The School of Griffin did not have any sorceresses capable of opening portals, so they proceeded step by step under the guidance of the Sorcerers' Brotherhood. After leaving Maribor, they followed their guides and entered through the eastern gate of the outpost, encountering no trouble along the way.
So when the people of the School of the Wolf left their encampment and hadn't gone far, they soon saw several figures ahead, likewise bearing twin swords on their backs and wearing armor.
Of course, witchers of the School of the Wolf and the School of Griffin were easy to tell apart.
For one, the armor of the School of the Wolf—especially the sets worn by witcher masters—was mostly dark red, while the School of Griffin favored deep green and gold as their primary colors.
Because they placed greater emphasis on enhancing Signs, the armor of the School of Griffin more closely resembled knightly plate armor. It was medium armor forged from magical metals and etched with numerous magical runes.
The School of the Wolf, on the other hand, favored designs closer to leather jackets, avoiding heavy metal that might impede mobility.
An even more obvious difference was that every witcher of the School of Griffin on this expedition had a small hand crossbow mounted on their left wrist.
According to Vesemir's early explanations when introducing other witcher schools, the hand crossbow was a secondary weapon that the School of Griffin valued greatly from the apprentice stage onward.
These hand crossbows were prepared using special methods, and the bolts used for hunting monsters were likewise specially made.
They looked light and could be buckled directly to the wrist, but in reality they were heavier than the wooden crossbows used by human armies.
Thus there was a counterintuitive truth: although the School of Griffin emphasized Signs in combat, the strength of their hands—especially their left hands—was actually greater than that of the sword-focused School of the Wolf.
Of course, before their physical attributes fully matured, young witchers of the School of Griffin generally still carried crossbows on their backs. However, in daily training, they placed particular emphasis on strengthening their hands.
Because of this—
The combat style of the School of Griffin could be roughly summarized as: long-range hand crossbows, mid-range Signs, and once monsters closed in, drawing swords to attack with longswords.
Naturally, when broken down further, the School of Griffin had many more sub-schools compared to the relatively straightforward School of the Wolf.
For example, those who specialized in hand crossbows would further modify and enhance their bows.
The Sign-focused path believed that the School of Griffin only needed to delve deeply into Signs to eliminate monsters—this branch was closer to sorcerers in nature.
And within the Sign-focused path, there were further divisions: a flame faction proficient in Igni, a wave faction adept at Aard, and hunter factions that combined Yrden magic traps with hand crossbows—
Of course, purely sword-focused paths also existed within the School of Griffin. After all, even with monster mutations, witchers truly gifted in magic were still rare.
However, compared to other witcher schools, the School of Griffin, by focusing on Signs and hand crossbows, had far more diverse development paths.
Whether that was truly an advantage was another matter.
Hand crossbows were extremely useful before witchers fully matured, but if one suddenly encountered unexpected enemies—especially powerful monsters—their effectiveness was not guaranteed.
Although the School of Griffin excelled at Signs, Signs were ultimately simplified adaptations made to suit witchers' talents; they were not true spells.
Their upper limit was fixed. Even at the highest level of mastery, their power was only comparable to a novice sorcerer's spells, suitable only as support.
Moreover, the time invested by the School of Griffin in hand crossbows and Signs inevitably delayed improvements in swordsmanship and footwork.
Thus, although Vesemir hadn't said it outright when introducing them, between the lines he had been hinting—no, practically stating outright—that the path of the School of Griffin had gone astray.
Of course, whether the School of Griffin's path was wrong had little to do with the current Allen.
Though he was quite curious whether, after secondary mutation, the School of Griffin might be able to recreate the spectacular Piercing Cold abandoned Wolf-style build from the games.
"Sol, it's been many years since we last met, hasn't it—"
As Allen was thinking, the two groups had already met.
A man leading a horse from among the School of Griffin witchers was the first to greet them.
Allen followed the sound and looked over.
It was a middle-aged witcher whose face bore several terrifying claw scars, yet he did not appear fierce. Instead, he exuded a sense of refinement and noble bearing.
He wore the hairstyle of a Skellige Islands warrior—both sides shaved down to short stubble, long hair left in the middle and braided into a long plait at the back of his head. His eyes were brilliant golden cat pupils; looking into them, one seemed to see the vicissitudes of time itself.
Without needing to think carefully, Allen recognized this seemingly middle-aged witcher.
He was Erland—Erland of Larvik—the Grandmaster of the School of Griffin, one of the first legendary witchers of the Witcher Order.
As he gazed at him quietly, Allen felt as if he were glimpsing an ancient and weighty epic of the witchers.
Erland was born in Skellige, in the village of Larvik on Ard Skellig.
His mother was a shieldmaiden of the Tuirseach clan (also known as the Tuirseach family), while his father was said to be a fisherman.
The Tuirseach clan was the ruling family of the Skellige Islands, founded by the legendary hero Tyr, who defeated the giant bear Ingvar, whose brute strength had long threatened the safety of the people of Lesser Skellige.
To this day, the Tuirseach clan remained one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the entire archipelago.
As such, Erland's mother held no low status in Skellige.
However, Erland himself gained little benefit from this. His mother did not love him, and if not for her fear of the islanders' faith in Freya, she might have abandoned him long ago. Thus, when Alzur offered her a generous price, she sold Erland to the Witcher Order.
Afterward, under the arrangement of the mages, he studied various forms of knowledge alongside hunters, swordsmen, and alchemists from all over the world.
He lived through the period when, due to poor magical aptitude, the witcher project was abandoned by the mainstream sorcerer community, forcing those who still believed in the project—represented by Cosimo Malaspina and Alzur, master and apprentice—to go into exile together.
He witnessed Cosimo invent the Signs for witchers, an easily mastered magical technique that breakthrough-enhanced their combat capabilities.
Then, at fifteen or sixteen years of age, he and four other peers were assigned to the very first class of witchers and sent out into the world to fulfill their duties.
In southern Kaedwen, he accepted his first contract—clearing out a group of Ghouls—earned the trust of the people for the first time, and took part in building the Witcher Order's most glorious and upward era.
After that—
Came an unbroken downward slope—
He devoted himself to establishing a good image for witchers through his words and deeds along the way, yet still suffered vicious slander from mages and the church driven by interests and power.
When he was nearly fifty, the Witcher Order began to fracture. Cosimo and Alzur—the figures most respected and revered by all witchers—left the Order in pursuit of new ambitions, abandoning it and leaving the entire organization leaderless. Its superficial unity collapsed at a touch.
Then, when Arnaghad severely injured a fellow witcher over a contract and nearly killed him—
The war between Erland and Arnaghad completely split the Witcher Order.
Though it had not been his intention—indeed, he had drawn his sword precisely to preserve the Order—it nevertheless drowned in blood because of him.
The number of comrades who had once shared life and death, slain by Erland's hand, was not much fewer than those killed by Arnaghad.
Perhaps out of the shame born from this, after Arnaghad fled and gave rise to the School of Bear and the School of Viper, Erland, together with three close friends who shared his ideals, founded the School of Griffin at Kaer Seren on the coast of Poviss.
From that point on, the Witcher Order was irreversibly shattered.
Afterward came the golden age of the witcher schools—lasting until the present twilight of that era.
And if history were to remain unchanged, in the near future Erland would even witness the fall of the School of Griffin with his own eyes.
He would survive the avalanche of covetous forces seeking the School of Griffin's knowledge, wealth, and power, and after witnessing the deaths of countless brethren and the ugliness of humanity, would leave in fury, never to appear before the world again.
From founding, prosperity, decline, division, revival, and desolation—Erland of Larvik was a living history book of the witchers.
"It has been a very long time," Sol said, carefully studying Erland's face. As if recalling something, he took a deep breath. "Almost thirty years, I think. Ever since the Falka's rebellion, when the School of the Wolf and the School of Griffin worked together to clean up the Necrophage tide left by the chaos—we haven't seen each other since."
"Thirty years… thirty years indeed. That is a long time—" Erland's golden cat eyes rippled faintly, as if recalling the past.
The two fell silent at once.
Perhaps neither knew what to say, or where to begin.
After a moment, Sol broke the silence.
He turned and lightly beckoned to Allen.
Allen froze for a moment, then instinctively walked over.
"This is Allen," Sol said abruptly. Though the introduction was brief, pride was unmistakable in his tone and gaze.
Erland paused, then looked at Allen with those aged yet exceptionally bright golden cat eyes. He bent slightly at the waist and revealed a smile that was gentle, even somewhat grandfatherly.
"I've heard about you from Jerome. Thank you, Allen. If not for you, the School of Griffin would have nearly lost one of its own flesh and blood—
"And also the warning you had him bring, about the School of Griffin—"
Noticing members of the Sorcerers' Brotherhood nearby, Erland suddenly paused and did not continue.
However, Allen knew that what Erland was referring to was the warning he had given about the avalanche that would destroy the School of the Griffin. "You managed to catch those people's traces?"
"Yes." Erland nodded, a fleeting chill passing through his eyes. "Perhaps they were too arrogant. They didn't hide themselves very well—just paying a bit of attention was enough to uncover them."
Allen finally let out a breath.
If that was the case, then the massive avalanche that would have directly led to the destruction of the School of the Griffin could naturally no longer occur.
After saving the School of the Wolf from the fate of Kaer Morhen being destroyed by a mob and sorcerers during the Battle of Kaer Morhen, he had now saved the School of the Griffin as well.
In truth, the plots of sorcerers and nobles were never that hard to expose—this had been true even for the School of the Wolf back then.
The male mages of Ban Ard had long been spreading defamatory rumors about witchers throughout Kaedwen. They had even targeted the literate noble and merchant classes, publishing Monstrum, or Description of the Witcher, written on precious parchment and chiffon paper.
Almost every witcher of the School of the Wolf had read that book, which was filled almost entirely with slander and fabrications.
The malice of "Glutton" Henselt had also been steadily intensifying in the years before Allen's transmigration—so obvious that it could hardly have been more blatant.
It was only that Sol and the other witchers of the School of the Wolf were somewhat "slow to perceive"—or rather, unwilling to believe—that the people they had once helped, even saved, would turn their sharpened blades against them.
"Of course, we also overestimated the limits of human decency. Just a little more—just a little more, and I would have become a sinner of the School of the Griffin once again—"
"Grandmaster, this isn't your fault!" The witcher masters of the School of the Griffin cut in angrily. "It was those despicable, shameless sorcerers and nobles who—"
"Enough." Erland raised his hand to stop them, shaking his head. "Don't talk about this here—"
The witcher masters of the School of the Griffin glanced at Maeve and the sorceress guiding them, and immediately fell silent.
Maeve and the other sorceress realized that the witchers were deliberately avoiding the topic in front of them, and a trace of embarrassed irritation instantly flushed their faces.
Even though they didn't know what exactly had happened to the School of the Griffin, they did know that not long ago, the Order of the Crowned Silver Eagle and Redania's Knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose had made things difficult for the School of the Wolf.
Redania's Kingdom's Sword was, of course, unrelated to the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, but the Crowned Silver Eagle, at least in name, was indeed a legitimate extraordinary organization subordinate to the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
And they themselves were sorceresses of Aretuza, as well as the Brotherhood's administrators for this expedition.
Therefore, the two sorceresses said nothing. Instead, they pretended they hadn't heard anything at all, looking around casually, and even tactfully moving a bit farther away.
Naturally.
After realizing that there were outsiders nearby, Erland also did not continue discussing those sensitive matters any further.
"I really am getting old—I even forgot to make introductions."
Erland stepped aside, revealing all the witchers of the School of the Griffin who were participating in the expedition, and began introducing each of them to Allen.
Unlike the School of the Wolf, every witcher from the School of the Griffin taking part in the Dol Dhu Lokke expedition was wearing the School of the Griffin's grandmaster armor set—each and every one of them was a witcher master.
However, their numbers were fewer than those of the School of the Wolf, even fewer than Allen had expected. Apart from Erland of Larvik, the grandmaster of the School of the Griffin, there were only four others.
Among them, Allen was familiar with only one—Jerome Moreau.
Yes, Jerome Moreau was also wearing the gold-and-green grandmaster armor of the School of the Griffin. Standing among the uniformly dressed Griffin School masters, he had gone unnoticed earlier by Allen, whose attention had been focused entirely on Erland.
In theory, a witcher master's grandmaster armor set required the wearer to personally gather the materials and seek out a master blacksmith to forge it. It shouldn't have been completed so quickly.
Perhaps this was compensation from the School of the Griffin, for having failed to send anyone to search for him carefully over all those decades.
Allen had no intention of probing further. He merely exchanged a glance in greeting and let the matter pass.
As for the other Griffin School witcher masters, Allen didn't recognize any of them—though he had indeed heard the name of one.
He was—
"Keldar—" a young-looking blond witcher introduced himself.
......