Miracle of Former Glory!

The deep, dark passage was so quiet that you could hear the cold wind whistling against the rough rock walls, like the breathing of a crouching beast.

"Whether I wanted to or not, I was going to walk this path sooner or later, wasn't I?"

His tone was somewhat helpless.

Vesemir fell silent, for she could not refute.

The source of demons, the Wild Hunt, the Greater Griffin, the Spiked Fiend, the Leshen, the Monster's Nest, the Massive Horde of Carnivorous Creatures, the Host of Evil God... Going back further, there are the hordes of monsters at the Conjunction of the Spheres, and the massive siege spirits...

Any one of these dangers could kill an ordinary witcher.

Most of the Witcher Master in the Northern Continent probably wouldn't experience so many grand scenes in their entire lives.

If it weren't for Ailin's inhumanly rapid increase in strength and considerable luck, he would have died long ago from wave after wave of disasters.

The Child of Miracle!

Is this the Child of Miracle?

In just six months, they encountered countless hardships.

What about after that?

What will he encounter next?

The real Evil God?

Vesemir asked herself, putting herself in Vera's shoes.

It's either advance or die... Under such pressure, what choice does her child have?

He had no choice; he could only move forward, ever forward.

Until the blood drained from his body, the flesh was devoured, and his clear eyes were veiled by the white haze of death...

Vesemir trembled with horror and dared not think any further.

The cold, damp wind blew against her exposed arms, like axe blades cutting into her flesh, hammering and chiseling at her bones, piercing her heart and soul.

"Lady Vesemir?"

Upon hearing Ailin's call, Vesemir, who had been lost in bloody fantasies, suddenly shivered, her body trembled, and she collapsed weakly against the rock wall.

"Lady Vesemir, what's wrong?" Ailin immediately stepped forward to support the Sorceress when he saw that she was unwell.

The Sorceress's forearm tentacles were colder than the damp rock wall.

"I'm fine." The Sorceress waved her hand and straightened up, leaning against the rock wall.

"She must be exhausted from the past few days," Ailin said softly as he saw Vesemir regain her footing and let go of her hand. Then, feeling the chill around them, he advised, "This secret passage is too cold and damp. Let's go out first."

No! I am terrified!

Vesemir looked at Ailin with her eyes; she wanted to shout, to give him a hug right now, and take him to the ends of the earth to escape their terrible fate.

But in the end, she only remained silent for a few seconds before nodding slightly.

Because she knew that Ailin wouldn't agree to her request; she had tried countless times before the Trial of the Mountains.

Her child is a hero, not a cowardly wretch.

Although she would have preferred him to be the latter...

So, what can she do?

"Let's go," Vesemir said, turning her gaze away from Ailin's face and slowly walking towards the exit of the secret passage. "We'll talk about the Vessel of Great Deeds as we walk."

Ailin, who was still thinking about how to persuade her, paused for a moment upon hearing this, then beamed and said, "Okay, Lady Vesemir."

"Crunch, crunch~"

The secret passage door rubbed against my back, perfectly sealed.

Vesemir snapped her fingers, restoring everything in front of the secret room, including the arrangement of dust on the ground, to its original state. There was no indication that the empty wall in front of her was the entrance to the secret passage.

"How much do you know about Vessel of Great Deeds?" Vesemir glanced at Ailin and stepped down the stairs.

"I only know one name," Ailin shook his head. "Judging from the name, the Vessel of Great Deeds should be a container built with so-called 'great causes', or a container that 'holds' great causes?"

Vesemir nodded. "You guessed right, the Vessel of Great Deeds is indeed a container forged by Great Enterprise."

"What is that great achievement?"

"The literal meaning is a great undertaking, an achievement that can be passed down and praised by people," Vesemir explained, "But in reality, what constitutes Vessel of Great Deeds is not what the person who accomplished it did."

"It is the powerful emotions of praise and reverence that arise from the spread of great achievements."

"Through a certain ritual to purify, refine, and condense, these emotions merge with the power and body of the person who has achieved great things, and what is formed is the Vessel of Great Deeds."

"This is true for both warlocks and demon hunters."

"The difference lies only in how great achievements are made,"

It's a bit like the path of faith... Ailin inexplicably has a sense of déjà vu from a Western fantasy novel about becoming a god.

However, upon closer reflection, it seems to be completely different.

In his previous life, he had read many Western fantasy novels and played some games with Western fantasy settings. The steps to becoming a god through faith were actually quite similar.

Through extreme events, a cognitive imprint is planted in a certain group—anchoring divinity.

The covenant that wrote the Oracle Tablets transformed abstract faith into a communicable system of symbols—the embodiment of doctrine.

A divine vessel is created, and through a ritual, the gathered divinity is ignited within the vessel—a process of divine fire tempering.

Extracting concrete divine roles from chaotic beliefs, cutting away mutually exclusive divine roles, and achieving pure divinity—the division of divine roles.

A rift is torn open in the astral plane, and the divine kingdom is built using the collective dreams of believers as bricks and stones—the construction of the divine kingdom.

At this stage, within the system of deification through faith, one has already become a god.

However, most of them will still need to undergo divine scrutiny initiated by existing gods—the trials of divine war.

After success, one still needs to continuously absorb faith, but the more believers there are, the more one's divine nature is distorted by desires.

Therefore, the belief in deification is actually a huge pitfall in the general system.

However, although the Vessel of Great Deeds is somewhat similar to the process of tempering with divine fire in the faith-based godhood system, and creating a divine container, this was also Ailin's original guess.

However, in Vesemir's words, the cognitive imprint that the great cause left on the intelligent group seems to be less important than the emotions that the intelligent group felt because of the great cause.

The "material" of the Vessel of Great Deeds is not great achievements, but emotions.

After a moment's thought, Ailin asked, "The 'great undertaking' of the Vessel of Great Deeds' refers to the materials that make up the container, but what about the container itself?"

"To achieve great things, what is the purpose of building containers?"

"You are very perceptive." Vesemir smiled appreciatively. "The purpose of building Vessel of Great Deeds is, of course, for power, which we call the power of omnipotence, the power of the sage."

"Omnipotent power, the power of the sage..." Ailin frowned.

"Strength, speed, physique, perception, magic..."

"The power of the omnipotent can be transformed into strength, speed, physique, and perception; the power of the sage is transformed into perception and magic."

Ailin was stunned.

He had thought that the power of omnipotence and the power of the sage were two names for the same power, but he didn't expect them to be two different abilities.

This is completely different from the truly omnipotent Divine Power depicted in fantasy novels from my previous life.

Vesemir didn't continue the explanation, but instead seemed to change the subject. "Do you know Geoffrey Monk?"

"A member of the Novigrad Alliance, the founder of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, the sorcerer who likes to capture Djinn?"

The Djinn is one of the four elemental spirits that form the foundation of the Witcher world. It is a powerful air spirit, filled with magic and Elemental Essence, and possesses its own consciousness and personality.

Moreover, Djinn is like the genie in Aladdin from a previous life, able to grant people's wishes.

According to legend, even the most impossible wishes can be granted by the Djinn.

In the original story, Yennefer once captured Djinn in an attempt to regain her fertility. However, due to a series of coincidences, Yennefer and Geralt were bound together by fate, leading to a tumultuous and unrequited relationship.

Such magical creatures are naturally very difficult to find and capture.

Meanwhile, Joffrey Monk, whose story of capturing Djinn has been passed down to this day, is still relatively unknown among other Novigrad Alliance members and the founder of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers. This speaks volumes about his power.

But why did Vesemir mention this person at this time?

Smack!

A snap of the fingers.

Without Ailin asking, Vesemir lit the wall lamps in the corridor, nodded, and began to speak:

"The human body has its limits."

"Whether you are a warlock or a demon hunter, no matter how much you train and improve, your physique and magic power will always reach their limit at some point, making it difficult to continue to improve."

"Geoffrey Monk was one of the first Northerners to master the magic of the ancient races, and also one of the first to reach the limits of a sorcerer."

"So, in order to push the limits of humanity, Joffrey Monk created a method for condensing Vessel of Great Deeds?" Ailin asked curiously.

Vesemir nodded, then shook her head:

"The method of condensing the Vessel of Great Deeds comes from an ancient race, not from the creation of Joffrey Monk."

"However, it was he who unearthed similar methods of breaking limits through archaeology, and then, by taking advantage of the desires of the Djinn and his mastery of the magic of ancient races, he perfected them to suit the needs of human sorcerers."

"Of course, the difficulty was still very high, and it was also very dangerous."

"Of those who succeed in the experiment, only one in ten survives; if they fail, their bodies and souls will be scattered to the heavens and earth."

"At that time, the Brotherhood of Sorcerers just been established, and the tradition among sorcerers was passed down from master to apprentice, so the experiment did not last long before it was banned by Joffrey Monk himself."

"It is said that he and other members of the Novigrad Alliance later studied the next steps."

The two arrived at the pointed arched window decorated with burning flames, where the Half-elf was still training amidst the reprimands of his witcher mentor.

In the blink of an eye, several more wounds appeared on the apprentices' bodies.

"He succeeded?" Ailin asked.

"He disappeared without a trace." Vesemir shook her head. "After a long time, Herbert Stamford of the Talent and Skill Association divined his death, continued his work, and after several generations of experimentation, created the method by which the Brotherhood of Sorcerers now condenses Vessel of Great Deeds."

Ailin paused, then suddenly realized something and asked worriedly, "Can I listen to this...?"

"The following cannot be kept secret," Vesemir, turning her gaze away from the Half-elf outside the window and smiling gently. "What I just told was just a story; what truly needs to be kept secret is the actual process."

Ailin nodded. This is similar to the development history of the School of the Wolf, the School of the Griffin, and the School of the Bear. Everyone knows the characteristics of their swordsmanship, and the schools themselves will publicize them so that clients can make a selection.

However, the training methods and power generation techniques for two-handed swords used by wolves, griffins, and bears are closely guarded secrets.

"But..."

Vesemir paused, her ruby eyes fixed on Ailin's, and said casually:

"Since you have the talent of a warlock and the secret covenant, I will find a way to break through it."

The Sorceress's gaze was, for some reason, as intense as the midday sun in midsummer, making Ailin look away uncomfortably.

"Then we probably won't need to. Isn't there another way for Witchers to condense Vessel of Great Deeds?"

"By the way, you've been saying that the way warlocks condense Vessel of Great Deeds was improved by Joffrey Monk and Herbert Stamford."

"What about the Witcher?"

"Also Herbert Stamford?"

"Not Herbert Stamford," Vesemir shook her head. "He's a man who has left a significant mark on history, and you certainly know him."

"Who?" The question had barely left his lips when a name immediately popped into Ailin's mind.

"Alzure!"

The witcher and the Sorceress spoke in unison.

Vesemir paused for a moment, then nodded slightly. "That's right, it's Alzure."

"Don't you find that strange?"

"The Witcher was created by the mage Cosimo Malaspina and Alzure, and Alzure was just Cosimo Malaspina's apprentice."

Why is Alzure the most widely recognized "father" in Witcher, rather than Cosimo Malaspina?

"How can an apprentice be above his mentor?"

Ailin paused for a moment, then said, "I always thought that Cosimo Malaspina died before Alzure, or that Alzure's contributions to the Witcher were greater than Cosimo Malaspina's..."

"No," Vesemir interrupted, "On the contrary, Alzure interfered too much in the Dagger War for the throne of Temeria and released an unstable Double Cross Summoning spell. At a very young age for a warlock, he was killed by the uncontrolled Saliva Demon he summoned."

"Cosimo Malaspina lived much longer than Alzure."

"Furthermore, the research on the Witcher was led by Cosimo Maraspina, and it was a recognized failure at the time."

"How do you think Alzure is more famous than Cosimo Malaspina for such a failed project?"

Vesemir didn't wait for his answer and continued, "Because Alzure achieved something far beyond what any warlock at the time could imagine, far beyond what any legendary archmage of the Talent and Skill Association could have imagined, despite the Demon Hunters' failed project..."

Ailin swallowed hard, feeling his mouth dry.

"Yes," Vesemir nodded, "He made it possible for ordinary humans to surpass physical limits through theoretically replicable methods, and he provided examples."

"The theoretical foundation of the 'superhuman theory' that the Rissberg Civil Conglomerate is so obsessed with—that is, the theory that completes the genes of ordinary humans, enabling them to surpass non-human races in all aspects, both physically and mentally—was laid by Alzure."

"Then why did the Witcher lose..." Ailin's words were cut short.

Vesemir said, "Because of that example, no subsequent repeated experiments were ever successful."

"Alzure and Cosimo Malaspina gave up because the 'Superman theory' could not be proven for a long time and they were unwilling to waste any more time."

"But Alzure also made a name for himself by surpassing his mentor because of that example."

"You know that example too."

Vesemir sighed and looked back towards the secret passage:

"That is Soyer, Soyer Henrietta."