"Geralt, you're a veteran Witcher, you probably know someone at King Rhaegar's Court, right?" Cadmus asked with a smile. He was already tired of staying in his Magic Tower; he felt strong enough to protect himself now and finally wanted to show his ambition to the world.
Geralt looked at the boy and nodded. "I know the Hand of the King, Raymun Darry. I hunted a vampire in his domain, Plowman's Keep. A man fiercely loyal to the king and a powerful Lord in the Riverlands."
Cadmus looked at Geralt in surprise. He never imagined the witcher actually knew someone so important, but when you have skill, you realize you can meet the right people over a long life, especially one like Geralt's.
"Can you introduce me? I want to enter King Rhaegar's Court." Cadmus didn't hide his purpose. He didn't like to lie, especially to his friends, of which there were few: a mythical bird and a cold witcher.
"Are you sure? The Faith of the Seven is irritating toward magic users and even more prejudiced than they are against witchers." Geralt frowned and spoke in a solemn tone. The Faith of the Seven was the largest religious organization on the continent, with a history of nearly seven thousand years. It was a colossal monster that only House Targaryen at its peak had managed to fight.
"They'll need to pray a lot to their gods to face me." Cadmus said with a sarcastic tone. He didn't fear the Faith of the Seven at all, in fact, he wanted to confront them; otherwise, his political life would be too boring.
Geralt understood Cadmus's mentality. He too had once been young and full of ambition, but reality over the years had extinguished that youthfulness along with his ambition. Still, he said nothing to Cadmus. If young people listened to advice, they wouldn't be young.
Besides, everyone had different ambitions. He couldn't simply stop something just because he thought it would be too complicated for Cadmus.
"When do we leave?" Geralt asked in a calm, indifferent tone. For the sake of their friendship, he was willing to visit Raymun with Cadmus. At the same time, he also felt that having a friend at court would make many things easier.
"I'll store my Tower and we'll head to Harrenhal." Cadmus said with a big smile on his lips. He was truly excited, especially to see people's reactions when they saw magic for the first time.
Geralt looked at Cadmus with a confused expression. It was the first time the witcher had shown an expression beyond coldness, indifference, and annoyance. Store the Magic Tower? He really had to believe that such a large tower could be stored!?
Seeing Geralt's expression, Cadmus's lips curved into an amused and proud smile. Just as Newton Scamander had created his suitcase with countless Extension Charms and Atmospheric Charms, essentially creating an extremely large zoo, he could do something similar.
The only problem was shrinking the magic tower, but with a large amount of magical energy, he could do it, even if only for a short time.
"I'll surprise you, Geralt of Rivia, magic is simply the most interesting thing in the world!" Cadmus spread his arms and spoke in a tone full of admiration for the vastness of magic's power to change reality itself as if he were a god.
Geralt had to admit, the boy had a look that showed how much he loved what he did. A look he himself had when he'd just left Kaer Morhen. However, the disgust, contempt, and fear of people had made him lose that innocent look.
'I'm getting old and emotional like Vizimir.' Drinking all the contents of the glass, Geralt thought with a laugh.
Cadmus didn't hesitate any longer. He grabbed his suitcase and left the Magic Tower with Geralt. The suitcase was made of very beautiful dark green scaly leather, with gold details on the edges and a silver handle.
Although he knew this would happen, seeing the next scene truly shook Geralt. With a wave of the Wand, the entire Magic Tower began to shrink. The gigantic stone colossus disappeared in mere moments, transforming into a small black tower, resembling a child's toy.
After that, Cadmus picked up the Magic Tower from the ground and, under Geralt's stunned eyes, he opened the suitcase and climbed inside it with his whole body…
"Aren't wizards gods?" Geralt muttered to himself with a grunt. He could understand why the Church detested magic users, such powers could simply end the reverence people had for the gods.
And once someone ambitious enough appeared, it would be a great danger to the Church's hegemony over the people of Westeros.
Suddenly, a head emerged from the suitcase, it was Cadmus. He climbed out, and after pulling his leg from the suitcase, he crouched down and picked it up. Looking at Geralt, he said, "Don't underestimate magic, Geralt. Magic is someone's imagination and determination, once these two things come together, magic distorts reality itself."
"In other words, magic is imagination and how much you want something to happen. The limit is only yourself and nothing more."
Geralt nodded, feeling he understood a little more about the vastness of magic. He too wanted to be a wizard, but that was impossible. Before taking the Mutagen, he had no aptitude for magic, and after taking the Mutagen, his magical potential was so weak he could only perform magic through Signs.
In short, he had no talent, and what little talent he had was so insignificant that Wizards despised witchers, who didn't know how to use true magic.
(Note: The wizards Geralt was thinking of were the Wizards of Blood, Fire, Water, and any other element. In this world, wizards are divided into schools, each element has a school, and most are on the continent of Essos.)
"What about the Garden?" Geralt looked at the beautiful garden with a touch of regret. In his eyes, abandoning such a good place was a tremendous waste.
"You're more talkative, my witcher friend." Cadmus laughed and pointed at the garden. "But don't worry, I don't plan to abandon this place. No non-wizard can enter here, and even if they do, they'll be sent back by the spells I've placed."
How could Cadmus allow his home to be invaded? Besides, he planned to build a castle in this location, which would serve his future plans.
It wasn't that he wanted to be a teacher, but simply that he wanted to create a school and try, at least, to build up some resistance against forces that humanity could not face with armies alone.
Geralt looked at Cadmus and mounted his mare, Plotka. He didn't want to talk to this annoying boy anymore.
Cadmus shrugged and walked normally. Surprisingly, he could keep up with the horse's speed. If you looked closely at Cadmus's body, you'd see flows of air almost invisible around him, subtly propelling him forward.
Suddenly, a sharp cry sounded in the sky, and a beautiful, noble bird landed on Cadmus's shoulder, catching Geralt's attention.
As if noticing Geralt's gaze, Mitra looked with disgust at this lecherous man and turned her feathered head, as if looking at the Witcher for too long would dirty her vision or something.
Geralt just grunted in dissatisfaction. It wasn't the first time he'd been scorned by the bird, though he didn't know why he was scorned, but he didn't ask either. Would he lower himself so much as to try to convince a bird to like him!
"Be a good girl, Mitra." Cadmus said with an amused smile. The relationship between Mitra and Geralt was funny in his eyes. Mitra despised Geralt's lecherous thoughts, and Geralt despised arguing with a bird.
Mitra rubbed her feathered head against Cadmus's cheek and nodded, not much different from a human. After all, she was a phoenix, a being as intelligent as a human.
Turning to Geralt, Cadmus asked with a smile. "How long until we reach Harrenhal?"
Geralt thought for a moment and spoke calmly. "About nine days, if we stop to rest at inns and eat at taverns."
"No rush. It's the first time I've left—I want to enjoy every moment." Cadmus wasn't impatient. Studying for five years had forged his mind in the flames of knowledge. He had patience, determination, and the courage he never had in his past life.
Geralt looked at Cadmus with a touch of pity. The boy seemed to think the world was beautiful and lovely, maybe it was for some, but he knew it was a dirty world where prejudice, fear, and discrimination were like enormous mountains, especially for people who looked different, like him and Cadmus, who were a witcher and wizard, respectively.
However, Geralt didn't speak and let the boy feel firsthand how bad humanity could be.
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Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: The King's Court Mage