The Witcher World: The Path to Domination Begins in Velen

Ron and Geralt walked out of the apartment, the sound of the door hinges closing behind them. Ron took a few steps and spoke first.

Was the information Tamara provided helpful?

Geralt shook his head. "No, it's not much different from what I know."

"What are your plans next?"

Geralt of Riviera didn't beat around the bush.

"Kayla mentioned that the mysterious mage left some message in the ruins, possibly for Ciri. I need to go in and take a look. Kayla is planning to go too."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Maybe," Geralt paused, "The Wild Hunt, they're looking for Ciri."

The two were silent for a while.

"Then I'll go too, Kayla can't be hurt," Ron said, hanging his greatsword on the side of his horse and turning to Geralt.

"She's a sorcerer advisor in Calard. Gretka's classes have only just begun, and the improvement of the enhancement potions still depends on her. If something happens to her, all the work that's been done so far will be ruined."

Geralt didn't argue: "I need to hurry. When can we leave from here?"

Ron didn't answer immediately, but looked up at the distant spire. "We'll set off once we get back to the manor," he said.

As evening fell, Ron and Geralt returned to the manor. The archer on the watchtower saw them and called down, and the gates opened in the twilight.

From afar, you can see soft light shining through the laboratory window, and blurry figures sway slightly in the light.

Kayla was bending over, adjusting the flames in front of the crucible. The improved formula for the enhancement potion had already begun to simmer, and the manor was quietly operating in the twilight.

The next day, near Meadows, at the entrance to the ruins, Ron arrived to find Kayla already waiting there.

Leaning against a stone pillar covered in vines, holding a teacup in his hand, he seemed to exist in a completely different dimension from the surrounding broken and collapsed buildings.

"Late," she blew on the rim of her glass, "leaving a lady waiting for you alone in the ruins. Please, have some sense of time!"

Geralt dismounted and tied the reins to a tree. "You're ahead of schedule."

"It's all because one person strongly refused to use the portal, and the other stubbornly refused to take off that magic-blocking golden armor."

Kayla picked up her teacup and took a sip, glancing at Ron out of the corner of her eye. Ron didn't respond to her comment, but simply took the greatsword from the side of the horse and hung it on his back.

"Geralt told me about the magic lamp on the way here," Ron said. "It's a deal with the elven mage; you make him potions in exchange for payment."

"A special drug to slow down neurodegeneration," Kayla added, clearly feeling that the word "drug" was beneath her professional expertise.

"That guy wore a mask and spoke in riddles. When he found me, he was already on his deathbed. I prepared a slow-release agent for him, and he told me that there was a magic lamp in a secret chamber deep within the ruins."

It's said that you can see ghosts with it, it's crafted by elves, and it's hard to find another one like it in the entire North, but he only gave me the location, so I have to go in and find it myself."

Geralt stepped through the archway half-hidden by vines first, his pupils contracting sharply in the dim light. Ron followed behind, with Kayla walking between them.

After passing through the spiral staircase, the space suddenly opens up, presenting both the elegance and decay of the elven architecture. The smooth curves of the archway are still preserved, but the reliefs on the door have been mostly swallowed up by moss.

Several pillars had fallen, and the stone surface was covered with glowing lichen. The faint light swayed gently in the darkness, as if the ruins themselves were still breathing slowly. The three of them passed through several dilapidated halls.

Deep inside, they found a secret chamber sealed by a stone door. The door was inlaid with four elven statues and a line of faded inscriptions. Keira squatted in front of the inscriptions for a moment, then turned to look at Geralt and pointed to the row of statues.

"From left to right, three, two, four, one, light the brazier." After four flames lit up in front of the statue, the stone door slowly descended, revealing old notebooks and medicine bottles scattered on the stone base inside the secret room.

Kayla walked straight past all the clutter and took down an exquisitely crafted silver lantern from the shrine. The lantern was engraved with fine elven patterns, and a pale blue crystal, still faintly glowing, was embedded in the wick.

Kayla picked up the magic lamp, wiped the dust off it with her sleeve, and turned it over to examine the runes on the base. "Magic lamp in hand," she said.

"Next, we should analyze the spiritual essence within the lamp." With that, she turned and walked back along the path she had come from, her steps light and quick.

The three of them retraced their steps through the dilapidated hall and stopped at a narrow stone passage near the exit. In front of them, a ring of faintly glowing rune stones was embedded in the ground, forming the base of a teleportation portal.

Kayla noticed that the energy patterns on the runestone were still flowing. This portal was one-way and could only be activated from this side. She opened the map left by the elf.

The label indicated that this portal led to a deeper level, where clues related to Ciri were highly likely to be found. She crouched down and began adjusting the phase of the runestone.

The portal slowly opened on the pedestal. The light screen was initially stable, then fluctuated violently. Kayla's expression changed from focused to alert. Before she could even shout "Something's wrong!"

The portal suddenly exploded, and light scattering in all directions. The three were swept into it, and dull thuds echoed through the ruins.

Ron was the first to stand up, pebbles tumbling off his shoulder armor. He glanced around at the narrow stone path, water droplets seeping from the stone walls on either side. Geralt was nowhere to be seen.

Kayla fell a few steps behind him in the corner, trying to get up by pushing herself up with her hands on the ground. "Where is he?"

Kayla's voice was unusually serious, without any languidness. She stood up, leaning against the stone wall, and glanced around. A faint rustling sound came from a corner, and Kayla's expression stiffened for a moment.

"Rats," she said, her voice low, as if confirming something terrifying. "A whole bunch of them."

The rustling sound spread outward from the darkness as the swarm of rats pressed against the stone path, crowding together so tightly that it was impossible to move. Hundreds of tiny eyes were squeezed into the darkness, reflecting a faint, eerie light, like a cluster of phosphorescent lights densely packed in a swamp.

Kayla's shield was activated almost instantly; a golden aura exploded from her palm, enveloping her in its center.

But several rats had already climbed to the edge of the shield, scraping the golden light barrier with their claws and teeth. Her fingers trembled, her magic output was unstable, and the shield began to ripple.

A sound came from behind her, and Ron's hand reached over her shoulder, pulling her a step to the side.

The greatsword drew a very low arc close to the ground, then slashed fiercely, overturning the stone slabs and sweeping them, along with flying gravel, across the swarm of rats.

Almost instinctively, Kayla leaped up and climbed onto Ron's shoulder armor, clinging tightly to the giant's back like a frightened koala.

Ron was slightly slumped by the sudden weight, his greatsword paused in mid-air, and he glanced at Kayla speechlessly.

"If you dare tell anyone about this, I'll use my special potion to turn you into a giant frog."

Kayla's hands were still tightly wrapped around his neck, her face buried in her shoulder armor, not daring to look up. Her voice was completely different from the lazy sarcasm he had heard before.

Ron did not answer, his right hand still gripping the greatsword, keeping watch over the depths of the cave. The stone passage was quiet for a short while, with only a pile of rubble and a few rats twitching.

Ron waited a moment until the breathing on his back gradually calmed down before saying, "Let's go," and then picked up his greatsword and walked deeper into the area.

Kayla let go of her back and landed on the ground, tidying her disheveled long blonde hair, pretending that nothing had just happened.