His humble tone concealed an unmistakable pride.
Perhaps the Sorceress had never intended to hide it.
The Witcher Apprentice froze for a moment at her words, then fell silent.
If what the Sorceress said was true, then the value of this mirage pearl...
"Do you know why I gave something so precious to you?"
The gentle female voice interrupted his struggle.
Ailin stared at the Sorceress, his heart stirring slightly.
At that moment, a sudden premonition arose within him.
The Sorceress's next words would draw him into some unfathomably deep tide.
Vera, too, gazed absently into those azure Cat Eyes, as if she wanted to hide that gemlike depth and purity in the deepest, safest place in her heart.
The Sorceress said, "Know that the Time of Sword and Axe is near, and it shall be the Era of the Cold Wolf and Blizzard..."
This was Ithlinne's Prophecy.
As one of the few prophecies in The Witcher, Ailin remembered it clearly.
This prophecy spoke of how only the heir to the Elder Blood could save the world from the White Frost.
However.
What did that have to do with Ailin? Was he the heir to the Elder Blood?
Ailin kept listening while he thought.
"The world shall die in frost, and be reborn under the new sun."
"Ess'tuath esse! This is inevitable! Watch for the signs!"
"To know what the signs are..."
"First... Filius Miraculi—the Child of Miracle—shall be born in a land of bitter cold..."
The previously calm Ailin's pupils suddenly contracted the instant he heard the Sorceress recite that final line.
It was different from the original?
And the Child of Miracle—wasn't that me?
Ailin swiftly opened his character panel and took a look.
Name: Ailin
Age: 13
Title: Child of Miracle
It really was him.
He had always thought "Child of Miracle" was just a useless title.
The Sorceress's chant did not stop because Ailin was thinking.
"Death and Newborn, the inhuman one shall bring blood and fire..."
At some point, the cold, lofty female voice vanished.
The Witcher Apprentice remained speechless for a long while.
The entire Alchemy Room was deathly silent.
Yet Ailin's heart was far less calm than he appeared.
The Child of Miracle would save the world?
Then what about the Elder Blood?
Where had the Elder Blood gone?
Everything was wrong! Everything had become a mess!
Ailin was shaken not merely because this was the first time he had heard someone else mention the Child of Miracle.
More importantly, the Elder Blood was absent from this prophecy.
When he learned yesterday at noon that witchers only knew Witcher Potions, Ailin had thought he had transmigrated into the world of the witcher novels.
But if even the Elder Blood did not exist...
Would all the future information he possessed still be valid?
"So, do you understand now?" Vera asked.
"What?" Ailin froze at her question.
"The Child of Miracle will save the world from the White Frost." The Sorceress's tone was casual. "Your responsibility is immense. This mirage pearl is merely a small advance investment in the Child of Miracle."
Well, damn!
That was quite the extravagant investment. She had started by giving him an out-of-print mirage pearl—what benefits would she use to tie him down later?
The Sorceress was no qualified capitalist. She was more like a gambler.
She had gone all in at once!
"You're that certain... that I'm the Child of Miracle?" The Witcher Apprentice was so surprised that he even forgot to use honorifics.
The Sorceress fell silent for a moment.
Then, in a complicated tone that others would find hard to understand, she murmured:
"You are the Child of Miracle. You must be the Child of Miracle. You cannot fail to be the Child of Miracle!"
"Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?"
"Nothing. You are the Child of Miracle." Vera shook her head in disappointment, then reassured him with a complicated expression. "Don't worry. Even if you aren't, I won't ask for the mirage pearl back."
After a moment of silence, Vera rubbed her temple as if she had a headache and said:
"There's nothing else. You should leave first."
Ailin looked strangely at the Sorceress, who had suddenly become listless.
Moodiness was apparently not exclusive to women from his previous life.
But the Sorceress had already dismissed him, so no matter how many questions Ailin had, he did not dare continue asking.
After all, he was only the future savior of the world, not the current one.
After Ailin left the Alchemy Room, Vera stood leaning against the wall for a long time.
Snap.
The door to the inner room of the Alchemy Room opened.
"Come out. Ailin has already left." The Sorceress composed her despondent emotions.
A man carrying twin swords emerged from the inner room, his arms, shoulders, and hair all covered in dust.
"Kaer Morhen's secret passage is truly difficult to navigate. If I'd known... Hm? What happened to Mary?"
"She fell asleep." Vera brushed him off casually.
Soyer was speechless.
How much courage did it take to dare sleep like that in front of you?
He looked at Mary, lying awkwardly on the floor, opened his mouth, and could not help suggesting:
"Do we really have to do it this way? Couldn't we find an excuse to send Mary away?"
Vera said coolly, "She is my apprentice!"
Soyer understood the Sorceress's unspoken meaning. With a sigh, he lifted Mary by the back of her collar and placed her on the alchemy table.
Vera watched with her arms folded, saying nothing.
"So, how is the fabricated experimental record coming along?"
Seeing that Vera was in low spirits, Soyer went straight to the point.
"I'm working on it."
"So that means you haven't done it yet." Soyer nodded, looking as though he understood the Sorceress very well.
"We only just arrived at Kaer Morhen, and you've already found me such a troublesome task." Hearing Soyer's tone, Vera's anger surged in an instant. "You should know I didn't come here to work for you!"
The witcher was so oppressed by the Sorceress's imposing presence that he retreated two steps.
He scratched his head helplessly, unable to figure out where he had provoked Vera again.
"Sorry. I just said it casually at the time. I didn't expect it to have such a huge impact."
"It's only the second day, and so many witchers have already started asking me about Witcher's Eye."
"Some of them haven't read a book in centuries, yet they've come asking me about the date on the experimental records..."
Seeing that Vera's expression had not thawed, Soyer paused before adding:
"Well... who told our child to be so outstanding? If he were like a normal apprentice, there wouldn't be so many worries..."
"He is my child!" The Sorceress's tone was still sharp, but much gentler than before.
The witcher shrugged, thinking, Without me, could you have given birth to a child by yourself?
"Why not? Who do you think I am?"
Apparently, Soyer, Chief of the School of the Wolf, did not have the privilege of being immune to mind-reading.
Soyer fell silent and did not bicker with the Sorceress.
He found it a little hard to understand.
They were both so old already—why were they still like they had been as children...
Snap.
The roaring wolf-head medallion instantly sprang out from his collar, vibrating wildly with a buzzing sound.
Soyer instinctively bent his thumb and index finger slightly, drawing a triangle in the air before him.
In the blink of an eye, an almost tangible Quen Shield clung tightly to his dark-red padded armor.
Vesemir's Quen Sign was already powerful enough.
Yet whether in casting speed or sign strength, Chieftain Soyer's Quen Sign far surpassed Vesemir's.
Unfortunately, those advantages could not spare the witcher from being blasted away by telekinesis.
The Sorceress's telekinesis did not even trigger Quen's automatic defense before tossing the witcher back into the secret passage as though he were garbage.
Bang!
At once.
The secret passage, which had never been cleaned since its construction, was instantly filled with swirling dust.
Yet the dust was magically kept within the secret passage.
A moment later, Soyer walked back into the Alchemy Room, every part of him gray with dust.
As he patted the dust from his body, the witcher suddenly heard the Sorceress say in a cold voice:
"Ailin knows about the prophecy..."
New author, new book. Please keep reading, comment, add it to your collection, and vote with monthly tickets!
Before you continue