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TWL Chapter 454: Caesar, Lord of the Skies
🕑 Added 2025-06-13 19:08:32 +0000 UTCMousesack rummaged around the worktable for a bit, then handed Lann a lab notebook. As Lann flipped through it, he began explaining: “The re
Mousesack rummaged around the worktable for a bit, then handed Lann a lab notebook. As Lann flipped through it, he began explaining: “The research projects you asked me to work on have all made solid progress.”
“The Witcher mutation process has been successfully completed. Only the secondary mutation still needs real-world testing. As for your Ice Giant and that berserker follower, Bill—I ran a series of tests and provided them with some training not long ago.”
Mousesack rubbed his temples, as though suffering a headache.
“That Ice Giant isn’t exactly the brightest, wasting all that source-grade magical power. Still, he’s shown considerable improvement in generating blizzards.”
“Bill’s in better shape—diligent and intelligent. If trained properly, he could become a competent druid. I’m planning to take him on as an assistant.”
Lann had no objections.
“That would be his good fortune. I’ll leave everything to your judgment.”
But what Mousesack was most proud of wasn’t any of those breakthroughs.
It was the research below that truly brought him pride.
“The simplification and popularization of Magical Imbuement techniques has also yielded results,” Mousesack explained.
“I’ve already applied the necessary imbuements to all Witcher armor sets, even simplified versions of Arrow Deflection enchantments for your followers.”
“For example, based on the battlefield reports from your attendant Milva, the simplified enchantment seems to be working quite well.”
Lann nodded. His own gear was also enchanted—his armor bore Deflection, which helped avoid stray arrows, while his longsword carried Rend, extending the blade with a magical edge to increase attack range.
“I’m still looking for ways to simplify the imbuement process even further,” Mousesack continued with a smile. “Once we cut down costs a bit more, we’ll be able to adapt this technology for military applications.”
“For instance, by using Balance and Lightness, we could create a heavy-armor strike force with the mobility of a light-armor unit.”
As he said this, a mysterious and satisfied smile crept across Mousesack’s face.
“Lann, come with me.”
...
[Screeeech—]
Atop a towering snow-covered peak, a black shadow spread its wings, scattering the frost beneath it as it pursued another figure fleeing in panic.
A fierce aerial skirmish quickly broke out—and just as quickly ended with one of the combatants plummeting toward the ground.
But this was not a mortal fight between predator and prey. Just before it hit the earth, the falling shadow beat its wings and righted itself, flying off with a pained screech. Its opponent did not chase it down. Instead, it let out a jubilant cry toward the canyon below, then turned and soared back toward Kaer Seren.
Under the sunlight, their shadows revealed glimpses of hooked beaks, razor-sharp talons, wide wingspans—and agile, feline-like bodies.
They were griffins.
A look of surprise appeared on Lann’s face.
“Is that…?”
Mousesack nodded.
“That’s right. It’s the egg you brought back from Brokilon. The one we later hatched—it’s a Royal Griffin.”
“Griffins have a very short juvenile period. Two years is enough for them to reach adolescence and even early maturity. It’ll keep growing for the foreseeable future.” Mousesack shook his head slightly.
“I raised it using the same druidic methods we use for taming wyverns. Right now, it’s completely obedient to me, Jerome, Keldar, and a few others.”
With its keen eyesight, the Royal Griffin quickly spotted Mousesack. Upon landing, it immediately lowered its majestic head into his palm, nuzzling like a child seeking affection.
This beast, which combined the traits of both sky and land’s rulers, had grown to become truly majestic. Among all the subspecies of griffins, Royal Griffins were already the most visually striking—and this one had been raised with great care by both druids and witchers.
Not only had its size long surpassed that of its kin, but its plumage gleamed so brilliantly it looked as if sunlight flowed through every strand. When it spread its wings in the snowy mountains beneath the sun, from afar it looked like a brilliant burst of light soaring purposefully through the sky.
Lann cautiously reached out a hand toward the Royal Griffin. At first, it seemed slightly wary, but the deeply imprinted memories in its mind were quickly stirred—it still remembered that Lann had helped incubate its egg.
Soon, the Royal Griffin relaxed its guard, though it still showed greater affection toward the druid.
“Griffins are solitary and aggressive by nature, but under our training, its habits have changed somewhat,” Mousesack said, grinning proudly. “It’s very attached to us, but it also loves to invade other griffins’ territories in the Dragonwing Mountains to challenge them. After claiming victory, it promptly withdraws again.”
“It has no rivals in the entire Dragonwing range. And thanks to it, we’ve now mapped out the nesting grounds of nearly all the griffins in those mountains.”
Lann raised an eyebrow. “You’re… planning to use it to subjugate all the griffins in the mountains?”
To be honest, Lann no longer had much interest in the Royal Griffin itself.
Back when he only had Blackwind, he had looked forward to griffins as flying beasts. But now, his Followers had grown stronger and stronger—even including dragons, the pinnacle of aerial power.
Unless, of course, he wasn’t dealing with ¿a griffin', but 'a group of griffins'.
Or rather—a Griffin Cavalry Corps.
Mousesack smiled and nodded… then shook his head. “The adult griffins in the back mountains already have deeply ingrained instincts. They’d rather be killed by this youngster than submit to it.”
As he said this, Mousesack scratched the Royal Griffin’s neck. Like a giant cat, it purred contentedly, rolled over, and showed its belly.
“But we can raise more young griffins—just like this one.” Mousesack gave the Royal Griffin’s head a pat. “The old Griffin School initiation trial, the Mountain Trial, required apprentices to sneak into the back range and steal a griffin egg—but those eggs were always used for alchemical materials. Witchers never thought about hatching them.”
At this point, the druid gave a modest smile.
“That’s because they didn’t know how to tame griffins.”
“But that’s no longer the case. After discussing it with Jerome and the others, we’ve decided that when we train new apprentices in the future, we’ll also have them raise griffins. We’ll develop a generation of griffins that are family-bonded and social. And this one—” Mousesack gestured to the mighty beast beside him, “will become the leader of all future griffins.”
“What do you think, Lann?”
What could Lann possibly object to?
What complaint could he have about the first-ever aerial combat unit on the Continent?
Even better, he was the only one on the Continent capable of developing such a force—not even the other druids of Skellige could do it.
Because only witchers—whose senses, balance, and reflexes had been enhanced beyond human limits—had any hope of riding a griffin in battle. Only witchers could become true Griffin Knights, rather than just warriors who ride griffins.
Just like the difference between a traditional cavalryman and a mere infantryman on horseback.
Lann was truly eager to see what kind of glory such a unit would one day achieve.
And the idea that contracting the Royal Griffin leader could give him command over the entire griffin species—well, that suited Lann just fine.
It wasn’t the first time he had considered the possibility of contracting the leader of a group-based monster to command the entire group.
But powerful monsters tended to be solitary by nature. Those that did live in groups were things like drowners or ghouls—weak creatures that could be wiped out with a single Sign. What use would he have for a contract like that?
Now, however, with artificially raised, powerful, and social monsters…
Even Lann had never imagined such a possibility before.
Good old Mousesack—reliable as ever. Even with a full slate of projects on his hands, he still managed to find new ones to work on.
Unfortunately, Lann had already spent his last remaining ability point to save Reinald.
Still, it didn’t matter much. At the current rate his Followers were earning experience for him, Lann would be leveling up again soon. In the meantime, he could spend this period bonding with the long-neglected Royal Griffin, which would also save him some experience cost when it came time to formally forge a contract.
Looking down at the Royal Griffin nuzzling his leg like an oversized cat, Lann marveled at the druids’ mastery in beast taming—only to suddenly hear Mousesack’s voice beside him.
“Give it a name, Lann.”
Lann blinked. “It doesn’t have one yet? It’s already so grown!”
The old druid shook his head.
“It was raised for you. Naturally, you should be the one to name it. You’ll need to spend more time with it, too. I’ll teach you a few taming techniques so it learns to obey your commands.”
Fair enough.
Lann thought for a moment, his mind conjuring an image of the Royal Griffin leading a sky-darkening legion of griffins across the heavens.
As he ran a reverent hand through the beast’s golden-brown mane, an idea formed.
“I’ve decided. I’ll call it Caesar.”
And so, the plan to establish a Griffin Knight Corps was officially set. From now on, Witcher apprentices would also undergo Griffin Training as part of their education. At the same time, Mousesack would intensify his work on refining lightweight Magical Imbuement techniques for heavy armor, to accommodate the weight limits of airborne troops.
Lann also allocated a special fund to Kaer Seren for the construction of large-scale griffin incubation chambers and nesting grounds, all to be overseen by Mousesack.
However...
“Uncle Mousesack, do you know about Blackwind?”
“You mean your horse—the one that underwent Witcher mutation?”
“That’s the one!”
“What about it?”
“Do you think it’s possible to teach it how to cast Signs? Or maybe even put it through a second mutation?”
“Lann… let’s focus on performing second mutations on humans first.”
“Fair point…”
Sigh…
“Then what about Caesar? Do you think we could perform an initial Witcher mutation on him, like we did with Blackwind? Does our current technology support mutating monsters?”
“Lann…”
