Chapter 357: All For One, One For All
Let's turn the clock back three months.
While Lynn was still on the Skellige Isles, a heated argument erupted far away in the depths of the Blue Mountains, within the Wolf School's stronghold of Kaer Morhen. The shouting was so loud that the apprentices training on the courtyard grounds couldn't help but look toward the inner fortress.
Inside the great hall, the mountain-shaped candelabras and the sunlight pouring through the windows illuminated the entire space. Yet, the atmosphere was as thick as a storm cloud. Yennefer sat impassively at the left side of the long table, her face a blank slate as if the tense air didn't affect her in the slightest. Beside her, Lady Tissaia watched the dispute with a look of utter helplessness. She never imagined things would turn out like this.
The story began a few days ago.
Ever since they had accepted Lynn's request, the two sorceresses had spent a great deal of time at Kaer Morhen, researching and refining the second mutation method Lynn had brought back. As the former rector of Aretuza Academy and a member of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers' ruling council of Five, Tissaia's mastery of magic and knowledge was arguably unmatched in the known world.
With the assistance of a prodigy like Yennefer, the two brilliant and beautiful women finally completed Lynn's request: to refine the second mutation method left behind by Thomas Moreau.
They then spent another week reviewing their work. They concluded that, in theory, it posed no danger to a witcher. They said "in theory" because the two sorceresses had not yet performed a real-world trial on a living witcher.
So today, they had summoned all the witchers staying at Kaer Morhen. The original second mutation method Lynn had brought back was already a success, as Thomas Moreau had successfully tested it on his own son. Though the final result had deviated from Moreau's initial vision, his original intent was to save his son, not to kill him.
Therefore, even the earliest version of the second mutation was quite safe. After being repeatedly researched and refined by the high-level sorceresses Tissaia and Yennefer, its safety was now even higher.
But in reality, accidents can always happen, no matter how low the probability. That's why Tissaia had gathered the witchers and told them everything. The former rector's intention was to select a volunteer from among them to actually undergo their refined second mutation.
They hoped to discover any previously overlooked issues and patch them up. Even though Tissaia believed the improved mutation was safe, she knew that until a brave soul ate the crab, no one could be sure if it was poisonous.
To Tissaia's complete surprise, the problem wasn't a lack of volunteers—it was that there were too many.
Upon hearing her request, no one expected Lambert to be the first to step forward. He was a man who seemed to resent being a witcher, who constantly complained, and whose mouth was always full of insults. And yet, he was the first to volunteer.
"Lady Tissaia, Yennefer, my life is in your hands. I don't want to die; I'm not ready to go just yet. So, please be very careful. Don't let me walk in and get carried out on a stretcher."
Leave it to Lambert. Even in a moment like this, he had to crack a joke.
"The Wolf School doesn't abandon a brother," Eskel said, stepping forward. "Ladies, if you need a test subject, two are certainly more convincing than one."
"You motherfucker," Lambert swore with a laugh. "Couldn't you have spoken up sooner? I would've kept my mouth shut!"
Eskel, long accustomed to Lambert's personality, calmly replied, "The Wolf School doesn't abandon a brother, Lambert. You think I'd get to enjoy a good thing like this all by myself? You're coming with me, whether you like it or not."
Before Vesemir brought Lynn to Kaer Morhen through the Law of Surprise, Eskel and Lambert, like most witchers, lived one day at a time. It wasn't that they were content with their lot, but they couldn't see a way to change their circumstances.
Then Lynn came and gave them a chance, a glimpse of a different future. They had no grand dreams of their own, but they could protect Lynn's dream. That was why they were the first to volunteer to be the ones to eat the crab.
After Eskel and Lambert stepped forward, the two companions Letho had left behind, Oakes and Serrit, reacted as if on cue. They, too, volunteered to be test subjects, and insisted on going before Eskel and Lambert. The reason was that they knew Lynn planned to build a new witcher school at Kaer Morhen, one that would welcome all the schools and preserve their traditions, rather than let the Wolf School dominate.
If so, now was the time to assert their influence. Oakes and Serrit were witchers, but having worked for nobles in the south, they had picked up a thing or two. They had a half-baked understanding of how to get ahead: When a business is just starting, you don't look at the short-term benefits; you look at the potential. The more you do in the early stages, the greater the reward will be later on. If they didn't step up now, wouldn't the Viper School be forever inferior to the Wolf School?
And so, it turned into the squabble it was now.
"This is Kaer Morhen," Lambert insisted. "The home of the Wolf School! How can we let the Viper School cut in front of us?"
Oakes was about to argue when another voice interrupted.
"You've all made very good points, and I agree with you, but I cannot stand idly by and watch your sacrifice without doing my part. Therefore, I believe this glorious and difficult task should be mine alone, as George, a witcher of the Griffin School."
George wasn't thinking as strategically as Oakes and Serrit. He was simply acting out of the chivalrous code of the Griffin School. Of all the witcher schools, the Griffins were the closest to the most just and righteous of Toussaint's knights-errant. Therefore, if a noble cause required a sacrifice, the Griffin School couldn't just stand back and reap the rewards.
And just like that, Tissaia's problem went from having no volunteers to having far too many.
Finally, a low voice rang out. "I think you should all step aside. I'm the one who should be eating this crab."
All eyes turned to the White Wolf, who had been silent until now.
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