Chapter 32: The Griffin Contract
POV: Adam
The griffin contract lay spread across the inn's wooden table like a challenge written in formal script, its careful handwriting describing a creature that had been terrorizing farms with methodical efficiency that spoke of intelligence rather than simple hunger. Geralt studied the parchment with professional attention while Adam read over his shoulder, absorbing details that painted pictures of aerial predation against prey that couldn't fight back.
Level 48 creature. Six hundred hit points. This is what professional monster hunting looks like.
"I have a contract," Geralt said, his golden eyes shifting from the document to Adam's face with evaluation that felt like being examined by concentrated sunlight. "Griffin. You want to prove you can protect her? Come with me."
Test. This is a test of capability disguised as practical cooperation.
The challenge hung in the air between them, unspoken but perfectly clear. Geralt was offering Adam the opportunity to demonstrate that his unusual magic and accumulated experience were sufficient to justify his position as Ciri's protector, or reveal inadequacies that would require different arrangements.
Prove myself or get sidelined. Simple choice.
"I accept," Adam said, understanding that refusal would mark him as someone who talked about protection without backing words with action.
Prove I can stand beside a professional witcher. Prove I'm not just lucky.
Ciri's expression shifted to determined resistance, her hand moving toward her sword with unconscious readiness that spoke of someone preparing to assert her right to participate in decisions about her own life.
"I can fight," she said, her voice carrying authority that felt borrowed from royal training and weeks of proving herself against impossible odds.
"No," both men said simultaneously, rare agreement between protectors who approached their responsibilities from different philosophical directions.
Too dangerous. This isn't bandits or drowners—this is a creature that could kill professional soldiers without effort.
"The town inn," Geralt continued, his voice carrying finality that suggested argument would be futile. "I'll arrange guards. You stay safe while we handle this."
Ciri's frustration was visible, but she nodded with reluctance that spoke of someone learning when battles were worth fighting and when they were simply exercises in futility.
She understands. She doesn't like it, but she understands.
The griffin's hunting ground stretched across farmland that bore scars of aerial predation—broken fences, torn earth, and scattered remains that spoke of attacks conducted with tactical precision rather than random violence. Geralt moved through the terrain with fluid grace, his movements economical and purposeful as he read signs that told stories of supernatural behavior.
Tracking lesson. He's teaching me how to read predator behavior.
"Territorial marks," Geralt said, indicating claw gouges in tree bark that stood three meters off the ground. "Griffin's claiming this area, warning off competition."
Adam studied the markings with attention that had nothing to do with academic interest and everything to do with survival preparation. Each detail Geralt pointed out added layers to his understanding of how monsters behaved when they weren't simply reacting to immediate threats.
Droppings. Flight patterns. Territorial behavior. All the information needed to predict where it'll be.
"You're not stupid," Geralt said when Adam began applying airbending to scent detection, using controlled air currents to analyze atmospheric information that normal human senses couldn't access. "Good. Stupid gets you killed."
Approval. Cautious approval, but still approval.
The griffin appeared with the terrifying majesty of a predator that had learned to associate human activity with easy meals, its leonine body supported by wings that spoke of evolution optimized for aerial dominance. Golden feathers caught sunlight like armor made from precious metal, while intelligent eyes evaluated threats with calculation that suggested this creature understood tactics as well as instinct.
Six hundred hit points. Aerial mobility. Intelligence. This is going to be brutal.
Geralt moved with professional competence, crossbow appearing in his hands with fluid motion while signs shaped force that would disrupt the creature's flight patterns. But the griffin was faster than expected, more intelligent, adapting to their tactics with speed that suggested extensive experience fighting things that fought back.
My turn. Air manipulation to disrupt flight.
Adam triggered the most powerful Air Gust he'd ever attempted, pulling atmospheric pressure from across a hundred-meter radius and focusing it on the creature's wing surfaces. The technique required precision that felt like performing surgery during an earthquake, but the results were spectacular.
Grounded. The griffin is grounded.
The creature hit earth with bone-jarring impact, its aerial advantage eliminated by forces it couldn't understand or counter. Geralt's silver sword found vital points with surgical precision, decades of experience guiding his blade toward areas where even supernatural constitution couldn't prevent mortal damage.
Professional execution. This is what sixty years of monster hunting looks like.
The griffin died with dignity that spoke of apex predator recognizing superior opponents, its golden eyes holding intelligence until the moment that intelligence departed for whatever realm claimed the spirits of magical creatures.
Dead. Actually dead. We killed a Level 48 monster.
[Experience Gained: 520 XP total]
[LEVEL UP! 17 → 18]
[Free Stat Points: +5]
[Allocation: +2 AGI, +2 STA, +1 STR]
[New Stats: STR 32, STA 43, AGI 41, HP 320, MP 430]
"You fight well," Geralt said as they began the gruesome process of harvesting materials that would fund their continued operations. "Strange magic, but effective."
Praise from a witcher. That's not something that happens often.
"Thanks. I think," Adam replied, uncertain whether Geralt's observation qualified as compliment or simply professional assessment.
The harvest yielded materials worth more than five hundred crowns—griffin feathers for arrow fletching, organs for alchemical preparation, and bones that could be crafted into weapons capable of channeling magical energy. Practical wealth that spoke of creatures whose every component held value for people who understood supernatural applications.
Split sixty-forty. Geralt's contract, his expertise. Fair arrangement.
"You care about her," Geralt said during the methodical work of material extraction, his voice carrying observation rather than question. "I see it."
More than anything. More than my own life.
"More than anything," Adam replied, offering honesty that felt safer than deception with someone whose profession required reading truth in people's motivations.
"Good. She needs that."
She needs protection. Someone who'll die before letting harm reach her.
The statement carried weight that went beyond simple approval, suggesting that Geralt understood the complexity of caring for someone whose destiny exceeded normal human comprehension. They worked in comfortable silence, both understanding that some truths were better acknowledged than discussed.
Beginning of mutual respect. We're not friends yet, but we're not enemies.
[Relationship: Geralt +15]
Current Points: 25/100
Status: Uneasy Allies → Cautious Friendship forming
As afternoon shadows lengthened toward evening, they made their way back toward Blaviken carrying wealth and understanding that had been purchased through successful violence. Adam felt the satisfaction that came from proving capability under circumstances that allowed no room for failure or excuse.
Proven myself. To Geralt, to myself. I can stand beside a professional witcher.
But more importantly, he carried the knowledge that Ciri's destiny might be larger than any individual's ability to control, but her daily safety could still be influenced by people willing to risk everything for her continued existence.
Whatever comes next, we face it together. All of us.
The road ahead stretched toward whatever answers or challenges awaited three people bound together by circumstances that transcended normal human experience—a witcher fulfilling destiny's demands, a princess learning to survive in a world that wanted to use her power, and a young man who'd discovered that love could make impossible odds feel like manageable challenges.
Together. The beginning of something new.
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