Chapter 316: A Dangerous Path to Power

Under the warm yellow glow.

At either end of the Spyglass.

The Witcher with dark-gold eyes and the beautiful sorceress were deep in heated discussion.

“Coral, about Witcher formulas, it isn’t just the Cat School. By chance, I also got my hands on the School of the Griffin formula.”

“Mm?” Lytta Neyd seemed to have heard too much good news in one night. She froze for a moment, eyes unfocused, lips slightly parted, her striking face taking on a rare, almost guileless look.

“You little rogue, you never mentioned going to Hakland. Where did you get the Griffin formula?”

The sorceress had never met a Griffin Witcher, but ancient records noted they came from Zerrikania or Hakland, east of the Blue Mountains.

“I ‘bought’ it from a mysterious merchant. Paid quite the ‘price’ for it,” Roy said, suppressing a smile. The composed, cold beauty before him rarely showed such a lapse.

Truth be told, he preferred her like this. More vivid, more human.

He should surprise her more often.

Next, the Witcher spread the formula before the Spyglass, letting the sorceress on the other side translate and record it.

“Hmm ... green mutagen, blue, red, roughly six to one to one. Completely different proportions from the Viper School ... Mother’s Tears, Dark Malt Ale ... significant differences in composition.”

She stared at the thin sheet, eyes gleaming, face taut with a researcher’s fervor, as if she might begin experimenting on the spot.

Sorcerers, to some extent, were all addicted to experimentation.

Two minutes later.

“Coral, you’ve seen the formula. You should have a general idea now. Give me a straight answer. Between the Cat School, Griffin, and Viper School, which Decoctions of the Grasses is safer?”

“I can’t be certain. I’d need to personally oversee a mutation, gather valid data, and compare before I could say. So far, I’ve only overseen a Viper School mutation for you.”

“But judging from this formula, and my own perspective.”

“Of the three, in terms of danger, Cat School is greater than Viper School, which is greater than Griffin.”

So for a second Trial of the Grasses, the Griffin formula would be the safest choice?

Roy rubbed his temples, lips pressed tight, then asked the shocking question.

“If someone has already passed one school’s Trial of the Grasses, can they undergo a second Trial, using another school’s formula?”

“You little rogue, how did you come up with something so reckless?” Lytta Neyd set the formula down and leaned toward the Spyglass, arms crossed, her tone sharp. “Mutagen formulas cannot be mixed. Don’t you dare try it.”

Roy’s heart sank.

The sorceress explained,

“Each school’s formula was refined over generations, improved hundreds of times.”

“Until Witchers and the sorcerers researching mutations turned against each other. That halted further improvements, locking the formulas in place. Different schools share overlapping elements, but they also conflict, potion conflicts, contradictions. Viper and Griffin, for example.”

“Whether you take both decoctions at once, or one after another, surviving the first mutation and attempting a second, the conflict in their properties cannot be avoided.”

“They will clash within your body, tearing it apart, causing unbearable agony. Combined with the inherent lethality of the decoctions, the most likely outcome is...” a cold glint flashed in her eyes, “your death.”

“You mean a second dose is more deadly than the first?”