The Conjunction Point Hidden Deep Within Dragon City! Lost!

The first thing you see is the castle's spire, sharp and pointed like a rusted spear weathered by war, piercing straight into the dark night.

Night had fallen, but Drakkenberg was still brightly lit.

Squads of guards patrolled the winding city walls, carrying torches, beneath which flowed a moat from the Kemba River.

The drawbridge has been raised, but soldiers are still stationed at the castle gates.

The castle is surrounded by high walls, and towering stone bridges on both sides, when viewed from above, resemble red-hot iron bars sealing off a huge monster sleeping soundly beneath the castle.

The entire castle was built on a sizable stone mountain, much like the Fjall Stone City on the border of Ard, both resembling giant cities built by hollowing out a mountain.

However, the layout of Drakkenberg City was noticeably more sinister and chillingly murderous than that of Fujian.

Clearly, this layout is not designed for habitation.

Looking down at the castle named Dragon City, Ailin found it hard to understand.

A castle can be a fortress to defend against foreign enemies, a high wall to protect humanity, or even a prosperous gathering place...

Regardless of the structure, there can certainly be a heavily guarded prison.

But why is there a castle? It seems that even before it was built, it was destined to be a huge prison.

Where did Riedania get so many prisoners of non-human races whose population is already small?

"It's still as gloomy as ever, even when you're hundreds of meters in the sky," Vesemir said, gesturing with his right hand in the direction of the castle, indicating that the Greater Griffin was circling around. He needed to use the firelight to carefully determine his direction. "It's so gloomy that it's another reason why witchers don't want to come to this place."

"If possible, witchers would also prefer a better working environment. Prisons are clearly not an ideal workplace for School of the Wolf witchers... but the scum of the School of the Cat witchers come here quite often..."

"You've been here before?" Ailin withdrew his gaze and mentally commanded the Greater Griffin to circle around.

The cloudy sky, devoid of stars and moon, made it difficult to discern directions.

However, as long as the Greater Griffin remains quiet and does not release any terrifying pressure, it is not afraid of being discovered by the guards on the ground.

"Once," Vesemir held up a finger, "This is a place any School of the Wolf witcher would never want to come back to... well... it's even ranked ahead of Ban Ad..."

"But to be honest, it's also because of the environment that the closest Witchers from the School of the Wolf and School of the Griffin are unwilling to come to Drakkenberg, so the bounties for commissions here are very high."

"What kind of monsters are involved in the commissions?"

"Many," Vesemir stroked his beard, "From the most basic water ghosts and Rotfiend ... to the wraiths that appear from time to time in every prison... vampires and werewolves sometimes come here to hunt..."

"Drakkenberg is a product of the Elven Royal Court era. Redania only did some simple repairs. There are probably hundreds or even thousands of secret passages inside. Every time there is a repair every few years, or as time goes by, some secret passages will naturally collapse, and some strange new things will always emerge."

"So, no one really knows how many monsters are in Dragon City."

"Of course, such examples are rare in recent years. Usually, it's just cleaning up the water ghosts that gather in the moat, as well as the carnivorous creatures attracted by the smell of blood."

"Some say that the reason this place was used as a prison for non-human races was to use the lives of these aliens to lure out all the monsters hidden in Drakkenberg, so that the castle could be used by humans..."

"You don't believe me?" Ailin sensed the disdain in Vesemir's tone.

"Of course," Vesemir scoffed, "There aren't many nobles in this world who would value the lives of peasants as much as they do. If it weren't for their striking resemblance, and who knows, that war might have turned them back into peasants..."

"Perhaps the nobles are even unwilling to admit that they and humans are the same species in terms of biology."

"However, on the other hand, most of the kings and nobles of the Northern Continent have non-human blood... especially the blood of elves who have been severely persecuted by humans..."

"With so many monsters appearing, doesn't anyone find it strange?" Ailin wondered.

"After several groups of people went missing, naturally no one was surprised... Let the Good Girl go there for a moment..." Vesemir pointed to the deep darkness next to Drakkenberg, which faintly reflected the firelight.

Ailin a thought, the Good Girl flapped her wings a few times and flew to her destination, above a dense forest.

"No, this is a tributary. Let's go back..." Vesemir observed for a while and then shook his head.

Although the Kemba River appears on the map as a straight river flowing through Drakkenberg, it was actually dredged and channeled to flow around the entire castle.

The castle is surrounded by a sparsely populated forest, making it difficult to discern the main channel of the Kemba River.

"Dragon City ... Dragon City ..." Vesemir continued, "There's probably a meeting point in Drakkenberg, but it must be well hidden. Otherwise, Brotherhood of Sorcerers have let such a place go and turned it into a prison for non-human races..."

In the original work, the dragon represents the power of "chaos".

Chaos is a force or energy field that opposes order, and it is the source of magic for spellcasters.

The intersection point is probably a higher-level magical location. In other words, the original form of the Circle of Elements and magical location was the intersection point.

According to ancient elven legends, 1400 years ago, a rare phenomenon occurred on the Northern Continent —the "penetration and fusion of worlds," that is, the Conjunction of the Spheres.

Simply put, another dimension overlaps with the dimension of the Northern Continent, and these overlapping parts are like bubbles, trapping some "non-natural beings" that do not belong to this dimension in this world.

Most of these creatures, such as vampires, exist outside the ecosystem of this dimension and are unable to reproduce. They are remnants of sudden events, and they are the targets of the Witcher's hunt.

It was during this period of "world integration" that humans crossed the sea to this continent and quickly mastered the skill of drawing magical power from the "convergence point," thereby conquering the continent's original inhabitants—elves and dwarves.

"Intersections" still exist widely around the world, much like bubbles.

In nature, there are two kinds of creatures that are born with the ability to sense "intersections" and absorb their magic: one is the cat, which likes to sleep at "intersections", and the other is the dragon, which likes to hoard magical treasures.

Therefore, Vesemir's inference is actually not wrong.

The only strange thing is why this place eventually became a prison for non-human races.

"Do non-human races have that many prisoners?" Looking down at the fortress, which was about the same size as Arland, Ailin frowned.

"Who says that Drakkenberg necessarily only holds prisoners?"

Vesemir glanced back at Ailin, his eyes holding a meaningful look.

Not a prisoner... Ailin was stunned when she heard this.

"Alright, we've pretty much figured out the direction," Vesemir didn't elaborate on that question. He let out a sigh and pointed to a dark spot beneath the Good Girl. "Should we go down and ask around, or fly directly to the source of the Kemba River?"

"Let's just go," Ailin said, glancing once more at the brightly lit Drakkenberg Castle. "The forest will guide us and keep us from getting lost..."

Compared to facing the monster that Huus calls "god," the humans who have been guarding, hunting, and torturing innocent people for years might be even more terrifying...

Moreover...

Is it really just a coincidence that Drakkenberg is so close to the place where Bont, Frege, and Dante disappeared?

"Splash splash~"

A babbling brook seeps from a crack in the ground and flows northwest toward the spire of the Drakkenberg watchtower, which is darker than the night itself.

On both sides are dark blue oak forests, their branches with strong, swirling patterns, as if secretly watching over intruders who have entered the woodland.

"No..."

Ailin stood up from the damp, dark humus soil with a grim expression; the sticky mud clung stubbornly to his dark red greaves.

"Vesemir, of course, rejected me."

In the past, even in the burning Passerlon Forest, Mother Nature's murderous intent was too wild and violent, forcing him to sever his connection with Mother Nature.

Just now, although Mother Nature's Mental Fluctuation were still gentle, kind, and bright, they became sluggish when she inquired about the Witcher's Mental Fluctuation, and then the connection with him was severed in less than two seconds.

Since using "Beast Roar: Primal Tongue," he had never been rejected so decisively, as if... as if...

This oak forest already has a lord, a lord recognized by Mother Nature.

Bont, Fred, and Dante were the lord's prey.

The prey in a wild hunt where it's either life or death...

"The Leshen ..." Vesemir frowned. "There's no mistake, what's lurking in this forest is the Leshen. He is a demigod of the forest, the embodiment of nature worshipped by the Druid, born in a place of darkness and primal nature, a powerful and terrifying guardian..."

"Although I don't know the principle behind your so-called ' Primal Tongue,' it's normal to lose to the Leshen in the realm of nature."

"What should we do then?" Kray asked anxiously. "Is there any other way to find Bont and Fred?"

"And Dante ..." Aias added.

"What's the panic!" Vesemir scolded in a low voice. "Have you forgotten what we taught you before?"

"What you need to do now is not to panic here, but to remember the dissipation time of the Quen Shield, replenish it in time, maintain the forest vigilance formation, keep track of your assigned vigilance positions, be ready to cast the Oterrohp Sign at any time, and also the Cat Eye Potion..."

"Yes, Master Vesemir."

The seven young witchers immediately spread out a few steps around Ailin, gazing at the dark forest.

"Dante is a more experienced Witcher Master than I am. He might not be able to defeat this Leshen in a moment of panic, but he will definitely survive," Vesemir whispered close to Ailin's ear. "Besides, although Dante is always conservative, he is never the type to abandon his companions or apprentices..."

"I know..." Ailin suppressed his anxiety and took a deep breath. "On the bright side, although Mother Nature rejected me, it means that at least one of Bont, Fred, and Dante is still alive..."

The Mother Nature wasn't initially unable to connect with him using "Primal Tongue," but rather refused him after inquiring about the Witcher's whereabouts.

If all three Witchers from the School of the Wolf were dead, there would be no need to refuse.

Vesemir nodded and asked, "Isn't there any other way?"

Ailin did not answer, but closed his eyes and channeled the beastly roar energy in his blood, then gently opened and closed his lips.

"Uirs..."

It was as if whispers had caused ripples to spread across the lake.

A ripple of red dots of varying sizes lit up from near to far.

This is a technique that Ailin figured out after intentionally using "Beast Roar: Life Whisper" to search for ghouls over the past few days.

He doesn't need to collect all life information within the range of the beast's roar; it's as if he has set a filter.

The probing ripples of the Life Whisper swept across the living beings, skipping over insects and small animals that were not within the selection range, and only feeding back information about those living beings whose size was similar to that of ordinary humans.

Simple but very useful tips.

"Let's go deeper into the forest..." Ailin opened his eyes and gently shook his head.

The area that covers almost the entire temple is not small, but it is still not enough in this vast woodland.

As for Tracking...

Although Huus said it was at the source of the Kemba River, there were no traces of their footprints or any signs of battle nearby.

Perhaps "the source of the Kemba River in Drakkenberg" was simply the most iconic location Huus felt was closest to where they were attacked...

Or perhaps the lord of this forest quietly erased their traces in this forest...

But no traces could be found, and the scent was quickly metabolized by the oak forest; neither of the two Tracking was effective.

Primal Tongue, Life Whisper, two Tracking...

None of the four skills were useful; Ailin had never encountered such a situation before...

This is getting a bit tricky...

"Don't worry too much," Vesemir rubbed Ailin's head. "A Witcher Master of the School of the Wolf, three of the strongest batch of Witchers in the history of the School of the Wolf to pass the Trial of the Mountains, it's impossible for a Leshen to leave no trace."

Ailin took a deep breath and composed himself, saying, "Dante, with your two apprentices, will either head towards the Kaer Trolde Mountains or towards the nearby Modian River..."

"Considering that Dante and the others all possess the Killer Whale Potion, and Huus escaped by water, let's head towards the Modian River first..."

"That's more like it!" Vesemir's lips curled into a smile as he patted him on the shoulder forcefully. "The most important qualities of a qualified witcher are never strength, signs, or skills, but rather cautious behavior and a sharp mind!"

"Follow me north!" he shouted to the other witchers.

"Ernie, Klar, keep an eye on your companions, maintain formation, and don't wait until the Quen Shield disappears before using the sign..."

"Understood, Master Vesemir!"

And so, the Good Girl released her aura from the sky, intimidating the other monsters.

The nine Witchers from the School of the Wolf cautiously made their way north to the Modian River.

Much later.

The moon peeks out from behind the clouds for the first time tonight, displaying its graceful and slender form.

"Buzzing~"

The menacing wolf head badges hummed in unison.