"We've arrived, this is the place."
Geralt looked around. The setting sun's afterglow shimred on a large lake, its golden ripples reflecting the distant silhouettes of Beauclair Castle and its towers. The lake was vast, comparable to the one outside Vizima he had once visited.
Here, one could not only admire the beautiful scenery but also see the urban landscape of Beauclair on the other side of the lake.
"Forgive my poor eyesight, Baron, but I don't see the slightest sign of anything resembling a laboratory." Geralt's characteristic sarcastic wit couldn't help but stir.
Lynn shot him an irritated glance. "Because the laboratory is in another place. The only way to get there is to activate the portal beneath the lake, my great detective."
If it was a portal, then it wasn't surprising. But Geralt still felt puzzled. "How do you know all this so clearly?"
"Because I am, in fact, a prophet."
With that, Lynn pushed the rented rowboat into the lake and, with Geralt, began rowing towards the center of the lake.
There were so drowned dead roaming underwater, but they didn't pose any trouble for the witchers. Whenever they tried to clamber onto the boat, before they could make any further moves, a Master-grade silver sword had already turned them into corpses.
Having rowed to roughly the rembered location, Lynn told Geralt to stay in the boat. He then jumped into the lake himself. A few minutes later, he resurfaced. He had found the spot and gestured for Geralt to follow him.
The portal entrance leading to the laboratory was embedded in the ruins subrged at the bottom of the lake. However, the portal had not yet been activated. The teleportation crystal was nearby.
Having already explored ruins a few tis, Lynn skillfully cast an Aard Sign, charging the teleportation crystal with energy. After activating the portal, he plunged into it without hesitation.
A minute later, Geralt erged from the portal, dripping wet. "Damn it, I hate portals."
Lynn didn't complain. Instead, he chugged a bottle of Superior Cat potion and handed one to Geralt. After the potion took effect, the pitch-black surroundings in the witchers' vision imdiately beca sharply defined in black and white.
Behind them was the portal they had just co through. Occasionally, waves were drawn into it. Ahead of them was a straight, downward sloping passage. Perhaps due to his youth, Lynn's adaptability to portals was sowhat better than Geralt's. He no longer felt particularly uncomfortable passing through portals like Geralt did. He waited for a while, and once Geralt recovered, the two descended along the passage.
As they delved deeper, the appearance of an elven ruin unfolded before their eyes. Every hall and room was connected by long corridors and staircases. To outsiders, such a place would be nothing short of a maze. But this was also typical elven style.
The two wound their way through the ruins, finally arriving before a platform. At this point, Lynn suddenly stopped Geralt. Under Geralt's puzzled gaze, Lynn pulled out several bottles of higher mutagens and drank them. "Get ready, there's a fight ahead."
If anyone else had said this, Geralt would have responded sarcastically. But given the precedent—that the laboratory's portal was indeed hidden underwater outside Beauclair—Geralt wisely chose to keep his mouth shut, lest he be the one proven wrong.
After Geralt also took his potions, Lynn pointed at the stone panthers on either side of the platform. "See those two panthers? As soon as we step in, they'll co alive. You take the left one, I'll take the right." Geralt squinted, using his witcher senses to confirm that the two panthers were indeed a well-designed trap. He said nothing, simply nodding in silence.
And just as Lynn had said, the mont the two stepped onto the platform, an anomaly occurred. A faint mist rose, engulfing the entire platform.
The stone panthers, previously re decorations, instantly transford. Their stony surfaces crumbled away as if they had co alive, their blood-red eyes glaring. With a roar, they pounced.
If it had been ordinary grave robbers, suddenly encountering such a situation, the slower ones would likely have perished imdiately. But unfortunately, these two panthers were not facing unprepared grave robbers, but witchers fully powered by mutagenic buffs.
As they had discussed, Lynn and Geralt each moved to confront the panther charging at them.
BANG!
The Master-level Aard Sign, bolstered by the Superior Petri's Philter and the Mutation Enhancent expertise, far exceeded the power of a typical witcher's Sign. The powerful impact directly sent the charging panther tumbling. As it struggled to its feet, preparing to charge again...
SWISH!
A flash of gleaming sword light cut through the darkness. Boots landed heavily on the platform floor, making a solid thud. This jumping slash struck viciously at the panther's side. There was no gore. Only the exposed internal structure of the panther's body, entirely composed of chaotic energy, was revealed after its side was sliced open.
This was certainly not the end. Lynn gripped his sword hilt with both hands and pulled the sword out sharply. While further inflicting a dragging cut on the panther's body, he pivoted on his right foot, his entire body rotating like a compass. He again swung a beautiful arc, precisely cutting into the panther's roaring mouth, which was contorted in pain.
"Hah!"
The Master-grade silver sword sliced through the panther's mouth. With a wet schlick, the part of the panther's head above its mouth slowly fell off. The remaining body toppled to the ground, dissolving back into chaotic energy and slowly dissipating.
And just as Lynn dealt with his opponent, Geralt on the other side also finished his battle. Geralt was very glad he hadn't said anything just now. But he was also sowhat curious. How did his younger companion know so much about this ruin? It was as if he were returning ho.
After the two searched the panthers' bodies, took the useful materials, and rested briefly... they continued to explore deeper. After winding through various passages for about ten minutes, they entered through a gap in a collapsed wall.
Behind this wall was an uncarved tunnel, starkly different from the elven-style ruin architecture they had seen before. Undoubtedly, this was the beginning of the path to Professor Moreau's laboratory.
The two quickly reached the end of the tunnel, and ahead was a fork in the path.
....
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