One of the trolls was the largest, with green moss crawling all over his stone armor. He was stirring the unknown food in the cauldron with a wooden stick. He was stunned for a few seconds before he stood up and shouted to his companions, "Monster hunters, two people, surround them."

As the troll shouted, five strong trolls immediately ran over from the surroundings and surrounded the two men.

Seeing this, in order to prevent a conflict, Geralt immediately shouted to them:

"Hey! Relax, we're not here to fight."

The big troll who had just spoken tilted his head and was stunned for a few seconds. He did not let his companions attack, but spoke intermittently, saying:

"Monster hunters, kill the monsters, two of us, six of the trolls, we are not afraid of you."

Geralt raised his hands to indicate that he had no weapons, then looked at the steaming cauldron behind the trolls and said, "We are going to the Elemental Ring on the mountain. We are just passing by here and will not disturb you."

However, how could the thought processes of these trolls be the same as those of ordinary people?

The big troll suddenly spoke up, "This is the troll mountain. Demon hunters cannot enter."

"Unless, give us tolls."

Hearing this, Geralt patted his head and remained silent for a few seconds before asking, "What kind of toll do you want? We are demon hunters, so you'd better be sensible and not make excessive demands."

The big troll shook his head and seemed to think for more than ten seconds before he spoke incoherently:

"We, the little trolls, are born, celebrate, and eat meat."

"Give me meat, lots of meat, and I'll let you pass."

When Geralt heard the trolls' request, he immediately felt a headache. These trolls were tall and had a lot of appetite. If he wanted to feed these big guys, it would take more than a wild boar to satisfy them.

Moreover, the trolls were notoriously stupid, and if you didn't agree to their demands, the only way to get through was to kill them all.

Just when White Wolf was having a headache, Wayne, who was following behind him, reminded him: "Geralt, have you forgotten those human-faced monster birds that we just killed?"

"There are nearly twenty of them. If we hand over their bodies to the trolls, they will surely be satisfied."

Geralt's eyes lit up when he heard that. He looked back at Wayne with appreciation, then said to the leading troll, "I have put a lot of meat in one place. Bring a few trolls with me to move it back."

"There's plenty of meat there, enough to feed you all."

When the leading troll heard that he could eat as much meat as he wanted, he immediately started drooling. Without any doubt, he loudly said to his companions:

"Follow the witcher, get the meat, come back, for the celebration."

After hearing the leader's call, the trolls that had surrounded the two men immediately raised their hands and cheered. They danced like a group of children weighing several hundred kilograms.

By the time the two men and the trolls walked for dozens of minutes along the mountain road and carried back the corpses of the human-faced monster birds from the river beach, it was already noon.

The trolls were relatively trustworthy. After getting the corpses of the human-faced monster birds, they tore them into pieces without even washing them, piled them by the pot and either roasted or boiled them. Then they sat by the fire, drooling and staring at the meat motionlessly.

The leading troll even enthusiastically invited the two to join their celebration.

It was a building that looked like ruins. The walls and the main body had long disappeared. Only some broken buildings and a flat ground paved with rubble remained. A rectangular altar of about ten square meters stood on the flat ground, next to the cliff at the top of the mountain.

An ancient magic circle is carved in the center of the altar. Behind the magic circle is a rectangular stone table filled with candles. Four iron torches filled with special fuel stand at the four corners of the altar. The overall look is quite ceremonial.

Wayne didn't know how to activate the Wolf School badge in his hand, so he handed it to Geralt and asked, "What should we do now?"

Geralt took the badge, put it in front of his eyes and observed it for a few seconds, then walked up to the altar and said:

"Elemental Rings are nodes where magic power gathers. They exist all over the world, but their power varies depending on the concentration of magic power. Only powerful wizards can use them."

"We demon hunters cannot sense magic power. All we can do is use it to charge magic items."

White Wolf placed Wayne's badge in the center of the stone table, then turned around, waved at him, and said:

"The magic circle here was carved by warlocks during the Demon Hunter Order period. It is quite easy for us to activate this elemental ring."

"Just light the four torches around you in the order of the four elements: earth, air, water, and fire."

"Use the Igni Sign yourself to do it."

After knowing how to open the Ring of Elements, Wayne did not refuse and walked a few steps to the center of the altar.

He first observed the patterns carved on the four torches, which were all very common element icons, representing the four elements in the magical world. Then, following Professor Geralt's method, he lit the four torches one by one with the Igni Sign.

The moment all four torches were lit, even though the witcher could not sense the fluctuations of magic power, Wayne still sensed that some invisible force was converging towards the Wolf School badge on the stone table.

At the same time, the system in Wayne's brain also issued a prompt sound.

A high concentration of magic energy node is detected. Three ability points can be obtained by absorbing it.

Note that if you choose to absorb, this energy node will be permanently destroyed, its spatial structure will be damaged, and a dimensional rift will be formed. Please choose carefully.

Three ability points, permanent destruction, dimensional rift.

Wayne was originally very excited when he heard that he could gain three ability points, but when he heard about the consequences of absorbing the magical energy here, he couldn't help but hesitate.

This is the elemental ring closest to Kaer Morhen. The straight-line distance is actually less than 1 kilometer. It is a precious legacy left by the warlocks for the witchers during the period of the Witcher Cult.

If he destroyed this place for these three ability points, not only would Kaer Morhen lose a powerful helper forever, but it might also leave a troublesome mess because of the so-called dimensional rift.

Besides, the White Wolf Geralt is right beside him now, and the noise of absorbing the magic nodes must be quite significant. As long as he does this, he will be caught red-handed, and it may even cause him to become enemies with his companions in the Wolf School.

After weighing the pros and cons, Wayne sighed softly. Even rabbits don't eat grass near their burrows. He couldn't ignore the consequences just for a little benefit in front of him.

Just as Geralt said, the elemental rings are scattered all over the world. As long as he puts the effort to look for them in the future, he will definitely find other elemental rings.

(End of this chapter)