Sparring Partner

Nick knelt in the underground sanctuary of the church, his eyes tightly shut.

His back was straight as a ramrod, and he held a holy emblem in his hands, praying devoutly.

It was as if this place had fallen into another dimension; the walls and ceiling had become translucent, revealing the roiling gray mist outside.

On the walls of the sanctuary, rows of silver runes glowed.

The faint light radiated outward, and wherever it touched the gray mist, wisps of blue smoke rose.

Gradually, this phenomenon faded, and the walls of the room returned to normal.

The priest opened his eyes and stood up. He walked to the statue of the angel and looked at the milky-white liquid in the copper basin at the stone statue's feet, which had significantly decreased, letting out a soft sigh:

"The erosion of the Full Moon Month is becoming increasingly severe. One day, the Spirit Plane will directly interfere with this world. What shall we do then? Almighty Lord, please have mercy on your people."

Kraun sat cross-legged, his hands forming the Great Sun Seal.

A faint smile played on his face, and he felt a warm sensation throughout his body.

After finishing his practice, he walked to the window, savoring that lingering warmth.

He hadn't been able to fall back asleep after waking from a nightmare last night, so he had simply decided to meditate on the Golden Light Incantation.

In the dark shadows, although it took a long time for him to enter the state, he had indeed succeeded in his visualization.

Through constant meditation, the chill he felt in his body after witnessing those evil visions was dispelled.

This phenomenon made him more certain of his suspicion: the crimson full moon contained evil magic!

After a hearty meal, Kraun, eager to get answers from the priest, hurried to the church.

When he arrived at the training ground in the church's backyard, he found that Nick was already standing there.

He walked over, feeling somewhat surprised, and greeted him:

"Good morning, Father! May the Lord of Flame shine upon us both!"

Ever since his swordsmanship had completely overwhelmed the man, he had rarely seen the priest during the day.

On the rare occasions they did meet, it was usually for the priest to assign training tasks.

"May the Lord of Flame shine upon us both," Nick responded with a smile.

He looked the young man up and down and said, "Not bad. Your mental state is excellent; it seems you slept quite soundly last night."

"Not soundly at all," Kraun shook his head and recounted the visions he had seen under the moonlight last night in full detail.

As Nick listened to his narrative, the expression on his face grew increasingly grave.

Once he finished, the priest muttered to himself, "Mortals who have not stepped into the extraordinary world cannot perceive such visions at all."

Only by entering the extraordinary world can one perceive such visions?

A flicker of hesitation crossed his face; he wasn't sure if he should tell the priest that he had become a Spirit Controller.

Geralt had once said that Spirit Controllers risked losing control. If he told the priest, he feared his path as a Knight would end right there. The church likely wouldn't allow someone facing the danger of losing control to become an insider.

"Some of the artistic types in the city occasionally dream of these scenes. Did you ever discover you had this ability before?"

He shook his head, secretly rejoicing; the priest's assumption saved him from having to explain this complicated situation.

"Perhaps the Evil Spirit has caused some form of erosion, making your spiritual perception sharper. From now on, stay at the church during the nights of the full moon."

Nick instructed, as he didn't want anything to happen to his hand-picked, capable assistant.

"From now on, besides your physical and strength training, I will teach you some basic knowledge about monsters. I have already submitted an application to the church to grant you a spot as a Crusader Order Warrior. If the application is successful, you will officially be a part of the church and entitled to all the benefits that come with it."

"Many thanks for your guidance, Father," Kraun smiled.

If he could join a powerful organization, he would certainly want to hold onto a strong backer.

He then added with some concern, "Father, you once said that the church equips every Exorcist Priest with several Crusader Order Warriors as support, but they have never assigned any to you. Will the church make things difficult for your application?"

Nick waved his hand and laughed, "You needn't worry about that. The reason the church hasn't sent me personnel is because they are short-handed, not because there are no positions. You are someone I discovered and cultivated myself. Once the church acknowledges this, they only need to pay you a fixed salary and provide supplies every month. They won't make it difficult; in fact, they will be happy to see it happen, as it means I won't be pestering them for support staff every day."

Kraun finished his training for the day and hurried to the Goat Inn.

When he found Geralt, the man was sitting in a corner, eating listlessly.

He walked up and asked straight to the point, "Hey, Mr. Witcher, I have a job if you're interested."

"We'll take it. We take any job," Alan, who was beside him, chimed in. "No one turns their nose up at Gold Shields. But, big brother, friendship is friendship, and business is business; the bounty must be according to our terms. We price based on the danger of the commission."

The boy spoke rapidly without taking a breath, clearly having said this countless times.

Kraun quickly interrupted his stream of words, "My commission has no danger. I would like to hire Mr. Geralt to practice swordsmanship with me."

The white-haired man squinted at him and asked, "You want to learn my swordsmanship? I advise you not to waste your effort; Witcher swordsmanship is..."

"Sir, you misunderstand me. I have no interest in the swordsmanship passed down by Witchers; I just want to hire you as my sparring partner. My current swordsmanship, well, is improving very quickly. Father Nick can no longer put much pressure on me."

"Improving very quickly?"

The Witcher gave an enigmatic smile.

He knew a thing or two about the other party's situation; having only studied swordsmanship for about ten days, he didn't believe the man possessed much skill.

"You surely need to train to maintain your combat readiness anyway. Adding me to the mix lets you earn Gold Shields, so why not?"

"Teacher, let's take this commission."

Alan shouted excitedly from the side. The Gold Shields in their possession were running low, and this winter would be difficult to endure. Naturally, he was happy that someone was offering money.

"I agree. The fee is one Gold Shield per hour, regardless of how long you wish to practice each day."

Kraun pulled two Gold Shields from his pocket and placed them on the table. "No problem. I want to start tonight. Let's do two hours, beginning at 8 o'clock in my backyard."

"Won't the night affect your vision?"

Geralt asked with some doubt.

Witchers were only able to adapt to the dim environment of the night after undergoing training and consuming alchemical potions to modify their bodies. Kraun was merely a Spirit Controller; did his spirit possess some sort of sorcery like dark vision?

"Of course it won't affect me. Why would I throw my money away?"

The Witcher nodded. "It's your call. However, I need to rest well tonight, so I'll have Alan spar with you. He has been studying swordsmanship for six years and is more than capable of handling you."

"Then I'll see you tonight," Kraun said, turning to leave.