Meditating Facing the Distant Mountains

The night wind howled across the wilderness.

Sitting around the warm campfire after enjoying a steaming meal of roasted rabbit, Letho took a sip of his East of East and suddenly spoke, "I remember you mentioned yesterday that you wanted to learn crossbow techniques. Since we have some free time now, I'll teach you."

As an amateur shooter who had never received formal training and relied entirely on wild, self-taught methods, Roy had long desired professional guidance.

Ever since he began traveling with the Witcher, he increasingly felt the limitations of his pocket crossbow, Gabriel. It was fine for dealing with ordinary wild animals, but it fell short against monsters. He could only hope that improvements in his marksmanship would alleviate this predicament.

The bald giant told him to take out his hand crossbow and began to explain, using the weapon as a visual aid.

"I won't mention the crossbow techniques of the School of the Viper. This time, I'll focus on sharing the experience passed on to me by a friend from the School of the Cat."

"Master Letho, you know guys from the School of the Cat?" Roy asked curiously. In his impression, due to the unique mutagenic decoctions used in the Trial of the Grasses, Witcher of the School of the Cat often possessed personality defects that made them prone to extremes. The Witcher profession, which forced them to witness the ugliness of the world, indirectly fueled these extreme tendencies until they spiraled into madness.

Among the six known Witcher schools—Bear, Wolf, Griffin, Cat, Viper, and Manticore—only the School of the Cat openly accepted contracts for the assassination of humans. Furthermore, due to various other reasons, the School of the Cat was eventually shunned by the other five schools and the secular world, leaving them in a position akin to rats crossing the street.

Additionally, the School of the Cat had intricate ties to the Wolf School and was the only school that accepted female apprentices.

"Although everyone calls all the 'Cats' madmen," Letho touched an old scar on his right forearm, a glimmer of reminiscence flashing in his amber eyes, "that is clearly nonsense. There are many School of the Cat Witchers who can communicate peacefully and reason. Alright, enough of this topic; let's get to the point."

"First, tell me your thoughts. When you use Gabriel, what do you think is the most important part?"

Roy held the hand crossbow casually and struck an aiming pose, "Aiming... shooting? Right, the most important moment is the instant the index finger pulls the trigger, called the release, right? That moment determines whether or not you hit the target."

"Kid, you've got some talent. Just as you said, all the preparations and steps in crossbow technique serve the purpose of pulling the trigger and firing that bolt." Letho circled the campfire, his deep voice pausing, "To be specific, the steps are quite complex. Crossbow technique mainly consists of five parts: holding the crossbow, shooting posture, drawing the string and placing the bolt, aiming, and the release..."

Roy kept a calm face. He had long been mentally prepared; any seemingly simple technique, when placed in a professional field, often involved unimaginably tedious details.

"We have time, so let's take it slow. Start with the simplest part: holding the crossbow... Go ahead and hold it in your habitual posture."

Although Gabriel was smaller than a standard crossbow and Roy was used to holding it with one hand, using both hands was fine too. He followed instructions, stood straight, supported the middle-lower part of the crossbow body with his left hand, and gripped the handle with his right.

Letho's fan-like palms began to press against his body, explaining the key points as he adjusted him.

"You really are a wild amateur; your movements are riddled with errors, but it's not too late to correct them now... Remember, your body must be centered and relaxed. Are you tense? Keep your shoulders level. Aside from your two hands, no other part of your body should support the crossbow. Since you're right-handed, your left elbow joint should hang down and tuck inward... If you want to ask why, or what the point of repeatedly correcting this movement is? You'll start to understand after you've fired more than ten thousand shots."

"Because the person who summarized this experience has fired at least a million times."

The essentials of the movement sounded simple, and performing them according to the requirements wasn't difficult either; the difficulty lay in maintaining them for a long time and practicing this set of movements continuously until they became instinct.

The process was extremely dull and tedious.

Roy could only keep encouraging himself in his heart, persisting again and again. This was just a small step toward gaining power; if he couldn't even endure the current situation, what right did he have to talk about surviving the much harder Trial of the Grasses?

More than an hour later, Roy, drenched in sweat, finally had a somewhat standard posture. Letho then began to explain the key points of drawing the string and placing the bolt.

According to him, to learn shooting, one must first learn the preparation work: how to hold the crossbow and how to load the bolt.

After learning these two steps, three hours had passed. The moon was high in the sky, and Roy was so exhausted his eyes were swimming. The method Letho taught for drawing the bow and placing the bolt actually required using a foot stirrup, but it had to be said, it was safer and more efficient than using hands, though it consumed more physical energy.

Throughout the process, the Witcher didn't hear a single complaint. Even though the kid was soaked from head to toe in sweat, he remained fully focused. Letho couldn't help but feel a bit more satisfied and gained a sliver of confidence that this guy might actually survive.

Tonight's training ended here.

After Roy washed off the sweat and dried his clothes by the campfire, Letho threw a question at him, "It's about time to rest. Since you made the request this morning, I'm notifying you now: you have two choices. One is to let me use the Axii Signs to hypnotize you into a deep sleep, quickly restoring your physical strength and eliminating muscle fatigue—who knows, there might be other benefits waiting for you? The other is to rely on your own sleep quality."

Thinking of the incredibly comfortable sleep from last night, Roy hesitated, "Master Letho, are you going to stuff some knowledge into my brain again?"

"Didn't I tell you? Unless you want your brain to explode." Letho pinched his fingers, "If you agree to the first option, then relax your body and try not to resist my upcoming actions, otherwise the effect will be greatly diminished."

Roy thought for two seconds. If Letho had the heart to harm him, would resistance be useful? The fact that the other party notified him in advance was already a sign of respect.

He immediately relaxed and soon drifted into a sweet, deep sleep as he had hoped.

The following week was calm, with no encounters with monsters.

While traveling during the day, the Witcher taught him herbalism knowledge using herbs found by the roadside. In the evening, Roy used his newly learned crossbow techniques to hunt wild animals, farming some Experience Points while preparing dinner.

When the sky turned completely dark, the two would continue crossbow training around the campfire. After shedding countless drops of sweat, Roy gradually learned an important part: breathing techniques.

He could clearly feel the improvement in his marksmanship, but he still lacked combat experience and couldn't form the relevant ability.

Finally, before going to sleep, he would enter a deep sleep under the influence of the Witcher's Axii Signs, enjoying the feeling of being reborn when he opened his eyes in the morning.

After a week of this, Roy's Experience Points reached LV2 (280/1000), his Physique attribute increased by 0.1 due to the herbs, reaching 4.4, and his Strength also increased by 0.1, reaching 4.3. He could firmly remember the appearance, growth environment, medicinal properties, and processing methods of over 50 types of herbs, and the number of animals that could be affected by "Slaughter" increased by 5.

Roy began to enjoy the fulfilling, slow process of growth.

That night, the two finally left the desolate area and clearly saw a towering city wall on the rolling plains. Inside the walls were several high-rise buildings, interspersed with sporadic flickering lights, and wisps of white smoke rising.

"That is the city of Edessberg, adjacent to the Mahakam Mountains, the last line of defense in the southwest of Aedirn. We should be able to arrive by tomorrow."

Hearing this, Roy looked into the distance, only to see a towering, boundless mountain range stretching across in front of them behind the city. Looking far into the distance, it resembled a sleeping ancient giant beast; the boundless snow on the mountain and the faint, lush green were merely decorations on its skin.

This was the Mahakam Mountains, a behemoth that served as the boundary between Temeria and Aedirn, the home of the dwarves, and where gnomes were also said to live.

To reach Cintra, the two had to pass through Edessberg and then cross this high mountain. However, it was getting late, so they set up camp.

After a hearty roasted meat dinner, Letho squatted quietly on the ground, facing the direction of the distant mountains. The silence and urgency of the journey dissipated, and a stable, peaceful power appeared on his face.

Roy watched Letho's broad back. This silhouette was suffused with magic, making him relax his entire body, and a voice rang in his ears.

"Meditation was created by the original Source Power sorcerers as a method to communicate with and manipulate Chaos Power, that is, elemental power. Later, it was left as a legacy to Witchers by the creator of the Witchers, Cosimo Malaspina."

"For Witchers and ordinary people, meditation allows them to regulate their body and mind, clear away negative emotions, quickly repair physical damage, restore physical strength, improve their physique, and achieve deep sleep."

"But for those naturally sensitive to magic, they can perceive elemental power through meditation and extract magical power from the air, water, earth, and fire. After these sensitive individuals awaken, if they are not sent to a sorcerer academy in time to receive training and tame the elemental power, they will go mad due to the loss of control over their magic, and their sanity will collapse. Or they will meet an even more miserable end, their bodies tortured by magic into ugly deformities."

"So, kid, I need you to actively meditate and tell me whether you are an ordinary person or a magicka-sensitive."

Roy's heart skipped a beat. Had it finally arrived, this moment? He then put on a confused expression, "What should I do? How do I enter meditation?"

He confirmed that Letho had never mentioned a single word about meditation to him before.

In truth, if it were possible, he certainly hoped he was magicka-sensitive. After all, Witchers were created by sorcerers, and their power level was undoubtedly lower than that of a sorcerer.

However, his Personal Template contained no talents or Skills related to magicka, elements, or Chaos Energy. He hadn't even been able to unlock his Magicka.

He already had a premonition in his heart.

Facing his confusion, Letho said calmly, "Every night before you fall asleep, I have been using the Axii Sign to hypnotize you."

"That wasn't for deep sleep?"

"Didn't I say when I gave you the choice that there might be some other benefits... and you chose to accept." Letho emphasized, "To be precise, you have already performed meditation six times. Your body has laid the foundation and completely adapted to the process of meditation. However, it was all passive, and you couldn't retain the memories. Today, you must try to meditate actively and tell me what you feel from the meditation."

Other benefits... This bald guy only says half of what he means. Is this a reward for trust?

Roy began to feel glad about his initial choice, but he truly had no impression of the so-called meditation; he only remembered that he slept very soundly every night.

"Don't doubt it. Sit down in my posture."

Roy obediently mimicked his posture, pressing his fingers together to form a strange sign. Everything went smoothly and fluidly; sure enough, it was as if he had repeated it many times.

His body naturally entered a state. He felt warm all over, as if returning to the womb. Every cell was roaring, thirstily absorbing nutrients and entering a process of self-repair and strengthening.

The whistling wind all around and the crackling sparks of the campfire all drifted away from him. His gaze crossed over Edessberg and fixed upon the Mahakam Mountains. The majestic, surging clouds and mist at the summit were unpredictable, gradually turning into a vortex that sucked him in.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year in advance!