Witcher's Handbook

1179, late autumn.

Kaer Morhen, apprentice training grounds.

"Ailin, what are you daydreaming about?"

The stern rebuke pulled Ailin's wandering thoughts back.

A middle-aged man wearing a Black Wide-brimmed Hat was staring at him with dark golden Cat Eyes.

"Sorry, Master Vesemir." Ailin obediently admitted his mistake. "I got distracted just now."

Hearing the apology, Vesemir nodded, glanced at the four apprentices sitting cross-legged around him, and continued the lesson.

"Apprentices, when dealing with drowners, a silver sword will always be your best companion..."

Pure monster knowledge was dull, and Vesemir, who taught "Monster Economics," had a particularly plain teaching style.

Before long, Ailin became distracted again.

Ailin was a transmigrator from Blue Star.

His original name had been Lin Ai. He was thirty years old and an orphan.

Before transmigrating, he had been a middle manager at a company.

Middle manager sounded impressive, but in reality, he was nothing more than fodder for connected hires and a high-level scapegoat for the higher-ups.

Before his soul had transmigrated into the world of witchers, the newly promoted Lin Ai had spent four sleepless nights completing a major project.

It had then been effortlessly snatched away by a mascot who had parachuted into the team just a week earlier.

That mascot, whose background was unknown, watched movies and read novels in the office, yet rose two ranks.

Lin Ai and his team, who had no backing whatsoever, received a cup of milk tea each as hush money. In the end, they even had to smile falsely and thank the boss for the gift.

After all,

after rising two ranks, the mascot had replaced their retiring former supervisor and become their boss.

Still, Lin Ai had long grown used to such rotten nonsense.

But what he had never expected was that a twelve-yuan cup of milk tea from that mascot would send him into the world of witchers.

One second, industrial sweetener had entered his mouth; the next, it had become a foul-smelling, bitter, viscous White Gull Potion.

Then came the pain of every muscle in his body spasming and dissolving, along with memories flooding into his mind as if his brain were exploding...

Remembering the agony from three days ago, Lin Ai instinctively shuddered.

Though he had cleared The Witcher 3 in his spare time, Ailin had never imagined that one day he would become a witcher himself.

"Next month, there's also the Trial of the Mountains, with a mortality rate exceeding fifty percent." Ailin sighed inwardly.

Just as Ailin was considering how to survive in this dangerous world, a cold mechanical voice suddenly rang out, and a translucent blood-red panel appeared before his eyes.

Witcher's Handbook activated

Slaying monsters grants rewards. The stronger the monster, the greater the reward.

Special Skill acquired: Monster Hunting LV1

Transmigration had already happened. A system showing up didn't seem all that strange anymore, Ailin thought.

There was only one option on the panel: "Character."

Following the information he had received, Ailin willed it open.

Name: Ailin

Age: 13

Title: Child of Miracle

Level: 1

Health: 100% Stamina: 52/52

Attributes: Strength 5.1, Agility 5.3, Constitution 5.2, Perception 6.9, Mystery 3.1

Special Skill: Monster Hunting LV1

Skill: School of the Wolf Two-Handed Sword LV1 (0/100)

Evaluation: Trash!!!

(Special Skills only level up as the character's level increases.)

Monster Hunting (Active): Consumes 50 stamina to focus the mind and enter the Monster Hunting state. Once the conditions are met, unleash a lethal strike (guaranteed to kill a monster).

Ailin: Trash?

This panel was insulting me, wasn't it?

After grumbling inwardly for a moment, Ailin silently closed the panel.

The system was quite good, and the Monster Hunting skill it had given him seemed powerful as well.

But there was one crucial problem.

Where was he supposed to find monsters?

Ailin had only passed the Trial of Grasses three days ago, and the Trial of the Mountains would take place in a month.

For that entire month, he would not even be able to leave Kaer Morhen's gates. Where could he find monsters to kill?

"Ailin!"

"You're daydreaming again!"

Vesemir forcefully snapped shut the copy of "Drowners and Swamp Hags" in his hands.

He could not continue this lesson!

Of the four apprentices, three were distracted.

The last apprentice was not distracted, but he was not listening either.

His small body hid behind Ailin, his head almost drooping to his knees.

What was he thinking?

Sleeping in a place like this?

The apprentice training grounds were right beside the main road leading in and out of the castle. Even if he could not see them, did he think the other witchers could not see him either?

"Excellent! It seems none of you need to learn any more about drowners, so we'll go straight into practical training!" Vesemir angrily called to his side, "Leto!"

Not far away, the witcher leaning against the castle wall with his arms folded nodded and pulled the black cloth off the cage beside him.

Inside the cage, a humanoid monster with blue skin and fish fins growing from its back shrieked wildly as the sudden sunlight struck it.

It was a drowner.

The moment the black cloth was removed, the wolf-head medallions on Vesemir and Leto's chests began to hum violently.

"Count yourselves fortunate, apprentices!" Vesemir pressed his medallion and continued. "Being able to safely face a monster right after completing the Trial of Grasses is a privilege enjoyed only by apprentices of the School of the Wolf."

"Those scum from the School of the Cat only teach their apprentices how to kill their own kind, how to despicably pry a dead man's last copper coin from his stinking boots."

Apparently pleased with his phrasing after taking a jab at his peers, Vesemir's expression softened somewhat as he looked at the apprentices.

He handed Ailin a steel sword and old apprentice leather armor.

"Come, Master Ailin. Put on the armor, grip your sword, and let me see whether your strength is worthy of your arrogance."

Before Ailin could defend himself, the other apprentices swiftly stuffed him into the leather armor.

By the time he came back to his senses, his feet were already standing on the sandy gravel of the training grounds.

Quite a few people stood around the edge of the training grounds.

They were all adult witchers passing by and stopping to watch the show.

"Are you ready, Master Ailin?"

Just as Ailin was about to speak, he heard that familiar mechanical voice.

Ding. Main Quest discovered: The Beginning of the Path of Monster Hunting—Kill one drowner (0/1)

He could only swallow his excuses.

It's just one drowner. What was there to fear? Ailin thought.

He tightened his grip on the steel sword. After taking a deep breath, he calmly nodded at Vesemir.

"I'm ready."

"Very good!" Vesemir smiled unusually.

At that moment, the witcher Leto pushed the cage over to Vesemir's side.

Vesemir opened the cage, shifted slightly to evade the drowner's pounce, and swiftly formed a gesture at it with his right hand.

Alde Sign.

This was one of a witcher's six magical tricks, a projected telekinetic force used to repel, stun, or knock down opponents. It could also be used to destroy obstacles.

Under the visible shockwave, the ugly monster rolled like a ball to Ailin's feet.

The drowner screamed and had yet to rise.

Ailin gripped his steel sword and was about to rush over and kill it with a single strike while it was unprepared.

Just then, Vesemir's voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

"First mistake—your weapon!"

"I just told you: when dealing with drowners, a silver sword will always be your best companion."

Ailin: ?

Wasn't this steel sword the one you gave me?

New author, new book! Please follow, recommend, and bookmark! The internal submission has passed, so please feel free to invest!