Chapter 42: Eithné's doubts

The moment Lann received the cup, the system beep sounded again.

[Source of magical power discovered. Absorption will grant ability points.]

Lann could barely contain his laughter. There wasn't much to say; he had been waiting for this moment.

The warm magic power poured into his body, exhausted of magic energy, and the Cat School medallion on his chest shook more and more.

[Magic power source absorption, ability point +1.]

When Lann absorbed the power of the Source, the Brokilon Water in the goblet instantly lost its original power and turned into ordinary water.

'Good' Lann thought to himself. 'If it's according to the original plot of 'The Witcher', the dryads have an entire spring of Brokilon water. Later, when Geralt was seriously injured and brought here, they even soaked him in it to heal him, which shows what a large amount they had.'

This is a massive amount of ability points, although it is not currently available to Lann. But now that he knew it, there would always be the possibility that he would obtain the water from Brokilon later.

While Lan was thinking to himself, everyone else in the room had different reactions.

Geralt after he heard Lann say: 'The sword of destiny is two-edged, Eithné.' He strode forward and knocked over the cup. At first, Ciri was fine after drinking the water in the goblet, which made him think that Eithné had replaced the water in the cup to save Ciri from the change.

But looking at the current situation, this is not the case. If it was really ordinary water, why would Eithné bother to let Lann drink it? The furious Eithné was clearly ready to kill.

What's in the cup is definitely authentic Brokilon water! Geralt didn't know what the water was like. It might have some magic, or it might be some weird toxin or hallucinogen. The point is that women who drink it will be converted into dryads, while men will be killed, without exceptions!

Although Geralt managed to knock down the cup, it was too late because Lann had already drunk the water. He then looked angrily at Queen Dryad.

'It's over.' He thought and then closed his eyes. Another child died because of the dryads, and it was also the earl of Cintra. The century-old conflict between humans and dryads deepened once again.

The witcher walked towards Ciri, wanting to take the girl away from here so that she wouldn't see the terrible sight. But then he suddenly felt something was wrong. The girl didn't cry.

Turning around, he saw that the young knight was still standing there without any convulsions, pain, or death.

Eithné ignored the witcher's impolite behavior, and her anger seemed to dissipate all of a sudden. He simply took the silver goblet and took a sip, then looked at the goblet, then at Lann, and finally at Ciri.

Then she looked at the witcher.

"Uh... Eithné?" Geralt searched for words, feeling that he had seen too many unexpected things today.

He may really not understand the Dryad Queen. She had forgiven Ciri, she also forgave Lann, although her methods were somewhat strange, but the results were good.

Geralt said tentatively: "Thank you, Eithné."

Queen Dryad this time ignored him and instead said: "There's still a little left, Geralt." She stretched out her hand. "Do you dare to drink?"

Geralt was stunned, not knowing what the other party meant.

"You know too little about destiny." The dryad said bitterly: "Too little, witcher. Really too little. You don't understand the overall situation at all. Are you thanking me? Do you think this is just a game? So follow your logic to the end. Show me how human truth triumphs and your theory is the truth. This is Brokilon water and there is still some left. Do you dare to drink it?"

The dryad lost her expression after Lann drank the water of Brokilon, but now she spoke in a sad tone. Her words unnerved Geralt, but he hesitated only for a moment.

Even the real water of Brokilon will not have any impact on him. Witchers are completely resistant to toxic substances and hallucinogenic liquids. Besides, how could it be the Water of Brokilon? Ciri drank, Lan drank, and nothing happened. He took the goblet with both hands, met the dryad's eyes and then drank the contents of the goblet.

The ground beneath his feet began to shake without warning, as if the whole world was pressing on his back. The huge oak tree began to spin and tremble. Geralt groped around with numb hands and managed to open his eyes, but his eyelids were as heavy as marble coffin lids. Eithné's eyes shone like mercury, the others' eyes were emerald green. The medallion around his neck buzzed and vibrated.

With everyone watching, Geralt drank the water of Brokilon. And amidst Ciri's screams, he fell.

The Dryad Queen watched all this expressionlessly, and she picked up the silver goblet from the ground. After hearing Ciri's scream, she pointed to Geralt and explained: "The witcher is resistant to magic and will not die."

Finishing speaking, Eithné sat down exhausted, everything that had happened today was too fantastic for her. She seemed to understand, but at the same time, she couldn't fully comprehend it.

"Take him, leave with him, and leave immediately! Braenn will guide you. As for other things, we will solve them when my sister returns."

Braenn, who still didn't come out of her shock, took the three of them back to the cabin. The dryad felt that her world was shaken.

"Pack it up, I'll prepare a wooden frame for you so that you can take Gwynbleidd easily." After hesitating for a while, she said again. "Mona."

"What?"

"When Gwynbleidd wakes up, tell him that my previous name was Mona."

Lann looked at the honey-haired dryad and whispered: "No problem, miss Mona."

The dryad shook her head. "I am not a lady, and I am no longer Mona. I just want you to know. You can call me Braenn."

Back at the cabin, Ciri told Freixenet the good news that she could leave, but the Baron didn't show any expression of joy, but had a weird and awkward expression on his face, not knowing how to respond.

He touched his throat, probably because they gave him the medicine again when Lann and the others left.

"I may not be able to leave yet."

Ciri looked at the Baron's body wrapped in leaves, and said regretfully: "Yes, you are so seriously injured, I'm sorry. But it doesn't matter, we will pick you up again when you are healed."

Ciri was very considerate, but she didn't fully understand the meaning of the baron's words.

"That's not what I meant." The baron looked at Ciri, as if he didn't know what to say.

Lann understood and reached out to gently cover Ciri's ears. This action made the little girl very dissatisfied, and she kept twisting and struggling.

Lann said: "Let me guess, the dryads need you to stay to help them have a few little dryads, right?"

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