The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

The Witchers' mutation experiment has made a breakthrough, which is great news for Lann now.

Faced with Lann's inquiry, Jerome affirmed: "We haven't tested it on humans yet, so far we've only made comparisons with animals. But what we can anticipate is this: under the joint supervision of several sorcerers—including myself, Mousesack, Triss, and to a lesser extent Keldar—the success rate of the mutation has increased to approximately fifty percent."

Jerome added: "But if we want to advance the experiment further, we need to analyze the mutation formulas of other schools. Mousesack is already negotiating with the Wolf School. If possible, I would like the Viper School to lend us a hand as well."

Lann patted his chest and guaranteed: "I'll talk to Letho. No witcher would refuse to participate in something like that. And what about the Cat School? If necessary, I can go to Novigrad to find Kiyan."

Jerome hesitated. "Cat School... it's complicated, but yes, they should come too. It will always be useful to have more perspectives."

Lann tasted the other meaning in Jerome's tone and nodded with some amusement.

"In addition, I need to collect some blood and tissue samples from you." Jerome said, "You are the most special and perfect mutant individual so far, and you can serve as the most ideal blueprint for mutation. Coupled with the elder blood in your body, it may provide new ideas for our experiments. We didn't find you before because our experiments have not reached that stage, but now is the time."

"No problem." Lann nodded. "Just draw blood, and then what tissue samples do you need?"

Jerome looked him up and down with a strange expression. "Various forms of tissue samples. "

At this point, the two had already walked to the entrance of Kaer Seren's laboratory. After opening the door, Lann found that there were many changes inside.

The first thing that caught Lann's eye was a huge constant temperature incubator, which Lann had never seen before. The things inside the incubator made Lann's eyes widen.

"This is..."

Jerome chuckled and said: "This is the first gift that Mousesack left for you here. "

Inside, a small golden creature was sleeping soundly.

The little monster was strange-looking. It had the beak of a bird, but its head and body were those of a beast. Around its neck was a black and gold mane, and its front legs were connected to a pair of wings that had not yet begun to fully develop. Its appearance was an adorable and grotesque mix, as if two young wild beasts had been forcibly fused together.

It was a griffin.

Lann remembered that during his mission to Brokilon to rescue Ciri, he had killed a pair of adult griffins. Coats made from their skins still hung from his and Ciri's shoulders.

Among the trophies of that battle was a gigantic griffin egg, which Lann gave to Mousesack.

At the time, Lann didn't have much knowledge of magic and didn't know what to do with the egg. He thought that Mousesack had already used it as material in some experiment, but to his surprise, he was now looking at the creature that had hatched from that egg.

Seeing Lann's surprised look, Jerome smiled and said: "Gryphon eggs aren't that rare. But Mousesack noticed that this particular egg retained great vitality and thought it would be meaningful to you, so he decided to hatch it and give it to you as a gift."

"He took it to the Druid Circle in Skellige to be incubated. The druids there are experienced in taming wyverns and have a complete breeding process in place. However, after our school made contact with him, both Mousesack and I agreed that the mountain range where Kaer Seren is located is more suitable for breeding griffins."

Jerome pointed at the snow-capped mountains outside the castle. "There used to be a lot of griffins here, which means the environment is ideal for their growth. But then our school almost completely exterminated them, so now they're a rarity."

Lann frowned, looking at the little griffin who was sleeping soundly. Luckily, he still didn't understand the human language and he didn't know that the school he was in had been responsible for annihilating his fellow griffins.

Jerome suggested: "You can take it out, let it get familiar with your smell, and then come to feed it a few times from time to time. When it grows up a little bit, it can be trained accordingly. "

Lann listened and carefully put his hand into the incubator. He was not very eager to cultivate feelings with this little griffin. It was unnecessary for him. With the [Follower] system, he only needed one skill point for this little guy who had not yet developed wisdom to recognize him as his master on the spot.

But Lann did not plan to contract this little guy so early. The griffin was still young, and although he didn't know if it had any talent, it probably didn't have any notable skills at the moment. Spending an ability point on it now would be a bad investment.

Lann picked up the little griffin at this moment, more out of curiosity and prospect for the future. This is the first time he has held a monster cub, and this is a powerful monster that can soar into the sky in the future.

The little gryphon, still asleep, sniffed something and, with a soft hiss, opened its eagle beak, sticking out a small tongue. Then, without opening its eyes, it buried its head in Lann's cloak, perhaps searching for the familiar scent of its kind.

Lann uncomfortably commented: "I suddenly realize something... We killed his parents, and now I'm even wearing his father's skin... This feels... weird."

As he spoke, he lifted the cloak made from the Archgriffin's skin. "It feels weird to tame this little guy under such circumstances and ride him in the future."

Jerome glanced at Lann. "Your ideas are a bit... peculiar. But if that's a concern of yours, no problem. Come closer and take a good look at this creature's fur and features. Haven't you been studying the magical bestiary I gave you?"

Lann felt a sudden pressure, as if he were a student who had just been asked a difficult question by a teacher. He obediently approached and muttered to himself: "The appearance is that of a griffin... But? Golden fur, thick mane, no poison glands...?"

Lann said in surprise: "Is this a Royal Griffin?"

Jerome nodded and said meaningfully: "Yes, it suits you very well. The Royal Griffin is the most majestic and best-looking of all griffin subspecies and is often used by nobles as a family emblem. In the early years, it was almost extinct by the royal family who liked to collect. I didn't expect that one could be hatched under such circumstances."

Lann was incredulous. "A Griffin and a Archgriffin] can give birth to a Royal Griffin? No... So this isn't their child? It's not even their egg?"

Jerome nodded, and sighed at the wonderful encounter in nature: "I heard that that pair of griffins attacked because of this particular egg, right? Perhaps magical creatures have many other strange habits that we haven't studied yet. We monster hunters tend to focus on their aggressive behaviors and how to hunt them, but we don't know much about their possible social structures."

"Well, at least now you don't have to worry about the moral issue of killing his parents and then mounting him, right?"

Hearing what Jerome said, Lann smiled embarrassedly.

...

The little griffin was only a few months old and was still at that stage of development where growth depended on long, deep naps. However, it was already possible to glimpse its imposing future as a proud knight of the air by its sharp claws and cutting beak.

In the future, with the blessing of Lann's [Follower] system, it will surely become the strongest griffin in history, and even have the opportunity to rival the dragon, and truly win absolute air supremacy for Lann.

If his thoughts diverge a little more, Lann even wondered if it was possible to form a griffin cavalry team based on this royal griffin? A real air ace unit...

But now it's just a cub that needs to sleep in an incubator.

After gently stroking the little griffin's soft down, Lann returned him to the incubator. He was still about six months away from being able to fly freely through the sky; and he would need another year and a half to be big enough to carry a rider. There was still plenty of time left.

Keldar is very interested in taming griffins. In the golden age of the Griffin School, one of the requirements for an apprentice to graduate was to venture into the nearby mountain ranges and steal a griffin egg. Keldar had seen many apprentices take eggs, most of which ended up being turned into alchemy materials.

However, they had never before attempted to incubate one of these eggs and raise the creature that hatched from them. This was a first.

Incidentally, Leo was now under the care of Keldar. This experienced witcher master had a special interest in training and guiding the new generation.

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