Spiral! The Witcher Who Controlled Time and Space!

"Phew~"

He suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in bed. The pain slowed his movements, but arrived as expected.

Then the panting turned into a painful hiss, and blood seeped from the white bandages.

"Ailin, are you feeling unwell?"

The sound of hurried footsteps mingled with anxious words.

The young priest trotted over, helped him up, checked his wounds, and only breathed a sigh of relief after a while.

"What's wrong, Ailin? Did you have a nightmare?"

She carefully adjusted her position behind him, placing several pillows that smelled of clean, sun-dried straw under him, trying to avoid touching his wound as much as possible so he could lean against them.

Nightmare...

He paused for a moment, then subconsciously leaned back in line with the priest's movements.

Crimson will-o'-the-wisps flickered within what appeared to be a bronze-cast bone socket, exuding an ancient, majestic, and chilling aura, like the vast expanse of ice and snow in the Blue Mountains during a harsh winter...

So terrifying, yet so real...

With just one glance, he was forced out of that dark space...

Was that a nightmare?

"But... maybe..."

Ailin was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly noticed a line of text flashing in the corner of his field of vision.

[Ding! Absorption of the fragment of the Gate of Ad-Gates complete!]

[Ding! Your skill: Portal LV2 has been upgraded to Portal LV4 (6000/10,000)]

[Ding! You have acquired Special Skill: Spiral]

spiral?

"The physical weakness caused by massive blood loss can potentially trigger nightmares..." The priest nodded in satisfaction when he saw that Ailin's leaning back did not aggravate his wounds. He interrupted Erin's thoughts and then picked up the food basket from the table.

"However, your physical condition is much better now than this morning. The wound will heal in a few days, and then it should be fine."

"Thank you." Ailin nodded, took the bread from the priest, and took a bite.

"Um?"

The bread was cream bread, and although it wasn't cheap, Ailin had eaten it before, so she wasn't surprised.

But after chewing a few times, he found that his mouth was filled with a special salty and savory flavor.

His gaze shifted downwards, and he saw the filling sandwiched in the center of the bread. The filling was purplish-red and smelled of fruit and medicine.

"Is it not tasty?" came Lyra's cautious voice from the side.

"No, it's quite delicious." Ailin shook her head. "It's just a bit special; I've never had a cream bread like this before."

Lyra patted her chest, looking relieved. "That's good. The filling inside is applesauce mixed with some blood-nourishing herbs."

Ailin was indeed a little hungry, so she ate the bread in a few bites and then took another one.

He looked at Lyra curiously. "Does the temple's dining hall have this kind of bread? I've never seen it before?"

Lyra laughed shyly, two red clouds appearing on her cheeks. "It's a recipe I saw before. I made it this morning after asking the cafeteria lady for advice."

Ailin hesitated for a moment as she took the bread, then noticed the little priestess's gray linen dress adorned with tiny, scattered stains.

"Uh... thank you..." He himself felt that his expression of gratitude sounded a bit dry.

He chewed the bread in his mouth and glanced at the filling.

Celastrus orbiculata, honeysuckle, crabapple blossoms...

He could identify four or five kinds of herbs by taste. He had used many of these herbs before, and most of them were either bitter or astringent. But now, when he chewed them, they only had a harmonious medicinal aroma. Moreover, the filling was very delicate and had no grainy texture at all.

"This bread must be hard to make?" Ailin asked tentatively, posing a pointless question.

If it were easy to do, there would be no reason why the cafeteria wouldn't have one.

After all, these ingredients aren't actually expensive; they're not even as good as cream bread or apple sauce.

But pregnant women, wounded soldiers, grown-up girls... the Temple of Melitele was full of people who needed blood transfusions.

"It's not difficult to make," Lyra shook her head gently, speaking casually. "As long as you get the proportions right and grind the herbs finely, you can get bread and jam ready at the canteen.

"By the way!" she changed the subject somewhat awkwardly, "What did you dream about in your nightmare just now?"

I dreamt of hordes of Skeleton Knight...

Ailin frowned instinctively.

Lyra, whose gaze was fixed on Ailin, realized almost the instant he frowned that her actions were somewhat inappropriate.

Although they were all children who had lost their parents, she was at least loved by her parents and had a long and warm life.

But almost all of the Witchers are children abandoned by their parents and have gone through what can be described as a brutal ordeal.

What could his nightmares be related to?

Death, loss, blood, or wounds?

Realizing this, she immediately said cautiously:

"Sorry, if it's inconvenient, then there's no need to say anything."

"Not really..." Ailin waved his hand, "It's just some boring stuff, a dark... a space with only darkness..."

He thought about it and decided not to tell anyone about the Wild Hunt, but only briefly described the first half of the "dream," the dark spiral staircase.

After all, Lyra was just an apprentice priestess, and knowing too much would not do her any good.

"So you're afraid of the dark," Lyra chuckled.

Ailin, who hadn't expected her to interpret it that way, immediately retorted, "It's not that I'm afraid of the dark..."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else."

Lyra's eyes suddenly became inexplicably serious.

A soft light filtered through the windowpane, illuminating the girl's slender, snow-white neck. Her delicate smile shone brightly.

Instead, it left him unsure how to explain it.

Wait until he comes to his senses.

Lyra had already packed up the food basket and taken the pillow away.

"Rest a little longer," she said, gently supporting Ailin's body. "Adequate sleep will help your body recover faster."

Before he could speak, he saw Lyra chant two mysterious incantations, then extend her fingers, which emitted a faint white light, toward his forehead.

"Relax," the priest said softly, his tone like that of someone coaxing a disobedient child to sleep. "This is ' Calm Mind,' which is usually used to soothe soldiers who have just returned from the battlefield and facilitates their healing."

"However, patients suffering from unbearable pain and elderly people with insomnia also call it the ' Good Dream Technique,' hoping that it can help you sleep more comfortably."

Ailin did not resist, letting the softly glowing finger gently touch her brow.

Naturally, he fell asleep again.

When I woke up again, the room, warmed by the sun, no longer had the faint scent of eucalyptus.

The sunlight, tinged with a reddish hue, illuminated the dancing dust.

He stared blankly at the wooden amulet decorations hanging from the ceiling for a long time before remembering what he was supposed to do.

[Name: Portal]

[Type: Spatial Skill]

[Level: LV4]

Active Effect:

1. Portal: Consumes mana to release a portal linking to a stored coordinate point. The distance between this coordinate point and the caster must be less than 180 kilometers (+60=20*1+40*1). The portal can hold a maximum of 8 people (+4=2*2).

2. Record coordinate points: You can store 8 (+4=2*2) coordinate points.

3. LV4 Additional Effect: Wooden Door: Consumes double the magic power to release a portal with minimal spatial fluctuation, similar to opening an ordinary wooden door.

Sure, the portal leveled up twice instantly, saving... uh... three Experience Orbs...

That's not bad either.

More importantly, the eight additional teleportation points and the unit distance of 180 kilometers are enough for him to use the portal to travel from Arland to Ban Ad.

certainly.

While there are no restrictions on the portal, there are limitations on magic power. Although the portal does not specify how magic power is consumed, based on Ailin's estimation when using it, it is roughly one point of magic power per kilometer.

Without potions to replenish his magic power, his current 790 points of magic power are only enough for him to teleport four times consecutively on his own.

After that, you'll have to wait until your mana is restored before you can teleport.

Therefore, most warlocks prefer to place their coordinates near a city for easy rest.

Previously, Ailin needed to conceal the fact that a Witcher could learn master-level spatial magic, so it was impossible for him to do so.

Because the portal not only has a large spatial fluctuation, but also a lot of noise and "noise" from the drifting magic, it is easy for ordinary people passing by to discover it when it is near a city.

However, you can't just randomly place coordinates in some remote spot. Even now, in Ailin, there's a certain danger of being attacked by ghouls as soon as you step out of the portal.

But now...

Ailin had a thought.

"Bang!"

It sounded like the gentle clatter of a wooden door being closed.

An orange-red portal appeared in the open space in the center of the room.

Not only did the surrounding candlesticks and ornaments only sway slightly and silently, but after switching to the Magic Vision of the Wolf Emblem, the elemental points traveling in the air only fluctuated more violently within one meter around the portal, and were basically unaffected beyond two meters.

"It's very practical."

With the LV4 effect of reducing spatial fluctuations, he can now place coordinates around cities... no... even within some cities.

All you need to do is buy some properties and carefully select the locations.

In fact, this is much safer than placing coordinates in places far from the city, even in villages.

After all, there are many empty houses in the city that no one occupies, but there are only so many houses in the village, so it's too obvious.

"Once my injuries have healed, I'll find a map and choose one," Ailin thought to himself.

The matter of the portal has come to an end.

Ailin took a deep breath.

Could the spiral be the one he imagined?

[Name: Spiral]

[Type: Special Skill]

Completeness: 1/5

Passive effect: Dream Shadow: When you enter a dream, you will have a chance to communicate with the Spiral Spirit.

Active Effect: Insight: Consumes 50 Experience Orbs to create a vision within the spiral. Possessing the vision allows you to observe the spiral. (Visibility can be detected and destroyed.)

... Passive effect... Spirit Spiral...

"Hiss~"

Ailin instinctively took a deep breath and looked at the passive effect several times.

"That dark place really is the Spiral, so those Wild Hunt must be real too!"

He became excited, and his heart started racing.

This is a spiral!

The Spiral—a conduit for traversing space, traveling to various realms, and even manipulating time at will to reach the past and future.

Of course, there is some contradiction in the point about "time".

After all, if one could truly control time, why would the Gate of Ard Gais be destroyed and broken?

However, the ability of the Elder Blood to travel through time and space is indeed a fact in the original work.

Ciri was on the run—escaping from the city of Tir ná Lia in Ain El and traveling back in time—around 1180 years before Ailin's current time.

When Ianna first arrived in Arland, she mentioned it to the Old Duke in the carriage...

Five years ago, a terrible Black Death broke out in Vizima, Temeria.

The Black Death, which caused the entire capital to be shrouded in mourning, was spread by a flea from another dimension that jumped onto Ciri's clothes.

Although in reality, even the prophecy of the Elder Blood has disappeared.

Whether the Black Death was spread by the Ciri in this timeline is still unknown, but the possibility exists.

After all, it's quite suspicious that such a deadly infectious disease as the Black Death could become so "mature" without undergoing several evolutions and mutations.

therefore.

It's not impossible that the spiral controls the passage through time, or that the spiral itself is the passage through time.

And now.

Although it's only possible to place an eye or enter a dream, this is just collecting a level of completeness. What about after that?

What happens when two-fifths, three-fifths... or even all of them are collected?

Could he... also control time and space...?

Thinking of this, Ailin's face flushed with excitement.

Only when the wounds on his back and limbs began to ache due to his soaring heartbeat did he take a deep breath and force himself to calm down.

"So the information Vesemir found was correct; the Wild Hunt did indeed arrive in the Witcher world through the Spiral, but..."

Ailin frowned slightly, recalling the "dream" from just half an hour ago.

"But the 'spiral' is pitch black, so how did they get through there to the world of Witchers?"

to be honest.

The concept of a spiral has always been rather vague in the information I found.

How can a spiral corridor connect all realms, allowing the Wild Hunt, riding a skeletal horse, to travel through different times and spaces?

Could it be that all realms have opened doors along the corridor?

This is far too abstract. Even Ailin, who has been to the Spiral, couldn't imagine this scene.

Besides, the spiral is pitch black, so where would a "door" come from?

Looking at the semi-transparent panel in front of him, he felt as if a kitten was scratching at his heart.

With a determined effort, I decided to spend fifty Experience Orbs to create an "eye" in the spiral, just to see how the Wild Hunt traverses space.

Unfortunately, Ailin encountered a big problem...

Although Ban Adler and Wild Hunt delivered a huge sum of money last night, he only has forty-five Experience Orbs and one Lesser Experience Orbs on him.

and...

"Even if I manage to collect fifty Experience Orbs, I can't spend them on Eye Shadows..." Ailin sighed.

The Path of the Beast Roar, the Signs, Swordsmanship...

Which one didn't require a lot of Experience Orbs? Even the signs he had neglected for so long showed extraordinary effects. If Oterrohp Sign had been a little higher level, he would never have suffered such serious injuries.

Compared to these, eye shadows, which are only temporarily used to satisfy visual curiosity, are not a high priority.

After all, the Wild Hunt's target right now is Ben Ade, not him.

"We're still too poor!" Ailin gritted his teeth, his expression fierce.

If he had a thousand Experience Orbs, he would definitely satisfy his curiosity and see Special Skill, which even the Witcher's Handbook couldn't improve with Special Skill points, was like.

"Once I've fully recovered, I'm going to make those ghouls that dared to invade Arland while I was away give me a good pound of Experience Orbs!"

As for now...

It all depends on luck; you can only dream about the psychic spiral if it happens by chance.

With a sigh, Ailin used his mind to jump to his inventory.

[Inventory: Immortal's Memory Crystal 2*3, Sorcerer's Memory 10*3, Ain El '@#￥%&'s Chest *18, Sorcerer's Chest *18, Experience Orbs *45...]