Lambert whistled. "Not bad. Did the old man tell you all that?"
"No, I read it in books. I've read all the books in the castle."
"When I was your age, I couldn't sit still..." Lambert suddenly grew wistful. "Waldher was like you. He liked to spend all day with his nose in a book, too. Back then, we used to joke that he should have gone to Oxenfurt University instead of Kaer Morhen."
Lynn asked in puzzlement, "Waldher?"
Lambert's tone grew heavy. "An apprentice who trained with me... When we went through the cyclops's cave, he didn't make it out."
Lynn sighed and said,
"Lambert, I'm sorry."
"It's all right. It's all in the past." Lambert patted his cheeks and forced a smile, trying to compose himself. "Back then, we all swam across the lake. You're lucky, kid. I've got a little boat. We can take it across."
Lynn didn't answer.
Lambert turned, glanced at him, and smiled. "Hey, kid, don't look like that. I'm not as fragile as you think. Life, death, and partings are common in our line of work. I've seen plenty. It's just..."
"I hope you survive, kid."
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the walk.
Not until a dilapidated boathouse and a small boat tied to the dock came into view.
Lambert was about to say something when his expression suddenly turned grave.
"Wait. Do you hear that?"
"I hear them, and I see them, too."
Lynn drew the silver sword from his back and took a fighting stance.
A great mass of shadows rapidly approached them from the distant lake.
"Harpies!"
Like other monsters, harpies were products of the Conjunction of the Spheres.
They preferred to nest in desolate, mountainous regions, making the rarely traveled Blue Mountains an ideal choice.
Harpies moved in flocks, usually ranging from a few to twenty. Though timid and cautious, they would attack without hesitation if they outnumbered their enemies.
Just like now.
Several harpies circling above the lake spotted two witchers on the nearby shore.
They communicated through their distinctive cries, then split into two groups.
One group swooped toward Lynn, the other toward Lambert.
"Fall back, kid!"
Lambert shouted.
To draw the harpies' attention.
He deliberately exposed himself in an open clearing.
Then, holding his sword in one hand, he stood motionless as a rock.
Only when a diving harpy came very close did he suddenly switch from a one-handed grip to holding the hilt with both hands.
Geralt had been right.
Lambert might have had a foul mouth.
But his abilities were beyond question.
His timing, in particular, was outstanding.
The harpy had intended to use the speed of its dive to attack its enemy.
Instead, Lambert turned it to his advantage.
Before the harpy's claws could rip his belly open, he cleaved through its shoulder and chest.
It gave a strange screech and plummeted like a kite with a severed string.
Lambert leaped backward, dodging the tumbling harpy as his left hand swiftly formed the gesture for the Aard Sign. He thrust his palm out, blasting another harpy diving down behind it.
Before that harpy could react, it seemed to strike an invisible fence. It tumbled once in midair, then slammed headfirst into the ground.
With a sharp crack, the harpy's head and neck twisted at an unnatural, grotesque angle.
It struggled on the ground for a moment, then soon stopped moving.
In mere moments, Lambert had dispatched two harpies.
Harpies had little intelligence, but the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm prompted the two still surrounding Lambert to react in entirely different ways.
One turned and flew away as fast as it could.
The other swept through a half circle, trying to slip behind Lambert for a surprise attack.
The School of the Wolf witcher medallion on Lambert's chest suddenly began to shake violently.
Without turning around, Lambert stepped aside, evading the harpy's ambush from behind.
Then the silver sword in his hand flashed coldly.
The next moment.
The harpy's body and head fell separately to the ground.
Lambert glanced at the fleeing harpy and, confirming that he couldn't catch it in time, gave up.
Just as he was about to help Lynn, he discovered to his surprise.
Lynn's battle was already over, too.
When Lambert told Lynn to fall back, Lynn did as he said.
He wasn't afraid, nor was he planning to run away.
He wanted to lead the harpies to a battlefield better suited to a witcher.
Because their bodies were built differently from humans', harpies used their ability to fly to dive swiftly at their enemies before returning to the sky.
On the ground, however, they became as clumsy as hens.
A small grove stood not far from the boathouse.
Rather than stepping backward, Lynn rolled, rapidly retreating into the grove.
One of the harpies following close behind failed to turn in time, and its wing struck a tall spruce.
It immediately lost its balance.
It fell from the sky and landed face-first.
By the time it climbed back up, a figure had already closed in before it.
The silver sword rose high, then slashed down hard.
Squelch!
The dull sound of a sharp blade cleaving flesh rang out.
The silver sword cut into the top of the harpy's head, nearly shearing off half its skull.
He planted a foot against the monster's chest, kicking it away as he pulled out his bloodstained silver sword.
Just then, a foul gust suddenly rose behind him, smelling like a mixture of rotting corpses and bird droppings.
Without thinking, he instinctively rolled aside to dodge.
Then his left hand formed the Igni Sign, sending a long, snakelike stream of flame toward the spot where he had just stood.
The mastery-level Sign was somewhat lacking in power, but fortunately, the harpies' own feathers served as kindling.
The smell of scorching immediately washed over him.
One harpy caught fire outright.
It fell to the ground and struggled continuously, trying to put out the flames on its body.
The other harpy only had its wings slightly scorched, but that was enough to keep it from returning to the sky.
Unaccustomed to being on the ground, it clumsily attacked Lynn again and again, and he easily dodged every attempt.
Lynn first staggered it with an Aard Sign, then took a thrusting stance.
The next moment.
He stamped hard against the ground.
Dirt flew.
His whole body shot forward like a crossbow bolt.
With all his strength channeled into the silver sword's blade, he easily pierced the last harpy's throat.
A warm current flowed into his body. Lynn called up his attribute panel and glanced at it.
Attribute points: 0 (2%) → 0 (19%)