Chapter Summaries

Dick persuaded the Rock Trolls Ouk and Bark to abandon their attack on the gates by giving them food. The Jatu priest then cast Bloodlust, and Jatu soldiers advanced with siege ladders to assault the walls.

• Dick asked Kebi to gather a large sack of tasty meat for the trolls.
• As Ouk and Bark prepared to smash the gates, Dick offered them food if they left.
• Dick threw the food down, and the trolls ate it before departing with the sack.
• Dick learned that the Jatu priest had been unable to keep the trolls from leaving and had ordered an assault instead.
• The Jatu priest cast Bloodlust, and Jatu soldiers advanced toward the walls with siege ladders and shields.

Dick and Kebi led Odinburg’s defenders against a Jatu assault, using boiling sewage and stones before the attackers reached the battlements. After the defenders ran out of supplies, Dick killed two Jatu soldiers who climbed over the wall and rushed to face four more.

• Kebi ordered Fisher to distribute boiling sewage and stones while the Jatu advanced with siege ladders.
• Jatu soldiers hooked two ladders onto the battlements, and the defenders knocked several climbers down with stones and poured boiling sewage on others.
• After the defenders exhausted their sewage and stones, more than ten Jatu soldiers had been killed.
• Dick shot the first Jatu soldier to climb over the wall, then killed a second with his sword.
• Dick saw four Jatu soldiers break through at another gap and ran to confront them while ordering nearby defenders to hold their position.

Dick helped the defenders repel the Jatu’s first assault, but the town lost many soldiers. In the corner tower, he and Kebi learned that Carter, an orphaned boy Dick had saved, was dying from his wounds and begging to live.

• Dick killed several Jatu soldiers on the battlements, rallied the defenders, and helped them survive the first wave of the siege.
• After the fighting, Kebi reported that the defenders had a little over ninety men left and that both sides had suffered heavy casualties.
• Dick followed Kebi to the corner tower, where the apothecary doctor Anson treated the wounded and told them he could not save a badly injured soldier.
• Dick recognized the dying soldier as Carter, the boy he had saved from an arrow during the attack.
• Carter told Kebi, Anson, and Dick that he was an orphan and pleaded with them to save his life.

Dick used a dangerous witcher potion to try to save the wounded Carter, then learned that the Jatu planned to attack with demonized soldiers. As the city prepared for the assault, Val and the blacksmith Zeus arrived with reinforcements.

• Carter drank Dick’s Swallow Potion and collapsed, leaving his survival uncertain for two hours.
• Dick overheard the Jatu commander agree to test a potion on thirty warriors before deciding whether to retreat.
• Kebi told Dick that the city had no more soldiers to recruit, just as a commotion broke out below.
• Kebi discovered that Val had brought eight armed guards to help defend the city.
• Zeus arrived with a group of sturdy dwarves ready to support the defenders.

Dick and Kebi’s defenders faced Jatu soldiers transformed by a potion into desiccated corpses and giant mantises. The mantises attacked the battlements, and although Dick and Zeus’s dwarves killed one, more monsters climbed onto the wall.

• Val left the walls while Kebi sent his eight retainers to Captain Fisher and assigned Zeus and the dwarves to defend beside Dick.
• Dick recognized the Jatu soldiers’ transformation and warned Kebi that they had lost their terrain advantage.
• The Jatu soldiers burst into desiccated corpses and giant mantises, which flew toward the walls while the corpses climbed them.
• Giant mantises dodged the defenders’ arrows, killed soldiers, and attacked Kebi as panic spread along the battlements.
• Dick stunned a mantis with Mental Shock, and Zeus’s dwarves smashed it apart with their hammers.
• Several desiccated corpses reached the battlements and began climbing onto the wall.

Dick fought the monsters on Odinburg’s battlements, helping the defenders kill mantises and mummies until he was left to protect the wounded Kebi and the dwarves. He lured four remaining giant mantises away from them, but as he killed one, another struck at him from behind and the chapter ended with him in immediate danger.

• The soldiers and dwarf blacksmiths fought back against the giant mantises and mummies, while Dick killed an Incomplete Demonic Mummy and gained energy and ability points.
• Dick noticed that the defenders were being overwhelmed, while the Jatu army began to retreat from the walls.
• After the fighting left Kebi, Zeus, and the wounded dwarves as the last armed defenders on their stretch of battlements, Dick told them to take refuge in the corner tower.
• Dick drew four giant mantises away from the group and ran down the stairs toward the inner city.
• The mantises wounded Dick, but he used Mental Shockwave and thrust his sword into one mantis’s neck as another attacked him from behind.

Dick, Xiya, and Kebi defended the city until reinforcements from the Order of the Falcon arrived and routed the Jatu army. As the Jatu commander fled, a hooded sorceress appeared behind the headquarters and began chanting.

• Xiya rescued Dick from the giant mantises with fireballs, then revealed that she had become a dual-element sorceress of fire and lightning.
• Dick warned Xiya and Kebi that the city gate could not hold, but Xiya refused to abandon him.
• Xiya revealed that she had contacted her master, who had sent the Order of the Falcon as reinforcements.
• The Order of the Falcon's cavalry, led by its grand master, charged the Jatu flank and shattered their formation.
• Kebi called for the fleeing Jatu commander to be pursued, but Xiya pointed out a hooded sorceress riding a white horse behind the Jatu headquarters.

Barbara trapped the Jatu forces in an illusion, allowing Dick to kill the Broom Witch and the Falcon Order to capture the survivors. Queen Meve knighted Kebi, while Barbara took Xiya back to the city after noticing her breakthrough.

• Barbara cast an illusion over the Jatu soldiers, and the Broom Witch escaped toward Dick.
• Dick killed the Broom Witch, then found and kept a potion from her pouch.
• Kebi and the Order of the Falcon captured the remaining Jatu soldiers and their commander.
• Queen Meve promoted Kebi from squire to knight of the Order of the Falcon.
• Barbara recognized that Xiya had broken through and took her back to the city, giving Dick a lingering look.

Queen Meve honored Dick for defending Odinburg by granting him the title Dick of Rivia, then left to muster an army against the Jatu. After speaking with the survivors and townspeople, Dick headed toward the fortress but changed direction before reaching it.

• Queen Meve granted Dick the honorary title Dick of Rivia and promised to publicize his title and portrait across Ravenstern.
• Queen Meve explained that she was returning to Ravenstern City to join Duke Amara and muster an army against the Jatu.
• Kebi told Dick to rest in the castle and confirmed that she had dealt with the market vendor's body; Dick also spoke with Zeus, Fisher, and Carter about the battle and their survival.
• Dick met Anson and his little brother, who thanked him for helping the city survive the attack.
• Dick approached the fortress courtyard, paused, and changed direction.

After Odinburg’s battle, Dick ate and drank at a familiar shop, then bathed in Little Odin’s room and reviewed his rewards. He spent all 400 Energy Points upgrading his Signs before falling asleep.

• Odinburg’s vendors thanked Dick for saving them, and he visited a shop where he ate cold beef and drank a sour liquid.
• Dick went to Little Odin’s room in the fortress, recognized the maid whose sister he had helped, and bathed while noticing his wounds had healed quickly.
• Dick reviewed the 400 Energy Points he earned from killing monsters and completing the city defense commission.
• Dick upgraded Mind Shockwave to professional level and Flames and Protection to proficient level, spending all his Energy Points.
• Dick left Eldest Sister’s potion unused, dressed in pajamas, and fell asleep.

Dick woke after defending Odinburg and joined Kebi’s victory feast, where the fallen soldiers’ families received compensation and Dick was rewarded for his service. Kebi offered him a second title despite Dick’s existing title from Queen Meve, leaving the matter unresolved.

• Dick woke in repaired School of the Lynx armor and learned that Kebi and the others were waiting for him at the victory feast.
• Kebi introduced the guests and toasted those who had helped defend Odinburg.
• Kebi distributed compensation to the families of soldiers killed during the attack.
• Kebi awarded Dick fifty gold crowns for his contribution to the city’s defense.
• Kebi offered Dick the title “Dick of Odinburg,” but Dick refused because Queen Meve had already granted him a title.

Dick woke from a vivid dream of Kebi and the giant mantises, but found the castle under attack by Jatu soldiers and the Broom Witch. With Kebi and the maid dead and Xiya held hostage, Dick prepared to act using his witcher senses.

• In his dream, Dick refused Kebi's offer of extra gold before the hall vanished into darkness and giant mantises attacked him.
• Dick woke wearing his intact School of the Lynx armor and noticed that the castle and the maid seemed strangely unnatural.
• Dick heard a fight and found Kebi and Xiya fleeing Jatu soldiers who had broken into the castle.
• Jatu archers killed Kebi and the maid, while the Broom Witch struck Dick with her broom and captured Xiya.
• The Broom Witch ordered Dick to kneel or escape, threatening Xiya, and Dick marked the soldiers' hearts with his witcher senses.

After waking from a vivid dream of the broom witch killing him, Dick attended Kebi’s victory banquet and received his payment. As the gathering grew lively, Zeus told Dick about the continent’s factions and the southern chiefs.

• Dick woke from a dream in which the broom witch killed him and found that his shoulder wound had healed rapidly.
• A maid told Dick the victory banquet was beginning, and he changed into formal clothes before heading downstairs.
• Dick joined Kebi, Barbara, Xiya, Fisher, Zeus, and Val at the banquet and collected fifty gold crowns for the job.
• Kebi said he had already compensated the fallen soldiers’ families, while Val offered to contribute as well.
• Fisher praised everyone at the table, and the guests ate, drank, and celebrated.
• Zeus described factions including Noldor Forest and the southern kingdoms, where chiefs used pirate nicknames.

At a banquet, Barbara revealed that she had tested Dick in an illusion and helped heal his wound. After she left with Xiya, Dick struggled to answer Xiya’s feelings, but he finally told her he hoped they would stay alive and well together.

• Zeus and Fisher told Dick about the Misty Mountains, whose raiders had not been seen for nearly fifty years.
• Barbara explained that her illusion had tested Dick and that she had healed his shoulder wound at Xiya’s request.
• Barbara used a portal to leave with Xiya, and Xiya explained the limits of teleportation spells to Dick.
• Xiya asked Dick how he felt about her, and Dick eventually told her he hoped they would stay alive and well together.
• Dick returned to the castle hall, found the others passed out drunk, and went upstairs to sleep.

Dick woke in Odinburg, discovered that [Intermediate Self-Healing] had improved his appearance, and planned to strengthen himself before the Witcher Order arrived. In the courtyard, he learned more about Kebi’s sword training and Fisher’s past as a member of the Order of the Falcon.

• Dick woke late, ate breakfast, and realized his self-healing talent had cleared his skin and kept his teeth flawless.
• Dick reflected on the coming questioning by the School of the Lynx and decided to keep gaining strength and energy points.
• Dick met Kebi and Fisher in the courtyard, where Kebi explained that the battle had shown him how weak he was and why he had begun training.
• Fisher described his family’s thrust-focused swordsmanship, and Dick learned that Fisher had killed three monsters during the city’s defense.
• Kebi confirmed the monsters’ fatal eye wounds and revealed that Fisher had retired from the Order of the Falcon to settle in Odinburg.

Dick sparred with Fisher, whose superior swordsmanship was overcome by Dick’s greater strength. Afterward, Dick learned that his silver sword had been repaired, but his armor still needed attention.

• Kebi asked Dick to teach him swordsmanship, but Fisher advised Kebi to master one style before combining techniques.
• Kebi proposed a sparring match, and Dick and Fisher fought with wooden swords in the training ground.
• Dick knocked Fisher off balance and caught him, winning the match through his superior physique despite Fisher’s Elite swordsmanship.
• Fisher mentioned his talented relative Tatum and suggested that he and Dick might spar someday.
• Kebi told Dick that his silver sword had been repaired and pointed him to a standard-issue longsword.
• Dick drew his repaired silver sword, and Kebi began to address the damage to Dick’s armor before calling someone over.

Dick accepted a contract to find Jordan, a fisherman who had disappeared downstream in thick fog, and entered the mist alone after discovering tracks leading inside. He lost contact with Auntie Shake and O'Neill, while strange laughter echoed through the fog.

• Kebi gave Dick an Odinburg guard captain's armor and offered him a deputy captain position.
• Auntie Shake asked Dick to find her missing husband, Jordan, and Kebi paid Dick 100 crowns for the contract.
• At the riverside village, O'Neill showed Dick Jordan's slashed straw hat and explained where the fog began.
• Dick, Auntie Shake, and O'Neill followed the river downstream until they reached a wall of dense fog.
• Dick heard baby-like laughter, followed marked footprints into the fog, and found that he could no longer hear Auntie Shake or O'Neill.

Dick hunted two Foglets and seven Ghouls in the fog, using Ghoul oil and his witcher abilities to defeat them and clear the area. He found Jordan dead, then collected alchemical ingredients as Auntie Shake mourned, and received energy points for the kills and completed contract.

• Dick followed fresh bloodied footprints, coated his sword with Ghoul oil, and killed the first Foglet.
• Dick used his witcher senses to expose and kill the Foglet, but the fog remained, and seven or eight Ghouls charged him.
• Dick repelled the Ghouls with a psychic shock wave and killed several while pretending to weaken himself to draw out the hidden monster.
• Dick ambushed and killed the second Foglet, causing the fog to thin, then finished off the remaining Ghouls.
• Dick found Jordan dead near a pile of boulders and looted the monsters; Auntie Shake rushed to Jordan's corpse as O'Neill thanked Dick.
• Dick left after receiving 60 energy points for killing the monsters and completing the witcher contract.

Dick discovered that Xiya had left Odinburg after completing her internship, and found the potions, sword oils, bombs, and spatial pouch she had gifted him. The next morning, Kebi and Fisher told Dick that strange branches in the Black Forest were driving off woodcutters, and Dick suspected the Leshen was protecting its territory.

• Dick found Xiya's letter saying she had left to take the examination to become a full-fledged sorceress.
• Dick opened Xiya's gifts, activated the spatial pouch with a drop of blood, and stored the potions and other supplies inside.
• Dick left Xiya's home in the snowfall, resolved to grow stronger and meet her again.
• Kebi gave Dick a bearskin cloak and told him he and Fisher were investigating trouble in the Black Forest.
• Dick said the Leshen would not harm people who stayed out of its territory and asked whether the woodcutters had gone too deep into the forest.

Dick accepted a contract to deal with Drowners and a Water Hag at the fishing village near Odinburg. He enlisted local fishermen to draw the Drowners away from the hag, and they began pelting the monsters from a distance.

• Kebi warned Dick that the Jatu had cut down the timber near the Black Forest and that missing bandits and limited troops made travel dangerous.
• Sheriff O'Neill told Dick that Drowners and a Water Hag had appeared at the river near the fishing village, and Dick accepted the villagers' thirty-crown contract.
• Dick reached the river with O'Neill and asked several fishermen to help him, assuring them they would not have to fight the monsters.
• Dick identified the Water Hag as the Drowners' commander and instructed the fishermen to lure the Drowners away using their throwing skills.
• The fishermen and O'Neill threw harpoons and stones at the Drowners from a distant slope, provoking them while the Water Hag tried to hold them back.