Mission Complete

Vesemir had the same doubts.

Ailin's first battle had been not long ago.

His swordsmanship had been skilled, his stance precise.

He had been an excellent witcher apprentice, but nothing more.

But this time was different.

The slight adjustments to his center of gravity, the way he redirected force beneath heavy blows...

The coordination of his upper body and the stability of his footwork were utterly unlike before.

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

If he had to give an assessment,

then at least in terms of swordsmanship, Ailin was already a qualified witcher.

"Was Witcher's Eye really that miraculous?" Vesemir murmured.

"What did you say?" Leto asked.

"Nothing."

After brushing Leto off, Vesemir glanced at the School Head silently watching the training ground, then turned his attention back to Ailin.

"Hiss... Hoo... Hiss... Hoo..."

Ailin panted heavily as he quickly retreated several steps, his eyes fixed on the drowner slowly climbing up from the ground.

It really wouldn't work.

Without demon-slaying properties, a steel sword could not even break a monster's defenses.

Good thing he had upgraded the School of the Wolf Two-Handed Sword.

Otherwise, he had no idea how many times the drowner would have hit him by now.

After steadying his breathing slightly, Ailin sheathed his steel sword and drew his silver sword.

By then, aside from the drowner knocked down by his final strike, the other two had already charged at him.

Their savage faces closed in rapidly as Ailin tightened his grip on the silver sword.

The instant the drowner came within a step of him, his blue Cat Eyes suddenly dilated.

Ailin stomped off the ground, twisting his body the moment the force traveled from the earth to his waist.

In a flash, the silver blade carved a beautiful arc through the air, severing one drowner's neck before, in the very next instant, splitting in two the sharp claw extended by the one behind it.

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

At this point,

though the third drowner was only two steps away, the battle had already lost all suspense.

Half a minute later.

Ailin let out a long breath and casually flicked the filthy blood from his silver sword.

Monster Group "Drowners" LV2 Subjugated!

Reward Calculation: Overcame the Enemy, Base Rating D; Outnumbered +1—D+; Beheading Intimidation +3—C+; Emergency Mission +2—B

Final Rating: B

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

Timed Mission Complete: You, Come at Me Together! (Drowners Killed 3/3)

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

What a bountiful haul!

Ailin thought.

As the notification chimes rang in his ears, a profound sense of happiness welled up within him.

Thank you, drowners!

Ailin sighed inwardly as he lowered his head and walked toward the edge of the training ground.

"Apprentice Ailin!"

Ailin looked up and instinctively caught the object thrown at him.

Opening his palm, he saw a crystal-clear round gemstone reflecting prismatic rays beneath the midday sun.

It was Vera's Phantasm Pendant.

"School Head," Ailin looked at the School Head in confusion, "I killed the drowners with a silver sword."

The School Head smiled, looking at Ailin with approval as he said,

"I know."

"Compared to greedy recklessness, rational courage is more deserving of reward."

"So yes, Vera's Phantasm Pendant is yours."

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

Without waiting for Ailin's response,

the Chief of the School of the Wolf praised Vesemir's teaching a few more times, then headed straight toward the gray-white main keep.

Watching the School Head's carefree departing figure, Ailin felt conflicted.

Could he really have been overthinking things?

It seemed perfectly normal for a School Head to reward a promising apprentice.

But hadn't witchers already been in decline in the game's setting?

Why was the School of the Wolf in 1179 so extravagant, using Magic Items to boost the apprentices' morale?

Ailin withdrew his gaze.

Eleven-year-old Huus, silver-haired and blue-eyed, happily circled him like a fluffy puppy.

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

For them, whether they wore well-made, custom-fitted leather armor or tattered apprentice leather armor in the approaching Trial of the Mountains

might mean the difference between life and death.

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

They seemed to have accepted that Witcher's Eye could do anything. At least on the surface, they showed no doubts about Ailin's rapidly growing strength.

Most of the watching witchers had left, but those who remained wore smiles, as though heartened by the future of the School of the Wolf.

The warm autumn sun cast dazzling rays through the towering gray spires, falling upon the blue Cat Eyes of the thirteen-year-old witcher apprentice.

For an instant, Ailin felt like a hero.

"All right, all right, the celebration ends here."

Vesemir clapped his hands, drawing all the apprentices' attention.

"Ailin, Huus, stay behind." Vesemir nodded at Ailin, then lowered his head and said, "The rest of you injured apprentices, go to the Alchemy Room on the second floor of the south tower for treatment. Pick up lunch while you're there."

The injured apprentices left at his words.

Ailin and Huus followed Vesemir over to 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 this once."

"Shouldn't we wait for Bont and the others?" Huus asked in confusion.

"These are your prey. They have nothing to do with anyone else." Vesemir did not look up. "Don't interrupt. Watch closely. I'll only teach this once."

"A drowner's tongue and brain are both excellent alchemical materials."

"As the most common Water Element base in alchemy, their gentle properties can reconcile conflicts between many advanced materials..."

"Though these two materials both come from drowners, their processing methods are vastly different..."

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

In less than ten minutes, Huus had put most of his weight on Ailin's back.

The exhaustion from the intense battle also lightly knocked at the door, wanting to take a stroll through Ailin's mind.

"...Most people—including some mages—believe witchers rely on silver swords and Signs to hunt monsters, but that isn't accurate."

"Potions are also important weapons for us."

"Witcher Potion is brewed from strong liquor, Drowner Brain, dandelions, mushrooms, and other ingredients."

"It is simple to make, and the materials can be found everywhere."

"After drinking it, it can greatly increase a witcher's reaction speed and suppress pain..."

"Witcher Potion?" Ailin caught the key phrase. "Master Vesemir, is that the only potion witchers have?"

"Of course not."

Hearing that denial, Ailin breathed a sigh of relief.

Right.

There were so many potions in the game. How could they have suddenly vanished?

"If you have money," Vesemir shrugged, "you can certainly buy some flashy but impractical concoctions from mages—night vision, enhanced muscles, invisibility, and so on."

The implication in Vesemir's words was already obvious, but Ailin still clung to a sliver of hope and asked,

"Is Witcher Potion the only potion witchers can make?"

"Of course. It's simple and practical. It's all we need."

Ailin's heart sank straight to the bottom.

This was not the witcher world he knew.

New author, new book. Please keep reading, recommend it, and add it to your collection! The internal submission has passed, so feel free to invest with confidence!