The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

The shield on Lann’s body shattered due to the impact of the flying metal fragments. Lann didn’t expect that the consecutive use of the [Rend] ability would actually create such an astonishing effect, but he realized that this was a good opportunity.

When Lann's shield broke, the Exploding Shield ability launched him backwards, but as he retreated, his left hand flashed, and he screamed backwards.

"Triss, [Artefact compression], now!"

Triss's rapid, high-pitched chant echoed.

The flayed man was covered in metal fragments, and Lann immediately used the Axii Sign to control him.

Critically wounded and his mind controlled, the flayed man was unable to resist Triss's spell. His body shrank and deformed, turning into a small jade sculpture.

Even transformed into a jade sculpture, the skinned man maintained an expression of madness and ferocity.

Lann exhaled deeply. This battle was one of the most dangerous he had ever faced.

Lann put the jade sculpture into his inventory and looked at the hexagram where the flayed man had been praying, and his eyes immediately lit up.

A pile of neatly arranged documents was there, located between the feline statue and the place where the skinned man had been.

Lann quickly walked over and picked them up. With just one look he recognized that they were the plans for the Cat School equipment, one of the main reasons he had sought out this lab.

These diagrams are of exorbitant value. If Lann ever managed to form his Witcher Order, he would need different types and levels of gears.

These Cat School diagrams were just the beginning.

"Did you find what you want?" Triss, seeing Lann's joyful expression, couldn't help but feel happy too.

Lann nodded. "This is just the beginning."

Then, the two quickly began to search the remaining test areas.

Triss was in charge of collecting the tissue samples and magic potions, as Lann did not have the ability to use them at the time. In Triss's hands, they could play a more important role.

Furthermore, the sorcerer's collection of books also pleasantly surprised Triss.

After a simple search, Lann found more than a dozen large gems.

These gems were shrouded in a faint chaotic energy.

[Magic Power Source Discovered]

"These are gems that can be used by alchemists to carve runes or enchant." Triss explained. "There are not many gems on the market that can play these roles, but it is rare to see such a large piece and such a good quality."

Lanen nodded and activated his system to absorb the Source.

But this time, something was different. When he held a gem, the system didn't react. It had indicated that they were sources of magical power, why wasn't it working?

Lan suddenly had a flash of inspiration and held two gems in his hand at the same time.

No response.

Add another, three gems.

Finally, the system began to work, and a warm stream of energy flowed from the gems.

[Ability Point +1]

The three gems lost a bit of luster at the same time. They could still be used to make valuable jewelry, but they no longer had value in terms of magic.

Lann frowned. This was the first time he encountered such a situation. It seemed that the material of these gems was not as good as the magic crystals and magic items he had encountered before.

[Ability Point +1]

[Ability Point +1]

More than a dozen gems only provided Lann with three ability points in the end. The extra ruby ​​and emerald could not be absorbed, and he put them into his inventory.

It wasn't bad, it was enough to start improving his sign abilities to tier two.

After reviewing her findings, Triss began reading the sorcerer Ireneus's experiment journals, soon unraveling the story of the flayed man.

[Kiyan has enlisted with the Flying Stag as a guard of sorts. A hefty sack of Novigrad crowns convinced the captain to lodge me in his cabin. All is going according to plan.

I'm actually finding this expedition amusing. I'm glad I didn't contract the kidnapping out to some bulgy armed halfwit. I'll do it more gracefully myself.

He's cautious. I won't be able to put him down with a casually placed poison apple. Guess I'll have to zonk him out with a spell and whisk him away via teleport. I just hope it won't plop us down somewhere in the middle of Temple Isle instead of in my quarters below it. The power pulsating from my laboratory tends to throw off a good portion of my attempts to teleport home.

Very high level of resistance to psionic spells. Time needed for full penetration of his nervous system – a half an hour at least.

A few more moments and the witcher will be ready for transport. Now I just need to wipe our tracks. Perhaps a little change in the weather?

While waiting for more favorable atmospheric conditions, I looked through his things. Some very intriguing documents. A map of Est Tayiar, crafting diagrams of elven provenance (margin note: highly interesting sketch for a one-handed crossbow, most likely used to hunt draconids or ornithosaurs, must ask about this during interrogation. Confirms my theory that the witchers of the Cat School use elven weapons.) and, wait for it.... Professor Sigismund Gloger's notes. It's clear the witcher had something to do with the famous professor's disappearance.

Think I might have overdone it a bit with those cumulonimbi... No point in tarrying, time to evacuate.]

"Looking at this content, it seems that this sorcerer named Ireneus deliberately kidnapped the witcher. He seems to be a very powerful sorcerer and can also summon sea storms." Triss commented in amazement and concern. "How come I've never heard of him?"

Lann speculated: "If I remember correctly, this level of biological experiments should be banned by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers. People who do such things must not want to publicize their reputation too much."

Triss nodded, understanding the reasoning.

They continued reading.

[Day 1.

Luckily the teleport deposited us directly in my laboratory. It's good to be home. I had grown sick to the gills of that leaky tub. I hope that storm I summoned smashed it into those craggy rocks off the Grassy Knoll shore. The experiments which my students conducted on drowners in my absence did not yield the expected results. As usual, I must do everything myself.

I will administer a brew of medicinal opium to the subject. This 'milk of the poppy' will keep the witcher in a state of half-consciousness, and thus incapable of resistance. Commencing studies.

Note: I must hold off on my planned experiments while I clear up the demolished portion of my laboratory. I have set the bones in the forearm of one of my assistants. I will now administer a quadruple dose of 'milk of the poppy' to the witcher.

Day 4.

Subject shows incredible resistance to physical torture. Only broke after the second day of intense labor. Moderately satisfactory results from the interrogation. Garnered information about witcher training and the Cat School of witchers in general. As I suspected, the Cat School witchers are for the most part of elven stock. This school must have some tie to the Elder Races (addendum: perhaps its founder was a member of the Aen Seidhe?

Subject unfit for further study. I have discontinued his doses of poppy.

Day 7.

Administered extract of cowbane and hemlock. In typical representatives of the human and Aen Seidhe species such a mixture provokes paralysis of the peripheral nervous system, and eventually the nerve endings as well. This results in muscular, skeletal, pulmonary and cardiac paralysis, and ultimately death through suffocation.

The witcher is not, however, a typical representative of any species. Though the poison did seem to cause some mild irritation (sic!) in his nervous system, his mutated body quickly managed to neutralize the harmful alkaloids.

In a matter of hours all symptoms of the poison I administered have vanished.

Day 15.

Stinging him with sea wasp toxin did not provoke the expected results. In order to strengthen the toxin's effect I have poured ethyl alcohol into his wounds. His nervous system seems to be immune.

Day 26.

The subject has been tortured, poisoned, burnt, frozen, starved and dehydrated, and despite it all his body continues to function. He eats and drinks by himself, moves about his cell on his own and is able to articulate simple words ('please', 'drink', 'don't hurt', 'stop').

Conclusion: as I suspected, the witcher is a superb energumen! A demon trapped in such an excellently prepared body will become death incarnate, vengeful wrath made flesh – and placed at my command. No one has succeeded in creating a being of such power since the times of Malaspin and Alzur.

This is a great day for science!

Time to begin the incantations.]

The more Triss read, the more her eyebrows furrowed. As a traditional sorceress, she followed the rules of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers and abhorred these kinds of cruel experiments.

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