Ailin, Do You Want to Know Who Your Parents Are?

As the Wolf Emblem hummed, the Witcher was momentarily distracted.

The heavy, stagnant energy of the beast's roar immediately broke free of control, instantly separating into distinct golden dust and the four elements of magic.

The gold dust is hidden in the blood, while the magic naturally dissipates.

"Phew~"

Ailin let out a helpless sigh.

[Beast Roar: Berserk] It's too difficult to passively maintain the flow of power; it's like pushing a thousand-pound boulder uphill.

If you relax your efforts even slightly, all your previous efforts will be wasted.

"Even if it fails, there are no side effects. I can just try again," Ailin thought. "I just wonder how long it will take to reach a point where it automatically maintains operation 24/7, even while eating and sleeping..."

With a thought, he brought up his Personal Panel.

Name: Ailin

[HP: 100%, Stamina: 650/650, MP: 730/730]

[Attributes: Strength 62 (+1), Agility 60, Constitution 65, Perception 68, Mysticism 73]

[Affinity: Water 14 (Magic Source - Water 4%), Earth 9, Wind 8, Fire 3, Space 2]

The strength has increased slightly...

"No..." Ailin shook his head, "It should be a little short, but it just happened to be added to the previous surplus increase, which is why it increased by a little on the panel."

"About 0.2," he estimated after feeling the subtle improvement in his limbs and bones.

That's not bad, considering it only ran for a short while.

Moreover, it's not just strength; the attribute increases for agility and constitution should also be around 0.2, just not reaching integer values.

"Tsk tsk, this is only the beginning. It's difficult to operate, and it even failed halfway through, yet it can still improve so much." Ailin thought to himself, clicking his tongue in admiration.

"As expected of the Path of the Beast Roar, which even the Witcher's Handbook cannot upgrade, now there is another way to improve my strength in addition to going out to hunt monsters."

"But..."

Recalling the difficulty of controlling the energy of the mixed beast roars just now, Ailin sighed softly:

"However, this Path of the Beast Roar seems... a bit too much..."

After a few moments of reflection, the Witcher put away his Witcher's Handbook and, instead of continuing to practice [Beast Roar: Berserk], lit the candles in the room one by one using the Igni Sign.

Then...

"Squeak~"

The intricately carved wooden door was opened.

A simple grey linen maxi dress, a snow-white turtleneck sweater, and brown riding boots...

Vesemir stood on the stone steps not far from the door, leaning against the cold, gray stone wall.

Her face was still exquisite, but for some reason, her expression carried a sense of bewilderment and sorrow...

As expected... Ailin thought to himself.

Although his training of [Beast Roar: Berserk] was interrupted by magical fluctuations, he never felt there was any danger, and even proceeded to think and check on the results of his training as usual.

After all, this is Kaer Morhen, and even when the Witcher is asleep, he is extremely vigilant.

Therefore, no matter how stupid the male wizards of Ban Ade are, they wouldn't come here in the middle of the night to get themselves killed.

Besides, there's nothing particularly interesting about the south tower, so it's not worth risking the life of a warlock capable of unleashing such powerful magical fluctuations.

So Ailin didn't pay any attention, busy with her own things while waiting for someone to knock on the door.

But to his surprise, even after he had finished reflecting on his first cultivation session, the wooden door remained silent.

Their eyes met.

"Lady Vesemir, did you want to see me?" Ailin asked, puzzled.

The Sorceress was clearly taken aback for a moment before nodding, but did not explain her purpose.

It was as if she had only made a spur-of-the-moment decision to teleport here.

On another note, does Vesemir's portal already have enough coordinate capacity to not only set one up in the Alchemy Room, but also to set one up at the door of his room, which is extremely close by?

As a beginner with only two coordinates and a Witcher still hesitating about where to place the portal, I'm genuinely envious.

Standing there wasn't going to make a difference, so Ailin invited Vesemir into the room.

"Bang!"

The wooden door closed.

Since we only returned yesterday, Vesemir prepared everything, so there was nothing in the room to entertain guests.

Therefore, Ailin simply heated a cup of water using the Igni Sign and handed it to Vesemir:

"Lady Vesemir, what can I do for you?"

Taking the steaming wooden cup of water, the Sorceress gazed at his face for a long time before asking:

Are you sure you want to stick to the path of the Witcher?

What kind of question is this?

Witcher is no ordinary profession.

Could it be that he can be like an ordinary person, becoming a cook whenever he wants and then picking up a hoe to farm or a hammer to forge iron when he doesn't want to, or even becoming cannon fodder when the nobles recruit soldiers?

Is this something he can choose?

Wasn't this predetermined the moment I transmigrated and swallowed that foul-smelling, bitter White Gull Potion?

Yesterday I was a Witcher, today I'm a Witcher, tomorrow I'll be a Witcher...

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will spend his entire life as a witcher, accompanied by silver and steel swords.

Ailin looked at Vesemir with a somewhat blank expression.

The Sorceress, seemingly realizing her grammatical error, hurriedly explained:

"I... I mean, even witchers can take other paths... uh... do you like doing business?"

"I know some witchers who don't want to hunt monsters all day, so they opened their own Magic Material shop... no, no... with your alchemy skills and talent, Ailin, you could totally open a potion or alchemy shop..."

"We could even collaborate and open a shop in Aretuza, where witchers are very attractive to the young witches."

"If all else fails, what about an advisor? How about a small country Toussaint? The nobles there respect the strong, and we... I still have some connections there..."

"Lady Vesemir ..." Ailin couldn't help but interrupt, "Why are you suddenly giving me this advice again?"

The Sorceress had advised him not to hunt monsters, and that finding a safe "class" to attend was not the first time.

However, the last time was before descending the mountain, when I was about to participate in a large-scale conspiracy jointly organized by Haxor and Ban Ad against the School of the Wolf — the Apprentice Combat Tournament between the School of the Wolf and the School of the Cat.

But the last time is different from now!

At that time, the School of the Wolf was targeted by the closely united king and sorcerers, and was in a precarious situation.

Although Ailin showed exceptional talent in swordsmanship, signs, alchemy, and potions.

Although he was promoted to Witcher Master, his actual strength was only slightly better than that of a regular Witcher who had just come down from the mountain.

Therefore, it was understandable that the Sorceress advised him not to go to his death and to escape.

But things are different now.

Although only six months had passed, King Haxor died in Kedwen.

This caused huge rifts in the relationships between sorcerers and royalty, royalty and nobles, sorcerers and nobles, and even nobles among themselves.

Although Ailin didn't know the extent of the crack.

But the easy killing of a king is not something that can be easily forgotten, even if not many people really care about Haxor.

after all.

Nobles established themselves in the world through "glory".

In a time when blood feuds are rampant, this matter will not be easily forgotten, even for the sake of the family's prestige and interests.

The current peace is only temporary due to the threat of war from Ard.

Therefore, Kaer Morhen's situation has genuinely improved after this ordeal.

On the other hand, Vesemir may know that the Wild Hunt is after him, but she hasn't found him yet.

If you're discovered, it won't matter where you hide.

Moreover, they are currently hiding in the shadows and in control.

and...

Ailin's strength now is incomparable to what it was six months ago.

In terms of both attributes and combat power, he truly deserves to be called a qualified Witcher Master.

therefore.

Why did Vesemir suddenly offer him this advice at this moment?

Ailin found it somewhat unbelievable.

For Vesemir, who was unaware that the White Frost was coming due to the Wild Hunt, shouldn't the School of the Wolf be in a great position right now?

The Sorceress opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something.

But then, for some reason, he stopped talking. After his expression shifted uncertainly for a few seconds, he didn't explain, but instead asked:

"You still don't want to?"

Ailin nodded.

His closest friends were all in Kaer Morhen, and as long as the School of the Wolf didn't move, this would be his home.

Besides, the White Frost is coming, and the whole world will be destroyed. Where can we escape to?

Seeing this, the Sorceress sighed, lowered her head to sip two mouthfuls of hot tea, and asked:

"So... do you want to be the leader of the School of the Wolf?"

The words had barely left his mouth.

The room was completely silent, as if the pause button had been suddenly pressed.

This time, it was Ailin's turn to have an unpredictable expression.

chief...

Is this something he can just decide to do?

Although Soyer has been in poor condition lately, he was still lively and energetic this morning, teaching him how to build a sturdy fortress.

Thinking of this, Ailin suddenly remembered what she had heard when she met Soyer that morning.

Could it be that Soyer asked Vesemir to test him?

Does he really want to step down?

"Did the chief send you to ask this?" Ailin carefully chose his words.

"Soyer wants you to be the next chief, but he didn't appoint me..." Vesemir shook her head. "I was just asking..."

"So, Ailin, do you want to sit in that position?"

Of course he wanted to, even though the commander of the Witcher Company held a high position and had a considerable number of combat troops under his command.

But out of the ten members, seven can only fight water ghosts now.

Huus, Bont, and Fred might be slightly stronger, but in reality, none of them could defeat the Foglet on their own.

To be honest, he can only be described as having potential.

But once he becomes the leader of the School of the Wolf...

Putting everything else aside, the addition of the Witcher Master alone means that the Monster Hunting Legion can immediately target large monsters as their hunting objectives.

Even monsters like the Foglet and the Swamp Witch aren't worth a second glance from them.

Tsk tsk...

Taking seven Witcher Master to hunt monsters sounds incredibly exciting.

Moreover, it's not just the Monster Hunting Legion that's become stronger.

Organizational structure, new talent acquisition, delegation and integration...

Once Ailin abilities is even greater than the apparent improvement.

Many things, such as arranging for people to hide in the northern countries to gather intelligence and control public opinion...

This is an arrangement that sounds extremely important.

However, as long as Soyer remains the leader of the School of the Wolf, the principle of neutrality cannot be completely abandoned, and therefore he would never do anything outside of demon hunting.

Ailin wouldn't even mention it.

Because compared to establishing a Witcher Company that is more inclined to protect Kaer Morhen, such espionage truly touches the sore spot of the school's principle of neutrality.

However, such actions are indispensable in order to accurately grasp the movements of sorcerers, nobles, and even the Wild Hunt.

There are many other very important arrangements, such as secretly planting people in various countries, which are things he cannot do right now.

He didn't even dare let the chief realize that he had similar tendencies.

so...

Does he want to be the chief?

He wanted to develop the School of the Wolf without any constraints.

Of course he wanted to.

but...

Ailin would never admit it in front of Vesemir.

There is a distinction between close and distant relationships.

He and Vesemir became closer again.

Compared to her partner Soyer, with whom she had a deeply unforgettable love affair and now seems to have rekindled their old flame, it's obvious without much thought that the Sorceress values one more in her heart.

Moreover, even if Soyer really had the idea of stepping down because of the Haxor incident.

But it's not like Ailin will just agree and pass the throne to him.

Who can say for sure what ideas are?

What if, in a few days, Soyer recovers from her emotional trauma, or the school resolves the crisis and flourishes, and changes her mind?

He has absolutely no connection to Soyer... well... not entirely no connection...

According to Vesemir, he should be considered a master or grandmaster...

Even close masters and disciples will hold back some secrets.

Once he changes his mind, given such a distant relationship and the fact that someone in the school is constantly coveting his position, even if Soyer's morality is as noble as Vesemir claims, he will still harbor resentment...

If Ailin were in that situation, she would definitely think that way.

There are countless examples in the history of past lives that can corroborate this.

He didn't want to cause trouble for himself.

therefore...

"Is it too early to think about this now?" Ailin said seriously. "The chief position is still the most suitable. He's still very young. He's just being influenced by that scumbag Haxor..."

Perhaps feeling that her words weren't convincing enough, Ailin added:

"Ban Ade's Hen Gedimidis is still sitting in the dean's office..."

Vesemir paused for a moment after hearing Ailin's words, then stared into his deep blue Cat Eyes.

The Witcher quickly cleared his mind and met her gaze with unwavering determination.

for a long time.

Vesemir seemed to sense something; her delicate face dimmed in the dim candlelight as she avoided Ailin's gaze.

"I see..." she sighed softly. "I understand. If Soyer asks, that's what I'll tell him."

Ailin breathed a sigh of relief.

But then...

Looking at Vesemir's dejected expression, Ailin suddenly felt as if Vera had seen through her thoughts.

He also felt that the relationship between the two of them had been strained by his lack of honesty during their conversation, creating a strange, transparent wall between them.

Feeling a little awkward, she pursed her lips, wanting to say a few words to ease the tension.

"Thump~"

"It's getting late..." Vesemir put down her still-steaming teacup. "Ailin, get some rest."

The Witcher, who was just thinking about what to say, opened his mouth, immediately got up, opened the door, and escorted Vesemir to the door.

"Squeak~"

The wooden door was wide open.

"Lady Vesemir, you should also get some rest..." Ailin paused, then comforted her, "Chieftain Soyer is a true hero, he will definitely recover quickly and won't succumb to this."

"Is that so?" The Sorceress stopped in her tracks, shook her head, and gave a bitter smile.

"It must be." Ailin nodded firmly.

The Sorceress's expression softened slightly, and she nodded gently, seemingly about to descend the stone steps.

But he stopped after taking only a few steps, turned back to gaze into the Witcher's deep blue eyes, and asked casually:

"Oh, right, Ailin..."

"Do you... do you want to know who your parents are?"