After contracting Bill as a follower, Lane already knew Bill's talent.

[Nature Affinity], judging from the effect description, seems to be some kind of spell-like talent. It is hard to say whether its strength reaches the level of magic source, but at least it brings Bill extraordinary mental resistance.

The Svalblod sect's berserker transformation, mind-affecting herbs and hallucinogenic mushrooms are a very important part.

According to Skellige records, the Berserker Trial of the Svalblod Cult goes like this:

[His followers would drink a hallucinogenic drink beforehand, then go deep underground to a cave in the center of Great Skellige. Once there, the bears in the cave would eat them alive. Then, these followers would take over and control the beasts' bodies like parasites. When they woke up, they would become monsters that were neither human nor bear.]

This also ignores some details, such as the fact that the Welka people will fight with the giant bear - although in the end they will be swallowed by the giant bear. However, this fighting process will also affect the subsequent Berserker transformation. After all, this thing has a success rate just like the Demon Hunter Trial, and it may be even lower.

The mental resistance brought by Bill's talent obviously helped him a lot in this transformation of pulling with the giant bear's consciousness and occupying the giant bear's body. That's why he successfully became a berserker and woke up early, and then fled back to his village before the Vilkans "reclaimed" him.

At the same time, this mental resistance is probably also the reason why Bill can resist the mermaid's singing, so that he will not be confused like other sailors, and even fail to react when jumping into the sea and drowning - otherwise Bill might become the food of the mermaid or the siren, instead of a lover.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the mermaid named "Syvana" is a kind-hearted person who is obsessed with looks and was attracted by Bill's other talent.

Unfortunately, no matter what the truth is, the mermaid named Shivana is now dead.

…

"As soon as I returned to the village, the villagers immediately drove me out. I could only run to the cave that Shyvana had mentioned to me. Because Shyvana told me: If I have nowhere to go, I will go there to find her."

"And Shivana was indeed waiting for me inside, singing and smiling to welcome me back."

"But there are sirens living there. They don't like me. They have never liked me since Shyvana and I were together. So they screamed and rushed towards me."

"They probably just want to teach me a lesson... They used to do this before, letting me get hurt and bleed a little because they didn't like me... And Shyvana would scold them, and then gently use magic to heal my wounds..."

"But this time is different... I was out of my mind this time. When I saw the blood flowing from my body and tasted the fishy smell in my mouth, I turned into a bear and was out of control..."

"I tore apart the Sirens who attacked me first, then Shyvana who tried to stop me... and then the Sirens again, until they were afraid of me and stopped attacking me."

Bill wailed in pain: "After I regained my human form, I forgot all of this... Those herbs and mushrooms have been affecting me until just now..."

"I thought Shyvana was angry, so she hid from me... I thought the number of sirens decreased because the villagers hunted them to protect Shyvana and me..."

"It turns out it's all because of me..."

…

The demon hunters who had finished their fight gathered around.

They had enjoyed a great battle just now, but at this moment they had mixed feelings because of what the young man said.

They have seen many tragedies like this: blood relatives killing each other, lovers killing each other; whether it was intentional or unintentional.

But no matter how many times they have seen it, it does not stop their hearts, which are still not cold, from beating and offering their sympathy for it.

Even though they have no expression on their faces at the moment.

Lann sighed. Under normal circumstances, he would not mind giving his new servant some time to adjust his mentality. But at this moment, the Skellige people who had just finished a battle were full of fighting spirit and anger, and they were in no mood to wait for Bill to vent his emotions.

Fortunately, after the collapse, Bill did not let things develop in the most troublesome direction.

He wailed, holding his head, looking at the corpses of the Vilka people, and the self-blame in his eyes quickly turned into deep hatred.

"It was them. They turned me into a bear... If it weren't for them, Shyvana wouldn't have died!"

Bill turned around and bowed to Lan. "My Lord, my memory has been fully restored...even clearer than usual. Please let me take you to the gathering place of the Svalblod Cult, and let me help you completely wipe out this filth from Skellige Island!"

Lan raised his eyebrows. This change of thought was quite good.

But when he looked at the surging fire in Bill's eyes, he always felt that this young man might develop into an extreme situation of "killing the enemy and then committing suicide".

However, even if this is what the young man is thinking at the moment, Lann will not let him put it into action later. This is not a problem for Lann now.

"Well, now follow your memory and take us to find the Svalblod Cult and the Vilk." Lann said seriously, with a tone of entrusting him with an important task, "We now have an irreconcilable hatred between us and them."

…

After being contracted as a follower, Bill's brain became countless times clearer. He didn't even need the help of the senses of Geralt and other witchers. He found the path he had escaped by just looking around the rocks.

Soon, a cave that looked like the deep mouth of a giant appeared in front of everyone.

The entrance to the cave is quite steep, and it is connected to the normal mountain road only by a narrow rock path that is barely wide enough for one person to pass through, and there are no plants around to block the view.

Most importantly, experienced mountain people can definitely make a judgment from the traces at the entrance of the cave - there is a bear inside.

This makes it even more difficult for ordinary people to get close to this cave.

But for Lane and others, it means: they have found the right place.

Easter frowned as he looked at the narrow rock passage. It would be a death wish for a thousand-man army to try to pass through this level of terrain. The Vilka people only needed a dozen or so people to guard the cave entrance.

"According to the traces around here, this must be the headquarters of the Svalblod sect," East pondered. "This kind of terrain is an advantage for them with fewer people, but it is fatal to us with a large army. Perhaps we need to spread out our people and try to find other entrances."

Even so, everyone knew that such hope was slim. The Svalblod sect had chosen this place as their hiding place for decades, so they must have considered the possibility of being discovered in advance. There might be a small escape route, but it would definitely not be a spacious terrain that could allow an army to pass through.

Lann looked around for a while and suggested, "Why don't you let me go in and do some reconnaissance? You know my abilities. If the Vilkers are ambushing inside, I can run out at any time."

"At the same time, the troops can also try to find small paths around them, taking a two-pronged approach."

Easter thought of the two skills [Teleport] and [Flash] that Lann had already demonstrated, and nodded reluctantly.

Today's Lann can no longer be regarded as a conventional combat unit. East even suppressed his idea of ​​asking Lann to take a few guards with him, because he now knows that letting the guards follow Lann might actually be a burden.

But he still habitually reminded: "Be careful."

Lan En nodded with a smile, turned around and estimated the distance between himself and the cave. Then, an emerald light emanated from his body and he disappeared on the spot.

Then there was a flash of golden light at the entrance of the cave, and then it disappeared into the darkness.

Asking the witchers to keep an eye on the movements at the cave entrance, Easter shook his head and turned around, ready to arrange people to find another exit.

However, before the reconnaissance team set off, the emerald light lit up again beside him.

Lann emerged from it with a strange look on his face.

East asked hurriedly: "What's wrong? Are you in danger?"

Kratz followed up: "What's the terrain like inside? How many enemies are there? Have they discovered you?"

Facing the two people's questioning, Lann sighed: "There is no danger..."

"Not even an enemy."

"But I do need a little backup. There are a few injured people in there, and some things that may need to be brought out."

…

Although Lann had explained that there were no enemies inside, for safety reasons, Easter and Kratz still brought their respective guards. Jutta Ann Dimen also reluctantly went with the soldiers from the Dimen family.

The witchers and Bill naturally cannot be absent.

Entering the cave, one is greeted by a foul and fishy smell. This smell is different from the giant bear that Vilka transforms into after being transformed into a Berserker. This smell is the smell of a real bear.

The entire cave was dark and damp. The rock walls were covered with moss and some unknown thorny vines, and the ground was littered with broken bones.

In the center of the cave was a terrifying statue covered in blood.

Around the statue were three naked and unconscious young men with horrific wounds on their bodies, which had been simply bandaged.

Lan pointed at the three young men and said, "This is why I want to support you."

Easter quickly ordered several soldiers with medical experience to step forward, and he himself stepped forward to check on the condition of these young men, and then showed an incredible expression.

"They are... druid apprentices. I have seen them in the Druid Circle before." Easter couldn't believe what he saw.

What he said also surprised everyone present.

Kratz looked at the blood dripping from the statue, and the three druid apprentices who were obviously used to provide blood. "The Svalblod sect uses druids to perform blood sacrifices? They are so bold!"

The status of druids in the Skellige Islands is not low. During the heyday of the Warlock Brotherhood, the status of druids in the hearts of the kings of the mainland was not as high as that of druids in the hearts of the Skellige patriarchs. Because druids are knowledgeable and truly not interested in politics, no matter how crazy or foolish the patriarch is, he will show full respect when treating druids.

I didn't expect that the Svalblod sect would capture the druids as sacrifices for blood sacrifices.

After cursing the Svalblod sect, Kratz hurried forward to check on these druid apprentices.

Fortunately, we found that they were still breathing.

"We must send them back to the Druid Ring for treatment as soon as possible." Kratz said firmly.

While the soldiers were treating the injuries of the druid apprentices, Lann was explaining the results of his recent investigation to everyone.

…

"This cave seems to be divided into two layers. We are now on the second layer. Apparently, the Vilkans used manpower and even magic to artificially repair these places after finding a natural cave." Lann introduced his recent investigation results to the group. "The Vilkans should all live on the first layer, and this layer is where they train Berserkers."

"Or rather..." Lan pointed to several places in this huge cave, "This is where they 'produce' berserkers."

At the edge of the huge cave, several smaller caves were dug out for living. However, there were no people in these caves, but bears.

Or rather, little bear.

A few small black balls with round heads and brains were huddled inside, separated from the outside world by solid, thorny vines, and they looked curiously at the witchers outside.

"The Skellige giant bear cubs? No..." Kratz exclaimed, "The Vilka people are breeding giant bears to mass-produce berserkers? No wonder they can produce so many berserkers in one go. I almost thought they had captured all the giant bears in the archipelago, but I didn't expect it to be like this..."

"But this is a Skellige giant bear. It can't be bred. Each of them is the overlord of its own territory. How could it be like this..."

In response to Kratz's question, Easter pointed to the center of the cave and diverted everyone's attention.

"If it's there, everything is possible," Easter said.

In front of him was a half-man, half-bear statue. The craftsman who made it was indeed very skilled. The muscle texture and hair layers on it were almost clearly visible. There were also several blood grooves reserved for blood to flow. Obviously, this statue was also suitable for occasions that required blood sacrifice.

Easter stepped on the ground and explained, "With the presence of the statue, it seems that this is indeed the hiding place of the Svalblod sect."

"I've read the family's collection of books. The place we are standing on should be what the Welka people call the 'Bear Ring'. When they hold the Berserker Trial, they use a special method to gather all the giant bears around here and let the warriors fight with the giant bears."

"This is a unique ability possessed by the Svalblod sect. Now it seems that they have taken it a step further. After summoning the giant bears, they did not fight with them, but trapped them here and kept them in captivity, and..."

Easter slowly walked towards the bear cubs who were looking at him and the others curiously. These beast cubs were not afraid of people at all and seemed to have gotten used to their presence.

But what Easter cared about was not the little bears, but the thick, thorny vines that trapped them.

"These should be the result of the natural magic of the druids. You know, druids can tame pterodactyls, and they have unique breeding techniques. Coupled with the unique skills passed down by the Svalblod sect, it is not surprising that they can breed giant bears."

After hearing his uncle's explanation, Kratz showed a look of sudden enlightenment. Although he was also the head of the family, his knowledge was still far inferior to that of Easter when it came to these secrets and other knowledge.

"Yes, Druid!" Bill, who had been behind the crowd, suddenly screamed, attracting everyone's attention.

"When I was kidnapped, a druid showed up! I won't make a mistake!"

Everyone looked at Lan.

Lann shook his head. “I just explored all of this place. There’s no one here anymore.”

Gerd immediately seemed to let out a sigh of relief: "So, we let them escape this time and failed to completely wipe out the Svalblod sect?"

After these words came out, before East and the others could react, the Dimen family and Bill who were seeking revenge were already gritting their teeth. They were holding on to their last breath just to avenge the Svalblod sect.

Lann shook his head again: "The situation is not that bad... I observed the size of the upper Vilkas' living area, and it can only accommodate a hundred people at most. That means the Vilkas we defeated in the previous battle may be all their warriors - unless there are other secret gathering places of Vilkas in this mountain."

Easter nodded and said, "Then let's search this place again to see if there are any clues we missed. At the same time, we will send people out to see if there are any gathering places for the Welkans. We must find the fallen druid who escaped."

As he spoke, East looked back at the three druid apprentices whose injuries had been simply treated: "I even suspect that these apprentices were captured by the fallen druid."

…

All along, it was Easter who gave the orders. This was no problem, after all, Easter was the most senior, had the most prestige, had the most experience, and could mobilize the most resources in Skellige.

Lane and Kratz would also fill in the gaps and make supplements from time to time, and East was happy to accept the correct suggestions from the two juniors.

This time, when Easter gave the order to search the Vilkans' settlement and continue searching for the druids, Kratz made an expression as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Easter obviously noticed this, and he valued any suggestions his nephew might have: "Kratz, do you have any ideas?"

Kratz took off his helmet and said hesitantly, "Uncle, we came here to destroy the Svalblod sect in order to support you to become king, right?"

Easter nodded as a matter of course, not knowing why Kratz asked that.

"If it is true as Lann said, your previous battle has killed all the Vilks, leaving only a fallen druid, then the Svalblod sect has actually been destroyed, right?"

"If that's the case, I think the druid is no longer important."

"You have now defeated all other candidates and can be crowned."