Ailin, What Are You So Anxious About?

The Source of Magic?

Skill?

How did these two words come together?

Ailin frowned.

Furthermore, the requirement to spend an Experience Orbs to unlock it is also suspicious.

It's not because it's too expensive, but because it's too cheap.

Alchemy requires one hundred Experience Orbs, and even if the requirement is lowered through further learning, it only costs thirty fewer beads in the end.

As for the name of the skill "Magic Source", even after memorizing it for two whole years, it is still too little and far from being worth the two words "Magic Source".

However, an Experience Orbs is not much.

[Ding! Spend 1 Experience Orbs to unlock skill: Source LV1?]

After spending an Experience Orbs, a thin, emerald-green thread suddenly appeared in Ailin's mind.

This thin thread was similar to his connection with the Mirage Pearl, the Wolf Emblem, and the Greater Griffin, yet it remained stable without any emotional fluctuations.

The moment the thought "What is this?" popped into my head, my consciousness actively made contact with the emerald green thread.

In an instant.

The sound of "splashing water" came from somewhere.

A blinding green light flashed before his eyes, Ailin felt a sudden lightness, a chill, and a heat in his body. Before he could even see what the flashing green light was, it disappeared.

The talisman hanging on the ceiling swayed gently in the wind as he returned to the room where he was healing.

No!

He wasn't sure if he had ever left, not even in his consciousness.

"Just now... just now what was... what was that?" He closed his eyes, staring at the corner of his mind with surprise and uncertainty.

The green silk was here just a moment ago, but now it has disappeared, as if it had never existed.

"But there have been changes!"

He quickly opened the Witcher's Handbook.

Name: Ailin

Age: 14

[Title: Child of Miracle]

[Level: 62]

[HP: 100%, Stamina: 640/640, MP: 780/780]

[Attributes: Strength 70, Agility 61, Constitution 63, Perception 83, Mysticism 79]

[Affinity: Water 13 (Magic Source - Water 3%) (-3), Earth 13 (Magic Source - Earth 3%), Wind 10 (Magic Source - Wind 0%), Fire 8 (+1), Space 2]

Other attributes and affinities remain unchanged, but the Water Element Affinity has decreased by three points, while the Fire Element has increased by one point.

"Um?"

"What kind of weird skill is this?"

With a thought, he lowered his gaze to the skill bar.

[Name: Magic Source]

[Type: Hybrid Spell]

[Level: LV1]

[Passive Effect: Balance: Triggered actively upon each level up.]

[Note: Great attempts are always prone to failure; some choose to persevere, while others are forced to give up.]

"Balanced..."

Ailin murmured to himself, his gaze shifting upwards to the friend, and he gradually began to understand.

Yes.

This is clearly not a case of decreasing Water Element Affinity and increasing Elemental Affinity element with the highest affinity, which is then used to compensate for the decrease in affinity for the element with the lowest affinity.

But what's the point of that?

Didn't he also lose two points of friendliness?

Ailin stared blankly at the semi-transparent panel in front of him, unable to understand the point of having spent two years learning in his memory and only acquiring such a skill.

What is its relationship with "Magic Source"?

Thoughts raced through his mind, and many scenes from the past two years flashed before his eyes.

Hen Gedimidis never mentioned this skill in class—although students had asked about his experience as a source of magic, Hen Gedimidis's answers were vague, containing things that Ailin already knew.

But since it could be extracted from the Witcher's Handbook, it must have been something he carefully prepared for his apprentices.

It can't have taken two years... no... it should be more than two years.

Two years was only what he experienced in his memory, but the real protagonist, Colette, was unable to refine this skill like him. Two years later, he was certainly still learning.

Surely the dean of Ben Ade couldn't be trying to diminish the students' potential?

It's important to know that ordinary Sorcerer Apprentice also possess Elemental Affinity, but they don't call it Elemental Affinity; instead, they call it Casting Talent.

Yes.

Elemental Affinity is the most fundamental talent of warlocks, and unlike Ailin, it is extremely difficult to change as it can be improved through Essence Fluid and Purification Spirit.

After honing their spellcasting skills through basic Water Element magic, apprentices often specialize in one or a few elements based on their natural talents in each element.

Most warlocks, after finishing their apprenticeship, will only specialize in the strongest branch of the magic.

Only the most talented sorcerers can manage to do both.

Of course, that's a very small minority.

Giving the strongest talent to the weakest is tantamount to stifling the apprentices' future and forcing them into mediocrity.

Is there some deep-seated grudge between the Dean of Ben Ade College and the future of the college?

Ailin shook his head.

He remembered clearly that Henri Gedimidis looked at his apprentices with loving eyes.

If he wanted to ruin these apprentices, he wouldn't need to pretend.

Therefore, Henry Gedimidis must have believed that this path was the best, or rather, the path leading to the best.

"The Source of Demonic Power..."

"The Source of Demonic Power..."

"The Source of Demonic Power..."

Ailin muttered a few words to himself, his pupils suddenly contracting.

"Could it be that Henry Gedimidis wants to create a magical source, guiding all the apprentices attending his lectures towards it?!"

Move your gaze to the bottom of the skill panel.

[Note: Great attempts are always prone to failure; some choose to persevere, while others are forced to give up.]

What kind of attempt can be considered great in the Witcher's Handbook?

Is the artificial magic source enough?

The more Ailin thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

"If even Thomas Morlu could research powerful secondary evolution, how could Henry Gedimidis have done nothing or done nothing at all during these hundreds of years?"

"He himself is the source of magic, making him the perfect candidate to study the subject of magic!"

Tsk tsk!

The first "Warlock's Arts" he received was a huge one, which made Ailin somewhat excited.

Although the affinity section of his Personal Panel already shows the percentage of magic source, it is still unknown whether he can become a magic source after the percentage is maxed out; it is all just his guess.

He currently only has some Casting Talent, and it's not particularly outstanding.

The basic requirement for a typical warlock apprentice is the ability to sense elements, but only after reaching an affinity of over ten points can they begin to sense them.

This shows that he has only just begun on the path of magic, and can only be considered one of the least talented apprentices.

But what lies before him now may be a path to becoming the strongest mage, tailor-made by the source of magic and described as a "great attempt" by the Witcher's Handbook.

"But that's not enough..."

Ailin took a deep breath, calming his impulse to immediately invest in upgrading with the Experience Orbs.

The 3:1 exchange rate was too high a loss, and he had a feeling that becoming a source of magic would not be as simple as just upgrading skills.

After all, the owner of the memory didn't demonstrate the dominance of the Demon Source last night, dying like a nobody.

He needs more information, and the source of that information...

"Vesemir might know something about something this big, and Thomas Morlu and Macaque in the Kaer Morhen dungeon might also know," Ailin thought. "But the most likely source is still..."

"Ding! Use Sorcerer's Memory *1?"

"You look terrible. Has your injury flared up again?" The priestess placed the pillows down so Ailin could lean against them comfortably. "Or did you have another nightmare?"

It really was a nightmare... he thought to himself.

He had never been this serious about his senior year of high school in his previous life.

The Sorcerer's Memory were indeed not bloody, brutal, or disgusting, at least not yet, but they were truly too torturous.

The study sessions often last two or three years, and these studies skip all entertainment.

The first lesson taught by Hen Gedimidis was at least lively and interesting. Some lessons were comparable to math classes that were taught for two or three years without a break and without even allowing sleep. They almost made Ailin, a powerful witcher, vomit.

So, including the "Magic Source" match, today Ailin only used three "Sorcerer's Memory".

The remaining two are: one is Blind Dust.

[Name: Blind Dust]

[Type: Earth Element Beginner Spell]

[Level: LV1]

[Active Effect: You can use Blind Dust to shoot a cloud of magical dust into the eyes of a target, blinding them until the spell's duration ends.]

A pretty useful spell.

Although the level is not high, the casting time is very short, almost the same as that of a magic sign.

Hiding before battle, blinding the enemy first, and then engaging in combat is a great way to enrich the tactics of a Witcher.

So after Ailin obtained it, he immediately learned it and asked for two Experience Orbs.

The other was a massive work on astrology, a subject that tormented Ailin on par with alchemy and ritual studies.

Predicting good or bad fortune, assisting in rituals, investigating whereabouts...

It has a wide range of uses, but Ailin didn't learn it because it costs thirty Experience Orbs.

Although the price was much cheaper than when he learned alchemy and ritual studies, he could afford it.

However, many of his skills and rituals overlapped with his function, and it seemed unnecessary to learn them in the foreseeable future, so Ailin didn't learn them.

Once you acquire these clues, they remain there, ready to be reactivated when needed by simply consulting relevant books or asking someone to give a lecture.

So I'm not worried about missing this opportunity and never having another chance to get it.

"I'm fine."

Ailin shook her head, took a sip of the slightly hot broth Lyra had brought, and let out a long, satisfied sigh as she watched the tomato chunks bubbling in the rosy soup.

"Your Good Dream Technique worked really well, I slept soundly. Just now I was just... uh... thinking about some things..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lyra suddenly reached out her hand to him.

Ailin paused for a moment, then remained still.

The sweet scent of eucalyptus wafted over, and a cool sensation settled between my brows.

"She's clearly younger than me, so why does she have such important things to think about every day?"

The young priest sighed, applying a little pressure with his thumb as if to smooth out his brow. "A constantly furrowed brow will drive away happiness."

Fearing that Ailin wouldn't believe her, she added, "This is what Mother Ianna told me."

"Oh."

Ailin sniffed the fragrance lingering around his nose and nodded blankly.

Lyra's initiative surprised him somewhat.

At this moment.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter and chatter came from outside the house.

The next second, the priest withdrew his hand as if he had been electrocuted, got up and ran to the table, lowering his head as if nothing had happened.

She quickly took the plate out of the food basket, only to find it was empty, and hurriedly put it back.

Seeing this, Ailin's lips curled up slightly.

"Those Ghoul were really good at hiding today. They ran away as soon as they saw people, and I almost didn't catch a single one..."

"Hehehe, I killed three!"

"You were just lucky!"

"I am..."

It seems that Vesemir and the others have returned... The lively and noisy sounds made Ailin feel much more relaxed.

"Keep your voices down. Ailin might be resting right now. Are you trying to do extra training again?" Vesemir scolded softly, and the area outside quickly fell silent.

"Squeak~"

The wooden door opened.

When Vesemir entered and saw that Ailin was awake, his eyes lit up, and he strode over in a few steps. "You're awake, Ailin. How are you feeling today?"

"Not bad." Ailin smiled. "I'll be able to go hunting with you guys in three days at most..."

"No!" Lyra interrupted angrily, pretending to tidy up the air. "Mother Ianna said you have to stay in bed for at least seven days."

"Don't glare at me, I didn't tell him to get out of bed," Vesemir said, extending his hands in a gesture of surrender to Lyra, whose eyes were wide open.

"But I think..."

"You think that won't work either!" Lyra was surprisingly assertive, hands on her hips, exuding confidence.

"Don't worry," Vesemir patted Ailin's shoulder gently. "They're just some ghouls. We can handle them."

"Yes, Captain, just focus on recovering from your injuries," Ernie said. "We've killed Ghoul before, we're enough for you!"

"That's right! That's right!" the other demon hunters echoed, showing off their achievements for the day.

Ailin smiled helplessly.

That's what he's afraid of.

Vesemir and his young witchers wiped out all the ghouls, but what about his wallet?

The newly discovered astrology doesn't meet his current needs.

Including the Immortal's Memory Crystal, there are a total of thirty-six memories. Could it be that they are all things like "Demonic Source" and "Blind Dust," which are inexpensive, and things like "Astrology," which are unnecessary...?

That's really bad luck.

With so many memories and memory crystals, he felt he would need at least three hundred Experience Orbs.

In addition, skills need to be upgraded, and the Path of the Beast Roar needs to be mastered to quickly unlock [Beast Roar: Anti-Air], otherwise the Wild Hunt will be flying all over the place...

Are we hoping to snag a bargain like last night, or are we just relying on the Greater Griffin to fight each other in the sky?

As for the Wild Hunt's current target, Ben Ade, there seems to be no need to be so hasty...

The world is ever-changing; who can predict the future?

Therefore, all things considered for the time being, he needs to prepare another three hundred Experience Orbs...

"Still no money," Ailin sighed to himself. "It's a pity those two bottles of Veridian Sigh are broken, and Lady Vesemir isn't here either..."

He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked past the junior priest and at the Witcher Master:

"Vesemir, do you still have the 'Swallow' potion..."

"No!" Lyra glared angrily, blocking his view. "Lady Ianna said that all potions are poisonous, especially those of you witchers."

"Witchers have a very high metabolic rate, so they're not afraid..."

"That's poison too!" Lyra's voice suddenly became sharp, her expression unusually resolute.

The room fell silent instantly.

The whispering young witchers fell silent, too terrified to speak again.

"Master Vesemir will handle the Ghoul, and the Old Duke won't rush you. If it weren't for High Priest Ianna stopping him, he would have come to visit you this afternoon..."

"Ailin... you were just seriously injured, the whole treatment room was stained red with blood, you almost died..."

Lyra's tone softened as she looked at Ailin pleadingly, "Seven days, can't you even spare seven days for yourself to rest properly?"

"You're only fourteen, Ailin..."

What's the rush?