The witchers pushed the cart of buckets into the napier grass patch. They saw dried dung on the ground, and the air was filled with the stench of urine.
“You know how ecosystems work as well, so you know a lot of animals mark their territory with excrements. We’re in Jacob’s territory now, but it had lunch, so it’s resting in its lair.” About ten meters later, they saw the dracolizard leaning against a redwood, possibly trying to scratch itself.
“I’ll show you another specimen.” Linus said goodbye to the dracolizard and led them into an area filled with sand and rocks. An obviously modified boulder sat in the center of the area, and two triangular nests stood on it. Linus whistled in the direction of the nests, and two pointy heads stuck out of the nests. A couple of gigantic creatures leaped down the boulder, dragging their wings as they quickly huddled closer to Linus.
One of the creatures had a thick black mane, while the other had a white mane. They had the bodies, claws, and tails of lions, and beaks and wings of vultures.
“A family of griffins?” The witchers were dumbfounded. They couldn’t imagine how griffins could live with a dracolizard. Griffins were special creatures, according to them. They had virtues most humans didn’t. For example, bravery. They weren’t afraid of battles. Loyalty was another one. Griffins only have one mate for life. If their partner were to die, they would fight the killer to the very last breath, or they would stop eating and die alongside their partner. However, they were impulsive and dangerous as well.
“Try not to meet gazes with it for too long. They’ll take it as a challenge and start a duel,” Linus warned them, though he masked it behind his humor. He pushed the buckets toward the griffins. They were fully tamed and had no idea about protecting their own food. They huddled around Linus, pecking away at the food he was holding. Linus petted the griffins. Thanks to their incredible metabolism, they had high temperatures.
Roy watched as the griffins interacted with Linus. He never thought he would see any griffin as tame as Gryphon. Not to mention they were adults. These griffins were capable of battle.
‘Griffin
Age: Three years old
Gender: Male
HP: 300
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 30
Perception: 13
Will: 9
Charisma: 6
Spirit: 7
Skills:
Chimera (Passive): Griffins have the best of lions and vultures. Their digestive and recovery abilities are buffed. Adult griffins have +8 to DEX, STR, and CON.
Predator (Passive): Griffins are apex predators. Their claws and beaks are specially built. The wounds they cause will never stop bleeding. It has a better sight and sense of smell than most animals. Adult griffins have +6 to Perception.’
***
The witchers were observing from a distance. Carl looked astonished, while Kantilla looked like she found her prey. She rubbed the tattoo on her neck, her eyes shining with the urge to fight. Letho, Auckes, Serrit, and Felix had seen griffins before. They killed quite a lot of them as well, so they were a lot calmer than the others.
“Do you want to have a go as well?” Linus patted the griffins and smiled. “Wanna feed Blake and Chelsea? It’ll be fine as long as I’m here.”
“I’ll do it,” Roy volunteered. He approached the griffins and lowered his head just like Linus told him to. He slowly picked the meat up and placed it in front of them.
The griffins looked at the meat for a while and picked it up after the professor gave his permission.
“No!” the witchers said unanimously. Even Kantilla shook her head. They were hunters, not protectors.
“I respect your actions and ideas, Mr. Pitt, but you’re taking this the wrong way. Witchers kill dangerous monsters for a living.” Letho asked, “Do you expect us to turn away from our tradition?”
“Not even the mini ecosystem could change your mind?” Linus was starting to get agitated, and he was buzzing too. “I just proved that even dangerous creatures like griffins, dracolizards, and basilisks can be tamed with effort. Why can’t you try to complete your requests in a gentler way instead of killing the monster every time?”
“What do you mean?” Auckes was starting to get impatient. He hated lectures.
“I’ll cut to the chase. For example, if someone wants you to get rid of a basilisk, you don’t actually have to kill it. You can subdue it and settle it down somewhere else, and it’ll be the same thing as completing the request. If you don’t have the patience for that, you can take the specimen back to Oxenfurt. To me, specifically. I’ll train the creature. I’ll pay you handsomely. Double or even triple of what they’ll pay you. You won’t be disappointed.”
The witchers fell silent. Roy was in a dilemma. If we let the monsters live just for money, I’ll have no way to gain any EXP. You can’t expect me to kill livestock and humans. I can’t agree to this.
“Battles are always unpredictable. Your ‘endangered animals’ are, more often than not, deadly. Showing mercy to them in battle will cost us our lives,” Letho said sternly.
“That’s just an excuse, witchers. You’re more than capable of subduing a creature without killing it. You just have to work together.”
“We can’t abandon our tradition,” Felix objected.
Carl nodded.
“Tradition?” Linus took a deep breath and tried to explain calmly. “I know all about it. Witchers were called monster killers. After the conjunction happened, witchers traveled the lands and made a living by getting rid of monsters who threatened humanity. But things are different now. You’ve killed too many of these monsters. Basilisks, wyverns, cockatrices… They’re all endangered. Those who managed to survive are forced to live in barren wastelands and suffer their whole lives.”
Linus stopped talking, and he said grimly, “Most monsters don’t kill because they’re invading human territory. It’s the other way around. Humans are invading their living space. Can’t you show them mercy? Give them a chance to grow?”
A long silence followed. The witchers still looked tense. They still disagreed with the idea.
Roy heaved a sigh and changed the topic. “We’ll think about your suggestion, Mr. Pitt. Let’s set it aside.”
“I see.”
“I have a question. How much do you have to spend on these creatures? It must cost a lot.” The buckets were filled with food when they first came in, but the creatures finished them all in no time flat. If he has to feed them once every day… Roy was shocked by the amount of money that would cost. All the money I have won’t even last for more than a few years. “Do you even make enough money to cover the costs?”
Linus shrugged. He didn’t mind the money. “Do you remember the business district in front of the Philosopher’s Gate?”
“Business is booming, yes.”
“My family owns twenty percent of the shops there.”
Oh.
Linus said nonchalantly, “When the academy was first built, my ancestors noticed the potential this place had, so they snagged some land up. Didn’t expect it to grow so big though.”
So you’re born to money. No wonder you came up with that stupid association. No, wait. You just have too much money to spend, Roy thought.
“It’s getting late.” Everyone looked at the skies. “Why don’t we talk about things over dinner?”
“Sure. Oxenfurt has a lot of rare delicacies. I’ll introduce them to you,” Linus said. “And I need your help on another thing as well.”
***
***