Night fell, and the cold wind howled across the wilderness.
After gathering around the warm campfire and enjoying a hot meal of roast rabbit, Letho took a sip of East of East and suddenly said, "I remember you said yesterday that you wanted to learn crossbow shooting. Since we have some free time now, I'll teach you."
Roy had always been an amateur marksman, self-taught and without any guidance. He'd long wanted professional instruction.
Since setting out with the Witcher, he'd increasingly felt the limitations of his compact crossbow, Gabriel. It was fine against ordinary wild animals, but not much use against Monsters. He could only hope that improving his marksmanship would ease the problem.
The bald man had him take out his hand crossbow, then began explaining with the weapon in hand.
"I'll leave the School of the Viper's crossbow techniques aside. This time, I'll focus on the tips shared with me by a friend from the School of the Cat."
"Master Letho, you know someone from the School of the Cat?" Roy asked curiously. In his mind, due to the School of the Cat's unique Trial of the Grasses potion formula, its mutated Witchers were more or less flawed in temperament and prone to extremes. And the Witcher's profession exposed them to the world's ugliness, indirectly reinforcing those extreme tendencies until they went mad.
Of the six known Witcher schools—the Bear, Wolf, Griffin, Cat, Viper, and Griffin schools—only the School of the Cat openly accepted contracts to assassinate humans. For various other reasons, the School of the Cat had ultimately been shunned by the other five schools and the wider world, leaving its members with a reputation little better than rats in the street.
Besides, the School of the Cat had countless ties to the Wolf School and was the only school to accept female apprentices.
"Though people say every 'cat' is a lunatic," Letho said, rubbing an old wound on his right forearm. A glimmer of reminiscence crossed his amber eyes. "That's obviously nonsense. Plenty of Witchers from the School of the Cat can talk peacefully and reason like anyone else. Anyway, enough about that. Let's get down to business."
"First, tell me what you think. When you use Gabriel, what do you consider the most important part?"
Roy held the hand crossbow casually and mimed taking aim. "Aiming... shooting? Right, the most important moment is when your index finger squeezes the trigger. That's called firing, right? That's what determines whether you hit the target."
"Kid, you've got a little talent. Just as you said, all the preparations and steps in crossbow shooting are there to help you pull the trigger and launch that bolt." Letho walked around the campfire, his deep voice pausing for a moment. "To be specific, though, the steps are complicated. Crossbow technique mainly consists of five parts: how to hold the crossbow, shooting stance, drawing the string and loading the bolt, aiming, and firing..."
Roy kept his expression neutral. He'd been prepared for this: any skill that seemed simple often involved a surprising number of tedious details at a professional level.
"We've got time. We'll take it slow. Let's start with the simplest part: holding the crossbow... Pick it up the way you're used to."
Gabriel was smaller than a full-sized crossbow. Roy was used to holding it in one hand, but using both was no problem. He followed the instructions, stood straight, supported the lower middle of the crossbow with his left hand, and gripped the stock with his right.
Letho's broad palm began pressing against different parts of his body as he explained the key points.
"You really are self-taught. Your form's full of mistakes, but it's not too late to correct them... Remember to keep your body centered and relaxed. Don't tense up. Keep your shoulders level. Apart from your hands, no part of your body should support the crossbow. Since you're right-handed, lower your left elbow and draw it inward... If you're wondering why you have to keep correcting this movement, and what the point is, you'll understand after you've shot more than ten thousand times."
"Because the person who figured out the technique had shot at least a million times."
The instructions sounded simple, and it wasn't difficult to follow them. The hard part was maintaining the form for a long time, practicing it over and over without stopping until it became instinct.
The process was extremely tedious.
Roy could only keep encouraging himself: keep going, keep going. This was just a small step toward gaining power. If he couldn't even endure this, how could he expect to survive the much more difficult Trial of the Grasses?
After more than an hour, Roy was drenched in sweat, but at last his crossbow stance was beginning to look close to correct. Letho moved on to explaining the key points of drawing the string and loading the bolt.
According to him, to learn how to shoot, you first had to learn the preparations: how to hold the crossbow and how to load a bolt.
By the time Roy had learned those two steps, three hours had passed and the moon was high overhead. His eyes were blurring with exhaustion. Letho's method of drawing the string and loading the bolt actually involved using his foot to brace the crossbow. But it was safer and more efficient than using his hands, even if it took more strength.
Throughout the lesson, the Witcher hadn't heard a single complaint. Even though the kid was soaked from head to toe in sweat, he'd stayed completely focused. Letho was more satisfied with him now, and had gained a little confidence that the kid might be able to endure it.
That was the end of tonight's training.
After Roy washed off the sweat and dried his clothes by the campfire, Letho tossed him a question. "It's about time to rest. Since you made a request this morning, I'll tell you now that you have two choices. One is to let me put you to sleep with the Axii Sign. You'll fall into a deep sleep, recover your strength quickly, and ease your muscle fatigue. There might even be some other benefits in store for you. The other is to rely on the quality of your own sleep."
Roy remembered how wonderfully restful the previous night had been and hesitated. "Master Letho, are you going to put more knowledge in my head again?"
"Didn't I tell you? Unless you want your brain to explode." Letho flexed his fingers. "If you agree to the first option, relax your body and try not to resist what I'm about to do. Otherwise, it won't work nearly as well."
Roy thought for two seconds. If Letho wanted to hurt him, would resisting do any good, given his strength? The fact that he'd warned Roy in advance was already a sign of respect.
He soon put the thought aside and, as he'd hoped, drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The following week passed peacefully, without any encounters with Monsters.
During their journey, the Witcher taught Roy about herbalism using whatever herbs they found along the roadside. In the evenings, Roy used his newly learned crossbow technique to hunt wild animals, gain a little Experience Points, and prepare dinner.
Once night had fallen, the two of them continued their crossbow practice around the campfire. After sweating through countless drills, Roy gradually mastered an important part of the technique: breathing.
He could clearly feel his marksmanship improving, but he still lacked practical experience, so he hadn't yet developed a related ability.
Before going to sleep each night, he entered a deep sleep under the effect of the Witcher's Axii Sign, enjoying the feeling of opening his eyes in the morning as though he'd been brought back to life.
After a week of this, Roy's Experience Points had reached LV2 (280/1000). His Constitution had increased by 0.1 thanks to the herbs, reaching 4.4, and his Strength had also increased by 0.1, reaching 4.3. He could now remember the appearance, growing environment, medicinal properties, and processing methods of more than 50 kinds of herbs. "Slaughter" could affect five more kinds of animals.
Roy began to enjoy the process of growing steadily, if slowly.
That evening, the two of them finally left the uninhabited wilderness. Across the unbroken plain, they could clearly see a towering city wall, with several tall buildings within. A few scattered lights glimmered, and wisps of white smoke rose into the air.
"That's Edessberg, next to the Mahakam Mountains. It's the last line of defense in southwestern Aedirn. We'll probably reach it tomorrow."
At that, Roy peered into the distance. Behind the city, a mountain range rose so high it seemed to pierce the clouds, stretching without end across their path. It looked like a sleeping ancient beast. The endless snow and faintly visible green on its slopes were no more than decorations on its hide.
These were the Mahakam Mountains, a colossal range that served as the border between Temeria and Aedirn, and the home of the dwarves. According to legend, Gnomes lived there, too.
To reach Cintra, the two of them had to pass through Edessberg and then cross the mountains. But night had fallen, so they set up camp.
After a hearty dinner of roast meat, Letho sat quietly facing the distant mountains, squatting with his eyes fixed in their direction. The silence and tension he'd carried throughout the journey faded, and a calm, steady strength settled over him.
Roy watched Letho's broad back. An aura of magic seemed to surround it, calming Roy. Then he heard a voice by his ear.
"Meditation was created by the first Source Power mages. It's a way to communicate with and control Chaos Power—to control the power of the elements. Later, the creator of the Witchers, Cosimo Malaspina, left it to them as a legacy."
"For Witchers and ordinary people, meditation can help regulate body and mind, clear away negative emotions, quickly repair bodily damage, restore stamina, improve physical condition, and bring on deep sleep."
"But those born sensitive to magic can use meditation to sense the power of the elements and draw magical energy from the air, water, earth, and fire. When their sensitivity awakens, if they aren't sent to a sorcerer's academy in time to receive training and learn to control the elemental forces, they'll go mad as their magic runs wild and their reason collapses. Or they'll suffer an even more miserable fate: their bodies will be twisted into hideous deformities by the torment of magic."
"So, kid, I need you to meditate on your own and tell me whether you're an ordinary person or someone sensitive to magic."
Roy's heart skipped a beat. So it was finally happening. "What should I do? How do I start meditating?" he asked, feigning confusion.
He was sure Letho had never said a word about meditation before.
In truth, if he could choose, he'd certainly want to be sensitive to magic. After all, the Witchers had been created by sorcerers, and there was no doubt that their power was on a lower level than a sorcerer's.
But his Personal Template had no talents or skills related to Magicka, the elements, or Chaos Energy. He hadn't even unlocked Magicka.
He already had a feeling he knew the answer.
Letho calmly answered his confusion. "Every night before you fall asleep, I use the Axii Sign to hypnotize you."
"That wasn't just to help me sleep deeply?"
"When I gave you the choice, didn't I say there might be some other benefits... and you chose to accept." Letho emphasized the point. "To be precise, you've already meditated six times. Your body has been conditioned and has fully adapted to the process. But you were doing it passively, so you couldn't retain any memories. Today, you need to try meditating on your own and tell me what you feel."
"Some other benefits... This bald man always leaves half of what he means unsaid. Is this a reward for trusting him?"
Roy was glad he'd made that choice back then, but he really had no memory of this so-called meditation. All he remembered was how deeply he'd slept every night.
"Don't doubt me. Sit down the way I do."
Roy obediently copied his pose, bringing his index fingers together in a strange hand seal. Everything went smoothly. It really did feel as though he'd repeated it many times before.
His body naturally slipped into a certain state. He felt warm all over, as if he'd returned to the womb. Every cell seemed to roar, ravenously absorbing nutrients as his body began to repair and strengthen itself.
The wind howling around him and the fire crackling in the campfire both faded into the distance. His gaze passed over Edessberg and fixed on the Mahakam Mountains. The vast clouds surging around their peaks shifted unpredictably, gradually forming a whirlpool that drew him in.
Happy New Year's in advance, everyone!
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