Clues to Alchemy

He had obtained the Killer Whale potion formula.

Ailin's current goal was naturally Alchemy Lv. 2. The key was how to acquire the skill.

Hunting drowners and opening chests was one route, but he truly had no faith in his luck. Besides, there was no guarantee a chest would contain an alchemy skill.

The other route was studying it.

Since the Witcher's Handbook could recognize and improve the School of the Wolf Two-Handed Sword, there was no reason it could not do the same for alchemy.

Therefore.

After leaving the apprentice dormitory, Ailin headed straight for the eastern tower.

Vesemir had mentioned that there was an Alchemy Room on the second floor of the southern tower. Someone there should know alchemy.

Kaer Morhen in 1179 differed from the one in the game's year 1272.

Given the extremely low survival rate of Witcher Apprentices, such a vast castle could hardly be considered bustling.

But neither was it deserted.

Perhaps because winter was approaching, wandering witchers had returned home.

On the stretch of road he had just passed through alone, Ailin had already brushed past four or five witchers carrying twin swords.

Scattered along both sides of the road leading to the main keep were smithies, tailor shops, material stores, and other establishments.

If the craftsmen had not all been elderly witchers with white hair and Cat Eyes, Ailin might have mistaken this for an ordinary castle.

"So, the Battle of Kaer Morhen that reduced this towering castle to ruins, nearly wiped out the prosperous School of the Wolf, and ultimately left only Vesemir, Geralt, Eskel, and Lambert..."

"What year was it?"

Ailin could not help wondering.

After finding a lead on dealing with the Trial of the Mountains, Ailin could not stop thinking about the future he had deliberately avoided.

That was the downside of knowing the future.

Once he knew what lay ahead, he could not help worrying about his tomorrow, and the tomorrow after that.

What made it worse was that he knew only the outcome, not the process—not even when the crisis would begin.

The trip to the Alchemy Room went smoothly.

No one stopped him to ask why he was not in the apprentice dormitory, then painfully and tremblingly "took a lunch break."

Not a single one of the excuses he had prepared in advance was needed.

After arriving at the tower and passing through a long corridor and up the stairs, Ailin reached the Alchemy Room.

The Alchemy Room's wooden door was closed.

"Knock, knock~ Knock, knock~"

Ailin knocked on the door.

"Creak~"

A girl slightly older than him opened it.

She had dark red hair and delicate features.

"Who are you looking for?" the girl asked.

A girl?

Wasn't the School of the Wolf's resident mage a Sorcerer?

Though puzzled, Ailin followed his plan and asked,

"Is this the School of the Wolf Alchemy Room? I'd like to learn alchemy."

"Learn alchemy?" The girl seemed surprised. After studying him carefully for a moment, she replied, "This is the Alchemy Room, yes, but it's private."

"Private?"

Ailin had not anticipated that.

The Alchemy Room where Vesemir had sent apprentices for treatment and to collect "lunch" did not actually belong to the school.

Did the Sorcerer hold such authority in Kaer Morhen?

Or had cracks already begun to form between mages and witchers, even within Kaer Morhen?

After standing there blankly for several seconds, Ailin pulled the Phantasm Pendant from his collar and asked tentatively,

"Then can I study under this place's owner?"

"I can pay tuition."

Just as the girl was about to speak, a mature female voice came from inside.

"Mary? Who has come?"

Mary turned and answered, "A little witcher. He wants to pay to learn alchemy."

"A little witcher? Paying to learn alchemy?" The mature female voice carried a hint of surprise. "Among those brainless brutes who only know how to spin around, there's actually such an oddball?"

"Tap, tap, tap."

Footsteps resembling high heels drew closer.

Ailin, a future brainless brute and little witcher, stood awkwardly at the door.

Mary was equally awkward. She forced the corners of her mouth upward, pulling out an apologetic smile with great difficulty.

When the footsteps stopped, a woman appeared before Ailin.

In Kaer Morhen's late autumn, even the weeds by the roadside would form snowy-white frost in the morning, as though paying respect to the bleakness of autumn.

Yet Ailin could see no such respect for autumn in the woman before him.

A thin, translucent deep-V dress.

Complex patterns of gold thread and pearls decorated the fiery red silk fabric.

Together with her flowing dark red hair.

At first glance, Ailin had thought it was the height of summer.

Her seductive attire, coupled with features as exquisite as a porcelain doll's.

Clearly, she was not a Sorcerer, but a Sorceress.

Ailin vaguely sensed that he might have come to the wrong place.

But since he was already here...

"May I study alchemy under you?" He braced himself and asked again. Then he removed the magic pendant and placed it in his palm. "I can use this magic pendant to pay the tuition."

The Sorceress froze when she saw Ailin.

Then, with a complicated expression, she looked at the pendant in his palm and asked, "Do you know the name of that necklace?"

"Vera's Phantasm Pendant?"

The Sorceress nodded and said,

"That is indeed what the pendant is called. Also..."

"I am Vera."

Ailin: (⊙_⊙)

?

!!!

"Pfft~"

Someone nearby failed to hold back a laugh.

"Sorry."

After apologizing awkwardly, the girl Mary ran back into the room.

In his extreme embarrassment, Ailin withdrew his hand and put the pendant away, preparing to take his leave.

But the Sorceress suddenly said, "But yes."

Ailin asked reflexively, "Yes to what?"

"Didn't you ask whether I could teach you alchemy?" the Sorceress Vera repeated. "I said yes."

Then the Sorceress turned and walked inside.

Ailin hurried after her.

Bang.

The moment his back foot stepped inside, the wooden door shut by itself.

Is this magic? Ailin marveled inwardly.

He entered the Alchemy Room.

Though this was a place for alchemy, Ailin found no strange odors inside.

Instead, the moment he entered, he caught a faint fragrance of orange mixed with cardamom.

A fluffy red carpet and brightly colored oil paintings.

Lace-trimmed curtains decorated the cold stone windowsills.

Other than the absence of a bed, this place resembled a bedroom more than an Alchemy Room.

Only the four alchemy benches against the walls stubbornly proved the room's proper identity.

Mary sat before one of the alchemy benches, grinding something with a mortar and pestle.

When she saw Ailin enter, she smiled in greeting, then lowered her head and continued grinding.

"Sit here." Vera pointed to the seat beside her.

Ailin sat down somewhat stiffly, still holding the pendant in his hand and unsure where to put it.

"Where should I put this pendant?" he asked.

"It's yours. Why are you asking me?" Vera looked puzzled, but then understood. "I won't charge you tuition for teaching you alchemy."

"Then what do you want?" Ailin asked.

Of course, he was happy to keep the pendant.

But nothing free came cheap.

Ailin did not believe he was charming enough to make a strange Sorceress personally teach him for free.

"Just answer one question." Vera raised her slender, fair index finger. "Why do you want to learn alchemy?"

What kind of price is that? Ailin thought.

Since he did not know whether the Sorceress before him could read minds, Ailin deliberated for a moment before choosing to tell the truth.

"I want to brew a potion to pass the Trial of the Mountains."

"You're still an apprentice?" Mary cried out.

The girl had been openly eavesdropping all along.

Ailin nodded.

Mary's surprise was hardly strange.

Monster Economics, swordsmanship, Signs, adapting to bodily transformation potions...

The period from the Trial of Grasses to the Trial of the Mountains was perhaps the busiest time in most witchers' lives.

If not for the Essence Fluid, he would still be lying in the apprentice dormitory right now, with no time to run around.

But what made him uneasy was that the Sorceress still wore the same expressionless face.

She was neither surprised nor curious. It was as though she accepted his answer, or as though she did not care about it at all.

Snap.

Vera snapped her fingers.

A black leather book slowly flew over from the alchemy bench beside Mary.

After landing gently on Ailin's table, it opened itself to the first page.

Ignoring Ailin's surprise, Vera began the lesson directly.

"Since you want to brew potions, we'll begin with the most basic subject: 'Alchemy and potions.'"

"A potion, as its name suggests, is a concoction that contains magical power..."

"Ding, a clue to the skill Alchemy has been discovered."

"Spend 10,000 Lesser Experience Orbs to unlock the skill?"

10,000?

Ailin: (╯°□°)╯︵┻━┻

New author, new book—please keep reading, recommend it, and add it to your collection! The internal submission has passed, so esteemed readers, invest with confidence!