Family and Heroes?

Does the Wild Hunt have designs on his apprentice?

Vesemir paused for two seconds, then frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The Wild Hunt's vanished East not only witnessed the wars of Kedwen and Ard, but also the Conjunction of the Spheres and the Dark Sun Curse in Ban Aard..."

Ailin saw Vesemir's amber Cat Eyes narrow instantly, and then said:

"Master Vesemir".

"The Wild Hunt wasn't drawn by the atmosphere of war, nor was it seeking to spread calamity..."

"They sensed the Conjunction of the Spheres and came for me."

Upon hearing this, Vesemir hurriedly took two steps forward, grabbed Ailin's arms tightly with both hands, and said anxiously:

"Are you sure, Ailin?"

"Did those damned monsters really come for you?"

He seemed to realize the distrust that his tone and actions revealed.

"Sorry," Vesemir withdrew his hands, giving an apologetic dry laugh.

"I'm not doubting that you're lying, it's just... it's just... it's just too absurd..."

In Vesemir's mind, the Wild Hunt had always been just a legend that was difficult to disprove.

Even if I were to actually encounter one today, it would seem more like a ghostly or demonic entity driven by some kind of natural phenomenon.

I came for Ailin...

Judging from his tone, these flying monsters seemed to possess intelligence.

And the Conjunction of the Spheres... Wild Hunt...

How are these two things connected?

However, seeing Ailin's solemn expression, Vesemir swallowed hard.

Unlike most children, Ailin, despite his young age, has never lied or joked about important matters.

wrong...

The Witcher Master thought about it carefully.

Ailin had never lied to him, no matter what.

so...

Vesemir's heart sank as if burdened by a heavy weight.

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

Ailin lowered his head and pondered for a moment, but instead of replying immediately, he suddenly changed the subject.

"Master Vesemir, do you know what the Wild Hunt is?"

The Witcher Master was waiting for a binary answer of affirmation or negation, paused for a moment and instinctively spoke his mind:

"Phantoms, flying figures, naked skeletons, hatred for all living beings, and powerful magic..."

"It should be a ghost-like creature, and probably the most powerful of all ghosts!"

"Elves..." Ailin shook his head, "These Wild Hunt are all elves!"

"What!" Vesemir's eyes widened. "Those Long-ears hiding in the Blue Mountains, barely clinging to life, could they have such abilities?"

"Not those Ain Siddi hiding in the Blue Mountains." Hearing Vesemir's insulting remarks, Ailin chuckled and then explained:

"However, they're not entirely unrelated..."

"That Wild Hunt is Ain El, a clan of Ain Siddi from thousands of years ago."

"However, unlike Ain Siddi who settled in this world, Ain El, who possesses the ability to travel through time and space, has always been a warlike conqueror..."

"They ruled over every new place they arrived in..."

"But suddenly, they seemed to have lost their ability to travel between worlds..."

Aside from the key parts related to the Witcher's Handbook and the Al Gais Gate, Ailin had no intention of hiding any information from the trustworthy Vesemir.

He directly revealed all the information he had obtained from novels and game settings in his previous life.

Vesemir listened in a daze, and the way he looked at Ailin became increasingly strange.

Wild Hunt's identity is one aspect.

More importantly...

He was quite certain that this information was not in the library of Kaer Morhen.

Perhaps even Ban Ad and Aretuza wouldn't have it, otherwise, given wizards' thirst for knowledge, this knowledge, which is merely history and contains no spells, would surely have spread.

The legends of the Wild Hunt, spanning thousands of years, would not have spread so widely, and no one has come forward to explain them.

Even the selfish kings of the Northern Kingdoms could not tolerate the Wild Hunt after they learned that the Wild Hunt were elves who traveled and conquered the world.

There will definitely be some big moves.

"Ailin, where did you acquire this knowledge?" Vesemir asked hesitantly.

"Some of it was obtained from Francesca when we were in Kedwen," the young witcher said.

Did you learn that from the elves?

Vesemir nodded.

He knew that.

He also knew that the female elf had given Ailin a set of expensive elven magic items.

After a pause, Ailin continued:

"The other part is like a dream..."

The dream... Vesemir suddenly became serious.

"One day in the future, the King of the Wild Hunt will lead his army to attack Kaer Morhen in order to regain the ability to travel through time..."

Ailin gazed into Vesemir's amber cat- Cat Eyes and silently added in his mind:

On that very day, the last ties that held the School of the Wolf together disappeared.

"Is this your prophecy?" Vesemir frowned as he looked at Ailin's sudden sorrowful expression.

"No! This is a future that can be reversed!"

Ailin met Vesemir's eyes firmly, then continued:

"Therefore, we need the School of the Viper, and we need Iva the Evil Eye's help."

"Sigh..." Vesemir sighed. "The matter of Haxor and Ban Ad hasn't been resolved yet, and now the Wild Hunt has appeared?"

and...

Vesemir turned his head and glanced out the window.

In April, the temperature in the Gors Velen was not high, and only a small portion of the ice clusters left by the Wild Hunt during the day had melted by now.

A massive black shadow stood outside the window, like a ferocious giant monster crawling in the darkness.

Is there really a way to deal with the Wild Hunt, which can use such magic so casually? Grandmaster Iva the Evil Eye.

After a moment of distraction, Vesemir felt Ailin's gaze and, seeing his confident expression, felt a surge of confidence in himself.

He nodded slightly and said:

"I see."

"Go for it!"

I will support any decision you make!

Ailin nodded vigorously and said with a smile:

"There's no need to do anything for now. We'll just head to Arland as usual, then return to Kaer Morhen, and wait for Ernesto to deliver the letter to Grandmaster Iva the Evil Eye."

"Um."

After a nasal sound, Vesemir prepared to return to his room.

However, after taking only a few steps, the Witcher Master suddenly turned around.

He patted the young witcher's shoulder forcefully, looking intently into Ailin's blue Cat Eyes:

"Don't forget, Ailin!"

"No matter what happens, the School of the Wolf will always be your home, your strongest support..."

"So..."

"Don't act on your own, don't do anything foolish, understand?"

Ailin stood there stunned for a moment, then felt a warmth in her heart.

He knew that Vesemir was worried that he had left without saying goodbye and was left alone to face the danger of being hunted by the Wild Hunt.

"Don't worry, Master Vesemir."

"I know."

Ailin nodded slightly.

The Witcher Master observed him carefully for a few more seconds, and only after confirming that Ailin was not just giving a perfunctory answer did he nod slightly and leave.

"Bang!"

The door was closed.

Ailin finally relaxed.

"I'm not a child, how could I leave without saying goodbye!"

The young witcher couldn't help but secretly mutter a complaint to himself.

Although he was an orphan in both his lives and had no relatives.

But even he, who grew up in an orphanage, knew...

Family members rely on and support each other; there is no such thing as one dragging the other down or causing trouble for the other.

If you try to shoulder everything alone, you might end up dragging your closest loved ones down with you.

At least Ailin experienced many such situations in the orphanage.

so.

He gradually came to regard Kaer Morhen as his home and Vesemir, Vesemir, and Mary as his family, never imagining that he would bear the consequences of the Conjunction of the Spheres alone.

Just like when the Ancient Sea Fortress faced the crisis of destruction, he never thought of escaping with Lady Vesemir.

But the Wild Hunt...

Ailin walked to the windowsill, looked up at the huge black shadow that was still emanating a chilling aura under the night sky.

Recalling how the mere aftershocks of the magic not only shattered his and Vesemir's Quen Sign, but also severely injured them both.

A strong sense of crisis welled up in my heart.

"This is outrageous!" Ailin sighed, feeling the chill that sent shivers down his spine. "I can't even withstand the aftershock of a casual strike. How am I supposed to deal with a monster like this..."

Recalling the scenes of him using different playstyles to slaughter the King of the Wild Hunt in his previous life's game, Ailin shook his head.

Compared to the Witcher, the Wild Hunt soldier in the game is like a master swordsman with superior melee swordsmanship, but can be easily defeated individually.

Moreover, the total number of Wild Hunt characters in the game is only a few dozen.

Back when he was playing the game, he was complaining on the forums about how Wild Hunt could conquer so many other worlds with such limited strength.

Unexpectedly, when he actually traveled to the world of The Witcher and witnessed the true power of the Wild Hunt, he was trapped in Bengbu.

"The Wild Hunt's combat power in the game is no longer of any reference value."

Ailin thought to himself.

That's why he needed Iva the Evil Eye, the School of the Viper Grandmaster who had witnessed the Wild Hunt conquer other worlds countless times and had pondered for decades how to deal with the Wild Hunt's methods.

Thinking about the situation in Kedwen, I wonder how it will develop.

Ailin couldn't help but look out at the night sky, and sighed again:

"It's truly one problem after another!"

"I wonder if the Wild Hunt will run into Ben Ade on its journey to the East..."

spiral.

As the name suggests, this place is like the steps of a castle tower, a spiral passage that goes up and down.

However, it is different from the one in the castle tower.

In the spiral, there is no limit to either ascent or descent, and it seems to lead to the deepest and most intense darkness.

"Da da da~"

The sound of horses' hooves echoed in the empty place.

A group of knights clad in blood-red armor, riding skeletal horses that spewed eerie blue breath, galloped through the air in this spiral.

Although it is dark here, it is not without light.

Countless images flashed past the knight's sides from time to time, illuminating the fierce and terrifying skull beneath his armor and his emaciated body that looked as if it had been dried up for a thousand years.

They are the Wild Hunt.

The Red Riders of the Alder Folk, the rulers of the endless world, the specter that dominates war.

"Ho-ho-ho!"

The leading knight glanced at his companion on the right, who had just retrieved his scepter, and seemed to want to speak, but when he opened his mouth, only the sound of air flowing could be heard.

Bite!

A flash of white light appeared on the scepter.

"It's been so long since I've been to Spiral, I've almost forgotten what it feels like to be a skeleton..."

After a moment of reflection, the knight looked at his companion through the ghostly blue flames in his eyes:

"Caranthir, you've just done something unnecessary again..."

The Skeleton Knight, known as Caranthir, opened his bony mouth, seemingly laughing:

"This is not an unnecessary matter, Eredin."

"As the navigator, I must ensure I'm in a good mood in order to better guide the Red Riders..."

"In this dark spiral, the pressure on the navigator grows stronger every day..."

Eredin opened his mouth as well, and said:

"So your way of relieving stress is to kill those ignorant mortals?"

"Don't you think this is a good method?" Caranthir was still "smiling," showing no embarrassment at being questioned.

Because he knew...

"That is indeed true..." Eredin sighed, his right hand gripping tightly the handle of the giant hammer that was wedged into the saddle:

"The fragrance of the blood of the ignorant is always intoxicating, especially when accompanied by the soundtrack of skulls being smashed..."

"Even the best perfumers in Tyre Nari could not create such a fresh scent..."

"Even the most outstanding virtuosos could not produce such beautiful music..."

"Da~Da~Da~"

Caranthir's bare, teeth-baring bones collided rapidly, seemingly laughing.

At this moment.

Another scene with flames appeared ahead, seemingly a human city.

After carefully examining the scene, the ghostly blue flames realized that the towering towers described by the King of the Wild Hunt were not present. They then casually waved the white-glowing scepter.

"Call out--"

A beam of blue light shot out from the scepter and landed in the brightly lit city.

"Bang!"

A violent explosion echoed through the spiral.

At the same time, screams of agony from humans could be heard.

The next second.

A commotion arose behind Caranthir and Eredin.

Immediately afterwards.

Before the scene disappeared from the spiral, dozens more orbs of light flew out from the Red Riders Regiment, transforming into deadly meteors that crashed into the city.

Instantly.

The heart-wrenching screams and cries grew even louder.

"Da da da da da~"

Caranthir laughed heartily.

The entire Red Riders echoed with the clattering of bones.

"It's so great to know magic..." Eredin, hearing the screams around him, gripped the hammer handle tightly and clicked his tongue enviously.

"You are just like the characters in the heroic operas that were popular in Tyre-Na-Lia back then..."

"Oh? Which hero?" Caranthir asked curiously.

"No, not the hero..." Eredin grinned, "It's the biggest villain in there..."

Caranthir paused for a moment, then burst into laughter again.

for a long time.

Eredin touched the hammer handle again, feeling a little itchy.

"Caranthir, how much longer until we find it?" he asked.

"Almost there!"

Caranthir was very perfunctory and careless.

Eredin didn't care.

My eyes were glued to the fleeting images on either side, hoping to find the human city with its towering buildings as soon as possible.

that's all.

The screen went from black to white, then back to black again, countless times.

Eredin appears to have spotted his target.

So he turned his head, intending to let Caranthir help him distinguish it...

Sudden.

Caranthir spoke.

"Eredin ..." He looked at Eredin with his eyes, which flickered with ghostly blue flames, and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Perhaps we really are the biggest villains in the heroic opera..."

"But it's okay..."

"The Alder Folk will sing our heroic epic in a future paradise where there is no White Frost!"