Chapter 9: The Thorny Justice
The storm triggered by the griffin came and went quickly, vanishing in mere seconds, but its effects did not dissipate.
Arthur opened his eyes. Despite the massive battle, not only was he not physically exhausted, but he actually felt as though he had enjoyed a deep, refreshing sleep.
He lightly leaped off the griffin's back, landing right in front of Kolgrim.
Apart from a fractured right leg and a few scrapes, Kolgrim only had some bruising on his chest. For a man who had just been thrown seven or eight meters, these injuries were merely "slightly dusty clothes."
"Looks like we'll need to recuperate for a while before we can hand in the assignment," Arthur sighed. He instinctively felt that the Baron wouldn't be so quick to drop the charges.
"It won't take long," the Witcher said, tilting his head back to swallow a potion. The bruises and scrapes on his skin disappeared at a visible rate.
"What is that? Instant recovery?" Arthur was stunned.
Kolgrim tossed the empty vial aside and began fashioning a splint for his leg using branches and the broken sword: "It only healed the surface wounds. The bone will still take a week or so to fully mend."
"That's still incredible! Is that potion expensive? Can you teach me how to make it?" Arthur picked up the vial, trying to use the proper fanning method to discern the ingredients.
The recovery effect of this potion was terrifying. If he learned the recipe, wouldn't he never have to worry about money again?
But his dream of getting rich was mercilessly shattered by Kolgrim just moments later: "Teaching you isn't the problem, but if you want to rely on this to make money, you're mistaken. My body has undergone mutation, which is why the Swallow potion works so well on me. On a normal person, even if it didn't poison them to death, the rate of recovery would be drastically reduced."
"Well… I still want to learn." Though disappointed, Arthur tucked the vial into his pocket—it couldn't hurt to learn another skill.
He stood up, intending to check on Miloslav, but the Witcher called him back:
"When the griffin died, you absorbed some kind of energy from it. What was that about?"
Although the Witcher had been kind to him, Arthur wasn't ready to reveal his secret so quickly. He spoke vaguely:
"I felt like I drew something from the griffin, and then my stamina was completely restored.
"And, if there's anything different, I can now find other people's weaknesses more easily—you should move that splint down a bit to center it on the fracture point."
Under the enhancement of Brutal Brawler, Kolgrim's fracture point was noticeably glowing.
Kolgrim's face darkened: "If you had behaved, my leg would be perfectly fine right now!"
Arthur scratched his head, quickly changing the subject: "Heh, sorry, I was impulsive. The situation was genuinely frightening, and I just acted on instinct. Oh, right, why hasn't Miloslav woken up yet?"
As a normal human, the hunter had only been affected by the edge of the shriek, but his injuries were far more severe. Thus, Arthur hadn't dared to rashly wake the hunter, only adjusting his posture to lay him on his side.
Miloslav's name clearly irritated Kolgrim: "Blasted by a griffin's shriek face-on? He's lucky the Gods let him keep his life. Let me see. Tsk, there's blood coming from his nose and mouth. His internal organs might be damaged. I thought he was experienced, but he turned out to be a reckless fool."
Arthur felt the Witcher's words were strange: "It happened so suddenly, and no one could communicate. Maybe he was just trying to help."
Kolgrim shook his head:
"What do you mean, no communication? Do you remember the Sign I tried to cast on you earlier that you resisted?"
Throughout the hunt, Kolgrim had attempted to cast Signs on Arthur twice. Arthur recognized the gesture for the first Sign; Kolgrim had used it on Walker before, and it was meant to influence a person's mind. But on Arthur, it had only felt like buzzing insects. The second Sign had been a swift, gentle shockwave that pushed Arthur out of the griffin's attack range.
Arthur tried to replicate the first gesture: "You mean this?"
Even a man as stone-faced as Kolgrim couldn't hide the astonishment in his eyes: "You learned the Axii Sign just by seeing it, and you used it so well! That is astonishing magical talent!"
Arthur: "Axii Sign? What's it for?"
Kolgrim: "It's a Sign used to affect the mind. It can soothe, charm, or even control others. But we Witchers of the School of the Viper have found another use for it."
Arthur: "What use?"
Kolgrim: "Didn't you notice? From the moment you cast that Sign on me, neither of us has opened our mouths."
Arthur looked at Kolgrim in shock, suddenly realizing the Witcher's lips hadn't moved for quite some time. A wave of dizziness washed over him, forcing him to brace himself against the ground.
"Using the Axii Sign for mental dialogue is a heavy toll on one's mental capacity. The first time I succeeded, I passed out for three whole days."
Kolgrim was now numb to Arthur's freakish learning speed:
"Compared to what mages can do, communicating through Axii is high-cost and short-range—it's not that impressive a feat. But let's return to the hunt.
"What I communicated to you telepathically was: It's a Royal Griffin. Operation canceled. We need to rework the plan.
"A Royal Griffin is larger and has far greater stamina than a common one. But now that it's shown itself, I'd have had a way to find its nest.
"Unfortunately, you couldn't wait even a second longer and chose to attack immediately. How does it feel to almost get everyone killed?"
As Kolgrim spoke, his gaze drifted toward Miloslav.
The hunter let out a long groan and slowly opened his eyes:
"How did you know I was awake? Ah, you're a Witcher. You can hear breathing and heartbeats."
Kolgrim clapped his hands lightly:
"You're quite clever when you choose to be rational. So, do you have anything to say about your actions just now?"
Miloslav painfully coughed up a clot of bloody froth, speaking with difficulty:
"I apologize for the extra risk I put you both through. But even if I had to do it again, I would make the same choice."
Arthur's anger instantly flared. He grabbed the hunter, raising his fist as if to strike:
"Are a Witcher's life and death so worthless in your eyes? That we deserve to be mauled by a griffin?"
After absorbing the storm of light from the griffin, Arthur's strength had increased significantly. Miloslav dangled in his grip like a ragdoll:
"I'm sorry, but… Lenna is already close to the end…"
Arthur froze. The hunter then haltingly explained his reason for taking the risk:
Two days ago, Miloslav had slipped into the Castle of Amavet under the pretense of delivering game. With the help of a bribed servant, Miloslav climbed a tree in the corner and saw Lenna through a window, witnessing the ugly truth.
Lenna, his poor daughter, lay alone in a small stone room, completely unguarded. There were no medicines, no physicians—only a mute girl who fed her one meal of gruel a day.
"I have to save Lenna quickly. She's going to die in that man-eating castle!
"Punish me however you see fit, but please, just take me to see Lenna!"
Miloslav wailed mournfully, like a lost wolf.
....
AN: Check out my Patreon For +80 extra chapters.
Thank You For your Support!!
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God