章 268: 269. The Spirit-Summoning Ritual.
What just... happened?
Vesemir clenched his fists and glanced to his right. The end of the long staff, which was stuck diagonally into the ground, wobbled again, shaking off some fallen pine needles.
Did I just get disarmed?
He looked up at the soft, white clouds in the sky, a bit confused, trying to recall what had happened, but his thoughts were interrupted.
"Want to try again?" The voice of the young witcher came from behind him.
Only then did Vesemir come back to his senses and turn to look at Allen.
The azure pupils and icy blue whites of Allen's eyes appeared particularly strange and mysterious in that moment. The witcher master remained silent for two seconds before grabbing the long staff stuck in the ground next to him. He took a deep breath and said: "Of course."
Since passing the Trial of the Grasses and becoming a witcher, he had never experienced a situation where his weapon was knocked away without him even realizing what had happened.
After taking a deep breath, he focused his mind. Vesemir stared intently at Allen.
The young witcher, however, remained relaxed, lightly holding the staff with two fingers of one hand. With his free left hand, he gestured to the witcher master to attack. His entire body was full of weak points, completely defenseless. But Vesemir no longer dared to be careless.
He took a deep breath, letting the abundant oxygen mix into his bloodstream, heightening his focus.
The mutated organs then stimulated his kidneys to secrete adrenaline, causing his heart to beat faster, sending more energy to his brain.
This was a small trick he had developed over years of combat to increase the sharpness of his senses. As Allen often described it, it was like a temporary 5% boost in perception.
And then.
In a split second, Vesemir suddenly pushed off with his right foot, charging towards the young witcher at lightning speed, stopping just half a meter away from him.
At this moment.
Allen still maintained that relaxed, harmless expression. But Vesemir didn't dare blink or move his body. He was afraid that if Allen slipped out of his sight, the young witcher would vanish entirely.
"Whoosh~"
The wooden staff sliced through the air, aiming directly for Allen's head.
In the next second.
Vesemir saw it!
Allen's ice-blue eyes gleamed.
The long staff, which had been pointing at the ground, was suddenly gripped tightly. Then, Allen ducked to dodge Vesemir's attack and abruptly thrust the staff upward. As it swung through the air, his other hand also grabbed the end of the staff.
"Whoosh~"
The speed of the staff's swing doubled, striking directly at Vesemir's wrist. All of this happened in less than half a second. Although the witcher master had been fully focused and saw everything clearly, he had no time to react.
His body felt like it was stuck in quicksand, moving with extreme sluggishness. It was constantly fighting against his brain.
Vesemir knew this was because his body's reaction speed couldn't keep up with his perception. His physical condition had always been slower than his brain's reflexes, or rather, his perception ability far exceeded his strength and agility. In the past, this had been an advantage.
Because no one had ever pushed him to this extent, and he never sought out monsters or people for a beating.
But today was different...
He could only watch helplessly as the staff rapidly approached his wrist. The only thing he could do was tighten his grip on the staff in his hands.
"Bang~"
Vesemir's wrist was struck. The surface layer of his Quen shield immediately shimmered, with the pale golden light flickering violently. If he hadn't been prepared this time...
The tremendous force, far stronger than before drinking potions, nearly caused a repeat of the earlier scene where his weapon was knocked away.
"I lost again!"
Vesemir sighed, throwing the long staff down into the ground. He was someone who could accept defeat.
Or rather.
A witcher who has lived a long life, at least among the Wolf School, doesn't have too much pride when it comes to their combat abilities.
After all.
When taking on a contract, you either succeed or you don't. Powerful monsters won't go easy on witchers because of their pride or mistakes.
Therefore.
Although losing to his apprentice was a bit frustrating, it wasn't unbearable.
At this point.
Vesemir noticed that the ice-blue color in Allen's eyes had faded significantly, almost disappearing by the time he finished speaking. He thoughtfully rubbed his wrist, which still felt phantom pain, and curiously asked: "What effects do those two potions, one red and one blue, have?"
Having fully accepted his defeat to his apprentice, and now relaxed, he became more curious about the potions' effects.
"Clink~ Clink~"
Allen didn't hurry to answer. After taking a couple of deep breaths, he first pulled out two doses of Alghoul decoction and Blizzard from his potion pouch and handed them to Vesemir. Then, he quickly pulled out some White Honey to detoxify himself, took two big gulps, broke out into a sweat, and finally let out a long breath, feeling revived.
In practice.
The combination of Alghoul decoction and Blizzard turned out to be even more powerful than expected. It enabled Allen, who was otherwise powerless, to completely overwhelm Vesemir, leaving the witcher master without any way to fight back. The increase in power was truly terrifying.
However.
Compared to the side effects he had observed last night, during intense combat, it only took one or two minutes for the massive adrenaline surge to accumulate toxins...
The uncontrollable, violent heartbeat led to intense chest pains.
Additionally.
His brain felt like it was about to burst, with his temples throbbing as if they were about to explode.
"Thankfully, I sparred with Vesemir first. If I had used this in real combat, it would have been a huge weakness."
Allen mentally assessed the pros and cons: "For now, unless absolutely necessary, I should use the two potions separately. Once my physique improves, I can try using them together again..."
"Are you alright, Allen?" Vesemir's concerned voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I'm fine." The young witcher lightly shook his head.
Then he pointed to the Alghoul and Blizzard potions in Vesemir's hands, explaining the effects and side effects of each. He particularly emphasized that during intense combat, the side effects would be greatly amplified.
Vesemir listened to Allen's explanation, nodding from time to time as he examined the potions in his hands.
Shock and admiration occasionally flashed in his amber cat-like eyes.
As a proper witcher master.
Adrenaline didn't have much use for him, but in hunting powerful monsters, every bit of help was crucial.
He used it often. The method he used to boost his perception during the second attack was a more advanced application of adrenaline.
A temporary 5% boost wasn't low for him. It could even be called a personal secret technique. But Allen's Alghoul decoction could use adrenaline to temporarily boost overall physical stats by 20%.
And it lasted for three hours!
Vesemir wasn't sure what to say...
He had a feeling.
Alghouls might soon join drowners as the second favorite of the Wolf School.
As for "Blizzard"...
Although the concept of "time slowing" was hard for him to grasp, he had a feeling...
The potion "Blizzard" allows Allen to surpass his limits, enabling his body to keep up with his enhanced senses…
Though the near-divine effects were somewhat beyond his comprehension.
"…Regarding the points of caution for these two potions, that's about it…" Allen asked, "Master Vesemir, do you want to give it a try now?"
Vesemir looked up at the sky and suppressed his eager curiosity: "Not now, it's getting late. Let's go have lunch first, or else all the good food in the canteen will be gone…"
"Join me?" the Witcher master invited.
Allen shook his head and replied, "No, Lysa always brings me lunch at noon. It should be around that time now."
"Oh-ho~" Vesemir clicked his tongue in admiration. "A temple priest personally delivering meals to you? I'm envious. Your treatment in the temple is far better than mine."
The young Witcher ignored his sarcastic tone.
"This is for detoxification." After some thought, Allen threw two bottles of White Honey to the Witcher master from his reagent pouch. Then he headed towards the sanctuary.
Vesemir had become his experienced test subject, the kind who even writes his own experiment reports. So, Allen didn't bother to explain further and just left. However, he hadn't walked far before—
"Allen!"
Vesemir suddenly called out to him. But when Allen turned back, the Witcher master hesitated for a long while before awkwardly saying: "The School of the Cat may be full of scum, but their swordsmanship philosophy still has some merit…"
"When dealing with humans or humanoids, like elves, dwarves, and halflings, it's particularly effective!"
Was he worried about me because I abandoned the Cat School's two-handed sword after my first battle?
Allen definitely wouldn't give up because of that.
On the contrary.
It was precisely through that battle that he deeply recognized the advantages of the Cat School's swordsmanship, much like how different blade oils have miraculous effects on various types of monsters. However, out of curiosity about Vesemir's sudden change in attitude, Allen turned and asked: "Why bring this up now?"
After a few seconds of silence, Vesemir replied: "Didn't you say that the Wild Hunt is actually made up of pointy-eared folk?"
"So, the techniques of those scum should still be practiced and used as they should be..."
"And also…"
The Witcher master sighed: "Nowadays, the Witcher's enemies are no longer just monsters…"
----------------------------
After parting with Vesemir, Allen returned to the sanctuary, where he coincidentally ran into Lysa at the entrance. It was a bit unfortunate, though—ever since Allen caught her hopping around and humming a song that day, he hadn't seen that lively side of the young priestess again.
Moreover…
Perhaps it was because of Ianna's teasing earlier that morning, but Lysa didn't chat with him as she used to.
After handing him the basket with his lunch, her face flushed, she quickly left, almost as if there were a monster inside the sanctuary.
After lunch.
Allen went into the deep forests of the Mahakam Mountains behind the sanctuary and tested Moon Dust and Dragon's Dream.
And, well, what can be said?
Dragon's Dream wasn't just an ordinary bomb that couldn't destroy monster nests, like in the game. It actually had two modes to choose from when thrown.
One was a bomb with a blast radius of about three meters—pretty standard. But this required a slight modification by adding a flint.
The other mode, however, was much more interesting and useful.
Without any modification, when Dragon's Dream was thrown, it released a cloud of highly flammable but somewhat dense gas in a very short time. This gas was quite sticky, and regular natural winds couldn't blow it away. Yet, once it hit the target, the gas could easily be carried along with the target as it moved. This characteristic was intriguing.
Allen could easily throw multiple Dragon's Dream bombs to stack their power.
The charred brown bear in the Mahakam wilderness was proof that the power of a bombing kiting tactic was indeed formidable.
Of course.
This brown bear also once again proved a fundamental truth: while fur might resist fire, the valuable loot on a furry creature's body is usually also weak to fire…
Compared to the unexpectedly effective Dragon's Dream, Moon Dust was a bit disappointing.
Not only was its explosion weak, akin to paper confetti used in weddings, but the silver dust it released had no impact on ordinary creatures. This one would have to wait for a chance to be tested on specters, vampires, or werewolves.
Still.
Due to the potential dangers surrounding the May Day festival, Allen added this weak bomb to his refining schedule.
---------------------
Once Allen had roughly sorted out the effects of the new formulas, his life became more routine again. Especially after Ianna spent two days organizing the May Day event.
Allen's daily routine consisted of studying rituals with the high priest in the sanctuary's statue hall, and during his free time, he refined Moon Dust and Specter Oil.
During this period.
He also learned two new rituals: Fire Divination and the Spirit Summoning Ritual.
[Name: Fire Divination]
[Type: Magical Ritual]
[Requirements: Ritual Studies LV5]
[Materials: Small Fire Pit1, Fifth Essence2, Ashes2, Quicklime5, Raven Eye Wood2, Wax1]
[Function: Gaze into the burning flames to witness events currently taking place.]
[Note: Beware of the flames and the shadows dancing within the light.]
Fire Divination is a form of divination similar to Water Divination. However, Fire Divination is more dangerous, harder to maintain, and cannot peer into the past. But when it comes to divining events that are currently happening, its effectiveness is several times greater than Water Divination, and it's much cheaper.
[Name: Spirit Summoning Ritual]
[Type: Magical Ritual]
[Requirements: Ritual Studies LV5]
[Materials: A small amount of blood from the deceased or their relative1, Mandrake Root1, Cave Mushroom2, Wolfsbane2, Sulfur*2]
[Function: Communicate with the soul of the deceased. The spirit summoned by the ritual retains its pre-death perception and memory, including the circumstances of its death.]
[Note: Unless the spirit willingly returns or is killed again, it will not return to the land of the dead.
The Spirit Summoning Ritual can summon all souls within a 20-meter radius that share the same bloodline. It is not recommended to perform this ritual in a family graveyard.]
Rituals and magic related to the dead and spirits have always been heavily taboo.
Not only are necromantic arts strictly forbidden by the Conclave of Mages on the Northern Continent, but such spells and rituals are also considered blasphemous by the major temples of the gods. However, for reasons unknown, Ianna still taught Allen this ritual, though she did not require him to perform it like the others.
When Allen asked why, she cryptically replied: "For the dead, truth and dignity are often more important than rest."
At the time, Allen couldn't quite understand. Truth and dignity are more important than rest…
Is that really something a high priest of the gods would say?
Also…
They've only known each other for a few days, their relationship doesn't seem close enough for this, does it?
....
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270. Yennefer Doesn't Feel Pain at All.
271. A Dying Man.
272. The May Festival King.
273. One Wave After Another.
274. The Dust of Heroes.
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