Before the appearance of Geron and Lann, and when Kelda was unwilling to leave the Siren of Kel, Cohen could be said to be the only remaining witcher of the Griffin school on the continent.
Naturally, when Coen was traveling around the continent, Kelda gave him all the good stuff. The old demon hunter equipped Coen with a full set of armor, sword oil, bombs, potions, and other equipment, but because Coen didn't have the same [Inventory] as Lann, he couldn't put too much in it.
This naturally includes the [Griffin School Contact Notes].
"I don't usually communicate much with my teacher. So I knew that once he contacted me, something big must have happened." Cohen laughed, "But I didn't expect it to be such a big deal this time - relying on the entire country of Cintra to revive the Griffin School and even the Demon Hunter Order, this is really..."
Cohen looked up and sighed: "It's really hard to imagine."
"I have heard rumors about you before, Lann, but you were not yet a Lion at that time. Your poems and songs could be heard in any big city in the North, and people believed that you would become the best knight in the North. Unfortunately, news of your death spread a few months later, and after a while, the news became more and more outrageous."
These outrageous rumors should refer to things like "the return of the dead" and "the power bestowed by the three lions flag".
Cohen said with an incredible expression: "But the most outrageous news was brought by Ciri. She told me that you are also a demon hunter of the Griffin School. I was really shocked at the time."
Lann got up and walked around his room, and found a pot of fresh water on the bedside table. It was obvious that everything he needed for life had been prepared in the room.
He poured himself a glass of water and then offered one to Cohen, prompting a thank you from his fellow scholars.
"I heard that Ciri has also been receiving your sword training recently? How is she?" Lan asked, "In a few years, she will be the queen of Cintra, and the plan of revival will fall on her shoulders."
"She is very good. She works hard, is kind, and is sensible enough to make people feel distressed," Cohen replied.
Lann covered his lips with the cup: "Will you help her?"
Cohen did not answer directly, but turned around and looked Lann directly in the eyes.
After three breaths, he smiled.
"Lane, you don't have to test me like this. Everyone knows that you are the one who has the final say in Cintra now. Even when Ciri grows up, she will definitely listen to you. And if we want to revive the Witcher Cult, the main force behind it will definitely be you who have united multiple schools."
"And if you want a definite answer, then - I am willing." Cohen drank the cup of water handed to him by Lann and pretended to drink. "Whether it is fighting for the North or fighting for the Demon Hunter Cult, I am willing."
In the original novel, Cohen can be said to be the most special demon hunter. This "special" does not refer to his strength, origin, etc., but to his worldview.
In the original timeline, the North and Nilfgaard would clash many times. In a decisive battle between the North and the South, Cohen, as a demon hunter, took the initiative to join the army to fight to defend the North, and eventually died on the battlefield.
Cohen's martial arts and character were praised by everyone who came into contact with him. After his death, his comrades even risked their lives to rescue his body and took it to the hospital for treatment. The people who were responsible for treating him at the time were Shani, who was thrown into Niubao by Lann to learn medical skills, and the halfling "Rust". When the doctor announced that Cohen was dead, his comrades almost took their anger out on the doctors because they could not accept the reality.
Not to mention being a demon hunter, even as a soldier and a knight, Cohen's character is outstanding. Lann was more than happy to have the support of such a companion.
Lann smiled brightly: "I'm glad you joined."
The two hands were clasped together tightly, and Lann finally had another griffin beside him.
In such a harmonious atmosphere, Lann suddenly thought of something.
"Cohen, Master Kelda doesn't want to travel around, right? He seems to only hang out around Kovir. My teacher is even more exaggerated. He doesn't even want to leave Kel Siren."
"Do you think there's any way to trick them both down?"
Cohen fell into deep thought after hearing this.
"Master Geron? I haven't been back to Kel Siren yet, and I haven't seen him. But this is indeed a problem... I have tried many times to persuade the teacher to go out and relax, but he refused."
Pulling himself out of his memories, Cohen's expression became serious: "I think we can plan this issue carefully."
"Of course." Lan nodded, and he and Cohen's hands tightened.
These two Griffins will definitely get along.
…
For the rest of the day, Lann stayed in the room discussing with Coen. The two Griffin School witchers had long heard of each other's names, but had never seen each other's true faces.
We finally meet now, and it feels like we met too late.
Their topics were also varied: the Griffin tactics that combined magic seals with sword skills, the specific plan for the reconstruction and revival of the Griffin School, fooling... no, the specific plan to persuade the mentor to go down the mountain, and so on.
Their conversation ended with a lingering feeling until the sun set and the rich golden color dyed the snow on the mountains into a warm hue.
Because all the demon hunters who were out have returned.
There are many prey in the mountains. In addition to the common snow hares and squirrels, you can even see snow wolves, brown bears and even fork-tailed dragons.
The demon hunters certainly wouldn't go after a fork-tailed dragon just for a meal, but they did bring back a bear. Together with some moss and mushrooms dug out of the snow, it was enough for a hearty dinner.
"The Wolf Clan is very hospitable, and everyone here is a good fellow." Cohen took the initiative to tell Lann, "They welcome demon hunters from other schools to spend the winter in Kaer Morhen. Although so far, it seems that only the griffins and the snakes you brought can come."
Lan smiled.
The firewood was quickly thrown into the stove, and the grill and hot pot were set up. The aroma of thick soup and barbecue soon filled the castle, announcing the start of dinner.
A long table large enough to accommodate twenty people was placed in the center of the hall. It had been a long time since the Wolf Sect received so many guests at the same time.
Vesemir sat at the head of the table, with Lan and Ciri sitting near him. As for the others, the seating order was messed up, but the Wolf Clan didn't care about that at all. In fact, if there weren't guests, they wouldn't even use the table to eat.
Lan saw Triss, and the sorceress smiled sweetly at him. Seeing that Ciri was still holding Lan's hand, she thought about it and decided not to come over.
Vesemir raised his glass and proposed to kick off the dinner: "First of all, let us thank the young man for the prey he brought."
Everyone stood up very cooperatively and raised the cups of different shapes in their hands above their heads in a ceremonial manner.
The witchers drank it all in one gulp, the sorceresses took a sip, but Ciri didn't allow any alcohol.
"I don't think I've introduced you to the guys from our Wolf Faction yet?"
In response to Vesemir's question, Lane smiled and said, "It's strange to say this, but I am somewhat familiar with you."
Vesemir raised an eyebrow. "It's that... the Ancient Blood, right? I don't know much about it, but it seems to be able to give you the constitution of a demonic source, and demonic sources all have a certain degree of predictive ability. Ciri has fully demonstrated this skill for us during this period of time."
"You can understand it that way." Lan En smiled.
…
The four members of the Wolf School were extremely familiar to the players in their previous lives. They were just like the name of their school - "Wolf". They were surprisingly united and were willing to die for the brothers they recognized.
Geralt, one of the four, had known each other for a long time. He was sitting at the end of the table so that he could sit close to Yennefer, but Yennefer didn't seem to want to be too close to the other witchers.
Seeing Lan's gaze, White Wolf nodded at him:
"It's nice to see you again, Lann."
"Me too, Geralt."
The second is Vesemir, an old witcher whose hair is really gray due to age. Few people can tell his age for sure, not even himself.
In the previous life, when discussing the title of "The Strongest Demon Hunter", many people would nominate Vesemir. At least Lann knew that Vesemir was able to use the [Igni Sign] to melt the frozen lake in winter and create a spring scene a hundred years ago, which was something that Lann had difficulty doing when he first awakened the ancient blood.
…
There was no need to introduce myself to Vesemir again. Lann moved his gaze back and looked at a man with a horrible scar on his face.
He had medium-length hair parted in the middle and was wearing a red-striped rivet jacket. When he saw Lan's gaze, he raised his glass and said, "Nice to meet you, Lan from Cintra. I'm Eskar."
Eskar, a calm and composed warrior, is more like a Geralt with a less dramatic life, a more "standard" demon hunter. He is strong enough to fight multiple heavily armored warriors with swords alone; he is experienced enough to hunt monsters such as fork-tailed dragons alone, which are difficult for ordinary military teams to hunt.
It is said that he also had an unexpected child, who was also a princess of the royal family. However, unlike Geralt's Ciri, Eskar did not bring his unexpected child back in the end.
"Nice to meet you, Eskar." Lann clinked glasses with the calm demon hunter and drank them all.
…
As for the last member of the Wolf Clan, he shouted before Lann could speak: "Okay, okay, I'm the last person to be greeted, and I can't wait any longer. So I'm here to greet you without waiting for you to look over. Let's finish this process quickly and start dinner, okay?"
The man's words were very rude, but Lann still smiled nonchalantly: "Nice to meet you, Lambert."
Lambert was wearing a black jacket, had a crew cut and also had a scar on his face.
He is very handsome, although still not as handsome as Lann, but he is comparable to Geralt. However, he and Geralt are not of the same style. Geralt is a vicissitudes of hormone uncle, while Lambert has a bit of the flavor of a wicked wandering swordsman.
Lambert has a very bad character, which stems from his rejection of his identity as a demon hunter. However, he has deep feelings for his fellow demon hunters, and although his words are harsh, he is willing to die for anyone in the school.
With such a personality and such appearance, he looks a bit like the protagonist of a romance novel.
…
"Okay, okay, I'm glad to meet you too, because you're finally here, Lann from Cintra." Lambert muttered, clinking glasses with Lann and drinking.
Seeing Lambert's attitude, Ciri wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction. Lambert, on the other hand, uttered a "ha" and looked at the little girl with wide eyes, and the two of them played a staring game with their eyes.
Vesemir shook his head, not knowing how to evaluate the two children. Everyone was talking in low voices while eating. Geralt and Eskar chatted with the Snake Sect with great interest. They were full of curiosity about this school from the south.
And Vesemir raised his glass to Lann again: "I want to thank you, Lann, really."
"Hmm?" Lann showed a surprised expression, "For what?"
Vesemir took a sip of wine and slowly uttered a name:
"Minole."
The voices of the people who were originally chatting at the table suddenly dropped two degrees. Everyone's speech speed involuntarily slowed down and they became absent-minded.
Ciri and Lambert, who were playing the staring game, no longer focused their gazes on each other, but slowly moved towards the main seat.
Vesemir sighed, and faced the gazes of the crowd without blushing or beating his heart. After all, the thick skin that he had built up over nearly two hundred years was not so easy to break. Or maybe he had already gotten used to the teasing of the Wolf Clan in these days.
"I am very grateful to you for helping me find her, convincing her, and bringing her back to me. Minole is my regret, because of her I feel that my boring life has a little more color."
Lambert, who was eavesdropping, smacked his lips in dissatisfaction and muttered, "What a boring life..."
Vesemir slammed his fist on the table. “Who do you think I’m talking about? Stop your damn childish games and eat your meal!”
The old demon hunter who was scolding Lambert had a frown on his face, looking angry and threatening. But he quickly turned his head and put on a kind expression in an instant.
Vesemir continued his thanks in a gentle tone: "So I must say that I owe you one, Lann."
Lan smiled and shook his head: "You don't have to be so polite. After all, Ciri has troubled you with her care during this period of time. In the letter she wrote to me, she regarded you as her family, so we are all family, so there is no need to thank you for such a small thing."
Vesemir's expression became kind. But what he was going to say next was serious business, so he quickly adjusted his mood: "But I think you also know that there were some accidents in the process - the climate of Kaer Morhen is too cruel for Minole. So I have a request, I want you to do me a favor."
Vesemir said solemnly: "I want to join your plan for the Demon Hunter Cult. I hope that Cintra will have a place for the Wolf Clan in the future. It is also my own selfish desire... I hope there will be a place that can accommodate Minole and the Wolf Clan at the same time. I want to give Minole a normal home."
…
ha!
Lann smiled.
When he was in Novigrad, he had persuaded Minorole to settle in Cintra. He had originally wanted to use this as a bargaining chip to win over Vesemir, but he didn't expect that Vesemir would come to him before he even opened his mouth?
Lan took a deep breath. There was no need to hold down the corners of his mouth. Now was the perfect time to smile in surprise.
He said sincerely, "No, no, Vesemir, I am not doing you a favor. You are the ones doing us a big favor. Cintra is in need of help right now. I am a witcher myself, and Ciri is also a member of the Wolf Faction. I assure you that Cintra will have no reservations about witchers."
Vesemir sighed half bitterly and half relieved. He had guarded this castle for who knows how many years, and now he finally decided to leave, hoping to have a worthwhile ending.
And he hadn't finished speaking yet.
"But," Vesemir added, "my boys have some opinions. As you can see, we of the Wolf Clan are independent individuals, not a mercenary group. I am willing to go to Cintra and bring the Wolf Clan's heritage with me, but this is only my own opinion. I cannot make decisions for the boys.
"They have some ideas they want to discuss with you face to face."
Lann raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Of course, I'm all ears."
Now that Vesemir, the soul of the wolf faction, has arrived, the others have already stepped half a foot into Cintra, and the things they want to "talk" about will definitely not be too outrageous.
Geralt sighed, looked at Ciri, and then looked at Vesemir: "Don't look at me, Lan. I'm already too deeply involved, and I've even helped you fight against Nilfgaard. I will help you retake Cintra, I can't escape. But after that... I still hope to be less involved in politics, at least I won't participate in foreign wars of aggression."
Lann nodded. "Of course, Geralt. You are my companion, my comrade-in-arms, and Ciri's... 'accidental father'. This word may sound a bit strange, but what I mean is that I will not order you around like a soldier. You have autonomy, and this is my promise to you."
Ciri responded with a stern face: "This is also my promise, Geralt!"
The White Wolf pulled the corner of his mouth, and Yennefer looked at him with a mocking look, with an expression of "See, I told you so." Obviously, Geralt had been worried about this problem before, and now he was relieved after hearing what Lann said.
Eskar was the second person to make a request: "My request is the same as Geralt's. We are witchers, not special forces soldiers. Since we want to revive the witcher cult, we must not forget the creed we uphold. After all, we were born to save civilians from the claws of monsters, not to wield swords for rulers."
"Besides that, I heard you were researching witcher mutations, correct?"
Lan nodded after hearing Eskar's question. He looked at Mossak and Triss and said, "I explored a ruin and obtained a formula for a demon hunter's secondary mutation, which can make the demon hunter stronger under the current circumstances. We use this mutation as a reference, and my own accidental mutation as a blueprint, and are trying to increase the success rate of the mutation and even control the direction of the mutation.
Lan En smiled and said, "The results are very encouraging. We have increased the success rate of mutation to 50%."
"Becoming stronger is not important. I think we have enough strength." Eskar put his hands on the table. "My proposal is this: I hope that before the mutation has an absolute... never mind, at least an 80% success rate, we should not rashly carry out mutations. I don't want to see my apprentices lose their lives because of such unpredictable things."
This is not a problem. Lann nodded decisively and said, "I promise you, 'not causing unnecessary sacrifices' is also the purpose of my research on mutation. In fact, there is an apprentice in the Griffin School who is currently undergoing training, but because the success rate of mutation is not high enough, we have not mutated him. And if the experiment is unsuccessful, we will not mutate him. This is the result unanimously agreed by our school."
Lan's eyes were sincere, and this answer was satisfactory enough.
"You are from the Griffin School, I trust you." Eskar nodded, "Then I have no problem. I am willing to contribute my strength to your Demon Hunter Cult."
"Welcome." Lan's mouth curled up even more.
Finally, Lann turned his attention to Lambert. The hedgehog-like witcher had already stopped eating and playing with Ciri.
There was a repressed aura about him at the moment, and he seemed to be brewing emotions.
"I don't care about the Witcher Order, or whether I have to fight for a country. I have no problem helping Vesemir or the Wolf Clan. Just treat it as a commission. Whatever the job is, it's fine."
"But if the entire Wolf Faction is to move to Cintra, then I must first clean up the mess here before I can leave with peace of mind."
Lambert seemed to recall something bad, and his eyes became fierce. After a breath, he uttered a name:
"Old Spearhead!"
As soon as the name came out, all the wolf-faction demon hunters at the table paused for a moment.
Lambert's next words explain the crowd's reaction:
"That's a Cyclops. It killed many of our apprentices and companions. I must kill it before I leave here!"
Lambert stood up suddenly and opened his arms. "We have never been sure of our ability to deal with it, because we were worried that it would cause more unnecessary casualties. But now, there are ten demon hunters, two sorceresses, and a druid. Can't such a team deal with a Cyclops?"
"Lan of Cintra, if you want us to follow you, we can. But we have to kill the old spearhead. That's my condition!"
Lambert's impassioned words fell, and before Lann could react, the system's prompt sounded immediately -
[Discovery Mission - Wolf's Revenge:
Even demon hunters have monsters that they cannot deal with alone. For the declining school, the Cyclops named "Old Spearhead" is one of them. This monster killed too many apprentices, and the wolf school has never forgotten this hatred. If you want to gain the loyalty of the wolves, then help them to avenge themselves. Anyway, it is not difficult for you now. 】
Lann stood up solemnly and assured Lambert: "For the sake of those apprentices who died tragically, the Cyclops must die. I say it!"
Lambert clinked glasses with Lann vigorously: "Very good, Lann!"
Lei Suo also expressed his attitude: "It seems that the [Cyclops Decoction] has never been researched. I don't know if its tissue fluid can be used to refine any new poison. I am looking forward to it."
"Thank you, brother of the Snake Faction!"
"It's not easy to hear Lambert's words of thanks." Geralt muttered. He said sarcastically, but his hand holding the wine glass was shaking. Obviously, he didn't want to miss the opportunity to kill the monster.
The atmosphere at the table became lively.
Vesemir suddenly remembered something and said to Lann, "After passing through the cave where Old Spearhead lives, there is a place we call the 'Ring of Elements'. It has a unique terrain and condenses rich chaotic energy. Wolf-faction demon hunters use it to strengthen their magic signs. After killing Old Spearhead, you can also try it, Lann."
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