Chapter Summaries

Dick improved his Potion Making and arranged for Aode to study a potion taken from the Broom Witch. Ten days later, he and Russell led Carter and the other young witchers to begin the High Mountain Trial.

• Aode praised Dick’s Grapeshot Bomb, urged him to focus on Potion Making, and agreed to study the Broom Witch’s potion for five gold crowns.
• Dick trained in Potion Making and fought the School of the Grizzly Bear, raising his skill to Proficient.
• Dick commissioned a dagger and leather sheath from the witcher blacksmith and gave them to Carter.
• Dick, Russell, and the young witchers gathered at the main castle for the High Mountain Trial, where Beier explained its three stages and rules.

Dick questioned the Witcher Order’s dangerous trial for five young witchers and resolved to protect Carter if necessary. After Ruiwen comforted the frightened Barry, the group reached an open area where the smell of decay suggested the nekkers were near.

• Dick questioned Beier about the trial rules and objected to sending the young witchers against nekkers with little experience.
• Dick told Ruiwen he would intervene if Carter faced real danger, even if that meant breaking the Witcher Order’s rules.
• Barry broke down in fear, explaining that slavers had taken him after the Jatu killed his family and that only four of thirty children survived the Trial of the Grasses.
• Ruiwen gave the children sweets, comforted Barry, and urged them to stick together, assuring them the adults would keep them safe.
• The group reached an open area with no monsters in sight, where a breeze carried the stench of decay.

Ruiwen began the young witchers’ trial, and Barry was dragged away by Nekkers while the adults watched. Dick defied the trial rules and charged into the forest to rescue him, while Harden and Ruiwen agreed to keep Dick’s intervention secret.

• Ruiwen activated the six pillars, revealing the trial grounds and the remains of young witchers who had died in previous trials.
• Dick reassured Carter and told him to fly to safety if he faced mortal danger, while Russell and Harden warned the young witchers not to venture deep into the forest.
• Barry fled the forest injured, but two Nekkers knocked him down and dragged him away as Ruiwen refused to intervene.
• Dick challenged Ruiwen’s reliance on tradition, then drew both swords and ran into the forest to save Barry despite Russell’s warning that he would be punished.
• Harden told Russell that witchers should discard outdated trial rules and proposed that they conceal Dick’s actions; Ruiwen silently agreed.

Dick saved Barry from a nekker despite the order’s rules, then fought off a larger group while helping the young witchers complete their trial. After the group defeated the remaining nekkers, Dick told them to take two ears each as proof of completion.

• Dick rescued Barry and sent him to help Carter and the other young witchers fight the nekkers.
• Dick used [Panther Zither Jade] to destroy more than twenty nekkers approaching through the forest.
• Dick shot a nekker attacking Carter, then reminded the young witchers to work together.
• Barry wounded the last fleeing nekker with a crossbow, and the young witchers surrounded and killed it.
• Dick treated Barry’s shoulder and told each young witcher to collect two nekker ears to complete the task.

Dick faced a Nekker horde while the other adults protected Ruiwen and the young witchers, and he slaughtered most of the pack with his techniques. The Nekker Chief failed to rally its fleeing followers, and Dick fought off the remaining Nekker Warriors as one fled in terror.

• Carter and the young witchers swore not to tell anyone what had happened during their training.
• Ruiwen told Dick that the first stage of the High Mountain Trial was complete and that they were going to Old Speartip's cave.
• Russell warned Dick that nearly a hundred Nekkers, including Nekker Warriors and their Chief, were approaching.
• Dick asked the others to protect Ruiwen and the young witchers while he faced the pack alone.
• Dick used Mind Shockwave and [Panther Zither Jade] to destroy most of the Nekkers, causing the survivors to flee and leaving the Nekker Chief unable to organize them.
• Dick fought the Nekker Warriors with Sword Qi, cutting off their claws and frightening one into fleeing.

Dick defeated the Nekker warriors and followed Ruiwen, Russell, and Harden toward Old Speartip's cave, where the young witchers faced a trial in evasion and teamwork. Russell recalled losing his companions in the cave a century earlier, and Dick began offering a riddle to reframe the trial as an intelligence test.

• Dick killed the remaining Nekker warriors, but Russell stopped him from pursuing the fleeing Nekkers to preserve the trial ground for future witchers.
• Dick agreed to continue toward Old Speartip's cave, and Ruiwen warned that her camouflage spell would fail if anyone attacked, exerted force, or used Signs.
• Ruiwen's spell concealed the adults as the young witchers entered the cave ahead of them.
• Dick learned that Russell had been the sole survivor of an earlier cave trial with two young witchers from the School of the Coyote.
• Dick suggested turning the cave trial into an intelligence test and asked how many chickens and rabbits made up thirty-five heads and ninety-four feet.

Dick and the senior witchers followed the young witchers into a cavern where Old Speartip and a two-headed ogre slept. When the monsters attacked, Dick killed the ogre while Harden and Russell fought Old Speartip.

• Dick suggested giving the young witchers timed problems and punishments, and the group continued their journey toward Old Speartip's cavern.
• Dick, Harden, and Russell quietly moved the giants' bone-crushing hammers away while the young witchers approached.
• Barry stepped on a branch, waking Old Speartip and the two-headed ogre, who charged at the young witchers.
• The young witchers shot arrows at the monsters, destroying one of the ogre's heads and provoking it to attack with fire magic.
• Dick severed the ogre's fingers and slashed open its torso, killing it, while Harden and Russell charged Old Speartip.

Dick, Harden, and Russell defeated Old Speartip and continued with Ruiwen and the young witchers toward the Circle of Elements. They reached the mountain’s foot without encountering Foglets, and Russell suggested Dick’s blood-soaked armor had scared them off.

• Harden restrained the Cyclops while Russell and Dick attacked it from different sides.
• Dick killed Old Speartip with a sword strike to its injured neck, and Russell repeatedly chopped up its head.
• Dick told Ruiwen and the young witchers that they had passed the second stage and would continue toward the Circle of Elements, while Ruiwen warned him not to kill the Rock Trolls.
• Carter reassured the young witchers and told them not to talk about the trial when they returned.
• Russell warned that Foglets could ambush them on the mountain path, but the group reached the foot of the mountain without seeing any.
• Russell pointed out Dick’s blood-soaked armor and said it had likely frightened the Foglets away.

Dick and the witchers encountered Rock Trolls blocking the mountain path, and Dick negotiated a way through by agreeing to fight their leader, Xiba, barehanded. As the battle intensified, Dick found his rhythm and Xiba unleashed a rolling attack, leaving Dick poised to counter.

• Dick and the group reached a clearing where Rock Trolls blocked the path, and Russell prepared to attack them.
• Dick recognized Ouk and Bark, greeted them as friends, and learned the trolls were guarding their hunting grounds on their boss's orders.
• Xiba agreed to let the group pass if Dick fought him barehanded, and Dick accepted the challenge.
• Xiba attacked with powerful punches, while Dick dodged, found openings, and struck Xiba before continuing to test and increase his attacks.
• Xiba curled into a ball and spun toward Dick, who watched for a chance to counter when Xiba's face briefly appeared.

Dick mastered Basic Giant Transformation and used it to defeat Xiba, who then accepted him as a friend. At the Circle of Elements, Carter and the other young witchers awakened Signs, and Dick asked to try the trial himself before Ruiwen opened a portal.

• Dick struck Xiba with his enlarged, bronze-coated fist, and Xiba made peace with him and cleared a path for the group.
• Dick told Russell and Harden that he had mastered Basic Giant Transformation and improved his fighting skill.
• The group reached the Circle of Elements, where Russell explained how young witchers could awaken Signs.
• Carter awakened Fire Signs, while Clark awakened rare Hypnosis Signs; the remaining young witchers all awakened Fire Signs.
• As Ruiwen prepared to open a portal, Dick asked to try the Circle of Elements and see if he could awaken a Sign.

Dick unexpectedly awakened Mind Shockwave to Master through the Circle of Elements, and his mana capacity increased. After returning from No Man’s Land, he spent 400 Energy Points to gain Advanced Self-Healing.

• Dick placed his hand on the Circle of Elements and underwent a second awakening as a fierce wind and pale blue light surrounded him.
• Ruiwen stopped Russell from touching Dick, and Dick soon confirmed he was fine while concealing the new Master-level Mind Shockwave shown on his panel.
• Ruiwen opened a portal, and the witchers returned from No Man’s Land, where she concealed the location again.
• Dick checked his rewards and found that he had accumulated 550 Energy Points.
• Dick spent 400 Energy Points to upgrade his talent to Advanced Self-Healing, leaving him with 150.

Dick returned to Kaer Morhen with all five young witchers alive, prompting Master to accuse him of cheating in their trial. Beier and Aode defended Dick, and the witchers celebrated the four Grizzly Bear children becoming full-fledged witchers while Dick gave Carter a medallion.

• Beier welcomed the young witchers back alive, while Master accused Dick of helping them cheat in the trial.
• The young witchers denied Dick had helped them, and Beier and Aode argued against punishing him.
• Master left without giving Carter a medallion, warning that disaster would befall Kaer Morhen.
• Beier gave the four young Grizzly Bear witchers medallions, and Dick gave Carter his own before replacing it with Ivan's wolf medallion.
• Beier hosted a feast in the courtyard for the witchers gathered for the Crown Festival.

After the celebration, Ruiwen discovered Master’s hidden laboratory beneath the basement, where he kept stitched-together monsters and planned to use them to restore the Witcher Order. Carter stumbled upon the secret, but Ruiwen knocked him unconscious and arranged for him to be spared while Master continued plotting against Dick.

• After returning from the celebration, Dick and the others heard noises in the basement but went to bed without investigating.
• Master met with Alexander, praised his work preparing potions and monsters, and promised to help him become a full-fledged sorcerer and chief sorcerer.
• Master showed Ruiwen a concealed level beneath the basement, where glass tanks held experimental monsters, and gave her a ring that could command them.
• Carter entered the hidden laboratory and tried to flee, but Ruiwen rendered him unconscious before Master or Alexander could kill him.
• Ruiwen ordered Alexander to leave Carter for Dick and the others to find and arranged for Russell and Harden to take him for treatment; Master agreed but said he intended to kill Dick.

Dick sent Carter to Oxenfurt Academy with Russell and Harden after Carter lost consciousness from Master's potion. He later drank Aode's modified witch's potion, gained stronger bones and sinews and improved jumping power, and spent 100 Energy Points to remove the potion's harmful mutation.

• Ruiwen determined Carter was unconscious but stable, and recommended taking him to Oxenfurt Academy for treatment.
• Master admitted responsibility for Carter's condition and ordered Harden and Russell to escort him, while Dick sent Furball along with them.
• Dick resumed his alchemy studies and sparring, then focused on experiments after his Fighting skill showed little progress.
• Aode presented Dick with a modified potion that he warned might still cause mutations, and Dick drank it before it lost its effect.
• Dick endured intense pain as the potion gave him stronger sinews and bones, a risk of bone spurs, and doubled jumping power.
• Dick spent 100 Energy Points to remove the bone-spur mutation, leaving him with 50 Energy Points.

After Aode and Ali revealed the results of their potion research, Dick tested his newly gained [Extreme Leap] and [Steel Sinews and Iron Bones]. He later met Ruiwen in Lynx Fort’s courtyard, where she was watching a crow.

• Dick told Aode that the potion had made his bones feel harder, while Aode regretted that its other benefits seemed to be gone.
• Ali explained that his potion improved ordinary livestock’s constitution and might strengthen witchers’ mounts, though it had not yet been tested on mounts.
• Dick tested [Extreme Leap] in the basement, jumping nearly four meters high and at least eight meters forward.
• Dick punched a metal-covered cabinet and saw that [Steel Sinews and Iron Bones] had increased his toughness and strength.
• Dick went to Lynx Fort’s courtyard and found Ruiwen watching a crow; she said she had let Ping'an out for some air.

Dick gave Spotty the potion after Ruiwen confirmed it was safe, and Spotty transformed into a larger, more intelligent horse. As the Crown Festival approached, Dick joined the monster hunters in preparing for the celebration and felt at home among them.

• Ruiwen inspected Dick’s potion and told him it was safe to give to Spotty.
• Dick hesitated before offering the potion, but Spotty seized the bottle and swallowed it.
• Spotty grew taller and stronger, showed new intelligence, ate meat, and curled up comfortably in the hay.
• Dick stopped sparring and working in the laboratory, focusing instead on spending time with monster hunters and preparing for the Crown Festival.
• As more monster hunters returned for the festival, Dick felt he had become part of their warm community and accepted this world.

Witchers gathered at Kaer Morhen for a lively Crown Festival feast, but Master announced that monsters were escaping from a damaged magic formation and sent Dick to investigate with Ruiwen. Ruiwen told Dick that a few Nekkers had escaped and that she would repair the formation while he protected her.

• Beier toasted the returning witchers, and Dick celebrated with them before joining the young witchers at their table.
• Clark asked when Carter would return, and Dick reassured him that Carter should be back soon.
• Master announced that monsters in No Man's Land were threatening to break free of the magic formation and implied that Dick might have damaged it.
• Dick volunteered to investigate, and Master arranged for him to go with Ruiwen.
• Ruiwen told Dick that a corner of the formation was damaged and a few Nekkers had escaped, then asked him to guard her while she repaired it.

Dick and Ruiwen entered No Man's Land to investigate damage to its elven magic formation, which concealed a space of folded terrain. Inside an elven ruin, they encountered seven mutated witchers, and Dick killed one as the others attacked.

• Ruiwen dispelled the concealing formation and warned Dick not to attack the monsters as they traveled through No Man's Land.
• Ruiwen guided Dick through shifting terrain to a snowy mountain and explained that the space was compressed and folded, stabilized by an elven formation.
• Dick and Ruiwen reached an elven ruin, where Ruiwen asked Dick to lead the way and handle dangers inside.
• Dick detected seven mutated witchers hiding behind a cabinet, and they attacked him with swords and a combined fireball.
• Dick countered the fireball with a Mind Shockwave, then cut down one mutated witcher with his longsword.

Dick discovered that Master had secretly turned children who survived the Trial of the Grasses into monsters to keep witcher commissions unchanged. Trapped with Ruiwen as the secret chamber collapsed, Dick was struck unconscious.

• Dick killed one mutated witcher child, then cut down six more after they attacked him and learned one child was grateful to be freed.
• Dick found a hidden room filled with monsters in green-liquid containers and realized Master had been conducting secret experiments on failed witcher children.
• A gargoyle broke free and awakened the other monsters, forcing Dick into a battle against more than thirty creatures.
• Dick was badly wounded and nearly overwhelmed before Ruiwen appeared, having teleported into the chamber but unable to teleport them out again.
• As the chamber collapsed, Dick gained 300 Energy Points, spent 200 to cast Protection Sign, and shielded himself and Ruiwen until rubble shattered the barrier and knocked him unconscious.

Ruiwen rescued Dick from the ruins but hesitated to kill him, while Gabriel urged her to pursue revenge. After failing to read Dick’s earlier memories, Ruiwen sent him through a portal and led a monster horde onward as her plan against the Witcher Order continued.

• Ruiwen cleared the rubble and rescued Dick, while her crow transformed and carried him outside.
• Ruiwen prepared to kill Dick but withdrew her lightning spell after Gabriel questioned her hesitation.
• Ruiwen tried [Detect Thoughts] again, but she and Gabriel could not see Dick’s memories from before he was twenty.
• Ruiwen explained that Brownie had agreed to help her bring down the Witcher Order and said she would decide Dick’s fate later.
• Ruiwen sent Dick through a magical portal, then walked toward a vast horde of monsters that followed her obediently.