Unlike usual, all after-dinner activities were canceled, and the Wolves went away. Letho, Auckes, and Serrit went back to their rooms with the diagrams in hand. They were going to make a copy of everything. Roy was left alone in the hall like a guy who got on everyone’s bad side. Left with no choice, he returned to his room.
“Do you think I might have gone a bit too far? Maybe I was in too much of a hurry.” Roy patted Gryphon’s furry head. He wondered if he should have taken Letho’s advice and just come to a simple agreement with the Wolves.
Gryphon pecked his palm and spun its chubby little body on Roy’s lap while flapping its webbed feet.
“You support me, don’t you? And that’s reason enough not to give up.” Roy stared outside the window, where stars shone in the night sky. Resolve shone in his eyes once more like how the stars twinkled in the sky. “If they still won’t agree to the idea, then I’ll convince them one by one.”
Roy still had a lot of information about the future he didn’t get to use, and they were all about the Wolves.
***
A sigh escaped Roy’s lips. The candlelight in his room flickered, and Roy disappeared into thin air.
Everything around Roy spun, and when he came to, Roy found himself in the cave where he killed the wraith that morning. Winter’s nights were silent, and there was nothing but darkness in the passage. Not even the stars would shine on this place.
A cold draft blew from the entrance. Roy rubbed his cheeks and tied his torch to the vine-covered walls. He then picked Gwyhyr up and set it down beside Gryphon the duck. Then he started meditating to replenish the mana he spent for the teleportation and daytime battles.
Two hours later, a golden flash shone within the cave. Roy had regained his lost mana, and he waved his hand. A stone statue of a cat the size of a cheetah appeared out of nowhere, its obsidian eyes glinting eerily. The statue seemed like it would come to life at any moment.
And then a loud screech tore through the air. Gryphon had returned to its original form. It lay beside the witcher, its eyes staring at the statue like it was an enemy.
“It’s alright, it’s alright! This is a fake!” Roy patted its furry neck and stared at its burly body.
Ever since Roy took Linus’ advice and raised Gryphon according to his program, the griffin had been growing at a rapid pace. Now it was the size of an adult male lion. Silky and lustrous was the mane around its neck, and so large was its wingspan it could overshadow an adult male easily. Its talons, scythe-like and gleaming, its body sleek and muscular, not unlike a modern-day car.
Before Roy knew it, his little griffin was growing into a fine predator. “Alright, girl. Go around and play.” Roy brushed his hand down the griffin’s spine until he touched the tip of her tail. And then he whistled.
It made the griffin jolt. Gryphon rubbed her head on his lap before she flew into the snowy night, roaring happily.
***
Around the statue went the witcher, spreading white dust made up of a large amount of wraith essence and specter dust in a circle. Long he had hunted, and finally, with the killings of the Bastion’s wraiths, he finally had everything he needed for the summoning circle.
Slowly but surely, a white circle with a hexagram in the center started to form. The young witcher was performing a summoning ritual taught to him by the late Matteo Sigula. Lines of runes were drawn in the space between the circle and hexagram.
He cut his hand open with Gwyhyr, and blood trickled down into the circle. A hue of red slowly took over the white circle, and Roy uncorked two potions. When Thunderbolt and Petri’s Philter reached his stomach, black blood started flowing in his veins. His face was covered in black, snake-like veins, and they contorted his face.
Matteo might have set up one last trap in the form of this summoning ritual, and the witcher knew better than to go in unprepared. I’ll fight the demon for a bit. If it fails, I’ll just teleport to Gryphon and run away!
Roy quickly cast two Signs with his left hand. The black triangle of Heliotrop and yellow triangle of Quen appeared in the air. The double shields provided a sense of security, but Roy thought another layer of protection would come in handy. Once more he cast a Sign, and the purple light of Yrden shone on the ground.
Overshadow (Passive): The cat can take over the body of any creature. If their Will is low, the cat will completely take over the victim’s body and turn them into a mindless killing machine.
Demonic Howl (Passive): The cat can emit a sound wave that attacks the soul. It knocks out anyone with a low Will.’
***
When the last syllable was finally uttered, the cat made its full appearance in this world by leaping into it. Its tail stood up high in the air as it slowly stepped down an invisible flight of stairs. Into a black ball of light it turned, and to the statue it went.
It let out a meow, and an invisible wave of sound lashed out at everything around it, including the witcher. Thankfully, Heliotrop stopped the attack.
“You can’t run, bud. I have a better place for you to stay.” Roy locked onto the target, but he was in no hurry to use Fear. First, he made a blue triangle in the air and shoved it at the black ball of light. The air rippled as an air current shot out from Roy’s hand and hit the demon.
It was pushed from its intended trajectory, and the air current stunned it. Once again it let out an ear-piercing scream, but Heliotrop whittled the attack down.
Without missing a beat, Roy shot Igni at it. The flames licked its body, but they couldn’t do anything to damage it. Still, the witcher’s repeated provocation stirred the demon’s anger.
It bristled and roared, its tail standing up. It bared its fangs and swung its claws as it charged at the young witcher.
Wrong move.
Fear! Crimson light surged, and sounds of waves crashing against reefs rippled across the air. Behind Roy stood an ocean of blood, the breeze blowing over it nauseating and disgusting. Blood-covered tentacles wriggled out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the cat. They contracted, constricted, and tore the soul into pieces with ease.
Like a greedy eater, the suckers on the tentacles opened up and consumed the destroyed demon.
Just one moment later, the weird phenomenon disappeared, and peace once again returned to the cave, as if the demon had never been here before.
‘Demon cat devoured. EXP +310. Level 7 Witcher…’
“Whoa, Matteo wasn’t lying. I can actually summon demons with this.” Roy swung his fists in excitement.
This demon provided ten more EXP compared to the one on the island. It’s more powerful, but Fear destroyed it easily anyway. Demon summoning is a reliable way to farm EXP. But the components for this circle aren’t easy to scavenge, and one circle only has a limited amount of uses.
He stared at the warm circle made up of blood and powder. It seemed to have lost something after the summoning was done, and Roy could feel it.
“But it still has one more use before total destruction. I can fill up my EXP bar with it.”
Roy started meditating again and waited for Fear’s cooldown to finish. Another draft came again. It was chilly, but his jovial mood couldn’t be marred. Tonight is going to be a good night.
***
***