Chapter 332: My Bad, I Didn't Dodge
With the boost from the potions, the aid of alchemy bombs, and the presence of a teammate, clearing Aethelard Castle was as easy as clearing a weekly raid.
This further confirmed Lynn's earlier theory: witchers are far more suited to working in a team than as lone wolves. Their long lifespans, enhanced healing, and the benefits of potions mean that even if witchers aren't super-soldiers, they're still better suited to military life than ordinary humans.
A single witcher might be killed by an angry mob, but a hundred- or thousand-strong company of witchers could easily defeat five or ten times their number of enemies.
The only minor downside of clearing the castle was that after gaining the "Power Over Speed" perk, Lynn's strength had increased so much that his trusty Gwyhyr, a prized sword from Mahakam, no longer felt quite right in his hands.
It took them most of the day, but Lynn and Gerd thoroughly cleansed Aethelard Castle. They killed every harpy and burned every egg left behind by the monsters. Making the castle habitable again, however, was not their concern.
On the way back, Lynn used his communicator to contact Triss.
"Triss, are you there?"
"The man has been handed over to Foltest. He's already in negotiations with King Vizimir. Don't worry, you'll get your share."
"That's not it… I just wanted to ask if there are any specific things to know about raising a griffin."
"A griffin?"
Lynn then told her the story of how he had found a griffin fledgling. Triss was in disbelief. She had always wanted a griffin herself. Not only would it be more convenient than a horse for travel, but it could also assist her in combat. On top of that, a griffin was far more energy-efficient than a golem.
This was why most sorcerers only used golems to guard their labs or private chambers and rarely took them into battle. They were fine in a dormant state, but the energy consumption once they started moving was astronomical. Even legendary mages like Alzur and Cosimo preferred to summon monsters or elementals rather than use golems in combat.
Unfortunately, griffin eggs were virtually impossible to find on the market due to the nature of the griffins themselves. They were notoriously good at hiding their nests, and if they were ever discovered, they would destroy their own eggs rather than let them fall into a hunter's hands. As a result, very few mages had ever managed to ride a griffin.
If it had been anyone else, Triss would have made an offer on the spot. But since it was Lynn, she felt it would be rude to bring up money; it would almost feel like an insult.
So Triss put the thought of buying it aside. She meticulously explained how to raise the griffin, detailing the number of meals per day, what to feed it, its dietary needs, and all the things to watch out for. Lynn was deeply moved.
He decided that once the little griffin was grown, he would let Triss ride it to experience the exhilarating feeling of soaring through the skies.
"So, what's your plan now?"
On the boat ride back to Kaer Trolde, Lynn, who had come to find Gerd for a game of Gwent, asked this question.
Gerd placed a card, Hamdall, on the table. It was a hero card with a strength of 11. "Well, I've gotten so much coin that I won't have to worry about food and board for a while. And the people of Skellige don't have any prejudice against witchers, so I plan to stay on the Isles for a bit longer."
Lynn nodded. He used his leader card, King Foltest: The Siege Master, to double the strength of all his siege units. His cards now far outnumbered Gerd's. Gerd looked at the two cards in his hand, cursed under his breath, and threw his cards down on the table.
"You win again."
"Wanna go another round?"
Gerd shook his head like a child with a rattle. "Playing against you is like playing against a Gwent god. Are you sure you're not cheating?"
"Of course not! It's just luck. You know, luck."
"I don't know about luck. All I know is I'm never playing Gwent with you again."
Lynn shrugged. "Let's not talk about that. Let's talk about something serious. Would you be interested in a job that's both respectable and well-paying?"
Gerd thought for a moment. "Are you talking about that witcher school you mentioned before?"
"It's great you remember."
"Alright, since you brought it up, I'll listen to what you have to say."
Lynn then laid out his plan: he wanted to establish a multi-school witcher academy deep in the Blue Mountains. The sorceresses of Aretuza would assist them in improving the survival rate of the Trial of the Grasses.
They would abandon the Law of Surprise, which was so hated by the public, and instead secretly sponsor orphanages in various regions. These orphanages would take in all children abandoned due to war, natural disasters, or simply too many mouths to feed. From these children, they would select those with exceptional abilities and character to be trained as witcher apprentices.
Lynn planned to model the new organization on the Astartes and the Imperial Guard, establishing an army composed of witcher regiments supported by ordinary soldiers.
At this point, one might ask: Even the legendary White Wolf, Geralt of Rivia, a top-tier witcher, was killed by a pitchfork. How could an average witcher stand on a battlefield, let alone measure up to an Astartes?
Here's an explanation: First, Geralt's death by pitchfork during the Rivia Pogrom is indeed a real event, but there's a deeper story behind it. The cutscenes in The Witcher 2 show that Geralt had already killed dozens of men before being struck down.
He could have easily killed dozens more. But he suddenly stopped because he saw a young boy in front of him. In a moment of weakness, he let his guard down and didn't dodge, creating the legend of the "pitchfork, the witcher's bane."
Secondly, while an average witcher is indeed not as strong as an Astartes, you have to consider the enemies an Astartes faces on a daily basis. A witcher may be weaker than an Astartes, but the witcher's enemies are also weaker than the Astartes'.
Finally, and most crucially, the establishment of witcher regiments would signify that from now on, witchers would no longer operate as lone wolves but as a unified, collaborative force.
A single regiment could be broken down into ten companies, and each company could be further divided into ten squads, allowing for greater flexibility in the ever-changing battlefield.
(End of Chapter)
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