บท 194: 195. Alzur Tower.
"Cosimo Malaspina and Alzur were both revered masters, achieving remarkable feats in hybridization, mutation, and genetic modification."
"But the sorcerers from their line isolated themselves from the world. After creating witchers, they either withdrew into secluded research or died at the hands of the creatures they summoned and modified, gradually fading into obscurity."
"Ban Ard has very little organized knowledge about hybridization, mutation, and genetic modification."
"So many sorcerers here have an unhealthy curiosity and desire for the witchers, who represent the pinnacle of mutation and genetic modification."
As Robin walked, deliberately choosing less crowded paths, he explained to them what to be cautious of in the academy. The faces of the young witchers darkened.
Curiosity? That was an understatement!
Nearly every sorcerer, young and old, looked at them like they were lambs to be slaughtered or lab rats for experimentation. No one liked being stared at with such predatory, dissecting eyes.
Vesemir, however, remained calm, as if he'd expected this all along. Whenever sorcerers with ill intentions got too close or pointed fingers, Vesemir simply glared them away.
Of course...
Vesemir had mentioned before that he had taken a contract here.
"Stay away from Ban Ard. They do not welcome witchers there."
This was something Vesemir had warned them about the first time he taught them how to process drowner materials. They hadn't expected, however, that just a few months later, they would be forced to enter this uncomfortable place for the sake of their school. Allen turned his head to look.
Back then, Hughes had high expectations for the sorcerers. But now?
"I hate this place!" Hughes muttered under his breath, his brow furrowed.
After walking with Robin for about ten minutes, they finally reached their destination.
"This is the arena, where you'll be competing tomorrow!" Robin gestured behind him.
Allen looked ahead.
It resembled an ancient Roman arena but was much smaller, likely able to hold only one or two hundred spectators at most.
Robin led them inside.
The main platform of the arena was already set up with a large velvet seat and a sunshade. Behind the platform hung a shield-shaped banner, featuring a massive black unicorn on a yellow background.
Luxurious iron-framed oak chairs lined both sides of the platform.
"Henselt will definitely sit in the center tomorrow. I'm just not sure which seat will be reserved for the chief."
Allen pondered quietly.
As they entered, Robin adjusted his glasses and continued introducing the arena to the witchers: "This was originally the place where students practiced combat magic, and occasionally, magical competitions with rewards were held here."
"It's one of the few places where the overly energetic sorcerer apprentices can blow off steam."
"But the arena has been closed for about a month now, in preparation for tomorrow's competition, so..."
"So, even the sorcerer apprentices who aren't interested in experimenting on us don't have a good opinion of us?" Allen interjected.
Robin shrugged.
"You're not wrong."
"But with the competition tomorrow, no one will go too far. At most, there might be some pranks."
"And honestly, they treat you and the witchers from the Cat School the same."
"However, among those I mentioned earlier, there may be a few who don't care about the rules."
"Of course..."
"Given that tomorrow's competition is hosted by the king, the chances of such things happening are small, but you can't be too careful."
The witchers all nodded simultaneously, indicating they understood.
"Monster hunts, sword duels, and brawls."
"The competition tomorrow follows the usual format. The monster you'll be hunting is a drowner. The only difference this time is the order of events..."
"Normally, the sword duel, which is the second event, has been moved to the first."
Robin paused.
"How calculating!" Vesemir sneered.
From the information Robin had shared, it was clear that the scum from the Cat School planned to exploit their age and experience advantage to severely injure or even kill his apprentices in the sword duels. This way, they could win the second competition without a fight.
Cheating, yet still playing petty games—utterly disgraceful!
Hearing this, Allen knew Robin was concerned for them and reassured him: "Don't worry. We're confident."
Seeing Allen's confidence, Robin said no more. After Allen and the others had finished inspecting the arena, Robin turned and led them toward the gate.
"The place where you'll be staying is nearby..."
"In fact, if you'd come to find me right when you arrived, you wouldn't have needed to stay outside. The academy would have arranged accommodations for you."
"I'd prefer to stay outside," Fred muttered.
The thought of being stared at by so many ill-intentioned people for ten days gave him goosebumps. Hughes and Bond nodded in agreement. Robin chuckled but said nothing more, leading them away from the arena.
------------------
Ban Ard Academy had a long history.
It was the oldest magical school on the Northern Continent, with tall, sharp, ivy-covered towers scattered everywhere.
According to Robin, Each tower in the academy had its own name. They were generally named after a sorcerer who had made outstanding contributions in their field. Some towers, however, were named in honor of legendary sorcerers who had passed away.
Like Alzur.
Although he was not an alumnus of the academy and may never have even set foot here, Ban Ard still had a tower named after him—Alzur Tower. It was a tribute to the contributions he made to humanity by creating the witchers, helping them establish themselves in the North.
Whether intentional or not, The witchers were assigned to stay in Alzur Tower. Of course, The tower was also conveniently located very close to their competition venue, about a three-minute walk.
"Always remember who your creator is!"
As they reached the base of Alzur Tower, Vesemir suddenly said in a neutral tone.
"Huh?" Allen was momentarily stunned.
"That's what a sorcerer said to me the last time I was here."
"And then?" Allen asked curiously.
Vesemir smirked.
"Then I took two steps forward and punched the sorcerer in the stomach, knocking out both his breakfast and lunch."
"Weak sorcerers love to make snide remarks like that..."
"The funny thing is, they call themselves the creators of witchers but can't even block a punch from their so-called creations."
"And then?" Robin, almost as if he wasn't a sorcerer himself, leaned in curiously.
"Nothing happened," Vesemir shook his head. "Ban Ard needed me, and the sorcerer brought it on himself. What could happen?"
"Ban Ard didn't punish me, nor did they punish the sorcerer."
"It was like nothing had happened. I completed the contract, got paid, and left..."
During their idle conversation, Robin led them to the second floor of the tower: "These are your rooms. The witchers from the Cat School are staying on the third floor."
With that, Robin was about to open the door to show Allen and the others inside. As the wooden door creaked open slightly,
Buzzz...
The witchers' school emblems simultaneously hummed. Allen immediately pulled Robin back. The magic within him flowed, and with his thumb and index finger slightly bent, he traced a triangle in the air.
A spherical, pale golden shield instantly enveloped both of them.
"Boom~"
A loud explosion echoed inside the room. The next second, a gust of wind blew from inside the door, and green smoke surged out like a tide. Once the smoke dissipated, Robin observed for a few more seconds before patting Allen on the shoulder: "It's fine, it's a diarrhea spell—just a little prank."
"As long as you don't inhale the green smoke, you'll be fine."
"But Allen…"
Robin glanced at the pale golden magical shield that completely protected him, surprised: "What kind of sign is this?"
"I've never seen it before."
Allen withdrew the Quen sign but hadn't had a chance to answer.
"This is the Quen sign!" Vesemir's surprised voice echoed.
"Quen?" Robin scratched his head, looking at Hughes and Fred, who were occasionally emitting a faint yellow glow. "Isn't Quen supposed to be like theirs?"
Even though Robin had once been an apprentice sorcerer of the Wolf School, he'd stayed at Kaer Morhen for so long that he didn't know about the advanced uses of the Wolf School's signs. But he wasn't interested, so after mumbling a bit, he didn't bother asking for an explanation. Hughes, Bond, and Fred were also curious, but since the sign's level was too advanced for them, they didn't feel much of an impact.
After all, Allen had always been powerful. For a genius witcher like Allen to achieve what others couldn't was completely normal, wasn't it?
But Vesemir thought differently. He was very familiar with the stage Allen's Quen sign was at, so his golden cat eyes were wide with astonishment. Though Allen had used Quen during the recent hunt for drowners and ghouls, in normal form, it was hard to tell the proficiency of the Quen sign. Moreover, none of those drowners or ghouls had even landed an attack.
Although Vesemir had noticed the color of Allen's Quen shield seemed a bit deeper, he hadn't paid much attention to it.
But today…
Vesemir stared at the pale golden shield covering Allen and Robin. He found it hard to believe.
"An active shield"—he certainly knew this advanced technique, but it had taken him twenty years to learn…
And it took him another three years to perfect it, evolving from a rough, irregular eggshell to the perfect spherical form he saw now.
Allen?
He had been an official witcher for less than half a month!
Outrageous!
Truly outrageous!
Allen sensed Vesemir's gaze, but he didn't intend to hide anything. Everyone present was trustworthy. Besides, compared to his other peculiarities, his rapid skill advancement was nothing. So, naturally, he lowered his right hand. After the spherical pale golden shield disappeared, he stepped forward.
"Creak~"
As the wooden door was pushed open. The green smoke in the room had vanished. But the gray linen bedding and walls were tinged with a faint green hue.
Allen cast another Otrop magical shield sign and cautiously approached the windowsill. Not far away, under a large tree, stood a few short, hooded male apprentice sorcerers in black robes.
After being spotted, they didn't immediately flee. They mouthed words like "freak" and "non-human monster" as curses and arrogantly made a throat-slitting gesture before quickly running away.
"This is the prank I was telling you about," Robin said as he approached from behind, patting Allen on the shoulder.
"The diarrhea spell won't cause much harm, but once hit, the immediate diarrhea will definitely embarrass you…"
Hearing this, Allen felt the spell resembled a prank from a certain magic school movie from his previous life. However, watching characters in a story get pranked and being the target of one himself were entirely different experiences. If the witchers had been hit by the spell, it would've been an embarrassment.
No doubt, this ungraceful and ridiculous story would spread across the streets of Ban Ard within a day and possibly even across all of Kaedwen.
"What an unpleasant city!" Allen thought.
"Don't bother with them; you won't be able to catch them now anyway, and you might stir up even more trouble. I'll take you to check out the other rooms!" Robin said, pulling Allen towards the door.
The other rooms also had some rudimentary magical traps.
Just like the diarrhea spell, they weren't lethal but designed to embarrass. However, even though these traps were well hidden, they were no match for Vesemir and Allen's keen eyes.
Especially Allen.
As long as it was a magical device, Allen only needed to sweep the rooms with his wolf medallion's magic vision to clearly identify all the enchanted spots. He even found several concealed devices that Vesemir hadn't noticed.
With Allen's Level 4 alchemy skills, he quickly determined that these were surveillance magical devices. Like cameras, they could transmit images to a crystal ball or other receiving devices.
Such devices were very expensive.
Those prankster apprentices couldn't afford them and had no reason to use them. Most likely, these had been left by those sorcerers interested in Cosimo Malaspina and Alzur's living legacy. So Robin was right.
Chasing after those apprentices in anger could scatter their strength and lead to real trouble. Afterward, Allen collected the usable devices. The rest—dangerous or useless magical items—were discarded at the tower's entrance. The witchers, not planning to investigate further on foreign ground, simply used an Igni sign to incinerate them all.
After Allen checked the rooms several times using his wolf medallion's vision, they finally returned to the rooms.
"This entire floor is yours; feel free to pick any room."
"As for the dining area…"
Vesemir interrupted Robin: "There's no need. We don't plan to eat here."
Robin, understanding their situation, nodded and didn't press further.
After pondering for a few seconds to make sure he hadn't missed anything, he seriously looked at the witchers, especially Allen, and asked: "That's all the information I have. Do you have any other questions?"
"If not, I won't disturb you while you prepare for tomorrow's tournament."
"Thank you, Robin," Vesemir said firmly, "The Wolf School will not forget your help today!"
"Allen is my best friend."
Robin adjusted his glasses and shook his head: "Besides, I grew up in Kaer Morhen. The master and other witchers treated me very well."
"How could I ignore this when I knew about it?"
After some more casual conversation, Robin stood up, ready to leave. The witchers escorted him all the way to the entrance of Alzur's Tower before stopping.
Robin had just taken a few steps away from the tower when he suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned back, leaned close to Allen's ear, and whispered: "Allen, you have to win!"
"If you do, I'll give you another book…"
"The kind you like the most!"
....…
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
196. The Cat School is Here!
197. Sword and Sword.
198. The Match Isn't Over, But the School of the Wolf Has Won.
199. Where Did the Celestial Convergence Come From?
200. Putting on a Show.
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