Chapter Summaries

Yavi met Loriess, the headmistress of Oxenfurt Academy, who revealed Professor C’s real name and paid him for resolving the griffin bounty. After settling into a private dormitory room, Yavi planned to visit the griffin the next day and reviewed his four upgraded or newly acquired runes before falling asleep.

• Loriess recognized Yavi as Professor C’s student, revealed that Professor C was Sicco Jett, and praised Yavi’s handling of the griffin dispute.
• Loriess gave Yavi two hundred crowns as his bounty reward and assigned him a single room in the premium dormitory.
• Loriess told Yavi to resolve the griffin problem before classes began, and Yavi moved into his room at the academy.
• Yavi decided to visit the griffin the next day and try to retrieve its egg before classes started.
• Yavi reviewed his Tiger, Horse, Rabbit, and Ox Talismans and fell asleep.

Yavi visited the griffins’ nest to search for clues about the humans who had trapped them, but found only rotting remains. After the male griffin pointed him toward the wetlands, Yavi began searching there and discovered a faint footprint in the mud.

• Yavi rode southwest to the griffins’ nest after retrieving his pony from the stables.
• The female griffin stopped her mate, a Royal Griffin, from attacking Yavi and let him inspect their nest.
• Yavi searched the nest but found no useful clues among the rotting animal and human remains.
• The male griffin told Yavi that the humans were likely hiding in the wetlands to the southwest.
• Yavi rode to the wetlands and found a faint footprint in a muddy pool.

Yavi tracked the griffin egg to a poachers’ camp in the wetlands and pretended to be the contact sent to rescue them. When the leader exposed Yavi’s deception, Yavi seized the egg and killed the three poachers.

• Yavi followed faint footprints through the wetlands, killing several drowners along the way.
• Yavi overheard poachers discussing the griffin egg and their failed meeting with the Scoia'tael.
• Yavi found four people at the camp and convinced the three armed poachers that he had come to get them out.
• Yavi inspected the intact griffin egg, but the leader became suspicious when Yavi could not answer about Kalio.
• Yavi attacked the poachers, put the griffin egg into his Talisman Space, and killed all three in seconds.

Yavi recovered the griffins’ egg from the poachers and returned it, allowing the griffins to leave peacefully. After reporting his success to Loriess, he received a piece of mithril as a reward.

• Yavi found over a hundred crowns among the poachers’ belongings, left the sleeping poacher alive, and headed to the griffins’ nest with their egg.
• The griffins confirmed the egg was unharmed, honored their agreement to leave, and gave Yavi a large piece of Cursed Stone and a feather.
• Yavi searched the griffins’ ruined nest for more ore, burned it, and returned to Oxenfurt.
• Yavi told Loriess he had resolved the griffin problem but concealed the Cursed Stone.
• Loriess praised Yavi and rewarded him with mithril, which he gladly accepted.

Yavi secured permission to use a smithy in Oxenfurt so he could repair and forge weapons from mithril and dimeritium. The next morning, he began working with the apprentice Thomas.

• Yavi went to the craftsmen's district and asked to borrow a smithy's forge.
• Yavi and the blacksmith agreed that Yavi would pay 170 crowns to use the smithy until term began.
• Yavi returned to the academy, ate dinner, took a walk, and went to sleep in his dormitory.
• Yavi arrived at the smithy the next morning and found the apprentice, Thomas, waiting to help him.
• Yavi and Thomas prepared the furnace and began Yavi's forging work.

Yavi refined mithril with meteorite iron powder and began forging it into a sword while Thomas helped him prepare dimeritium. After a day of work, Yavi had shaped the mithril into a sword blank and planned to finish it before making a dimeritium sword.

• Yavi used the forge and Igni Flame Sign for six hours to melt mithril, skimmed off the slag, and mixed in meteorite iron powder.
• While the mithril cooled, Yavi showed Thomas a large piece of dimeritium and asked him to keep it secret; Thomas agreed and helped cut the ore.
• Thomas and Yavi worked until night, then ate with Thomas's wife, and Yavi paid Thomas two hundred crowns for his help and their meal.
• Yavi returned to the smithy to sleep, and Thomas joined him the next morning to continue cutting dimeritium.
• Yavi forged the cooled mithril ingot into a sword blank, then rested at the smithy and planned to finish the mithril sword and make a dimeritium sword the next day.

Yavi and Thomas finished forging two swords, naming them Moonlight Cursed Blade and Demon Breaker before parting ways. After returning to Oxenfurt, Yavi received Elena’s invitation and agreed to have dinner with her and her parents.

• Yavi tested the mithril sword’s Aard-enhanced edge by slicing an iron ingot cleanly in midair.
• Yavi tested the heavier dimeritium sword and found it powerful against magic and armor.
• Yavi and Thomas named the dimeritium sword Demon Breaker and the mithril sword Moonlight Cursed Blade.
• Yavi thanked Thomas for helping forge the swords, and Thomas said he would likely settle near Novigrad.
• Yavi received Elena’s letter, visited her at the girls’ dormitory, and accepted her invitation to dinner with her parents.

Yavi discovered that Demon Breaker’s magic resistance prevented him from storing it in his Talisman Space, but found that binding the griffin feather to its hilt let him put it away. He then joined Elena, Marvin, and Noelle for the banquet, where the meal was served.

• Yavi found that the Moonlight Cursed Blade entered his Talisman Space, but Demon Breaker would not while he was touching it.
• Yavi bound the griffin feather to Demon Breaker and successfully stored the sword in his Talisman Space, then planned a custom scabbard for it.
• Yavi went to the restaurant Elena had reserved and greeted Elena, Marvin, and Noelle.
• Marvin welcomed Yavi and made conversation as the waitress served an elaborate banquet and poured wine.

Yavi accepted Marvin’s forty gold coins in exchange for agreeing to watch over Elena while they were both at school. The next morning, Yavi attended Oxenfurt Academy’s opening ceremony, then met his alchemy lecturer and classmates.

• Marvin gave Yavi forty gold coins and asked him to look after Elena on campus, and Yavi agreed.
• Yavi returned to his dorm drunk, slept, and woke the next morning for the opening ceremony.
• Yavi attended Loriess’s speech at Oxenfurt Academy’s opening ceremony and fell asleep before being startled awake by applause.
• Suge led the Alchemical Studies class to its classroom, introduced herself as their lecturer, and had the thirty-two students introduce themselves.

Yavi arranged for Thomas to make a hidden-compartment scabbard and met Oxenfurt Academy’s deputy dean, Atle, before beginning his first day of classes. After presenting his modified healing potion in alchemy class, Yavi went with Suge to the academy’s magic practice area to begin training.

• Yavi asked Thomas to make a metal scabbard for Demon Breaker with a hidden compartment for the griffin feather, and Thomas promised it in three days.
• Loriess introduced Yavi and Suge to Deputy Dean Atle and told them to attend afternoon magic instruction after their morning classes.
• Suge told Yavi that Atle had resented Loriess’s appointment as dean after he had expected to get the position.
• Yavi presented his Weakened Swallow Potion in alchemy class and explained that ordinary people could use it to heal injuries.
• Yavi and Suge went to the academy’s underground magic practice area, where they waited for Loriess to begin their training.

Yavi spent his weekend relaxing at Oxenfurt Academy, where Elena’s roommates learned he had saved her from a griffin and persuaded him to join their weekly afternoon-tea gatherings. After a nap, he woke to overhear two girls searching the men’s dorm for someone they accused of stealing a student’s identity.

• Yavi slept in, ate breakfast, and met Elena and her roommates in the dining hall.
• Sophia, Claire, and Martha learned Yavi had rescued Elena from a griffin, while Elena admitted she had told them about it.
• Yavi asked the girls to keep the story quiet, and they agreed on the condition that he attend their weekly afternoon teas.
• Yavi returned to his dorm for a nap and woke when he heard high heels outside.
• A timid girl questioned whether her senior should confront someone in the men’s dorm, and the senior accused that person of stealing her little brother’s identity.

Mel stormed into Yavi’s room to expose an alleged impostor, then recognized him as her long-lost younger brother. After discovering that Master Kharkov had kept their letters from reaching them, they reunited and arranged a private dinner.

• Mel burst into Yavi’s room with Pep Holt and Kent Werner, intending to confront an impostor.
• Mel recognized Yavi, and the siblings embraced after realizing they had both been told the other had stopped writing.
• Yavi suggested Master Kharkov had withheld their letters to protect him from missing home, and Mel said their reunion mattered most.
• Mel introduced Yavi to Kent Werner and Pep Holt, then sent them ahead to prepare for a student council meeting.
• Mel invited Yavi to dinner at the Oak Restaurant at seven and gave him a small badge.

Yavi shared a family dinner with Mel, who told him about their younger sister Amy, their brother Jace’s family, and how their mother still missed him. Yavi said he could not return home until he was strong enough to control himself, and Mel promised their family would reunite.

• Yavi arrived early at the Oak Restaurant, where Mel joined him after a long student council meeting and ordered honey cake, remembering his childhood favorite.
• Yavi told Mel about the hardships of becoming a witcher, and she urged him to eat more and served him a tender piece of venison.
• Mel revealed that Yavi had a twelve-year-old younger sister named Amy who admired him and longed for his return.
• Mel updated Yavi on their father, their eldest brother Jace, Jace’s twin daughters, and their mother’s habit of visiting Yavi’s old room.
• Yavi said he would not return home until he could control himself and protect his family, and Mel took his hand and promised they would be together again.

Yavi learned more about the conflict between Mel’s Popular Election Faction and Vivian Ross’s Royal Election Faction at Oxenfurt Academy. After Vivian’s group provoked Mel’s faction in the cafeteria, Yavi learned that Mel was one point behind in the student council election and could lose the presidency if her faction lost the next competition.

• Mel warned Yavi that the crown-badged Royal Election Faction was her faction’s rival and urged him to avoid conflict with them.
• Yavi spent the next half month studying alchemy and magic while wearing his Popular Election Faction badge, then reunited with Mel and her faction members at lunch.
• Mel introduced Yavi to Saina Green and Maxim Bryan, who joined Kent and Pep at the cafeteria table.
• Vivian Ross led a group of Royal Election Faction students into the cafeteria, glared at Mel’s table, and knocked over a supporter’s schoolbag before leaving.
• Yavi learned from Saina that Mel and Vivian were competing for the student council presidency, that Mel’s faction was one point behind, and that the next competition could decide the election.

Yavi learned that Mel’s Popular Election Faction was struggling ahead of the student council competition, then gave her a thousand crowns when she asked for money. Three days later, Yavi and Suge arrived at the packed great hall to watch the competition, while Yavi remained wary that the election might turn dangerous.

• Yavi overheard students say Mel’s Popular Election Faction was at a disadvantage against Vivian’s Royal Election Faction.
• Mel visited Yavi and asked for three hundred crowns to help with the election.
• Yavi gave Mel a thousand crowns and a cloak, and promised to support her regardless of what happened.
• Mel told Yavi the student council election would take place in the great hall in three days, and Yavi promised to attend.
• Dean Loriess gave Yavi and Suge the afternoon off, and they found seats near the front of the crowded great hall.

Yavi arrived at the Popular Election Faction’s swordsmanship competition and found that Hill had joined Vivian’s side after being offered more money. With Mel’s team left without its strongest fighter, Yavi volunteered to compete alone, leaving the auditorium stunned.

• Yavi and Suge reached Mel, who explained that she had hired Hill Lorenst to help the Popular Election Faction win the competition.
• Vivian arrived with Aphelios and Hill, revealing that she had paid Hill a thousand crowns to do nothing and leaving Mel’s team shaken.
• When Mel’s group wondered how to proceed, Yavi stepped forward, picked up a training sword, and challenged Vivian’s faction to the competition.
• Vivian mocked Yavi for proposing to face all five opponents, while Mel warned him about the odds and Yavi told her to trust him.

Yavi faced the Royal Election Faction’s swordsmen in the duel and defeated two challengers with calm, precise strikes. As the Popular Election Faction cheered and Mel watched proudly, Yavi called for the next opponent while three challengers remained.

• A Royal Election Faction upperclassman mocked Yavi and attacked him, but Yavi dodged his blows and knocked him down with strikes to the knee and neck.
• Yavi warned the faction that the defeated fighter would have died in a real sword fight, then called for the next challenger.
• A lean swordsman took a measured stance and traded attacks with Yavi, but Yavi bypassed his guard and struck his temple and abdomen, defeating him.
• The Popular Election Faction cheered Yavi, and Mel watched him with pride as he pointed his sword toward the three remaining challengers and said, “Next.”

Yavi won three matches in a row, and a fourth Royal Election Faction challenger surrendered before the fight began. Aphelios then faced Yavi, and their fierce duel was still underway.

• Yavi defeated the third challenger by parrying his attack and stopping his wooden sword at the man's throat.
• Maxim and the Popular Election Faction celebrated Yavi's three consecutive wins while Dean Loriess watched with interest.
• The fourth challenger dropped his sword, surrendered, and fled as Vivian endured the Popular Election Faction's taunts.
• Aphelios stepped forward to restore the Royal Election Faction's standing and challenged Yavi to a duel.
• Aphelios and Yavi traded rapid attacks, with each fighter's swordsmanship drawing gasps from the audience.

Yavi defeated Aphelios, prompting Loriess to challenge Vivian to put Hill forward for an extra match against him. Mel objected, but Yavi signaled that she should stop arguing, leaving the hall waiting to see whether the match would happen.

• Yavi outlasted Aphelios and forced him to concede, drawing loud cheers from the Popular Election Faction.
• Vivian left the hall, and Aphelios followed her after seeing her retreat.
• Loriess called out to Vivian and proposed an additional match between Yavi and Hill, with the faction standings at stake.
• Mel protested that Loriess was interfering unfairly, but Loriess argued that Yavi was not eligible to represent the Popular Election Faction and had won only because he was Mel's brother.
• Mel asked for the match to be rescheduled because Yavi had already fought five times, but Loriess pointed out that he appeared unfatigued.
• Yavi shook his head at Mel, signaling that she need not argue further.

Yavi agreed to fight Hill, and Hill insisted that they use real swords and battle with the intent to kill. They took ceremonial longswords and faced each other, with Hill realizing that Yavi had the aura of someone who had survived true battles.

• Yavi agreed to defeat Hill to secure Loriess's offer, and Vivian urged Hill to fight him.
• Hill accepted and challenged Yavi to a real-sword match, asking him to fight as if he meant to kill her.
• Mel pleaded with Yavi to stop, but he reassured her and accepted the risk of dying in the match.
• Loriess provided sharpened ceremonial longswords, and Hill and Yavi took their positions on the dueling platform.
• Yavi adopted an unfamiliar sword stance and revealed a cold killing intent that made Hill realize she had underestimated him.