Chapter Summaries

Ailin used an Ice Spike Spell to disrupt Kedwen’s Immovable Shield formation, helping Mountain Stone and the Rock Trolls defeat the soldiers. Vesemir arrived to find him, and after Ailin claimed the shields as spoils, he worried about what would happen to the Rock Trolls if he left.

• Ailin observed Kedwen’s eight Immovable Shields withstand Mountain Stone’s attacks through a hemispherical magical barrier.
• Ailin killed Andre with an Ice Spike Spell, breaking the shields’ resonance and allowing Mountain Stone and the Rock Trolls to overwhelm Kedwen’s soldiers.
• Vesemir followed Ailin’s messenger bird into the cave and found him after the battle.
• Mountain Stone recognized Vesemir as Ailin’s friend, thanked Ailin, and offered him the eight fallen Immovable Shields.
• Vesemir stored all eleven shields, and Ailin asked what would happen to the Rock Trolls if he left.

Ailin and Lady Vesemir evacuated twelve Rock Trolls through a portal before Ban Ard's confinement ritual could trap them. After the ritual took effect, Lady Vesemir urged Ailin to seek treatment for the curse on Meritellie's Amulet, but he refused to miss the combat tournament; as Kedwen's troops arrived, a strange Sorcerer in a pointed hat seemed to spot him.

• Ailin asked Lady Vesemir what would happen to the Rock Trolls, and she warned that Sorcerers and witchers would likely kill them after the king's commission failed.
• Lady Vesemir agreed to teleport the Rock Trolls if Ailin persuaded them to leave, and Ailin won them over by promising a weekly supply of rotten meat and invoking Big Stone's friendship.
• Lady Vesemir opened a huge portal to an abandoned Elven ruin in the Blue Mountains, and Ailin and Mountain Stone led all twelve Rock Trolls through it before the Ban Ard ritual was completed.
• Lady Vesemir explained how the confinement ritual made portals dangerous, then examined the damaged Meritellie's Amulet and urged Ailin to go to Arland to remove the curse.
• Ailin refused to abandon the upcoming Apprentice Combat Tournament, and Kedwen soldiers and Sorcerers entered the mine as Lady Vesemir concealed them with a spell.
• Ailin unexpectedly met the gaze of a strange Sorcerer wearing a long pointed hat and feared that he had been discovered.

Ailin and Lady Vesemir discovered that School of the Cat witchers planned to assassinate Soyer, but the Rock Trolls had vanished and the plot failed to proceed. After Lady Vesemir gave Ailin the Amulet of the Sky Father, he left for Hundred Fruit Garden, while Haxor learned that his forces had lost nearly three hundred men and Soyer remained alive.

• Lady Vesemir hid Ailin and herself with the Path of Shadows as Kedwen's army entered the mine, and Ailin spotted Soyer among the soldiers.
• Ailin identified School of the Cat witchers following Soyer, and Lady Vesemir concluded they intended to assassinate him.
• Lady Vesemir led Ailin out of the mine, gave him the Amulet of the Sky Father, and sent him toward Hundred Fruit Garden.
• Jaquell told Haxor that the Rock Trolls had disappeared, Treyis had refused to attack Soyer, and Jens had declined to help.
• Haxor realized Kedwen had lost nearly three hundred elite men, failed to kill Soyer, and lost track of the elf.

After learning that humans counted as monsters and accepting a quest to kill a thousand, Ailin reflected that he considered Kaer Morhen home and continued pursuing the elves. He found Sadia and Francesca at Hodon’s grave just as Hodon rose as a Greater Nekker, and the chapter ended with Ailin fighting the newly formed specter.

• Ailin received the Humans I hunting quest and wondered whether its reward could take him home, but decided he had no desire to leave his companions and home in Kaer Morhen.
• Ailin returned to Hundred Fruit Garden, reassured Vesemir and the others, then followed the black elemental trail to a cabin where Lyra told him Hodon had died.
• After Sadia screamed in the woods, Ailin sent Lyra back to the children and rushed to find Sadia and Francesca beside Hodon’s grave.
• Francesca knocked Sadia unconscious and pulled her away as Hodon appeared as a level 56 Greater Nekker; Ailin coated his sword with Specter Oil and attacked.
• Ailin used the Yrden Sign to slow the Greater Nekker, which formed a long sword and charged him while shouting about killing Haxor.

Ailin defeated the Greater Nekker, who revealed himself to be Hodon and left a final message for Sadia. After Francesca departed, Ailin told Sadia that Hodon had spoken to him and shared what he said about the Chamomile of the Blooming Moon.

• Francesca strengthened Ailin with spells, helping him evade the Greater Nekker and wear down its spirit body with Elsa and Yrden traps.
• Ailin completed the hunt and killed the Greater Nekker, who thanked him and asked him to tell Sadia that he had gone to follow Lord Hudson.
• Sadia awakened and accepted that Ailin was not at fault, while Francesca tried to comfort her by saying specters had nothing to do with the souls of the living.
• Sadia asked Francesca to return to the Wooden Hut and tell Lyra and the children they were safe, then remained alone with Ailin by Hodon's grave.
• Ailin told Sadia that the Greater Nekker had spoken to him and asked him to say that she would need someone else to accompany her to see the Chamomile of the Blooming Moon each year.

Sadia told Ailin how she survived the Aelirenn Uprising, found a life among humans, and was drawn back to the ruins of Shaer Lavhed, where she found a gemstone. She revealed that Haxor and others hunted her and Hodon because of a prophecy about the Child of Miracle, leaving Ailin shocked by its connection to a prophecy he already knew.

• Sadia recalled joining Laurelin’s resistance, being crippled by Vesemir, and recovering at the Temple of Meritele, where a High Priest taught her medicine and herbalism.
• Sadia described treating humans as Doctor Asha and moving from town to town before destiny drew her back to Kedwen and the ruins of Shaer Lavhed.
• Sadia said she found a gemstone among Laurelin’s white rose bushes, but explained that Haxor pursued her and Hodon because of a prophecy, while the Benn Adar Sorcerers sought the gemstone.
• Sadia recited the prophecy of the Child of Miracle and warned Ailin that Haxor and others wanted to kill them because of it.

Ailin learned how Sadia and Hodon became fugitives and how their half-elf children were mistaken for the Child of Miracle. Sadia agreed to seek elven support for Kaer Morhen and entrust her children to Ailin, while Adda arrived and Sadia handed over the gemstone, which the Witcher's system identified as a fragment of Ad Gaes's Gate.

• Sadia recounted how Haxor hunted her for Ithlinne's Prophecy, how Hodon rescued her, and how Viscount Hudson died protecting them from Haxor and the Benn Adar Sorcerers.
• Sadia revealed that her half-elf children were born beneath an abandoned mine and were believed to fulfill the Child of Miracle prophecy, while Ailin recognized that his own title confirmed he was the true Child of Miracle.
• Ailin asked Sadia for help protecting Kaer Morhen from a possible attack, and Sadia agreed to seek elven support if he took her children there to become witchers.
• Adda of Vengerberg arrived with Francesca, and she and Ailin sensed fate's summons through the Wolf Emblem.
• Sadia gave Ailin her necklace, and his system detected the gemstone as a fragment of Ad Gaes's Gate.

Ailin received a gemstone fragment of Adagath's Gate and learned its significance before Sadia and Francesca departed. At the same time, Haxor, Jens, and Tresius plotted to assassinate Soyer during the Apprentice Combat Tournament, then learned that Ailin would also be with the School of the Wolf.

• Ailin asked Adda of Vengerberg and Francesca about Adagath's Gate, and they explained that the ancient Aen Woedhe had used it to travel between worlds before it disappeared.
• Sadia entrusted Ailin with the care of her sleeping children, then left through a portal; Francesca revealed that she knew Granny Asha was Sadia but admitted she was afraid to acknowledge her as her mother.
• Francesca gave Ailin the Magic Items called "Nightshade" and went home through a portal after saying goodbye.
• At the Hudson Abandoned Mine, Haxor blamed Jens and Tresius for their failures and ordered them to arrange Soyer's assassination during the tournament in ten days.
• Tresius warned Haxor and Jens that Ailin, another Witcher Master, had joined the School of the Wolf's tournament team, and Haxor said no Witcher Master by that name was known to him.

Ailin absorbed the Fragment of Ad Gaes's Gate, gained powerful spatial abilities, and improved his perception, while Lyra remained determined by her hatred despite his refusal to train her as a witcher. Lady Vesemir arrived with news that Haxor had invited Soyer to the Apprentice Combat Tournament, and their conversation was interrupted when an elf girl emerged from the hut.

• Haxor and Tresius confirmed that Ailin was not listed as a Witcher Master and prepared for the possibility that the School of the Wolf had two Witcher Masters.
• Lyra asked Ailin to make her a witcher, but he refused and told her she was too old for the trials.
• Ailin absorbed the Fragment of Ad Gaes's Gate, gained Spatial Mastery and Blink, upgraded both skills, and discovered that using Blink scorched Goddess Meritellie's Amulet.
• Ailin opened the Greater Nekker's chests and used its Purifying Spirit to raise his Perception, then heard Lyra quietly sobbing in the hut.
• Lady Vesemir arrived and told Ailin that Soyer had agreed to attend the Apprentice Combat Tournament after Haxor invited him, possibly intending to create another chance to kill him.
• A girl emerged from the hut and asked who Lady Vesemir was, prompting the sorceress to remark that she had thought the girl was an elf.

Ailin reunited Sadia’s half-elf children with Lyra and arranged for them to be sent to Kaer Morhen, then joined the School of the Wolf as they weighed whether to enter the Apprentice Combat Tournament despite a plot against them. He chose to proceed, arguing that the school needed time to grow and prepare, and the others backed him.

• Ailin asked the Sorceress to teleport Lyra and Sadia’s children to Kaer Morhen, and she agreed before warning him not to walk into a trap.
• Vesemir gave Ailin materials for North Wind Bombs, which Huus, Bont, and Fred had obtained by completing a specter contract with him.
• The Sorceress returned with Soyer and told the Witchers that the tournament was dangerous; Ailin explained that the king and Haxor intended to weaken the School of the Wolf and kill Soyer.
• Soyer explained that refusing the tournament could give Kedwen grounds to attack Kaer Morhen with its army, so Ailin argued that the school should participate and use the time to grow stronger and prepare.
• Ailin revealed that he had secured elven aid, then said the Witchers could survive if they prepared and kept their enemies unaware that the plot had been exposed.
• Vesemir, Fred, Bont, Huus, and Soyer supported Ailin’s decision, while Vera felt pride in her son and recognized his growing influence among the Witchers.

Ailin outlined how the group would protect Soyer during the Apprentice Combat Tournament and escape if Haxor retaliated, while keeping his contingency plans secret. He tested his North Wind bomb on a pack of drowners, discovered it froze and shattered them instantly, and offered to teach Vesemir how to brew it for Kaer Morhen.

• Ailin explained that Haxor did not know his scheme was exposed and said he would handle danger during the tournament’s swordsmanship bouts.
• Ailin said the greatest danger would come after the group left Ban Ard, and Vesemir agreed to accompany him through the Blue Mountains toward Ard and Meritele’s Temple.
• Ailin brewed one North Wind bomb and took Vesemir, Huus, Bont, and Fred to a riverbank to test it on drowners.
• Ailin threw the bomb into a pack of eight drowners, freezing them all before they fell and shattered into fragments.
• Ailin offered to teach Vesemir to make North Wind, saying he was helping defend their shared home, Kaer Morhen.

With the Apprentice Combat Tournament approaching, Ailin helped Huus, Bont, and Fred prepare by teaching them to make North Wind and leading them on monster hunts to build their strength. After the villagers of Hundred Fruit Garden saw the witchers off toward Ban Ard, Ailin reflected on how their recent work had restored the School of the Wolf’s reputation as the tournament began.

• Ailin taught Vesemir, Huus, Bont, and Fred to brew North Wind, but Vesemir stopped Fred from experimenting with the dangerous bombs.
• Ailin found three ghoul nests near a battlefield, used North Wind and Igni to destroy them, and the group killed enough ghouls to earn 870 Combat Points and raise Bont and Fred’s swordsmanship to LV3.
• King Haxor paid Vesemir 1,800 Oren for the nests, and Vesemir exchanged the reward for ingredients to make more North Wind.
• Ailin and the others continued hunting selectively until the Apprentice Combat Tournament arrived, then set out for Ban Ard with villagers’ gifts and farewells.
• As the villagers escorted the witchers from Hundred Fruit Garden, Ailin realized their monster hunts had improved the School of the Wolf’s reputation.

Ailin and the other witchers arrived in Ban Ard, where guards and residents treated them with open hostility, and Robin met them to guide them to Ban Ard Academy. Robin warned them that the School of the Cat’s veteran witchers had received a potion that made them look younger for the tournament, but Ailin and the others remained confident; Robin then cautioned them that Ban Ard’s sorcerers might also be unfriendly toward witchers.

• Vesemir led Ailin, Huus, Bont, and Fred into Ban Ard after guards insulted them and residents spread hostile rumors about witchers.
• Robin met Ailin at the city gate and explained that Farouk had asked him to show the group around Ban Ard Academy.
• Robin warned the witchers that Ban Ard sorcerers had supplied the School of the Cat with Esk's Disguise Potion for the upcoming Apprentice Combat Tournament.
• Ailin thanked Robin for risking trouble to warn them, while the witchers dismissed the threat because they believed they could defeat their opponents.
• Robin guided the group through Ban Ard and cautioned them at the academy entrance that its sorcerers and apprentices might not be friendly toward witchers.

Robin guided Ailin, Vesemir, and the other Witchers around Ban Ard Academy and warned them about the tournament and the hostility they might face. At Alzur's Tower, Ailin uncovered magical traps and surveillance devices, while Robin urged him to win the next day's competition in exchange for another book.

• Robin warned the Witchers that Ban Ard Sorcerers might covet them and explained that the tournament's sword duel had been moved ahead of the Drowner hunt, a change Vesemir saw as a scheme by the School of the Cat.
• Robin led the Witchers to Alzur's Tower, where Vesemir recalled punching a Sorcerer who had called Witchers his creations.
• When a trapped room exploded as Robin opened its door, Ailin shielded them with an advanced Quen Sign, astonishing Vesemir.
• Ailin spotted masked Sorcerer Apprentices who had set the prank, then used his Magic Vision to locate surveillance devices hidden among the rooms' other traps.
• Ailin collected usable magical items and burned the dangerous ones, and the Witchers chose their rooms without pursuing the pranksters.
• As Robin departed, he privately urged Ailin to win the tournament and promised him another book.

Ailin and the School of the Wolf witchers prepared for the tournament by taking Ghoul Heart Essence Fluid, then faced the newly arrived School of the Cat team at Alzure's Tower. After Ban Ard apprentices pranked the Cat witchers and tempers flared, the Wolf witchers settled together to rest before the tournament the next day.

• Ailin reassured Robin that the School of the Wolf would win, while Robin mistook his response as enthusiasm for his favorite book.
• Ailin and the other witchers drank Ghoul Heart Essence Fluid, which strengthened them until they reached its limit of twenty doses.
• Guksat introduced himself as the School of the Cat team leader, and Vesemir recognized him as one of the witchers involved in the earlier ambush.
• Farouk identified Ailin to Guksat as Lady Vesemir's alchemy apprentice, prompting Guksat to wonder how Ailin could have defeated Brett and Fredika.
• A magical prank and taunts from Ban Ard apprentices enraged the School of the Cat witchers, while the School of the Wolf watched and laughed.
• The School of the Wolf witchers chose to rest together in one room, knowing the tournament would decide their schools' fate.

Guksat struggled with the choice of whether to use deadly pills on his former apprentices, while the School of the Wolf arrived at Ban Ard for the tournament. The opening match was unexpectedly changed to a melee, and the Cat School witchers charged with alarming excitement as the fight began.

• Guksat recalled training the four young Cat School witchers and questioned Tresius's plan to sacrifice them, gripping the enhanced pills as dawn arrived.
• Ailin and the School of the Wolf entered the crowded arena, where Sorcerer Apprentices insulted the witchers until Robin silenced them.
• King Haxor arrived, and the tournament was announced; the first match was a melee rather than the swordsmanship duel Robin had expected.
• Ailin warned Vesemir that the king might target him too, and Vesemir told the young witchers to retreat rather than risk their lives.
• Ailin noticed the Cat School witchers looked feverish and warned his companions before all eight fighters drew their blunt swords and charged.

During the melee, Ailin discovered that the School of the Cat witchers were taking stimulants that raised their attributes. When their growing strength endangered Huus, Bont, and Fred, Ailin revealed his power and broke Baleka’s arms and legs, leaving the still-continuing match tilted decisively toward the School of the Wolf.

• Radek explained to Bogdan that the tournament’s melee was unpredictable, while Bogdan wondered if Kedwen’s king wanted the School of the Cat to win.
• Haxor gloated over the School of the Wolf’s apparent disadvantage and planned to use the match to destroy Soyer and later kill him.
• Guksat worried as Ailin and the other School of the Wolf witchers proved far stronger and more skilled than expected, but reassured himself that the pills would make the School of the Cat win.
• Ailin appraised Baleka and Geoffrey and saw their attributes rising; he realized the School of the Cat witchers were using stimulants as their attacks grew more dangerous.
• When Huus, Bont, and Fred came under threat, Ailin knocked Baleka’s sword away and broke Baleka’s arms and thighs, leaving him unable to fight.
• The arena erupted in applause even though the match continued, and Radek told Bogdan that the School of the Wolf had won.

Ailin defeated the drugged School of the Cat witchers while King Haxor and Ban Ard vice dean Jens discussed continuing their plan against the School of the Wolf. Before Guksat could concede, monsters burst into the arena, and Ailin turned to face the threat behind him.

• Haxor refused to inspect Ailin for cheating, learned he was an apprentice named Ailin, and told Jens that their plan against Soyer and the School of the Wolf would continue.
• Ailin helped Bont and Fred defeat their drugged School of the Cat opponents, leaving Geoffrey as the last one standing.
• Ailin called on Guksat to surrender, but Guksat hesitated as the crowd noticed Geoffrey's abnormal state.
• A warning rang out that the Conjunction of the Spheres had begun, and a huge gate burst open as blue-skinned Little Monsters flooded into the arena.
• Ailin gathered Huus, Bont, and Fred and searched for a way out, then Huus shouted for him to look behind him.

Ailin and the School of the Wolf fought through the drowners and found their escape blocked, while Ailin drew the Drowners King away so his companions could flee through the gate using the Foglet Arm Bone. On the viewing platform, Tresius tried to poison Soyer, but Soyer’s Quen stopped the attack and revealed that he had anticipated it.

• Ailin protected Huus, Bont, and Fred from the drowners and learned that the arena gates were locked and the Sorcerers had disappeared.
• Ailin spotted that the Foglet Arm Bone could let his companions pass through the iron gate, then sent Huus through first while he faced the Drowners King.
• Ailin fought the monsters and considered using Blink or killing the Drowners King to secure his escape.
• Haxor watched the attack from the protected viewing platform as Soyer prepared to intervene.
• Tresius stabbed at Soyer with a poisoned sword, but Soyer’s Quen blocked the blade and his expression showed he had known about the attack.

Ailin triggered a real Conjunction of the Spheres during the arena battle, causing a violent upheaval that killed the King's Guard and brought a monster down on the grandstand. The chapter ended with Haxor facing the awakened Drowners King as Ailin silently urged the creature to kill him.

• Ailin severed the Drowners King's arm while using Alde Sign to keep the other drowners at bay.
• Ailin noticed a pointed-hat Sorcerer opening a path for an attack on Soyer, then used fire to hold off the drowners and activated the Conjunction of the Spheres.
• Ailin's emerald door and black sphere triggered a violent shockwave that shook the arena, injured spectators, and disrupted the fight between Soyer and Tresius.
• A massive monster crushed Haxor's guards, while Haxor escaped by tumbling off the grandstand and Jens recognized the event as the true Conjunction of the Spheres.
• Ailin beheaded the dazed Drowners King, but Haxor's demand that Soyer kill the nearby monster instead awakened it and drew its attention to the king.
• Ailin watched Haxor and the Drowners King face each other and silently urged the monster to kill him.