Becoming the Lord of Velen was indeed a great temptation for Guilliman, and in some ways, it was also an opportunity to show his fangs.
Ever since he acquired the somewhat embarrassing nickname of "Princess's Lover," many factions and nobles with ill intentions seemed to have forgotten his strength as a Master Witcher, developing a certain misconception about him.
They believed that the esteemed Lord Guilliman was a useless man who rose to power by relying on women, possessing no real ability himself, just like a court jester, a male favorite who could be replaced at any time.
After all, most nobles in this world were such fools; despite having no real ability, they thought highly of themselves, utterly lacking self-awareness.
When they saw others rise to power, they instead believed that others had stolen what was theirs, harboring resentment.
Only a tangible threat could make them understand what reality was.
Assassinating a prince was a good warning.
Once the operation succeeded, even those nobles whose brains were filled with maggots would understand that offending a powerful Witcher like him would be life-threatening.
Guilliman rolled over, pinning Princess Adda beneath him, a teasing smile on his face.
He reached out and pinched the princess's small, delicate nose, then stroked her blood-red lips with a single finger, saying with a doting tone:
"Although a broken place like Velen is useless to me… "
"However, since my Princess has spoken, even if it means taking a loss, I will accept this commission."
"But now, it's your turn to serve me."
"I want to see how good the Princess's mouth skills are. My sword needs to be sharpened enough to kill for you, you know."
...The next day, after leaving the princess's bedchamber.
Guilliman's energy was once again focused on clearing the Evil God's Cave.
According to the intelligence he gathered from Adda, Foltest's army still needed a week to prepare.
If he carried out the assassination too early, it would force Vizima's army to act hastily, causing unnecessary losses.
So, he set the time for this operation for one week later.
Under the princess's coordination, a seasoned Vizima spy would infiltrate Maribor City in advance, map out the city and the prince's castle, and deliver it to him.
Once the assassination was complete, Guilliman could also use this spy to send a signal, notifying Foltest's army to move.
This was, after all, a somewhat dangerous mission, and Guilliman, being at the [Transcendent] tier, felt that his current potential was already sufficient, and it was time to strengthen his own hardware capabilities.
In terms of Signs, having a Level 4 Quen shield was barely enough.
However, upgrading to Level 5 would require two thousand Soul Power, an investment he was temporarily unwilling to make.
Therefore, the main focus of this enhancement was on Witcher swordsmanship.
Including the week before the apprenticeship banquet, as well as the subsequent days of exploration and slaughter.
He killed an average of over two hundred Merfolk daily, yielding a total of four hundred Soul Power. In ten days, the number of Merfolk in the Evil God's Cave decreased by nearly two thousand.
Now, all the small caves and other branching paths within the entire Evil God's Cave had been cleared.
Only one largest cave remained, with over two thousand Merfolk holed up inside.
That should be the location of the Evil God's Altar.
This was already the result of the Merfolk tribe consolidating their forces.
Because of Guilliman's brutal slaughter, almost all the elite Merfolk in Lake Vizima had been transferred to the Evil God's Cave, leaving only some old, weak, and sick Merfolk still reproducing in the lake.
According to his observations.
Among the remaining two thousand Merfolk, more than half were mutated Merfolk with body sizes similar to normal humans. They were also equipped with special bone armor and weapons, presumably the most elite part of this Merfolk tribe, with combat power several times that of ordinary Merfolk.
And among these elite Merfolk, there seemed to be Merfolk Priests who possessed spellcasting abilities, held special skull staffs, and could command battles.
Although their numbers were not large, the abilities of these Merfolk Priests were currently unknown. Guilliman did not act rashly, intending to gather more intelligence before making a decision.
The next attack on the Evil God's Cave was expected to be a full-scale assault.
And the next full-scale assault would no longer be a small-scale individual battle; facing such a large army, a powerful force must also be assembled to contend with them.
Leaving the Evil God's Cave, Guilliman looked at his total of over four thousand two hundred Soul Power and found a secluded spot on Black Gull Island to begin strengthening his swordsmanship.
Since he currently only knew two types of Witcher swordsmanship: Wolf School Witcher Swordsmanship LV1 and Viper School Swordsmanship LV3.
There was no hesitation; after taking a deep breath, he directly raised both swordsmanship styles to LV4.
[Viper School Swordsmanship], Level: LV4, Strength increased by 1.6, Agility increased by 1.6, Burst Power +10, Sword Skill: Adrenaline Burst, Special Skill: Shock (Level 2).
Current level cap LV9, advancing to the next level requires two thousand Soul Power.
[Wolf School Swordsmanship], Level: LV4, Strength increased by 1.2, Agility increased by 2.0, Coordination +10, Sword Skill: Sword Dance, Special Skill: Disarm (Level 2).
Current level cap LV9, advancing to the next level requires two thousand Soul Power.
A total investment of two thousand seven hundred Soul Power directly increased Guilliman's Strength attribute by two points, while his Agility attribute increased even more, by 2.8, nearly three times that of an ordinary person.
In terms of Strength and Agility attributes alone, he was already five to six times that of an ordinary person, and should be on par with Geralt or Letho in their prime.
Not only that, the improvement in Wolf School Witcher Swordsmanship also granted Guilliman a divine skill for clearing hordes, [Sword Dance], and another combat technique similar to the Viper School's [Shock], called [Disarm].
The Wolf School, where Geralt belonged, could be said to be the school with the fewest shortcomings among all schools, and also the one with the most complete inheritance of the Witcher order.
Therefore, under the deduction and improvement of countless Wolf School predecessors, the characteristic of Wolf School swordsmanship was balance.
It does not possess the explosive power of the Viper School, nor the sense of strength of the Bear School, nor the agile killing techniques of the Cat School, dancing on the blade's edge.
However, Wolf School swordsmanship boasts the highest survival rate in intense combat, and is the most effective swordsmanship for harming enemies while protecting oneself.
It is also known as the legendary steady, conservative style.
Therefore, when Wolf School swordsmanship is practiced to a high level, it gains the [Sword Dance] skill, which can inflict large-scale damage on enemies while protecting oneself when surrounded by many foes.
And the Wolf School's [Disarm] technique is also the essence of the [Sword Dance] ability, somewhat akin to the Chinese Tai Chi concept of "four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds," using an opponent's strength against them.
It can not only use the longsword to defend against ranged attacks like arrows, but also is the most defensive and most suitable sword style for attrition warfare in sword duels.
Unfortunately, Guilliman's relationship with Gede and others has not yet reached the point where they can teach each other their school's techniques.
Otherwise, he would be very interested in the "New Year's Greetings Swordsmanship" from the game, which slays gods and Buddhas alike.
As for the Cat School's killing swordsmanship, the assassin's swordsmanship, he naturally wanted to learn it too.
However, the Cat School Witchers, who also live in the south, rarely come to the chaotic north, and no one knows when they will have the opportunity to meet them.
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