The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 371 Adamantite Ore
Not only was Foltest exhausted, but the two sorceresses were also extremely tired.

Their faces were etched with exhaustion.

Ignoring the sorceress's elegance, Kayla sat down directly on the ground.

Triss forced herself to kneel before Foltest.

First, he untied the ribbons binding Foltest, and then his hands lit up with magical light once more.

However, this time she used healing magic.

After a long while, Foltest only felt slightly better than before, but still felt extremely weak.

He felt especially cold, as if he had lost too much blood.

"Has the mark left by that being whose name cannot be mentioned been erased?"

"I regret to inform you, Your Majesty, that the purification ritual just now only lightened the deep-sea imprint somewhat. To completely remove it, it will need to be performed several more times. Moreover..."

Triss withdrew the magical light from her hands, her face filled with endless exhaustion: "We cannot stay here until the deep-sea imprint within you is completely removed."

"Although we don't know why His gaze is fixed on you, we must leave Vijma as soon as possible, leave this city near the lake."

“We need to go inland, to cities where there are no lakes or rivers, until the deep-sea imprint is completely removed.”

Suddenly, Kayla said, "We can go to Aretusa Academy."

Triss was shocked.

"Are you crazy? Kayla! Aretusa Academy is on Xenide Island, a small island surrounded by the sea on three sides!"

Kayla retorted, "But it's also the holy land of the Northern Sorceresses. Xenide Island is protected by countless spells and barriers. Even a god couldn't forcibly break through Xenide Island's barrier."

“Margarita won’t agree.” Triss glanced quickly at Foltest’s face. Apart from his weakness, Triss couldn’t read his true feelings on the king’s face. The red-haired beauty bit her lip and said.

“There’s a reason why Tissaya asked Margarita to take her place. It’s because neither of us is like Margarita, who would value the safety of the students above all else. She wouldn’t agree to you bringing a disaster to Aretusa, not even for the sake of the King.”

At this point, Triss bowed her head to Foltest: "Please forgive my offensive words, Your Majesty."

“I understand.” Foltest nodded slightly, his expression revealing nothing of his thoughts.

Even if he felt unhappy about it, so what? Aretusa Academy was a neutral organization independent of the state, and like Ban Ade Academy, it had the right to refuse the king's asylum.

And this has indeed happened in history. A defeated king fled to the island of Shaned and asked to enter the academy for refuge. As a result, the academy activated a completely sealed barrier that prevented anyone from entering or leaving.

Even though the king miraculously won the war, he never dared to wage war against the Academy of Aretusa until his death.

Besides, although Keira and Triss have graduated from Aretusa Academy, it is still their sorceress's holy land. Now that their lives depend on it, what can Foltest say?

"Ms. Triss, in your opinion, where should we go?"

Triss thought for a moment.

“If you don’t mind, you can visit my family’s city, Maripo.”

Maripo was the capital of the Principality of Maripo, which was also a vassal state of Temuria.

The city was once half destroyed by a terrifying giant monster summoned by Alzu, but after so many years, the people of Maripo have long since rebuilt their proud city on the ruins.

After thinking about it, Foltest agreed to Triss's proposal.

……

at the same time.

Novigrad, Upper Town.

In the guest rooms in the small courtyard behind Tyncell Blacksmith Shop.

The elven blacksmith and Lynn sat facing each other.

The candlelight flickered in the room.

Tynsel rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, blinked frantically a few times, and asked, "Did I hear that right? You just said adamantite ore?"

Lynn nodded and said, "Yes, you heard me right."

“But isn’t adamantite ore only found in Mahakam? Even Kovir and Bovis don’t have it?” Tynsel stretched out his hands, trying his best to reassure him. “My lord, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that you are a Witcher, not a geological prospector.” The moment Lynn returned to Novigrad from Kael’s Morhen, he went to Tynsel’s blacksmith shop, found the elven blacksmith, and told him about the discovery of an adamantite vein deep in the Blue Mountains.

Then Tyncell's first reaction was disbelief.

"I can understand that."

In Lynn's homeland, there's an old saying: facts speak louder than words.

Without a doubt, it is very appropriate to use it here.

So he stopped wasting his breath and took out a piece of adamantite ore from his magic-patterned leather pouch, which he had dug up with Mossak when he was still in Kael Morhen.

When he took out the adamantite ore, the candlelight used for lighting in the guest room shone on it, and it immediately shone brightly.

Tyncell licked his lips and looked at Lynn for approval: "Is it alright?"

Lynn placed the adamantite ore on the table, then stepped back a few paces and gestured to Tyncell to let him go.

Tyncell took a two-handed iron hammer, gripped it tightly with both hands, raised it high, and then slammed it down forcefully.

Bang!
A piercing metallic clang echoed through the room. The table, unable to withstand the impact, slumped to the ground, the part of the tabletop bearing the refined gold ore.

Tyncel also felt a tremendous force of recoil; his hands were sore and numb from the shock that he could barely hold onto the hammer.

Lynn quickly came over and took the hammer from the elven blacksmith's hand to prevent him from losing his grip and hurting himself.

However, judging from the expression on Tyncell's face, he was not worried about himself at all; on the contrary, his face was full of excitement and anticipation.

"This really is refined gold ore?!"

The method for identifying refined gold ore is actually quite simple:
First, take it out into the sunlight or near any light source; as long as it sparkles, you've passed the first hurdle.

Secondly, hit it with something hard, the harder the better. If it is completely undamaged or only shows very slight wear after being hit, then it is refined gold ore.

Of course, due to its extreme hardness, refined gold ore requires a special smelting method, unlike ordinary iron ore.

Theoretically speaking, only the dwarves and short people in the Mahakam Mountains possess such valuable knowledge about the smelting method of this refined gold ore; even the dwarves outside the mountains do not know it.

Because Mahakam prohibits outsiders from sharing information.

But Tynessel is an exception.

More than three hundred years ago, Tyncel left the north, intending to start a new life in the south.

While passing through the Mahakan Mountains, he encountered a dwarf who had escaped from the mountains.

The dwarf was covered in wounds, clearly having endured many hardships to escape down the mountain.

Thanks to Tyncel's careful care, the dwarf eventually recovered from the danger.

Later, Tyncel learned from the dwarves that a great plague had broken out on the mountain, and all those with high fevers had been quarantined by Elder Otto.

There's nothing wrong with this approach; although it's cruel, it's also to prevent the spread of the plague.

But later, the dwarf heard from a relative who served in the garrison that those who had been isolated had been secretly executed by the garrison, and their bodies had even been burned.

And none of this was at the request of the garrison commander-in-chief, but rather an order directly from Elder Otto.

After learning the truth from his relatives, the dwarf planned to leave secretly.

Somehow, before the dwarf's escape began, a riot broke out one night, with fires and shouts everywhere.

The dwarf was told by the passing garrison to stay at home, but after a tense and intense internal struggle, he decided to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape.

The dwarf didn't remember much after that; he only remembered that in order to escape, his hands, which had always been used to wielding a hammer, were stained with blood.

After being rescued by Tyncel, the dwarf imparted all his knowledge to Tyncel without reservation.

Among them is the method for smelting refined gold ore.

However, for the next three centuries, Tyncel never had the chance to see another piece of adamantite ore, and naturally, he never had the chance to use the smelting method he had learned from the dwarves.

Now, a piece of legendary fine gold ore that was said to never leave Mahakam has appeared before him.

(End of this chapter)