Arwen did as instructed.
Viris crouched down and carefully applied the ointment to Arwen's wounds.
Arwen did not dare lower his head. He only felt how gentle her hands were as they brushed over him.
Had Arwen not inherited all the original owner's memories, he would have thought Viris was the original owner's mother.
At that thought, he lowered his eyes slightly, ripples stirring in his heart.
The ointment felt cool against his skin.
Most remarkably, there was not the slightest pain when it touched his wounds.
In about ten minutes, Viris finished applying fresh ointment to Arwen.
She studied the wounds on Arwen's body carefully with her dark eyes.
The bruising and pooled blood had already begun to fade, far faster than they would in an ordinary person.
"This is... truly incredible. The mutations have given your body a powerful ability to recover. That's well worth studying."
Viris marveled, opening her palm to reveal the little green ointment that remained.
"Can you guess what this ointment is made from?"
Arwen's nostrils twitched. It smelled fresh and fragrant. Only after a long moment of thought did he slowly speak.
"There seems to be knitbone, arnica..."
He faltered there.
Viris continued, "And calendula. These are all herbs used to treat injuries."
Arwen silently committed the valuable recipe to memory. It might come in handy sometime.
[Herbal Alchemy EXP +5!]
Whoa!
Arwen's cat eyes flashed. Even this gave him experience points.
Viris stood up and tossed Arwen's clothes from the floor into the trash along with her own gloves.
Then she quickly retrieved a clean apprentice outfit from a cabinet nearby.
"Put on something fresh. That apprentice outfit of yours stinks. You can't wear it anymore."
Disgust flickered in Viris's eyes as she spoke.
Arwen rubbed his nose, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the filth-covered apprentice outfit in the trash.
Indeed, he found it deeply unpleasant too.
But for some reason, witchers were very resistant to bathing.
Going half a year without a bath was common.
Fortunately, witchers had powerful immune systems and would not develop any serious illnesses.
"Thank you, Lady Viris."
Arwen reached out and accepted the clean clothes.
The moment he touched them, his eyes lit up.
The apprentice outfit Viris had given him felt incredibly soft, worlds apart from his original coarse linen clothes.
It seemed to be silk.
Arwen was a little surprised.
Silk fabrics were not cheap in this world. Only high officials and nobles were entitled to enjoy them.
Yet here, silk had actually been used just to make an apprentice outfit.
Lady Viris is definitely no ordinary person.
Arwen dressed and flexed his wrists. The clothes fit him remarkably well.
It was an apprentice robe with loose sleeves and snug cuffs, much like Viris's.
Viris returned to her seat behind the desk.
"Some of your mutation data is very interesting. I need to write it down. Don't disturb me now. Get on with your work."
With that, she spread out a sheet of parchment, picked up the quill on the desk, and began writing and sketching.
Arwen collected himself, took a pair of gloves from where Viris had taken hers, and deftly pulled them on.
Through their brief time together, he had learned one of Viris's defining traits.
She liked cleanliness.
He pulled the entire box out from beneath the shelves.
His cat eyes focused, and [Alchemy Perception] activated.
Ripples of different colors spread from the box.
A single glance gave Arwen a clear idea of its contents.
"Just as Lady Viris said, they're all very basic herbs."
Arwen picked up a small flower with orange-yellow petals, a dense center, and a sweet fragrance.
"Daisy. It has the same effect as white bracken: it can neutralize a potion's effects, but it dulls the senses."
Arwen placed it in the drawer for detoxifying herbs.
Pop~
A pale green ring of light spread out from within, as though responding to Arwen's correct choice.
Arwen took another plant from the box. It looked very much like celery, with large, broad, serrated leaves.
After carefully confirming its identity, Arwen placed it in the drawer marked with a poison symbol.
"This is cursed buttercup. It's poisonous to ordinary people, but Master Vesemir said it can be used to make the potion-Cat."
Next came juniper, mint...
Arwen sorted them one by one. Every five items he sorted prompted the system to notify him that he had earned one point of Herbal Alchemy experience.
[Herbal Alchemy Lv2: 49/1000]
Arwen glanced at the panel. He had sorted about sixty herbs, earning exactly twelve experience points.
With Viris's guidance just now, that made seventeen experience points.
This was far more efficient than practicing swordsmanship.
His gaze turned to the last herb in the box.
He carefully took it out.
It had slender gray-green leaves edged with a bright band of silver.
"What is this?"
Arwen frowned. [Dual Souls] searched through all the herbal knowledge in his mind, but found no clues.
Under [Alchemy Perception], the strange little plant gave off a faint silver halo, so weak that he thought it was a roadside weed.
"What's wrong?"
Viris's voice suddenly came from behind him.
Arwen stiffened and turned around.
Viris first glanced at the herbs in the wooden box.
"You've finished sorting them already? Your knowledge of basic herbs is solid."
"Hmm..." Her gaze shifted to Arwen's hand, and she said sternly, "You don't recognize this one? It's very basic."
Arwen frowned, repeatedly confirming that he had never learned about it before.
"I'm sorry, Lady Viris. I don't know what this herb does."
A gentle light flickered in Viris's eyes as she studied Arwen closely once more.
"Good. You didn't try to deceive me by faking an answer."
She took the little plant from Arwen's hand. "This is moonlight grass, a very precious alchemical plant. It only grows among reeds in clean lakes and can serve as a medium for stimulating energy."
"But most importantly," Viris suddenly emphasized, her five long, pale fingers curling slightly, "it contains magic."
As her words fell, Viris unleashed a terrifying aura. A fearsome suction surged from her palm, whipping her sleeves into a flutter, and even the light in the room dimmed.
Tiny silver particles emerged from the moonlight grass's silver leaves, like stars clustered around the moon, dazzlingly beautiful.
And under [Alchemy Perception], the moonlight grass erupted with a brilliant silver halo.
Arwen stared at the sight with wide eyes, his expression utterly stunned. Even his breathing slowed without his realizing it.
Though he had harbored suspicions, actually seeing Viris cast magic still left him unable to calm himself.
A sorceress!
But then another thought struck him.
Arwen realized there was a major problem.
Why would there be a sorceress at Kaer Morhen at this point in time!?