Heart-Clearing Talisman

Kraun did not know that his opponent had put everything into this strike; he followed the rhythm he had just established, swinging his sword upward to buy time to dodge to the side.

When the two blades met, he realized his judgment had been flawed, but it was already too late.

The Witcher's sword descended with overwhelming force, the biting chill of it making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

If this strike landed, the arm holding his sword would have to bid him farewell.

Without a moment's hesitation, he utilized the power of the Time Hourglass, slowing his opponent's movement by a mere 0.01 seconds, which allowed his body to flash into a safe position.

Seeing the Witcher's sword stop steadily in mid-air, he realized that even without using the power of a Spirit Controller, he would have been fine.

The Witcher tilted his head, pondering the discordance in his own movement, and asked in a deep voice, "What was that power that delayed my movement? Did it come from your spirit?"

Geralt, who took pride in his formidable control, was deeply puzzled by what had just happened and wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Yes, it came from the power of my spirit; it can delay an opponent's attack," Kraun said vaguely.

Without pressing further, the white-haired man nodded and said, "A very good ability. It is well worth exploring the potential of this spirit. I don't know if you have enough energy, but I will give you a piece of advice."

The Witcher withdrew his longsword, his expression serious as he continued, "At the beginning of the transcendent path, it is understandable to cultivate another ability, but if you want to advance in the later stages, you need to be specialized and refined. A person's energy is limited. You must make a choice early and determine the final direction of your efforts."

Only children make choices; I have a cheat, so of course, I want it all.

Although he thought this to himself, Kraun still bowed with his hand over his chest to express his gratitude: "Thank you for the reminder. I will make the choice that suits me best."

He then voiced a request of his own: "Regarding the fact that I am also a Spirit Controller, please keep it a secret."

The Witcher nodded slightly to show he understood, and young Alan nodded vigorously as well: "I'll definitely keep it a secret. Big Brother wants to keep an ace up his sleeve. Teacher says that this kind of tactic is called being a 'cunning fox'! If a person wants to live a long life, they have to be a cunning fox and have more cards to play."

The logic was sound, but why did it sound so wrong?

"Uh," Kraun opened his mouth slightly, not knowing how to respond.

Geralt felt a bit awkward, his face flushing slightly. He had indeed said that, but having it blurted out by his own student made it sound like he was admitting to being a... well, a cunning fox.

"Shall we continue practicing? The previous fight consumed quite a bit of energy; I think we should call it a day."

The Witcher changed the subject, wanting to leave; it was too embarrassing.

Sensing the other man's discomfort, Kraun went with the flow and nodded in agreement: "Then let's stop here. I happen to have more time to study the potion formula you gave me."

His main goal had been to verify his current strength, and having received a fairly clear answer, the urgency for training had diminished.

During the recent fight, because the rhythm had been so fast, he hadn't found a suitable moment to use his breathing technique to enhance his attacks. He planned to use the breathing technique more often in future training so that the skill would become instinct.

Only then would he truly have converted his ability into strength.

"Catch, Alan," Kraun tossed a Gold Shield over. Friends were friends, but business was business; he couldn't afford to be unclear about that.

The boy caught the gold coin and bit it subconsciously, then asked pitifully, "Can I come here to eat tonight too?"

Having grown accustomed to delicious food, he was no longer satisfied with the quality of the meals at the Goat Inn. If he couldn't eat the delicacies made by Big Brother, he would be very sad.

"If you are willing to provide the ingredients, I don't mind."

"Yay! Teacher, are you coming too?"

"Hmm. I'm afraid it won't be safe for you to walk the night road alone, so I'll come with you."

"Tch," the boy rolled his eyes at his teacher.

With the matter happily decided, the Witcher and his student walked away with light steps, bidding their host farewell.

Kraun watched the two figures stretch out under the moonlight and chuckled: Perhaps in their eyes, the fact that I am an excellent cook is what they like more.

By the time he looked up again, they were gone, and the long street was cold and silent.

Gently closing the door, he prepared his tools and materials for drawing talismans and connected to the crystal ball in his sea of consciousness, pouring out half a small bowl of Moon Dew.

Time to grind!

He shouted a slogan in his heart with joy; the talisman master was online.

An hour later, Kraun sat happily on his chair, shaking a stack of Heart-Clearing Talismans that made a "rustling" sound. He used the index and middle fingers of his right hand to hold the talisman paper and began to count them happily.

"One, two, three."

Eighty sheets of paper, sixty-four talismans produced; his success rate had improved again.

[Talisman Drawing: 220/2000; First Order]

He now had seventy-two Heart-Clearing Talismans in his hand, yet he hadn't even tested the effects of the talismans—truly unheard of.

Kraun found a large bowl, poured in half a cup of clear water, and following the instructions from the skill prompt, he ignited a talisman above the bowl.

A faint, refreshing fragrance wafted out, reminiscent of laurel—light but not bland, fragrant but not cloying.

After the talisman burned, the ash was not black or gray, but a pale white, within which one could see tiny, silver, sand-like particles.

The embers fell into the water like snowflakes landing in a pond, instantly merging into one.

The colorless water began to shimmer with faint, clear radiance, as if stars from the sky had fallen into it.

On the surface of the water, a faint white mist steamed upward.

The skill description said that one could just drink it like this. Looking at the "clear soup" that looked quite decent, Kraun picked up the bowl and took a small sip.

A sweet, cooling sensation spread across his taste buds. He didn't need to swallow; the talisman water slid naturally down his throat, flowing down in a steady stream.

A faint sense of tranquility welled up from the bottom of his heart. He felt that his current state was similar to the one he experienced during meditation at dusk—both were characterized by inner peace, with his thoughts as still as an ancient, waveless well.

The difference between the two states was that the current feeling was not as pronounced as it had been during meditation.

It tasted excellent. After giving this fair assessment, he drank the talisman water in the bowl in one gulp.

He had already figured out the function of this talisman water: it could induce a state of quiet rationality in a person.

He would find an opportunity to test it on those prone to manic outbursts in the future to see if it could serve as a sedative.

His Golden Light Incantation could only affect himself, but the emergence of talismans allowed this ability to be used externally, greatly expanding the scope of the skill's application.

Having used up the talisman paper for the Heart-Clearing Talismans, he began to study how to draw the Golden Light Talisman.

First, he cut the rough paper to the appropriate size as before, then proceeded to copy the Golden Light Talisman, mimicking the strokes as best he could.

Perhaps because he had already mastered the basics of talisman crafting, it didn't take him long this time to draw a very accurate Golden Light Talisman in a single stroke.

He pressed on with his efforts, only ending his practice once his proficiency in talisman crafting had increased by a point.