Chapter Summaries

Dick awakened in the world of The Witcher as a weak villainous side character and discovered a skill panel that let him spend Energy Points to improve his abilities. When a Broom Witch tried to take the child he had lured into the woods as a medicinal catalyst, Dick upgraded Mind Shockwave and killed her, earning more Energy Points.

• Dick realized he had transmigrated into The Witcher as a villainous character and saw a panel listing his abilities and 100 Energy Points.
• Dick tried to lead the young boy back to Odinburg, but a Broom Witch confronted him over their agreement to provide a medicinal catalyst.
• The Broom Witch struck Dick with her broom and approached the terrified boy.
• Dick spent Energy Points to upgrade Mind Shockwave, then used it to disorient the Broom Witch and knock her broom aside.
• Dick seized the opening and killed the Broom Witch, earning 30 Energy Points in total.

Dick killed a Broom Witch and returned to Odinburg with the boy he had rescued, while Xiya learned that the Witcher Order planned to assess him in a month. As Dick headed for the market, he realized he would have to hunt monsters and grow stronger before the Order arrived.

• After killing the Broom Witch, Dick found no payment on her corpse and worried that her two accomplices would come looking for him in half a month.
• Dick carried the boy away, and Xiya confronted him, suspecting he had abducted the child; the boy explained that Dick had saved him from a monster.
• Xiya examined the headless Broom Witch and accepted the boy's account that Dick had killed it to protect him.
• Xiya told Dick that she had informed her master, and the Witcher Order planned to assess him in a month; Dick decided he would need to hunt monsters and improve his abilities.
• Dick, Xiya, and the boy returned to Odinburg, where Xiya continued following them to the market and the vendors fell quiet as Dick approached.

Dick paid for pastries for a child, agreed to hunt Drowners for a twenty-crown contract, and learned bow and crossbow techniques from his witcher notes. The next morning, he prepared his gear and found Xiya waiting with food before they headed to the riverbank.

• Dick bought spun-sugar pastries for a boy and asked Xiya to pay the vendor because he had no money.
• Dick reunited the boy with his grandfather, then agreed to hunt the Drowners west of town for a contract payment of twenty crowns.
• Dick studied his witcher notes and gained the beginner skill Bow and Crossbow Shooting.
• Dick put on his School of the Lynx armor, took his short crossbow and medallion, and went to meet Xiya.
• Xiya brought Dick food and told him to eat quickly so they could head to the riverbank.

Dick arrived at a riverside village to investigate reports of drowners and confirmed the monsters were near the river. As he prepared to deal with them, Kebi flirted with Xiya, and the constable left the hunt to Dick.

• Dick met Kebi, a knight’s squire who criticized him for not helping the villagers sooner.
• The constable introduced a fisherman, who described seeing seven or eight drowners emerge from the river.
• Dick confirmed the fisherman’s description and agreed to clear the drowners from the fishing grounds.
• Kebi flirted with Xiya after learning she was a sorcerer’s apprentice, while Dick and the constable focused on the hunt.
• Dick, Xiya, Kebi, and the constable went to a hillside and spotted two drowners by the river; the constable left the rest to Dick.

Dick and Xiya prepared to fight the drowners as Kebi charged ahead alone and was nearly killed. Dick rescued the squire and killed one drowner, but bubbles in the river warned that more monsters were approaching.

• Kebi refused to retreat and boasted that he would prove his worth as a future knight by fighting the drowners.
• Dick learned that Xiya could cast a Lightning Strike Spell that paralyzed drowners, and she began chanting to prepare it.
• Kebi charged the drowners alone, was knocked down, and faced a second monster's attack.
• Dick shot the attacking drowner with his crossbow, then used Mental Shock and his silver sword to kill another drowner.
• Dick warned Kebi to run back because more drowners were stirring beneath the river.

Dick and Kebi fought twelve drowners, with Xiya’s lightning giving Dick the chance to kill them. Afterward, Dick collected their brains and received the villagers’ payment and the contract reward, bringing his energy points to 105.

• Dick held back the twelve drowners while Kebi stayed by his side, and Xiya’s lightning paralyzed the monsters.
• Dick killed all twelve drowners and collected their brains for alchemy, while Kebi watched.
• Dick thanked Kebi, and the two returned to the hillside with the small crossbow.
• The constable gave Dick 30 crowns pooled by the villagers for completing the job.
• Dick received 30 energy points for completing the contract, bringing his total to 105.

Dick accepted Kebi’s commission to investigate strange noises and reports of a ghost in Odin III’s fortress. The group reached the fortress, where Captain Fisher asked Dick to state his name despite already knowing him.

• Dick declined to ask Xiya for help with his plans, then prepared to leave with her after completing the fishermen’s commission.
• Kebi offered Dick a new commission and explained that strange noises and a woman’s crying had been heard at Odin III’s castle, where people suspected a ghost.
• Kebi revealed that he was Odin III’s adopted son and led Dick and Xiya back to Odinburg to investigate.
• The town guards welcomed Kebi and treated Dick and Xiya warmly as they accompanied him.
• At the fortress gate, Captain Fisher asked Dick to state his name, deliberately acting as if he did not know him.

Dick entered Kebi’s fortress and learned from a maid that a ghostly woman had been heard crying at night. The maid revealed that Rose, a servant punished and threatened with being sold to a brothel, had hanged herself, leaving Dick to investigate what caused the haunting.

• The fortress captain made Dick register before allowing him to enter with Kebi and Xiya.
• Kebi learned that his adoptive father, Odin III, had gone out with troops to deal with Jatu raiders.
• Dick asked a maid about the ghost, then took her aside when she hesitated to explain its origins.
• The maid said Rose had been whipped after accidentally breaking Odin III’s antique vase and was threatened with being sold to a brothel.
• The maid said Rose cried after the punishment, and at midnight she saw a figure swaying from the beam opposite her bed.

Dick learned how Rose’s ghost appeared after she died and concluded that she had become a Nightwraith. He studied Magic Trap to gain a way to make the spirit vulnerable, then prepared to inspect the maids’ quarters with Kebi and Xiya.

• A maid told Dick that Rose hanged herself and later appeared as a ghost in the maids’ room, vanishing when the lamps were lit before returning as a terrifying figure.
• Dick concluded that Rose had become a Nightwraith and decided he needed to make it manifest so he could destroy it with a silver sword.
• Dick studied his monster-hunting journal and learned Magic Trap, unlocking the novice Sign on his panel.
• Xiya remarked that Dick was acting unlike his old self, and Dick explained that he needed to master Signs to complete the commission and earn money.
• Dick told Kebi and Xiya that Nightwraiths appeared at night and led them toward the maids’ quarters to investigate.

Dick investigated the maids' quarters with Kebi and Xiya, finding a hidden jeweled bracelet beneath the bed where Rose had died. The group returned to the fortress to ask who the bracelet belonged to, while Little Odin waited beside a prepared meal.

• Little Odin returned to the fortress and greeted Kebi, who introduced him to Dick and Xiya.
• Kebi explained his family history to Dick as they headed to the maids' quarters.
• Dick entered the sealed room and found a gold-and-jewel bracelet hidden beneath a floorboard near Rose's bed.
• Dick asked Kebi who might identify the bracelet, and Kebi suggested asking the steward.
• Dick, Kebi, and Xiya returned to the fortress, where Little Odin waited by the meal.

After learning that Rose’s bracelet belonged to Little Odin, Dick explained how her wraith could be freed by recovering and burning her remains. He rode to the mass grave to retrieve her body, killed two ghouls there, and drew his dagger as he prepared to continue.

• Little Odin recognized the bracelet as the gift he had given Rose and learned that his father had driven her to her death.
• Little Odin objected to destroying Rose’s wraith, but Dick explained that finding and burning her remains could set her free.
• Kebi told Dick that Rose’s remains had been thrown into the mass grave east of the fortress, and lent him his warhorse.
• Dick rode to the mass grave and killed one ghoul with his crossbow and the other with his sword and magic trap.
• Dick gained five energy points for killing the ghouls, then drew his dagger.

Dick harvested a ghoul’s gland, improved his Magic Trap, and returned Ms. Rose’s body to Odinburg so the nightwraith could be dealt with. When the body was burned at eight o’clock, the nightwraith emerged from the maid’s room and attacked a soldier.

• Dick removed the ghoul’s gland and spent 100 energy points to upgrade Magic Trap from Novice to Proficient, increasing its range and duration.
• Dick found Ms. Rose’s remains, wrapped them, and carried them back to Odinburg.
• Baron Odin III and Little Odin met Dick, and Dick explained that they needed to burn Rose’s body at eight o’clock to release the nightwraith.
• At eight o’clock, soldiers lit a bonfire beneath Rose’s remains while everyone watched the maid’s room.
• The maid’s room door burst open, and the nightwraith emerged in a wave of oppressive cold.
• The nightwraith rushed through a soldier who tried to strike it, leaving him unharmed by any visible collision.

Dick fought off the Nightwraith, but the fire continued burning, showing that it had not been destroyed. Odin III revealed that the dead girl had been pregnant and that her unborn child was buried in the family graveyard, so Dick ordered the remains retrieved to try to end the haunting.

• The Nightwraith attacked Odin III, but Dick trapped and wounded it while the soldiers fired crossbow bolts until it dissipated.
• Dick told Odin III that the wraith would keep growing stronger, and Little Odin confronted his father about concealing the girl's pregnancy.
• Odin III revealed that the unborn child had been buried in the family's ancestral graveyard, and Little Odin accused his father of treating him and Kebi as tools.
• Dick proposed retrieving the infant's remains and burning them with the girl's remains, and Odin III sent Captain Fisher to fetch the bundle.
• Captain Fisher returned with the bundle, and Little Odin quietly asked him to open it.

Dick resolved the Nightwraith by burning the infant and giving her the bracelet Little Odin had gifted her, then collected his payment and arranged to study alchemy with Xiya. The next morning, Dick arrived at Xiya’s courtyard and sensed someone inside after she did not answer his knocks.

• Dick placed the premature infant on the fire, and the Nightwraith grew stronger but circled above the flames instead of attacking.
• Dick realized the Nightwraith also missed Little Odin’s bracelet, and he threw it to her; she vanished in a bright glow while holding the baby.
• Odin III paid Dick 100 crowns, and Little Odin announced he was returning to Ravenstern City because of the Jatu and Duke Amara’s army.
• Dick agreed to visit Xiya the next day to learn alchemy, then returned home for the night.
• Dick went to Xiya’s courtyard the next morning, knocked several times, and sensed someone inside.

Dick visited Xiya's laboratory to learn alchemy and make Witcher sword oil and potions. After preparing the materials and putting on protective gloves, they began brewing the Swallow Potion.

• Dick brought Xiya beef pies, and she invited him into her laboratory after eating and washing up.
• Xiya lit the laboratory lamps and asked Dick what he wanted to learn, and he said he wanted to make sword oil and potions.
• Dick showed Xiya the drowner brains and ghoul glands he had gathered, and she explained how to preserve them.
• Xiya stored most of the drowner brain in a magic refrigeration chest and told Dick that ghoul glands only needed to be kept moist.
• Xiya gave Dick a pair of specialized gloves, and they prepared to brew the Swallow Potion.

Dick learned alchemy from Xiya, making Swallow Potions and Ghoul sword oil and gaining novice skills in both. After they spent the day in the laboratory, Xiya went to rest while Dick cleaned up and joined her for dinner.

• Xiya guided Dick through brewing Swallow Potions from celandine, dwarven spirit, and a Drowner brain.
• Dick drank the remaining potion, endured its toxins, and gained the novice Potion Making skill.
• Xiya taught Dick to make Ghoul sword oil, and he gained the novice Sword Oil Making skill.
• After realizing they had spent the whole day in the laboratory, Xiya told Dick to clean up while she rested.
• Dick finished cleaning and found Xiya eating in the living room after nightfall.

Dick and Xiya planned to take more commissions before her assessment, but Dick accepted a boy named George’s request to find his missing father in the Black Forest. Captain Fisher then arrived with Baron Odin III’s order for Xiya to help deal with Jatu raiders, leaving Dick to continue the search alone.

• Xiya agreed to meet Dick at the market the next morning and help him find commissions.
• After Dick suffered a throbbing headache while studying, he went to Odinburg’s market, where he found no commissions and noticed a warning about the Jatu.
• George asked Dick to find his father, Banyang, who had gone missing while chopping wood in the Black Forest east of Odinburg.
• Dick and Xiya set out toward the Black Forest, but Captain Fisher stopped them and summoned Xiya to help Baron Odin III against nearby Jatu raiders.
• Xiya hesitated after Fisher cited her mentor Barbara and the baron’s written evaluation for her graduation assessment, while Dick said he could search for Banyang alone.
• Fisher explained that Baron Odin III had deployed thirty cavalrymen and seventy foot archers against the raiders, and Dick questioned whether that force would be enough.

Dick learned why Ravenstern’s forces were small, then watched Xiya reject Kebi’s marriage-minded gift before joining Odin III’s expedition. He continued toward the Black Forest alone and found what appeared to be the missing woodcutter’s footprints.

• Dick discussed Ravenstern’s small armies with Odin III and learned that a dozen lords could gather over a thousand troops with sorcerers’ help.
• Odin III asked Xiya to counter a possible Jatu priest’s Bloodlust spell, and she agreed before the force prepared to depart.
• Kebi offered Xiya a costly necklace, but she rejected it, explaining that her long lifespan would make a relationship with a mortal end in heartbreak.
• Xiya rode off with Odin III’s force while Kebi mounted up and led the cavalry away; Dick headed toward the Black Forest on his own.
• Dick used his Witcher Senses at the forest’s edge and found adult-sized footprints that he believed belonged to the missing woodcutter.

Witcher Dick found the woodcutter Banyan hiding in a dead tree in the Black Forest, where a Cockatrice attacked them. Dick wounded the monster with Banyan’s help and blinded it, but its fate remained unresolved.

• Dick followed a trail to the Broom Witch’s corpse and found two dead gray wolves with large wounds.
• Dick found Banyan hiding inside a dead tree and explained that his son George had hired him to search for him.
• Dick warned Banyan that the Cockatrice was returning, and Banyan hid as Dick drew his silver sword.
• Dick dodged the Cockatrice’s attacks but was badly wounded when it slashed him with its wing.
• Banyan struck the Cockatrice’s neck with his axe, giving Dick time to shoot one eye with a crossbow bolt.
• Dick hit the Cockatrice with a Mind Shockwave and shot its other eye with a second bolt.

Dick killed the Cockatrice, recovered from his wounds with a potion, and collected valuable parts from its body with Banyang’s help. They fled the Black Forest when something began searching for them, and Dick watched as it dragged away the Cockatrice’s corpse.

• Dick received confirmation that he had hunted the Cockatrice and completed the commission, then collapsed from blood loss.
• Banyang gave Dick the potion from his pouch, and Dick recovered enough to stand.
• Dick thanked Banyang for saving his life and asked him to cut off the Cockatrice’s head and retrieve its gland.
• Dick collected the Cockatrice’s gland and fat while Banyang helped, then heard an ominous sound and ordered them to flee.
• Branches, leaves, and crows searched the Black Forest before dragging away the Cockatrice’s corpse as Dick watched from the outskirts.