Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 135 Location Locked, Battle Begins

"Have you found out who the murderer is?"

Upon hearing this, Triss's tone was somewhat puzzled. Wasn't the culprit the monster in the forest? Could there be someone else?

Wayne didn't keep her in suspense and recounted to Triss everything from the clues he discovered after entering the mine, to finding the coroner, and finally identifying the murderer.

Finally, he took out the letter he had found in Link's house, along with his hair and other personal belongings, and handed them to the sorceress, saying:

"It's been confirmed, Triss."

"Now, if we can confirm Link's location using divination spells, we'll most likely be able to find the stag-headed monster's location."

After hearing Wayne's complete explanation, Triss's eyes flickered slightly, her cheeks flushed, and she clapped her hands in admiration, praising him:

"Excellent reasoning and action skills."

"Choosing you as my helper was definitely the right choice, Wayne."

"If this task were left to the city guards or to me, it would be impossible to lock down a useful piece of information so quickly."

"Leave the rest to me."

"I need to prepare the materials for the prophecy ritual. Once I confirm Link's location, let's go and take down that stag-headed monster together."

Triss's tone was somewhat excited. She had originally thought she would be stuck here for several days, but she hadn't expected that Wayne would have almost found out the truth so soon after arriving. This was quite a surprise for her and her family.

After all, the sooner this matter is resolved, the smaller the economic losses will be, and the relationship with the most powerful Duke of Maripo in the city will also make progress, so there are still many benefits.

Being able to maintain a good relationship with a high-ranking nobleman is an advantage even for someone like her who is a royal advisor.

After Triss left, Wayne didn't rest either. He had been busy all day and hadn't even had lunch. He took Alan to a very famous restaurant in the city and had a sumptuous lunch, so that Alan, an ordinary hunter who had never seen much of the world, could also enjoy what it felt like to be rich.

The young man had followed him all day and deserved some credit; Lord Wayne was always a generous man.

By the time the two returned to Triss's family mansion, the sorceress had already completed the preparations required for the prophecy ritual.

Triss used a rather ancient method of divination this time. Although it has a rather convoluted official term, most spellcasters would simply call it visceral divination.

Inside what appears to be a rather ancient magic circle, a white-furred goat is fixed in the center.

Link's hair was wrapped in a special piece of paper inscribed with a magical spell, and then eaten by the goat.

Around the goat were some oddly shaped stones, frogs, rats, beast skulls, and several symbolic magical materials.

Outside the magic circle, Triss danced a strange dance while chanting awkward and tongue-twisting magic spells. She continued like this for about ten minutes, until fine beads of sweat appeared on the red-haired beauty's forehead, before she finally stopped this prayer ritual.

Then, picking up a strangely shaped dagger that appeared to be carved from animal bone from the magic circle, Triss walked up to the goat that seemed to have had its soul captured and remained motionless in the center of the magic circle.

The knife was plunged into the goat's belly, and with a whoosh, its entire stomach was ripped open, and various internal organs flowed to the ground through the wound.

After all the entrails had flowed onto the magic circle, the goat remained standing without falling. The sorceress nimbly withdrew from the magic circle and stood at its edge, carefully observing the location, color, shape, and other information that only a sorceress could discern from the entrails.

Although this kind of visceral divination is bloody and ancient, and Wayne has seen some related records in many books, it is an old method from thousands of years ago. However, in the world of magic, many things are more useful the older they are.

The same applies to divination using internal organs.

A few minutes later, Triss let out a soft breath, came to Wayne's side, wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, and said with a relaxed expression:

"Found it, Wayne."

"The owner of that hair is indeed not dead. He is now in the forest south of the mine, about five or six miles away. I have pinpointed his location."

"After I rest for a while and recover my magic power, let's set off there."

"You should also prepare in advance. If the enemy is a deer-headed demon, you might be surrounded by a group of monsters when you get there."

Wayne nodded. He had already mentally simulated this opponent many times and was well prepared.

However, the necessary battle preparations still need to be made. As the guardian of the forest, the Leshen, like most plant-type monsters, is most afraid of fire, and secondly, silver weapons.

Therefore, honeycomb bombs and dragon's dream are indispensable. Fortunately, alchemical bombs are a luxury item that other witchers can only afford to use once they are used up, but for Lord Wayne, they are just ordinary consumables like arrows. His warehouse is already full of them.

In fact, if you don't use it in time, there is a risk that it will expire.

As for the choice of potions for the Witcher, Wayne thought for a moment and decided that it would still have to be the unchanging Swallow Potion, combined with the Thunder Potion to increase strength, and the Tawny Owl Potion to enhance reaction speed.

However, he was now able to drink four potions at the same time. After thinking for a while, he also bought himself a wolf potion to increase his agility.

The reason is simply to improve one's evasion ability in battle, so as to avoid being hit by monster attacks. Even if one is not seriously injured, it will still be very painful.

Unfortunately, the Leshen is a rare type of monster, belonging to the Remnant class. To deal with this kind of monster, Remnant Oil should be used, but Wayne has only seen records of this sword oil in the books of Kaer Morhen. He has not yet found the specific method of making it, so he has to give up this option.

Soon, after Wayne had completed all the preparations for the battle, Triss had also made her own preparations. The red-haired beauty was as meticulous as ever; she specially sent someone to find two docile mares to serve as their mode of transportation.

The location of the deer-headed spirit is quite far from here. If they were to walk there, their stamina might be more than half depleted before the battle even begins.

Once everything was ready, Wayne and Triss didn't delay any longer. They mounted their two mares and rode off one after the other toward Link's location.

As Wayne rode along, he discovered that Triss was nothing like those delicate noble ladies. Her riding skills were no less than those of ordinary men, and she even had a charmingly heroic air about her.

She was dressed in a dashing lady's equestrian outfit, black riding boots, a red patterned leather jacket, revealing two white hemispheres at her chest, and wearing a pearl necklace around her neck.

Besides being a little playful and cute, she exudes a more confident aura than the average woman, which unconsciously attracts people's attention.

About half an hour later, the two ran through the forest and soon arrived at a place not far from Triss's location.

Wayne's keen eyes had already noticed the skull totem standing in the forest.

It was a terrifying totem constructed from a mixture of various animal and human bones, splattered with bright red blood, and exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay and inspired disgust.

When their mounts were a dozen meters away from the totem, they dared not go any further.

There was no other way but for them to dismount and walk.

Triss frowned, circled the totem once, and then spoke:

"It's dark magic, the dark magic used by the stag spirit."

"Destroy it. Keeping it alive will only strengthen the stag spirit and make it even harder to deal with."

Upon hearing this, Wayne formed a hand seal, and then Igri's flames engulfed the totem, igniting it into a blazing torch.

With the burning torch still burning, just a few seconds later, Wayne's ears twitched. He quickly drew his Statikk Shiv from his waist, looked at Triss, and warned her:

"Be careful, Triss, there are enemies coming, and quite a few of them."

Upon hearing this, Triss didn't suspect anything. Her heart tightened immediately, and she took out the red orb she had used in the tomb last time from her pouch. She went to Wayne's side and became cautiously vigilant.

Sure enough, in less than two minutes, accompanied by howls, more than a dozen wolves surrounded them from all directions, along with a dozen or so huge crows in the sky.

They were larger than their ordinary counterparts, and showed no fear in the face of the two. Their bloodshot red eyes were filled with murderous intent, their mouths agape, drooling, as if they were about to pounce at any moment.

Wayne observed the situation for a moment, then turned to Triss and said:

"Don't worry about casting spells, Triss, I'll protect you."

Upon hearing this, Triss glanced at Wayne and, without further hesitation, raised the red orb in her hand and began chanting a spell. A large amount of chaotic magic began to gather around her, and it seemed that even the surrounding temperature had risen slightly.

The wolves and crows surrounding the two seemed to sense the danger as well. They immediately opened their mouths and let out a defiant roar, and then, as if under command, began to coordinate their attack on the two.

However, they were facing a witcher who had already drunk a potion, possessed powerful weapons, and was fully prepared.

Wayne held his breath, his hands gripping the electric blade, his entire body tense. When the first wolf entered his attack range, he suddenly sprang up, transforming into a bolt of lightning, instantly appearing beside the wolf. The electric blade in his hand became a blur, and with a swish, he severed a wolf's head.

Seeing this, the other wolves showed no fear and leaped up, attempting to attack the witcher from different directions.

However, Wayne suddenly swept his short sword horizontally, and a chain of lightning as thick as an arm flew out from his short sword, quickly striking the three wolves that pounced on him. The intense electric current, accompanied by the wolves' mournful howls, turned them into charred corpses that smelled of roasted meat.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so crows that swooped down from the sky were ignited into burning fireballs by Wayne's Igni Sign.

Protected by Wayne's immense power, no beast could break through his defenses and interfere with Triss's spellcasting.

As the saying goes, "those with lots of fur are weak against fire." Whether it's a wolf or a crow, these wild beasts covered in fur are all fatally vulnerable when facing flames.

Just as Wayne and the beasts were locked in battle, Triss quickly completed her spell, unleashing a torrent of fireballs from her fiery red orb, as if she were holding a giant firework. The wolves and crows were quickly engulfed in the countless fireballs.

(End of this chapter)