In late August, Wayne spent about ten days returning to Middle-earth. He had spent nearly two months in that world, taking care of everything that needed to be dealt with, and bonding with the two-meter-tall Deathclaw, Robin, and the direwolf, White Fang, through animal training techniques and personal feeding.
The current Deathclaw, Robin, although still in the growth stage and not yet a full adult, had already possessed a very strong fighting prowess after nearly three years of growth. Fighting tigers, leopards, and wolves was a breeze for him. In the forest behind Wayne Manor, there was almost no beast that could rival him. The forest had become the Deathclaw's playground and territory. Most of the time, Robin would hunt on his own, only remembering the delicacies cooked by his master when he was hungry.
However, due to the skill of animal training and Wayne's careful guidance, this little guy still had no resistance to his master's orders and completely obeyed Wayne's commands. He was now able to serve as a qualified fighting partner in ordinary battles, at least easily dealing with ordinary people. He was much better than White Fang, the direwolf, who had completely transformed into a guard dog.
Moreover, Wayne now possessed a magic tent. To a certain extent, this magical item was a large, portable warehouse. As long as it was used properly, it could even facilitate trade with other worlds. Hobbit pipe-weed was a good potential project.
While in Vizima, the pipe-weed he brought back from Middle-earth was very popular among the dwarves in the blacksmith shop. When given as a gift to the wealthy businessman Leuvaarden, the southern merchant was full of praise for it. He even immediately inquired about the source of this tobacco and tried to see if they could collaborate, hinting at the large potential profit margins.
Therefore, after returning to Middle-earth this time, Wayne took out a large sum of money – well, he took a loan from Vivian – and asked the butler Ford to help him purchase a large amount of pipe-weed, while also hiring more hobbits to expand the cultivation area.
In Wayne's plan, this pipe-weed from another world wasn't just meant to be sold as an ordinary luxury good, but would be promoted in another way, together with Gwent. He hadn't forgotten the importance of Gwent's hierarchy. As the game became more and more popular in the Northern Kingdoms, a special business plan to help him improve the level of Gwent had begun to brew in his mind.
By the time Wayne returned to the Witcher world from Middle-earth, it was already early September, and not far off from the wedding banquet in Cintra. After bidding farewell to his acquaintances in Vizima, he flew on his magic carpet westward along the Pontar River, passing through Temeria and by the Kingdom of Sodden. It took about a day of flying, covering about half the distance, before he reached a vast primeval forest.
According to the map markings, this was the legendary Brokilon Forest, also known as the Dryad Forest or the Forest of Death. It was a large expanse of ancient woodland surrounded by the countries of Cintra, Brugge, Sodden, and Verden. Various creatures like dryads, werewolves, and leshens lived here. Due to the long-standing competition for precious tree resources, there was a deep-seated hatred between the dryads and the humans living in the surrounding areas.
For humans, this place was very dangerous. Any human who entered the forest might be shot by the dryads hiding in the trees. These dryads wouldn't give any warning before releasing their hidden arrows. This had also led to the hostility of the surrounding countries towards the dryads. However, due to the dryads' strength, their fearless resistance, and the checks and balances of other countries, currently no country could take advantage of this conflict.
Recalling the information he had read in the books, Wayne drove the magic flying carpet and flew slowly directly over the forest. It was said that the capital of the dryads was called Duén Canell, which meant "the land of oaks" in the Elder Speech. It was located deep in this primeval forest. It was the home of the dryads and also housed a powerful sorceress, the Queen of the Dryads, Eithné of the Silver Eyes. It was the most secretive place of the dryads. Few outsiders could enter here. If outsiders did enter, they would be blindfolded before entering Duén Canell.
When it came to dryads, one had to mention the unique reproduction method of this creature. As an all-female race, dryads could not reproduce on their own. They had to mate with humans and elves to have a chance to give birth to children, and every child born to a dryad would be a girl.
However, due to the adversarial relationship between dryads and humans, human men were often taken into the forest as captives. Except for a few men who would be released, there was a high probability that the others would become reproductive tools or be ruthlessly killed after they had no use value.
Unfortunately, as a witcher known for his infertility, unless Wayne hid his identity and disguised himself as an elf, even if he went to the dryad territory, there was a high probability that he wouldn't be regarded as a viable breeding target and would face the same harsh treatment as other human men.
However, as a witcher in a similar situation to non-human races, as long as he revealed his identity, Wayne wouldn't suffer the hostility of dryads like humans. Although he might not necessarily be treated as a friend, at least he wouldn't be subject to a cold-arrow sneak attack.
Wayne stood on the magic flying carpet, looked at the dense primeval forest below, and thought for a moment. It was about a week before the time he and Geralt had agreed upon. In his opinion, even if he arrived in Cintra now, he might not be able to find Geralt. Perhaps, at this time, he could meet the dryads to see if he could get some commissions from them and cultivate some goodwill. It seemed like a good option.
Of course, Wayne would never admit that he also wanted to catch a glimpse of those beautiful dryads with their stunning figures. After all, the dryad forces, like the witchers, elves, and dwarves, were natural allies of non-humans. Establishing a friendly relationship and getting to know them was quite meaningful.
Just as Wayne was thinking this, perhaps his luck came into play, but a faint female scream and cry for help suddenly came from the forest below.
"Someone help me! Sisters! Is anyone around here?"
The cry for help was a bit far away from him, and the voice seemed to belong to a young girl. Fortunately, Wayne's witcher senses had reached the highest level among all witchers. Otherwise, other witchers wouldn't be able to hear anything at such a long distance.
In the face of a woman's cries for help, whether it was out of the witcher's duty to protect people or out of Wayne's own conscience, he wouldn't stand idly by. After only a second or two of hesitation, Wayne immediately turned the magic flying carpet and flew towards the primeval forest below, following the source of the cry for help.
The trees of the primeval forest blocked out the sky and the sun, their numerous leaves and branches obscuring the scene on the ground. The flying carpet was very fast. With his skilled riding, Wayne controlled it with ease. In a short time, he passed through the obstacles of the trees and arrived at the source of the cry for help.
What caught his eye was a petite, green-skinned with only a few vines and leaves tied around her waist. She was running quickly through the woods with a panicked expression, calling out for her companions as she ran. Behind her was a huge, black-furred, extremely fast feline beast. Wayne couldn't tell if it was a panther, a lynx, or another kind of cat, but in this primitive forest environment with complex terrain, it was faster than the girl in front, and the distance between them gradually narrowed during the chase.
Facing the green-skinned beauty more than ten meters away, the beast ran and roared, its sharp teeth and claws at the ready, as if waiting to rip open its prey's belly at any moment. At this moment, the green-skinned beauty, in her haste, accidentally tripped over a vine and fell to the ground. Although she fell, the beast behind her didn't hesitate at all, immediately rushing over with even greater speed and ferocity.
Faced with such a crisis, the green-skinned beauty could only look at the charging beast with horror, unable to help but let out a desperate cry.
Seeing this, Wayne no longer hesitated and drove the flying carpet quickly over the beast's head. Having already calculated the distance and speed, he jumped down from above the beast's head.
He pulled out the Statik electric blade in his hand, and with the power of chain lightning. With a swift, downward stroke, he cleaved the panther-like beast in twain. The severed halves fell to the forest floor, the stench of scorched flesh filling the air. The lightning power had cauterized the wounds, preventing any blood from staining his armor.
The dryad, who had been the beast's intended prey, watched in awe. Never before had she seen a witcher, much less one who wielded such power. She stared, mesmerized, until he sheathed his blade and turned to her with a smile.
"Greetings," he said, extending a hand. "I am Wayne. Are you unharmed?"