While Guilliman and Triss were busy developing new alchemical bombs, Kaer Morhen, the former headquarters of the Witcher Order and now the castle of the Wolf School Witchers, located in the northern Blue Mountains of the Kingdom of Kaedwen, received an unexpected visit.
This was a team of over a hundred people, consisting of elite Salamandra members and a large number of rabble.
The leader was a man named Azar Javed, a wanted sorcerer from the Kingdom of Zerrikania, and currently the leader of the Salamandra.
He was a very powerful and complex spellcaster.
He possessed a physique far stronger than that of an ordinary sorcerer, tall, bald, with brown eyes, knotted muscles all over his body, and a terrifying tattoo on his face.
Unlike the loose clothing favored by ordinary sorcerers, he wore light leather armor with a desert style, various alchemical potions and magical gold ornaments strapped to his body, and even a sharp scimitar as a weapon at his lower back.
However, if anyone underestimated his close-combat abilities because he was a sorcerer, they would be in for a rude awakening.
Before becoming an apprentice at a sorcerer academy, this leader of the Salamandra had undergone Manticore School Witcher mutations and related training in the Kingdom of Zerrikania, so it would not be an exaggeration to call him a Manticore School Witcher.
Due to his special physique and extraordinary talent, Azar Javed not only possessed most of a Witcher's abilities but also retained his spellcasting capabilities, becoming a powerful sorcerer after decades of study.
However, Azar Javed was an extremely ambitious man. To gain power and authority, he committed various heinous crimes in the Kingdom of Zerrikania, including live experiments and assassinations of nobles.
That is why he was hunted and expelled by the Kingdom of Zerrikania, fleeing to Temeria and becoming the leader of the Salamandra.
It was precisely because he was once a member of the Witchers, and had suffered several major losses and casualties at the hands of the Witcher Guilliman.
Therefore, this time, at the instigation of the person behind the scenes, he gathered a large number of subordinates and rabble to attack the Wolf School's Kaer Morhen castle.
As for their objective, it was actually quite simple.
That was to seize the Wolf School's Witcher mutation formulas and research, as well as the accompanying related tools.
This was a scene that had occurred in the game, but due to Guilliman's appearance, for some reason, this event happened a year earlier, something even he, as a transmigrator, likely never expected.
At this time, Geralt, who had lost his memory, was not in the Wolf School castle.
Apart from the apprentice Leo, who had not yet completed his Witcher mutation, only the old Witcher Vesemir, the sharp-tongued Witcher Lambert, and the succubus enthusiast Eskel remained in the castle, not out on contracts, reminiscing about their lost companion, the White Wolf.
As a top-tier spellcaster, Azar Javed immediately used a powerful spell.
Not only did a single magical attack destroy Kaer Morhen's sturdy wall, opening a large hole in it.
At the same time, he also created and controlled a Troll Mantis to serve as the vanguard of this team, which charged directly into the castle, causing widespread destruction and drawing the Witchers' attention.
The Troll Mantis is an extremely powerful monster, not a native creature of this world, but a special synthetic beast cultivated by some mages using synthesis and genetic mutation methods.
It is four to five meters tall, seven to eight meters long, and weighs over ten tons.
It possesses not only a hard insect carapace, sharp mouthparts, and claws but also extremely strong vitality, immune to fire and ice, and unaffected by ordinary sword slashes, making it a monster that ordinary Witchers cannot defeat.
With this Troll Mantis as the vanguard, the Professor (a professional killer), and the top-tier spellcaster Azar Javed as backup, and a large number of Salamandra members and rabble as cannon fodder.
The four Witchers, including Vesemir, were simply unable to stop the advance of this team; they easily breached the castle's interior and didn't even have time to pursue.
And without Geralt's obstruction, which was present in the original timeline, Azar Javed quite easily obtained what he wanted.
He left quietly with the spoils, as if no one was there.
Fortunately, Azar Javed only intended to take these items, not to kill.
Otherwise, the Wolf School would have suffered heavy losses this time.
By the time the four Witchers finally managed to eliminate the dozens of thugs and the Troll Mantis left in the castle and arrived at the underground laboratory.
They only saw a ransacked laboratory, with nothing left behind.
Such a desolate scene stirred a sense of sorrow and anger in the hearts of the Witchers present.
After several hundred years, the Witchers' headquarters had once again been breached by humans.
This time, they had also lost the crucial tools for continuing the Witcher profession: all the specialized equipment needed for mutation experiments.
With the current financial resources and connections of the Wolf School Witchers, it would likely be very difficult for them to acquire such a set of specialized equipment again, and there were no professional sorcerers to calibrate the various devices for them.
Without this equipment, it would probably be very difficult to train new Wolf School Witchers in the future.
Seeing this situation, the more impulsive Leo slammed his fist against the stone wall and angrily said:
"Damn it, where did these bandits come from? They're too despicable."
"They stole our experimental equipment, as well as the mutation materials and formulas."
"What am I going to do about my upcoming Trial of the Grasses?"
Hearing his complaint, the sharp-tongued Lambert immediately chuckled mockingly and said:
"Young man, this might actually be good luck for you."
"With your body, you might not have survived the Trial of the Grasses anyway."
"Now that it's gone, you might live longer."
"With your swordsmanship, you should still be able to handle a one-on-one fight with a drowners and earn some money for food."
Eskel, with the terrifying scar on his face, also chimed in with a critique:
"Leo, you're too reckless."
"It was the same when we were fighting the Troll Mantis just now."
"You were clearly told not to be impulsive, not to attack rashly, but you still didn't listen to orders."
"If it weren't for old Vesemir blocking a fatal blow for you, you would have died just now."
After hearing the scolding from his two seniors, Leo, who didn't know that in the original timeline he had died in this very battle, was still a bit defiant but dared not retort.
His swordsmanship was quite good, belonging to the more talented kind.
Unfortunately, his Witcher mutation did not go smoothly; the completion rate was low, and his physical attributes did not improve much.
Just as Lambert said.
If he were to undergo the Trial of the Grasses, his chances of surviving and completing the mutation would be lower than those of his predecessors.
A brief silence fell in the underground laboratory for a few seconds; the four Witchers were each lost in their own thoughts, wondering what to do.
After a few seconds, Vesemir, the old Witcher and current Grandmaster of the Wolf School, looked grim.
He rotated his arm, which had been slightly injured from helping Leo block an attack, and turned to the other three Witchers, saying:
"This attack was very peculiar, almost without warning."
"Fortunately, we suffered no casualties."
"However, our Wolf School has been passed down for several hundred years, and it cannot end like this."
"Lambert, Eskel, and Leo."
"We lost Geralt last year, and even the little girl Ciri is nowhere to be found."
"I won't force you to come with me, nor do I want you to encounter danger, but I will investigate, find the culprits of this incident, and retrieve what was lost."
"Those thugs who attacked us earlier seemed to have lizard-like symbols and emblems tattooed on them; they must be members of some gang or a special organization from somewhere."
"And there was that powerful sorcerer leading them, and the killer wearing glasses."
"These are all clues to find them."
"Whether it takes one year, ten years, or decades, I will find them."
Old Vesemir was probably the Witcher among all the Wolf School Witchers who cared most about the school's legacy and the continuation of the Witcher profession.
He had lived through the most prosperous years of the Witcher Order and had watched the Witcher profession transform from heroes respected by many into the despised bandits, mutants, and freaks they were now.
If his life still held any meaning, it was to maintain the Wolf School Witcher family and the entire school's legacy.
Hearing the old man say this, Lambert and Eskel could not let their master bear such responsibility alone.
The sharp-tongued but soft-hearted Lambert snorted and said:
"Old man, are you losing your mind?"
"This isn't just your problem."
"After suffering such a huge loss, how could I let those bandits go?"
"I'll be in charge of the investigation in Redania. If I find anything, I'll send you a letter."
Eskel, of course, did not delay and said in a deep voice:
"I have quite a few acquaintances in Aedirn; if I handle that area, the investigation should be quicker."
"If you encounter any difficulties, I will immediately support you."
Seeing his two disciples so concerned about him, willingly taking on these dangerous and difficult tasks, Vesemir was deeply moved.
He glanced at the somewhat bewildered Leo, knowing he couldn't leave the apprentice alone in the castle, so he said:
"Then I'll take Leo and go to Vizima in Temeria first."
"I haven't been to that city in many years."
"I heard before that Berengar seemed to want to go to Temeria."
"It's a good opportunity for me to take this young man, Leo, to see the world and learn what a Witcher needs to learn besides swordsmanship and Signs."
Thus, after Azar Javed's attack, in order to recover the lost valuable formulas and experimental equipment.
The four surviving Witchers of the Wolf School each assigned themselves destinations and began their journey of pursuit and investigation.
Meanwhile, the Witcher Guilliman, far away in Vizima, was completely unaware of what had happened here.
----------------------------------
I've already posted 40 new chapters on Patreon!
If you like the story and want to reaad more, please visit my patreon. Every support is very meaningful!
[patreon.com/Kazenova223]
Thank you very much!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"