Bear School Astartes

Before long, after Triss leisurely opened the portal, a holy white figure with an arcing electric sound came rushing from afar like an illusion.

The location wasn’t far from the village outside Novigrad, and there were still farmers bending over to till the large expanse of cultivated fields.

The appearance of the Qilin startled them immensely.

They shouted loudly, then dropped their tools, tugged the straw or cloth hats off their heads, and ran into the distance.

Running away at the first sign of unusual circumstances — this was essential knowledge for the survival of civilians in the Magic Middle Ages.

It was a world unfriendly to common people, and even to Demon Hunters.

On high mountains outside, there were griffins; traveling to the fields at noon might mean encountering incessantly dancing day spirits, while going near water might mean meeting groups of water ghosts and swamp witches....

Thus, a house, a sturdy door on the house, was the place where a farmer felt safest.

Once the Qilin came to a halt beside Lann, its big feline face rubbed against the Demon Hunter, pushing the Rong Buqiu onto its back in the process.

The farmers’ cries had already echoed into the village.

The villagers initially closed their doors tightly by reflex, then cautiously peeked outside through the gaps in the wooden boards.

Ultimately, they only saw in front of Triss a ring-shaped portal floating in mid-air.

And the roar of the pressure and airflow caused by the portal on both sides.

”Damn it, opening a portal at the village entrance in broad daylight, is this female Warlock in a hurry to die?”

”Jack and his crew of cowards, seeing a female Warlock open a portal like seeing a demon spirit or fiend. Ignorant.”

The villagers seemed to think it was Triss’s portal opening that frightened the men working in the fields.

Grumbling voices came from all around, but they only complained a bit, then reopened their doors and carried on with their activities as usual.

However, as they passed by, they would still look at Triss’s open portal with a superstitious glance, steering clear as if getting close would taint them with a curse.

Magic and mages had no good reputation among civilians.

”Wait, is this...?”

Triss was maintaining the portal normally, but then mumbled her confusion moments later.

”What’s wrong?”

Lann asked softly.

”No, it’s nothing.” Triss said, shaking her head, the red hair braided on her forehead swinging slightly beside her cheek.

”I originally set the destination in the city of Gos Velen, but... it should be Tishaya? She redirected the destination to the school.”

Lann looked at Triss with an understanding expression, to which Triss responded with a teasing smile without avoiding it.

This guy set the destination in the city rather than the academy, definitely wanting to enjoy a few more days in a city hotel with Lann.

The Demon Hunter clucked his tongue as he pulled the Qilin into the portal.

The Female Warlock’s greed and openness sometimes left him at a loss.

”Neigh!”

The Qilin resisted entering the portal on the village dirt road.

But unfortunately, under Lann’s pulling, even as the ground was furrowed with grooves, its body continuously moved towards the portal.

’If I knew it was a portal, I wouldn’t have come! I’d run back myself!’

The New Continent Ancient Dragon communicated with the Demon Hunter telepathically.

Compared to running, which it was naturally good at, it was very reluctant to enter the portal.

But soon, Lann, without any tolerance, dragged the Qilin by the neck into the portal.

”Neigh!”

’Wait a minute! Wait! What’s up with this strength?! I’m asking you what’s going on?!’

’How did you get stronger again? Why? What did you eat? Explain it to me!’

The Qilin, like a hyper husky not wanting to go home, scolded the person who sneakily became stronger and didn’t inform it, now feeling Lann’s strength had greatly increased again.

Although the New Continent Ancient Dragon was powerful, it wasn’t heavy itself.

The Qilin was very young, not even reaching the average size of its race, weighing less than three tons.

With Lann having the tendon coil implant now, even this mighty dragon was dragged in violently.

The Rong Buqiu, originally pushing the horse’s legs vigorously from behind, got tossed in together.

The little cat flailing its limbs in mid-air.

Lann also took a shallow deep breath, then covered his face with his hand, stepping forward.

-----------------

”Ugh...”

Lann felt even with his physical condition he wanted to vomit slightly.

The Elu Cat and the ancient dragon beside him were even more wobbly as they staggered along.

The portal used by the mages has been tried several times, but there’s always this dizziness that’s hard to get used to.

However, the difference between Lann and Geralt lies in knowing that this is the direction of technological development. Even though there’s still ’a bit’ of side effects now, one can’t simply discard it because of personal preference.

The drop point of the portal is an empty room, without books or other small objects, and no furniture.

Just a base painted with an array and wooden carvings on the walls.

These are specially designed to cope with the air pressure changes brought by the portal.

Above is a round, luxurious chandelier, the candle flames on it are motionless amidst the whistling wind, clearly enhanced by magic.

The sound of high heels on the exquisite wooden floor echoed in front of Lann as Tishaya walked up to him.

”How do you feel?”

While speaking, the Great Mage skillfully cast several floating spells, lifting the staggering Elu Cat and Ancient Dragon, placing them on the floor to regain their balance.

Lann soothed his chest, suppressing the urge to vomit while waving his hand, indicating he was alright.

The air pressure from the portal gradually subsided and eventually vanished, with Triss being the last to arrive.

”Don’t think I don’t know why you set the coordinates outside the academy in the city, Triss.”

Tishaya spoke with a tone of resignation, but her expression remained calm and meticulous throughout, giving her an aura of restrained beauty.

”You two ended up in bed, and it felt great, but...”

”But don’t overindulge.” Triss spread her hands and smiled, ”Tishaya, you’ve been saying this since you started teaching us.”

Tishaya shook her head, ”But clearly, few of you listened, Yennefer, Margaret, you...”

”Hmm~ Why don’t we talk business?”

Lann, not waiting for the nausea to settle, quickly interjected into the conversation.

”You moved Triss’s portal coordinates here for a reason, right?”

Tishaya didn’t immediately address the matter, instead crossing her arms, supporting the weight in front of her chest with her forearms, while pinching her chin and tilting her head to look at the young Demon Hunter.

”Avoiding the issue... but indeed very cute.”

”What?” Lann waved his hand in irritation.

Triss stood beside Tishaya, chuckling lightly.

”It’s because he’s too cute that I wanted to rent a room at the tavern with him, preferably stay indoors all summer.”

Seeing Lann starting to sneer, Tishaya and Triss decided to stop teasing him.

”The reason I brought you directly into the academy this time is because there’s a surgery I think only you can handle.”

Tishaya spoke calmly, leading the way out of the teleportation room.

”Surgery?” Lann asked in confusion.

At the same time, he gestured to the Elu Cat and Qilin behind him to play on their own.

They are now familiar with the structure of the academy, and the Qilin’s quick and noble figure incited academy legends among the female apprentices in Airetusa.

The three of them exited the teleportation room and began moving through the luxurious and quiet corridors of the academy.

It was class time, and the apprentices were in the upper-level classrooms.

”A surgery that requires me... Why? Who’s the patient? Some noble or high official?”

Lann speculated as he walked, removing his hooded cloak used for travel and combing through his hair casually.

”No, not an official, not a noble, not a merchant.”

Tishaya led without looking back, responding at the same time.

”It’s an old mage. His heart’s been problematic for a long time, usually relying on spirit medicine and protective talismans. Now that he’s heard about the advancement in crystal cultivation projects, he wants a definitive solution.”

”An old mage with heart disease?” Triss, as if suddenly recalling something, briskly walked forward to Tishaya’s side.

”Is it Henry Gemitis, the Great Mage?”

”Who?”

Lann was initially confused, but soon enough, Mentos marked an arrow on his retina, pointing to an old-looking oil painting on the side wall of the corridor.

Taking several turns, Tishaya led them through the Glorious Corridor inside the Airetusa Academy from the teleportation room.

—An exhibition corridor featuring paintings and words, recording the history of magical development and significant milestones.

The painting being pointed at by Mentos depicts two tall and handsome mages casting magic over a group of bewildered children, while their parents look on worriedly from behind.

The explanatory text below the painting reads: ”The Chosen Ones’ Revelation”.

From the descendants of immigrants who arrived on this continent during the ’initial landing’, Jan Becker and Jan Battista were among the first to discover Chaos Magic Power, identifying children with magical potential, aiming to nurture them.

Mentos’s arrowhead pointed directly at one child in the group.

The boy, named Elle Gerhart, now known as Henry Gemitis after years have passed.