Brewing Killer Whale

"Have you learned it already?" Vesemir asked in surprise.

Ailin nodded.

Seeing the witcher apprentice's determined expression, the Sorceress said nothing more.

Snap.

After opening the portal, Vesemir took the lead into the orange vortex.

The Witcher Apprentice followed behind her.

However.

Just before stepping into the portal, he turned and looked back.

All the drowners had become dried leeches. After Vesemir took them away, Killer Lake returned to its former calm.

The slender willows along the shore swayed in the breeze, while the narrow lake reflected the sky and the eternal snow atop the distant Blue Mountains.

Could the first stage of the Trial of the Mountains be considered cleared?

As he looked at the tranquil, unfathomable lake, the thought inexplicably came to Ailin.

But it only flickered through the witcher apprentice's mind.

Killer Lake was not a dead lake.

It connected to the White Stone River.

The White Stone River flowed directly into the Buina River downstream, eventually reaching Plaxida Bay and the sea.

So the drowners in Killer Lake would not go extinct just like that.

Of course, drowner migration took time, and only twenty days remained before the Trial of the Mountains.

It was easy to imagine that the trial's difficulty would definitely be reduced by quite a bit.

However.

"You can never be too prepared," Ailin muttered to himself.

"While Lady Vesemir is still at Kaer Morhen, I need to brew the Killer Whale Potion in advance. That way, if I run into any problems, I can ask the Sorceress for help."

This concerned his life. There was no need to be coy about it.

Since the Sorceress was willing to invest in him while he was still weak, he simply had to make the best use of that resource and repay her in the future.

After sorting out his thoughts, Ailin withdrew his gaze, let out a long breath, and turned to enter the portal.

The instant before he stepped through.

Ding! Your skill: Alchemy LV1 has been upgraded to Alchemy LV2 (0/500)

Bang!

With the upgrade to Alchemy amplifying the experience, the pain Ailin felt while passing through the portal was more than doubled.

The moment he emerged, he stumbled and fell to the ground.

The Sorceress used her soft arms to help the witcher apprentice up, then handed him a bottle of emerald-green potion.

"Gulp, gulp."

The boy's Adam's apple bobbed as he drank the potion.

A moment later, he recovered from the disorienting sensation of the world spinning around him.

Vesemir gently patted Ailin's back and suggested,

"Next time you enter a portal, remember to shut off some of your senses."

"I'd rather there not be a next time," Ailin grumbled as he got up.

The Sorceress froze for a moment, then the corners of her lips rose as though the witcher apprentice's words had amused her.

"You just said that you already know how to brew that potion?" Vesemir returned to the matter at hand.

Ailin nodded.

Vesemir said, "What materials do you need? As I said before, I can offer you some help."

Ailin did not stand on ceremony and directly listed the ingredients he needed.

"I need a bottle of Dwarven Strong Alcohol, five Beli's Fruits, six sprigs of sage, and five Drowner Tongues."

Hearing the witcher apprentice openly ask for ingredients, the curve of the Sorceress's lips became even more graceful and beautiful.

Snap!

Mary woke from her sleep.

"Mary, go fetch... these ingredients."

"Yes, Mentor."

Mary rubbed her eyes, seemingly still half-asleep. After glancing at Ailin, she got up and walked deeper into the Alchemy Room.

As the girl departed, Ailin turned his gaze back and happened to meet the Sorceress's eyes.

"The cauldron is here. We covered it a few days ago. Do you still know how to use it?" Vesemir asked as she walked to the alchemy table.

Ailin nodded and sat down before the cauldron.

Vesemir leaned against the wall near the alchemy table, waiting with him for Mary to bring the ingredients.

About five minutes later, Mary came over carrying a basket.

Ailin excitedly took the basket from her.

Every ingredient in the basket had been prepared in double quantity.

Ailin looked up and saw Mary give him a kind smile.

After returning Mary's smile, Ailin gave the Sorceress a grateful look before focusing all his attention on the cauldron.

Snap.

The Sorceress lit the fire beneath the cauldron.

"Do Mary and I need to leave?" Vesemir asked softly.

The Witcher Apprentice shook his head.

He had not asked the Sorceress to help brew it before because he truly did not know the method, not because he wanted to hide the formula.

Besides, this was the Sorceress's territory.

Was he supposed to brew a potion and drive the owner out?

Ailin could not do such a thing.

The Sorceress nodded at that and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Mary moved closer as well. She had originally thought Lady Vesemir was going to brew a potion, but it turned out to be the witcher apprentice.

She was very curious about the potion Ailin had been so preoccupied with.

Of course, what intrigued Mary even more was what this witcher apprentice, who had only been studying alchemy for ten days, could possibly brew.

Following the formula, Ailin first placed the sage into the pot, then crushed it with a ladle.

The searing heat at the bottom of the pot fully released the intense fishy stench, instantly filling the entire Alchemy Room.

"Ugh."

That was the sound of Mary retching.

Snap.

Another snap of the fingers.

Ailin felt the air around him begin to flow faster.

Under his complete concentration, not only could he see every detail of the ingredients in the cauldron, but the foul stench reaching his nose also seemed exceptionally vivid.

Forcing himself to endure the awful smell, he poured in the Dwarven Strong Alcohol the instant the sage turned scorched yellow.

With a hiss, a large amount of white vapor rose up.

The pungent smell of alcohol mixed with the stench of rotting corpses. The complicated odor was so nauseating that even Ailin nearly threw up.

"Ugh... Mentor, do Witchers always brew potions that smell this bad?"

"You think too highly of them. Witchers do not know how to brew potions. They only know how to make a poison called Witcher Potion."

"Poison? Then what is he brewing?"

"Perhaps it is poison as well," Vesemir hesitated for a few seconds before adding, "This is also my first time seeing someone prepare sage like this."

"?"

Ignoring the loud whispers nearby.

Ailin looked into the pot.

Black grease floated on the surface of the strong alcohol, preventing the alcohol from evaporating.

Silently counting his heartbeats, he added the Beli's Fruits and Drowner Tongues after the thirtieth beat.

Then he covered the cauldron with its lid.

All that remained was a long wait.

"Whew."

Ailin let out a long breath and rose from his seat. Just as he was about to stretch and loosen up, he saw Mary abruptly retreat a huge step.

Vesemir also quietly shifted two steps to the side as though nothing had happened.

An awkward silence descended.

The only sound in the Alchemy Room was the cauldron bubbling away.

Seeing this, Ailin silently sat back down.

That was mortifying.

Who could have imagined that brewing Killer Whale would stink so badly?

Fortunately, after the Beli's Fruits and Drowner Tongues were added, all the smells seemed to have been sealed inside the cauldron.

Wait!

The smell had been sealed inside the cauldron!

The Witcher Apprentice caught the key point, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

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