
first time he had encountered a flying monster.
According to the description in the book, the harpy bird is a hybrid beast with a human face,
beak, wings and claws. It smells like carrion bird droppings
Their wings are quite flexible, allowing them to turn freely in the air. The attack method is
similar to that of an eagle. Using the high speed brought by the dive, it uses the beak and
claws to attack the enemy.
However, because of their deformed body structure, once they land on the ground, they will
appear very clumsy, and their combat effectiveness will drop sharply. Thinking of this, Wayne made a defensive posture with his sword in his right hand and pointed his left finger at a flying harpy bird in the air, and made a gesture of the sign of Axi.
With the high-speed flow of magic power in his body, Wayne drew a magic circle with his left
hand, and with a slight push, a flying harpy bird in the sky fell straight down, as if it had been
hit by an electric current.
It was about ten meters above the ground, and fell from such a high altitude without any
precautions, directly breaking its wings. The severe pain made its limbs writhe and struggle
continuously on the ground.
Without needing words, Geralt seized the opportunity and immediately rolled over to the side
of the harpy bird. The sharp silver sword directly pierced its heart and easily eliminated the
monster.
Wayne immediately followed suit, releasing the Axii sign eight times in a row, and successfully cooperated with Geralt to kill eight harpy birds.
Despite the harpy birds losing about half of their group to Geralt and Wayne's combined efforts, their low intelligence prevented them from understanding the concept of fear and escape. These creatures, driven by instinct and aggression, continued their relentless attack, undeterred by the loss of their comrades. Their determination to protect their territory and pursue their prey made them formidable adversaries, even in the face of adversity.
The intense battle took a toll on Geralt, and despite his best efforts in blocking and rolling to evade the harpy birds' attacks, his physical strength was noticeably depleted. As a result, he could no longer maintain a 100% defensive stance. The constant attacks from the harpy birds had left several scars on his body and face, a testament to the ferocity of the battle and the challenges they faced in dealing with these formidable monsters. The physical toll of the fight emphasized the dangers of their profession and the need for constant vigilance in their line of work.
Seeing this, Wayne no longer hesitated, and shouted to Geralt, "Geralt, come to me and attract all the monsters.
When the white wolf heard Wayne's shout, without hesitation, he immediately knocked away
the sharp claws of a harpy attacking him with the hilt of his sword, and rolled neatly on his
back, rolling towards Wayne.
How could the remaining seven or eight harpy birds let go of the prey that was about to reach their mouths? Their barren brains did not think at all, and immediately flew towards Geralt.
As the battle continued and the situation grew dire, Wayne's magical abilities came into play. He had prepared his Igni Seal for the past seven or eight seconds, gathering a significant amount of magic power in his hands. When he saw that Geralt and the remaining harpy birds were within his attack range, Wayne shouted out.
This marked a critical moment in the battle, as Wayne was about to unleash his Igni sign, a powerful and fiery magical attack that would affect the outcome of the confrontation. The combination of Geralt's combat skills and Wayne's magic promised to turn the tide in their favor.
"Get down."
The magic power in his hand immediately spewed out towards the monster in the air.
The Lvl 8 seal level can strengthen Wayne's spell power by 40%, and his Igni this time
has almost condensed the mana of seven or eight ordinary seals.
In an instant, a raging orange-red flame spewed out from Wayne's palm.
It directly enveloped the sky about ten meters ahead, enveloping the remaining seven or eight harpy birds. The raging flames raised the temperature of the surrounding air.
Accompanied by the wailing of the monsters, the bodies of those harpy birds were all burned
by the flames, and the outer skin and feathers were charred by the high temperature, turning
into black and charred corpses, which fell from the sky.
Geralt got up from the ground and looked at the scene in front of him in shock. The white wolf had only seen such spell power in the hands of Mages. He turned his head in disbelief and asked Wayne
"Are you sure you are casting the Sign of Igni? Why does it feel completely different from what we use?"
Wayne rubbed the palm of his hand which seemed to be scalded by the high temperature of the flame, looked at the white wolf innocently, and said, "That's right, my knowledge of the seal is the same as yours, and it was taught by Teacher Vesemir. Maybe my talent is better than yours".
When Geralt heard this, he took out a bottle of swallow potion and drank it speechlessly,
complaining, "It's not a problem that you are a little better than me, Wayne. Perhaps you should be a mage instead of a witcher fighting with a sword."
Wayne spread his hands and reminded, "I've already become a witcher, what's the use of talking about it now. Why don't we go find the nests of these harpy birds? I've read that harpy birds like to collect shiny objects. There is a high probability that there will be gold coins, gems, or other valuables in their lairs.
Hearing the coins, Geralt no longer struggled with the question just now, nodded, and said in
agreement, "Yes, I once found several jewels in the nest of a harpy bird and exchanged them for hundreds of Oren. Since in the next few years, we have to form a team to do tasks, then the spoils of war will be divided according to the rules."