Chapter 8: Lambert's Surprise

The next day was a clear, fine day, and also a good day for a competition.

Last night, Wayne made a bold statement that he would challenge Geralt, Lambert, and Eskel, the three brothers of the School of the Wolf, to prove that he already had the strength to graduate.

The Witcher mentor Vesemir also agreed to his request.

After breakfast, Lambert was already somewhat impatient to urge everyone to go to the training ground and prepare to start the competition.

He was an impatient person, and now he was thinking about teaching this young junior a good lesson, letting this ignorant Witcher apprentice give up his fantasies and practice his skills well in Kaer Morhen, instead of being eager to graduate and go down the mountain, only to die in some unknown monster's lair.

In the training ground, Wayne and Lambert stood opposite each other, while Vesemir, Geralt, and Eskel all stood on the periphery of the training ground with great interest.

The somewhat introverted Geralt even made a bet with Vesemir and Eskel on who would win.

"Betting on Wayne to win, one to three."

"Betting on Lambert to win, two to one."

"How about it? Do you want to place a bet? At least fifty Orens."

Eskel couldn't help but twitch his mouth when he heard this minimum bet, and said in a muffled voice:

"It seems you earned a lot this year, Geralt? Being handsome is popular."

"However, I also have a little money left. Fifty Orens, I bet on Lambert. He has been a Witcher for over sixty years, so he shouldn't lose to a little kid."

Geralt revealed a smile and then looked at Vesemir, asking with great interest: "How about it, old man?"

"Do you want to place a bet too?"

The old Witcher hummed lightly. As the person who had spent the most time with Wayne, he knew very well that although this young half-elf was still very immature, he generally did things with a sense of proportion and rarely did things he wasn't sure about.

Just like all the training missions he had set in the past, no matter how difficult, Wayne would do his best to complete them with quality and quantity, as if completing his verbal missions would earn him some important reward, full of action and determination.

This was also one of the reasons why Vesemir valued this Witcher apprentice so much.

"I bet Wayne will win."

He took out a money bag and threw it to Geralt, analyzing seriously: "I know Wayne's talent very well. He rarely does things he isn't sure about. I bet he wins."

Geralt opened the money bag and saw that there were actually one hundred Orens inside. Thinking of the one-to-three odds, he suddenly felt bad.

Although the White Wolf could be considered one of the more carefree Witchers, as an old oil-slick who likes eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, his expenses were much higher than those of ordinary Witchers.

Thinking of his wallet, he also hurriedly focused his attention on the training ground, praying in his heart that his good brother would be reliable and not capsize in the gutter.

And at this time, the battle between Wayne and Lambert also began.

Lambert, with short hair and a sarcastic smile on his face, danced a few sword flowers with an unsharpened steel sword. He assumed the offensive stance of the School of the Wolf's swordplay and said to Wayne:

"Hey! Wayne kid, it's not too late to admit defeat now. I really won't show mercy."

Wayne took a light breath, also assumed the offensive stance of the School of the Wolf with his steel sword, revealed a serious smile, and said:

"Senior Lambert, I'm going to start attacking. A reminder: my speed is quite fast."

After saying this, Wayne exerted force throughout his body, his figure turned into a flash of lightning, and in the blink of an eye, he rushed in front of Lambert.

The steel sword in his hand danced at extreme speed, turning into three afterimages that were impossible to see, stabbing directly at Lambert's throat, chest, and wrist.

Lambert and the onlookers, Vesemir and others, were shocked in their hearts, because at this moment, Wayne's speed far exceeded his performance in daily training.

Although Witchers are called superhumans, their physical quality has not reached the level of monsters, at most two or three times that of ordinary people.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The steel swords collided. Facing the rapidly stabbing sword edge, Lambert was calm in the face of danger. Decades of combat experience were not for nothing. He swung his steel sword and accurately blocked Wayne's three stabs.

However, before he could make any counterattack, more attacks enveloped his body. Wayne's swordplay was like a storm—precise, fierce, and continuous.

For a time, the sound of steel swords clashing together became one, ding-ding-dang-dang, without any pause.

"Lambert was actually suppressed by Wayne."

Outside the field, Eskel was somewhat stunned. He turned to Geralt and asked: "What's going on? Why is the little guy's speed so fast?"

"This sword-swinging speed has far exceeded what we were like when we were Witcher apprentices."

Geralt also had a solemn expression and didn't answer. He already felt that the Oren coins in his pocket were about to leave him.

Sure enough, the storm-like confrontation lasted for about two minutes. Lambert was in a suppressed state throughout the whole process. Facing Wayne's attacks that pointed at vital points, sweat even appeared on his forehead.

You know, the energy consumed by defense is far greater than that of offense, and Wayne's sword speed at this time was almost the fastest Lambert had encountered in these years, and it was continuous. Just after blocking this sword, another sword had already stabbed at other vital points.

This made him dare not have any distraction and could only struggle to resist.

However, defense will eventually lead to mistakes. When Wayne saw that Lambert's stamina had decreased, he immediately aimed at an opening, feinted a move, exerted force with his feet, rushed into Lambert's arms, and forcibly took a hack with his shoulder armor.

Just when Lambert wanted to withdraw his force so as not to hurt Wayne's shoulder, an unsharpened steel sword was already steadily pressed against his throat.

Seeing this, Lambert gave a wry smile, put down the steel sword in his hand, and muttered: "Damn, Wayne kid, your sword-swinging speed is too fast, even fast to the point of being abnormal."

"It's like those Witchers of the School of the Cat recorded in books. Their swordplay is very suitable for dealing with humanoid creatures."

"Could it be that your mutation is special?"

Wayne smiled slightly. Indeed, although every Witcher of the School of the Wolf is a swordplay master, their swordplay is ultimately designed to deal with monsters.

Unlike those knights or swordsmen, who were created specifically for war and killing, which is why they were caught off guard when facing Wayne's rapid attacks.

Now, Wayne's swordplay level had reached level five, and the effect was a 25% increase in swordplay power. This was not an ordinary improvement, but an all-around enhancement of one-fourth on his original swordplay level.

Plus his professional specialty, Cat's Agility, which increases attack speed by 25%, it's no wonder that the Witchers present were shocked by his attack speed.

Wayne turned his head to look at the others of the School of the Wolf, thought for a moment, and explained:

"I'm not too sure either. It should be that the elven blood in my body has played a role."

"It makes my reaction speed faster and faster, but the growth in strength is somewhat lacking."

"I plan to practice archery in the future. I have a feeling that I should also be very talented in archery."

Lambert was stunned upon hearing this. For so many years, Witchers have used bombs, crossbows, traps, and even often used poison, but very few people use bows and arrows.

This thing requires more technique, also requires maintenance of weapons, and it is not very convenient to carry.

However, he didn't think much about it, but sighed and turned to Vesemir and said:

"Old man, I lost."

"Wayne's swordplay has already been recognized by me."

Expert level mission: 【Graduation】 completed 1/3.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 9 =====