Mission Accomplished

Vesemir shared the same confusion.

Ailin's first real fight had been not long ago.

His swordsmanship was skillful, his stances precise.

An excellent Witcher apprentice, but that was all.

This time, however, it was different.

The subtle adjustments to his center of gravity, the way he'd absorbed the force of the blows...

The coordination of his upper limbs and the stability of his footwork were like night and day compared to before.

Anyone with even a little sword training could see the difference, let alone a master like Vesemir.

If he had to give an evaluation.

Then, at least in terms of swordsmanship, Ailin had become a qualified Witcher.

"Is the Witcher's Eye really that miraculous?" Vesemir muttered to himself.

"What did you say?" Leto asked.

"Nothing."

After brushing Leto off, Vesemir glanced at the Chief who was silently observing the training grounds, then refocused his attention on Ailin.

"Hiss—Hoo—Hiss—Hoo—"

Ailin panted heavily, retreating a few steps quickly, his eyes fixed on the Drowner slowly getting up from the ground.

As expected, it wasn't enough.

Without the Monster Hunting skill, using a steel sword against monsters, he couldn't even break their defenses.

Fortunately, he had upgraded to the School of the Wolf's two-handed sword.

Otherwise, he didn't know how many times he would have been hit by the Drowner by now.

Calming his breathing slightly, Ailin sheathed his steel sword and switched to his silver sword.

By this time, except for the Drowner he had just cut down, the other two had already charged forward.

With their ferocious faces rapidly approaching, Ailin gripped his silver sword tightly.

The moment the Drowner was within a step of him, his blue cat-like pupils suddenly dilated.

Ailin stomped on the ground forcefully, rotating his body as the power transferred from the ground to his waist.

In a flash of lightning, his silver blade drew a beautiful arc through the air, directly severing the Drowner's neck, and in the very next instant, bisecting the claw of the next Drowner that reached out.

Before the head and claw even hit the ground, Ailin advanced instead of retreating, spinning again to decapitate the Drowner that had lost its claw.

At this point, Although the third Drowner was only two steps away, the battle had lost all suspense.

Half a minute later.

Ailin let out a long breath, casually flicking the blood off his silver sword.

[Monster Swarm "Drowner" LV2 Defeated!]

[Reward Settlement: Victorious Combat, Base Rating D, Outnumbered Victory +1—D+, Decapitation Intimidation +3—C+, Emergency Mission +2—B]

[Final Rating: B]

**[Loot Acquired: Drowner Heart Essence Fluid *3, Lesser Experience Orbs 9, Drowner's Chest 4]

[Timed Mission Complete: You guys, come at me together! (Drowners Killed 3/3)]

**[Rewards Obtained: Lesser Experience Orbs 10, General Treasure Chest 1]

Quite a haul!

Ailin thought.

Listening to the dinging notification sounds in his ears, a sense of happiness welled up within him.

Thank you, Drowners!

Ailin mused inwardly, then walked out of the training grounds.

"Apprentice Ailin!"

Ailin looked up and instinctively caught what was thrown at him.

Opening his palm, under the noon sun, the crystal-clear round gem reflected colorful prisms of light.

It was Vesemir's illusion pendant.

"Chief," Ailin looked at the Chief doubtfully, "I killed the Drowners with my silver sword."

The Chief smiled, looking at Ailin with approval, and said:

"I know."

"Rational bravery is more worthy of reward than greedy recklessness."

"So yes, Vera's illusion pendant is yours."

"Not only that, but because of your outstanding performance, all apprentices will receive custom leather armor before the Trial of the Mountains."

Without waiting for Ailin to reply.

After praising Vesemir's teaching skills a few more times, the head of the School of the Wolf walked straight towards the gray main keep.

Watching the chief's elegant departing figure, Ailin's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Could it be that he was just being too suspicious?

It seemed normal for the school chief to reward promising apprentices.

But in the game's background, weren't Witchers already on the decline?

How could the School of the Wolf in 1179 be so generous, using magical items to boost the morale of their apprentices?

Ailin withdrew his gaze.

Huus, 11 years old, with silver hair and blue eyes, circled him happily like a fluffy puppy.

The two apprentices lying on the ground also looked at him gratefully.

For them, wearing custom-made, high-quality leather armor or tattered apprentice leather armor in the upcoming Trial of the Mountains.

It might be the difference between life and death.

Vesemir and Leto stood by, smiling as they watched the apprentices celebrate their victory.

They seemed to have accepted the notion that the Witcher's Eye was omnipotent, or at least on the surface, they didn't seem suspicious of Ailin's rapid improvement in strength.

Most of the onlookers had left, but those who remained were smiling, as if pleased with the future of the School of the Wolf.

The warm autumn sun shone with dazzling light, passing through the majestic gray high tower and illuminating the blue cat eyes of the 13-year-old Witcher apprentice.

In that instant, Ailin felt like a hero.

"Alright, alright, the celebration ends here."

Vesemir clapped his hands, drawing the apprentices' attention.

"Ailin and Huus, stay," Vesemir nodded at Ailin, then lowered his head and said, "The rest of the injured apprentices, go to the alchemy room on the second floor of the south tower for treatment, and pick up your lunch."

The injured apprentices left upon hearing this.

Ailin and Huus followed Vesemir to the side of the six Drowner corpses.

Leto had already dragged them all together.

"Next, I'll teach you how to extract materials from Drowners," Vesemir drew a dagger from his waist. "Watch carefully, I'll only teach you once."

"Don't we wait for Bont and the others?" Huus asked doubtfully.

"These are your spoils, they have nothing to do with anyone else." Vesemir didn't look up. "Don't talk nonsense, watch carefully, I'll only teach you once."

"The Drowner's tongue and brain are excellent alchemical materials."

"As the most common water element matrix in alchemy, its gentle properties can reconcile conflicts between many advanced materials..."

"Although these two materials come from the same Drowner, their processing methods are vastly different..."

Vesemir's voice was still as sleep-inducing as ever.

In less than ten minutes, Huus's weight was basically pressing on Ailin's back.

The fatigue from the high-intensity battle also gently knocked on his door at this moment, wanting to enter Ailin's mind for a visit.

"...Most people—even some sorcerers—think that Witchers hunt monsters with silver swords and Signs, but that's not entirely accurate."

"Potions are also our important weapons."

"Witcher Potions are prepared with strong liquor, Drowner brains, dandelions, mushrooms, and so on."

"They are simple to prepare, and the ingredients are readily available."

"After taking them, they can significantly improve a Witcher's reaction speed and suppress pain..."

"Witcher Potions?" Ailin seized the keywords. "Master Vesemir, is this the only potion Witchers have?"

"Of course not."

Hearing the negative answer, Ailin breathed a sigh of relief.

That's right.

There were so many potions in the game, how could they suddenly disappear.

"If you have money," Vesemir shrugged, "you can certainly buy some flashy potions from sorcerers, like night vision, muscle enhancement, invisibility, and so on."

The information in Vesemir's words was already clear, but Ailin still held onto a sliver of hope and asked:

"Are Witcher Potions the only potions Witchers can prepare?"

"Of course, they are simple and practical, and that's all we need."

Ailin's heart sank to the bottom.

This was not the Witcher world he was familiar with.

Newcomer, new book, please follow, recommend, and collect! Internal review passed, please rest assured to invest!