The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

When Lann arrived to meet the witchers of the Viper School, he saw that they were preparing decoctions at full speed, while his own servants watched closely.

"We're brewing some simple decoctions right here." Letho explained. "Such as forktail, wyvern, and griffin. But the Ancient Leshen mutagen is too precious, and we don't have the necessary supplementary ingredients on hand."

Lann waved his hand. "Don't worry. I've already contacted my mentor. We'll use his portal to pass through Kaer Seren soon and then return to Cintra. Perhaps we'll stay in Kaer Seren for a few days; I'll ask my master to think of something."

Letho showed an interested look when he heard this. "Kaer Seren? The destroyed base camp of the Griffin School?"

Lann nodded.

Lann had already told Jerome about this problem when he contacted him earlier.

To go to the meeting of the Northern kings, Lann had traveled on foot to visit the kings and fulfill the tasks assigned by the Master Mirror, but returning the same way would be a waste of time.

Using the portal at Kaer Seren would shorten the journey greatly. Before the northern kings could make any moves based on the agreements from the meeting, Lann planned to use the time to contact Vissegerd, as well as visit Skellige. With these combined reinforcements, Lann would be ready to strike back at the Nilfgaardian Empire as soon as the northern kings began their actions.

Kaer Seren was not theoretically open to outsiders. Lann planned to bring only members of the Viper School, justifying it as an exchange between witchers. Knights and servants from Cintra would not be allowed into the Griffin School's fortress.

Lann was just relying on Jerome's favor to act recklessly, and he also used another reason to convince Jerome: they could help clean up the snow in Kael Seren and rebuild the castle.

Jerome didn't really need that physical help. He regarded the reconstruction of the castle as his own practice and atonement for the school. But when Lann gave such a reason, he agreed. This was a good signal for Lann: Jerome's acceptance of the outside world began to increase gradually, and he no longer closed himself off; at the same time, he began to help Lann politically.

Although it was just a small matter of using a portal to speed up the march, it was also a historic breakthrough from zero to one.

The night before the day agreed with Jerome, Lann visited the kings participating in the meeting one by one, handing them the paintings he had selected with Iris for their respective owners. Finally, he said goodbye to Queen Meve, agreeing on future collaborations.

Early the next morning, the [Griffin School Contact Notes] placed in Lann's arms gave a familiar vibration, and a portal was opened not far from the Hagge castle.

The kings who were still in the fortress watched Lann and his party ride through the portal, and their reactions were different.

Foltest frowned. "Has Lannister hired a sorcerer? Merigold, perhaps? Compared to Calanthe, who relies only on her sword... the boy is much more difficult to face."

Vizimir II tapped his chin with his index finger. "Is it the red-haired sorceress the reports mention, or some other wizard? I'll have to ask Dijkstra to investigate further on the Lannister..."

Henselt growled as he stroked his beard. "Freak!"

Demavend watched without comment, but his gaze was directed towards Henselt's chambers, lost in thought.

Queen Meve watched the group leave, and immediately turned around and ordered her subordinates: "We have to return home as soon as possible, the soldiers on the front line are still waiting for us!"

They all assumed that the portal had been opened by a sorcerer.

...

The familiar feeling of vertigo enveloped everyone.

Lann felt Black Wind begin to stagger, almost causing him to fall to the ground. He had forgotten that this was the first time Black Wind had ever passed through a portal to Kaer Seren. On several occasions before, the horse had refused to pass through a portal, but this time there was no other option.

The witchers clung tightly to their horses' necks, closing their eyes and clenching their teeth, until after a time, they finally dared to open them.

In front of them stood an ancient fortress, dilapidated, but with vestiges of the majesty it once had. The remains of ancient buildings are scattered throughout the castle, and the bricks and stones are mixed with snowflakes, as if witnessing the history of countless storms. From behind it, you can see the steep peaks, snow-capped mountain tops and the vast blue sky.

The members of the Viper School internally compared the ancient fortress of Kaer Seren to their own, the former stronghold of Gorthur Gvaed, and could not help but admit that Kaer Seren won by a narrow margin.

Looking down, a middle-aged man in a cotton robe came into view. He had black hair, black beard, and amber cat eyes. He was strong and his temperament was calm and melancholy.

When he saw Lann nod, confirming that everyone had successfully passed through the portal, the man waved his hands, dissolving the portal into thin air as if it had never existed.

The witchers exchanged curious glances.

"Teacher." Lann took the lead and stepped forward to greet Jerome.

Jerome patted him on the shoulder and looked at him carefully, as if sizing up his disciple after a long time without seeing him. Then, he turned his gaze towards the witchers of the Viper School, greeting them politely, and finally exchanged a few words with the group from Cintra who had arrived with them.

This kind gesture surprised the servants and soldiers like House, Milva and Levin. They all knew who Jerome was the Earl's master. Yet here he was, displaying a humility and closeness they had not expected.

Black Wind approached Jerome, nuzzling his face affectionately, making the melancholic witcher smile. Although this horse arrived at Kaer Seren for the first time, it also witnessed Jerome's entire process to save Lann and himself in Toussaint.

"I heard that there is a brother from Cat School who remained in Novigrad, is it true?"

Lann nodded. "I now control at least a third of Novigrad in the shadows. I needed to leave someone I could trust there. I have given him precise instructions, I hope he can do something to improve the reputation of the witchers."

"Cat School..." Jerome hesitated for a moment, and still said: "If someone from that school acts correctly, maybe we can change the way civilians perceive us a little."

As they chatted, they headed towards the castle. Once the witchers and soldiers were given their rooms, Keldar and Leo went out to greet the group from the Viper School, offering them a tour of the facilities while discussing topics of interest among the witchers. Lann's servants and soldiers, on the other hand, began the tasks of cleaning and rebuilding the castle as planned.

Now, teacher and student were alone. Evidently, they had many things to discuss.

"Mousesack left several gifts for you in my possession. I think you'll be interested in them."

Lann immediately showed interest. "Did Uncle Mousesack leave stuff here?"

Jerome nodded. "Mousesack moved his laboratory from Skellige to Brokilon, but because there were too many government affairs there, he didn't have much time to do magic experiments. The several projects that were originally agreed upon were also promoted by Keldar and me. So he finally moved the laboratory back to Kaer Seren and merged the laboratory with ours. He comes to help us from time to time, although his time is limited. Even Triss has stopped by to help out."

Lann felt a surge of gratitude. "Uncle Mossack has worked so hard. I remember that he didn't like these political affairs, but now he puts his favorite magic research aside for me, and even gave up his own laboratory to merge with the Griffin School..."

Jerome cut him off before he could get carried away with emotion. "It's not that big of a deal. We gave him the space that was previously reserved for the resident mages. He's quite happy with that. Besides, Kaer Seren was once an elven magical stronghold, the magical energy here is intense. Mousesack said that doing experiments here is better than at the Druidic Circle in Skellige."

Lann was speechless, shocked.

Jerome chuckled slightly and continued: "We've also made some progress on Ofir's 'magic infusion' technique. We can improve your equipment. We even deciphered some of the enchantments on the strange Caretaker's spade that has the effect of absorbing life."

Lann was excited.

"Of course, the materials consumed by these two methods are huge, and they are only enough for you at present."

This gesture of giving priority to his disciple made Lann advance with lighter steps.

But that wasn't all.

"As for the mutations of witchers..." Jerome hesitated a little before speaking. "We have also made a lot of breakthroughs."

This time, Lann couldn't contain his excitement. "Can we perform mutations on witchers?"

Jerome shook his head. "Now maybe we can increase the success rate from 30% to 40% or 50%, but it is still not safe enough and not controllable enough."

"Our most ideal state is to increase the success rate to more than 90%, and we can artificially control the direction of mutation. In this way, we may be able to solve the fertility problem of witchers."

It has been said before that because mutations at the genetic level are uncontrollable, each witcher can be independently counted as a subspecies of human beings, leading to reproductive isolation. If mutations can be controlled, then although witchers and other races will still not be able to produce offspring, witchers can breed with each other.

This is definitely a great breakthrough.

Lann hurriedly asked: "Do you have any concrete results?"

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