The Valley of the Nine is located in a wooded gorge along the Sansretour River. It was still early spring, and although the temperature in Toussaint was much warmer than in the north, the water was still quite cold.
For a witcher like Wayne, however, the coldness of the water was hardly a concern. With the aid of the Hekna Talisman, he dove into the river with ease and soon reached its bottom.
Being in the wild, the river was home to a large number of Drowners. As soon as they sensed someone entering the water, they immediately swarmed around Wayne, roaring and screeching like bees drawn to nectar.
However, Wayne was well-prepared. With dozens of loaded crossbows hidden within his space bracelet, he quickly shot through their vital points, causing the Drowners to sink to the bottom of the river like stones.
Unfortunately, the materials harvested from these monsters were of little value. Wayne had previously tried to sell Drowner brains to Vivian's trophy collection station, only to discover they weren't even worth an oren. Selling them to a sorcerer yielded an even lower price.
Despite his lavish spending, Wayne is careful with his earnings. While he keeps the valuable and recyclable trophies for his collection, he sells the rest directly to Vivian ensuring that he recoups a significant amount of funds after each battle.
This means that one should earn money and spend it wisely. A man should be kind to himself when he's out in the world.
With these thoughts in mind, Wayne swam to the riverbed, collected the corpses of a dozen Drowners, sold them to Vivian, and exchanged them for seven or eight orens, which he deposited into his account.
He then used the night vision granted by a Cat potion to search for the remains of Professor Moreau's laboratory in the dark, murky water.
Despite the underwater environment being full of weeds and rocks, the massive stone pillars marking the entrance to the ruins were still quite conspicuous. After searching for about ten minutes, he found the nearly destroyed gate of the ruins on the riverbed near the bank.
After walking a few dozen meters in the direction of the gate and dispatching a few more Drowners lurking in the dark corners, Wayne finally saw the portal still glowing with magical light.
Although it was confirmed in the game and in Professor Moreau's notes that this was the portal he sought, Wayne, prioritizing safety, carefully inspected the area around the portal several times. He also used his Elder Blood ability to ensure that the portal wouldn't transport him too far away. Only after confirming this did he cautiously enter.
With the uncomfortable sensation of teleportation, Wayne was quickly transported to a dark underground ruin.
The first thing he saw were high ceilings, a vast underground space, and various statues carved into the walls and structures.
The stale air and the scent of decay made Wayne's sensitive nose quite uncomfortable. But what intrigued him even more was how much money Professor Moreau must have invested in constructing such an expansive underground laboratory. It was clear that this wasn't a cheap endeavor.
Indeed, it seemed a waste for such a private and spacious area to be left abandoned like this.
It occurred to Wayne that after clearing out the monsters and traps here, setting up another portal and using this location as a secret base for witchers would be a good idea. He even thought about who could be responsible for guarding the place and considered assigning Gaitan to the task.
Gaitan, a member of the Cat School, might have trouble maintaining the reputation of witchers in the north, so placing him in charge of this stronghold to protect the ruins seemed like a fitting role.
With the guidance of Professor Moreau's notes, Wayne found it relatively easy to explore the laboratory ruins. Whether it was the spike traps at the entrance, the gargoyle sentinels, or the constructs deeper within, these obstacles posed only minor challenges for him.
Thanks to a magic carpet, Wayne could even fly over these traps directly, reaching Professor Moreau's actual experimental site without triggering any defenses. However, for the safety of those who might enter later, Wayne spent half a day disabling all the traps and eliminating the remaining monsters.
He also called upon Vivian, the merchant, and sold all the worthless and unused items in the ruins to her trophy acquisition center, exchanging them for about five hundred gold coins.
Finally, after seven or eight hours of work, Wayne completely cleared out the laboratory ruins and found the experimental equipment left by Professor Moreau, along with his research notes and a telescope that resembled a video device.
As for the giant centipedes that Professor Moreau had been raising in the cave, Wayne decided not to kill or disturb them since they were valuable materials for secondary mutations in witchers. He allowed them to continue breeding in the cave.
Over the next two or three days, Wayne left the laboratory ruins briefly to return to Beauclair, where he prepared some supplies. He also met with Letho and others who had found another master-level equipment blueprint. Wayne informed them of the new location of the store and residence and advised Syanna, who had been working hard on his behalf, to stay focused and avoid any distractions.
For the next while, Wayne remained in the laboratory, studying the experimental notes left by Professor Moreau, and he made copies of all these notes for safekeeping.
Unfortunately, while Wayne's strength as a witcher may have reached its peak—making it no exaggeration to call him the strongest witcher—his skills as a sorcerer and spellcaster were lacking. In terms of magical knowledge and research experience, Wayne could only be considered an apprentice.
Professor Moreau, a brilliant researcher with unique insights and innovative ideas, had created new paths in magical study that Wayne could barely comprehend. He struggled to understand the meaning behind the research notes and couldn't even discern whether the content was true or false.
Whenever he faced this challenge, Wayne longed for a sorcerer who truly belonged to the School of the Wolf to assist him.
Though Triss was his lover and they shared a close relationship, and while Keira could be considered a lover as well, both provided him with substantial help. Additionally, his partnership with the elven sorceress Francesca allowed them to trade many things. However, despite their connections, all three sorceresses had their own rising careers, and it was impossible for them to abandon their pursuits to devote significant time to aiding the witcher.
As for cultivating a sorcerer, Wayne lacked both the resources and the time. He couldn't even find someone with the talent needed, let alone train them. Even if he had the ability, nurturing a sorcerer typically took decades. A warlock who became independent within thirty or forty years was considered a genius.
Wayne had considered this problem many times but hadn't found a suitable solution, which is why the issue had remained unresolved.
Now, the only viable options Wayne could think of were either recruiting spellcasters and researchers from other worlds to assist with witcher research or taking the risk of selecting a male sorcerer from the north to help.
The first option posed challenges due to the differences in magic systems between worlds and the potential issues with acclimatization. The second option involved finding a candidate with good character who was both trustworthy and capable.
It's well known that most sorcerers are not keen on seeing witchers rise in power. You'd be fortunate if they didn't cause trouble, and getting help from the Brotherhood of Sorcerers would be difficult, if not impossible.
Given these difficulties, Wayne decided to shelve the problem for now. Once he returns to the north, he plans to go back to Kaer Morhen and discuss the situation with Vesemir, the most experienced member of the School of the Wolf. Before attempting any experiments with the mutagenic system, Wayne is cautious about testing it on himself, unlike Geralt.
The famous White Wolf is favored by fate, allowing him to succeed in such endeavors without any side effects, but Wayne knows that might not be the case for others.
Wayne's hope is to eventually spread the benefits of a second mutation to all witchers, and perhaps even use it to repair the flaws caused by the first mutation across the various witcher schools.
This is no simple task; it's just an idea at the moment, and realizing it would be extremely challenging. Fortunately, time isn't pressing, and Wayne has a while to prepare. When he's strong enough, he's confident that someone will be willing to help.
After spending another two days in the laboratory ruins with little progress, Wayne decided to put the matter aside for now and wait until he returns to the north to find a solution.
If all else fails, he might have to rely on his charm to persuade Triss. After all, among the many sorceresses Wayne knows, she's the only one with the ability and trustworthiness needed to help him.
It's a pity that this isn't the time of the Civil War, and the Brotherhood of Sorcerers hasn't been destroyed. If it were, things would be much easier to handle.
After leaving the laboratory ruins, Wayne realized he was temporarily without assistance and needed to focus on more urgent matters.
While Syanna, the sales girl, was managing his shop, Wayne embarked on a wild Gwent competition throughout Beauclair and even across the entire Kingdom of Toussaint.
The odds were still doubled, and he didn't reveal too much of his overwhelming skill. Instead, he held public duels every two days in different locations, drawing a large number of Gwent players to compete with him.
This somewhat flamboyant move even spread the reputation of his tobacco merchant persona, Joel, to the court of Beauclair and to many wine estates around the city.
Many people came to know of a tobacco merchant from the Kingdom of Zerrikania. The tobacco he sold had a rich taste and was considered a high-end luxury product. At the same time, this merchant was also a Gwent master—handsome and wealthy—who quickly became a popular figure in Beauclair. Many prominent individuals enjoyed playing Gwent with him.
As a result of this trend, Wayne's tobacco shop flourished even more. The profits from the tobacco were enormous, and with Syanna's elegant demeanor and increasingly refined sales techniques, the store's business thrived, bringing in money daily.
This success, however, became a challenge for Gaitan of the Cat School. With business booming and only him and Syanna running the shop, Gaitan quickly found himself transitioning from bodyguard to porter and waiter, busily working under Syanna's command like a dog.
After Wayne realized the challenges they were facing, he granted Syanna the authority to recruit several employees. Meanwhile, Wayne finally reached level ten in Gwent after playing thousands of consecutive duels.
Gwent Level 10: Luck +10.
Lucky Curse: Because you have been favored by luck for so long, you have awakened a magical ability. You now have the power to control luck. You can vaguely see other people's fortunes, and you can steal their luck for your own benefit. This increases your own luck while making the other party unlucky.
Effect: Steal someone's luck value for your own use. The stealing effect ranges from 1 to 20 and is influenced by your own luck. The effect lasts for seven days and has a cooldown period of half a month.
Lucky Blessing: Because you have been favored by luck for so long, you have awakened a magical ability. You now have the power to control luck and can vaguely see the fortunes of others. You can also bestow your luck upon someone, making them very lucky for a period of time. However, during that time, you will lose the favor of luck and no longer experience good fortune.
Effect: Grant all your luck to someone else, reducing your luck to zero while making the other person exceptionally lucky. The effect lasts for one day and has a cooldown period of three days.
After seeing that reaching Gwent level ten provided these two skill feats, Wayne found himself deep in thought.
One of these skills allows him to benefit at the expense of others by stealing their luck, which could even be used against enemies. The other skill is self-sacrificial, allowing him to sacrifice his own luck to make someone else lucky, which could help friends and loved ones change their destinies.
How should he choose?