"Lady Viris, you... you're a sorceress?"
Viris looked at Arwen with the hint of a smile.
"Are you that shocked?"
Arwen nodded.
Viris dispersed the magic in her hand.
"Sorceresses and witchers alike are creations of magic. There's no need to be surprised."
Her gaze shifted to the herb drawers on the shelves. Silver light flashed through her black pupils, and powerful mental energy swept over them.
"Well done. Almost all the herbs are correctly classified, though there are a few small oversights."
Arwen saw silver ripples flash across a drawer before it opened on its own.
A red leaf floated out and was placed in a drawer engraved with the word "Healing."
"This is heartleaf. It looks very similar to red roundleaf, and both reduce heat, but heartleaf can be crushed and applied to wounds, where it is quite effective at stopping bleeding."
"Every herb or alchemical item has its own unique aura. The experts and scholars of Oxenfurt call it 'rhythm.'"
"A true master alchemist must balance the rhythms of these alchemical materials to produce the desired result."
"Rhythm..." Arwen murmured, immediately thinking of his talent, [Alchemy Perception].
"Could the ripples those materials give off be their rhythms?"
[Herbal Alchemy EXP +5!]
Viris looked at him thoughtfully.
"You seem to have gained some insight of your own." She picked up the moonlight grass in her hand. "Based on your understanding, can you tell which category this moonlight grass belongs to?"
"Don't be afraid. It doesn't matter if you're wrong."
Arwen took the moonlight grass and focused.
[Alchemy Perception] activated.
A faint ring of silver light spread out like a heartbeat, but it was very weak.
"This ring of light is so much weaker than when I first saw it. I can barely sense it anymore. It seems Lady Viris just drained all its power-its magic."
"Wait..."
Beneath that silver radiance lay a layer of almost imperceptible dark green specks. When he sensed them carefully, his mental energy felt as though it were sinking into a mire, thick and uncomfortable.
"This feeling..."
Arwen's gaze immediately locked onto the herb drawer engraved with "Poison."
"Lady Viris, does this moonlight grass contain toxins?"
Viris's eyes flashed with surprise.
"Just as I thought. My observations were right. You have a great talent for mental energy and perception. An ordinary magic apprentice would need at least several years to sense these rhythms, and might never reach them in an entire lifetime."
She swept her hand, and the drawer marked with the poison symbol opened. The moonlight grass flew inside on its own.
Snap!
The drawer closed again.
"Indeed. Besides containing magic, this moonlight grass also contains a mild hallucinogenic toxin."
"What a pity that you're already a witcher apprentice. Otherwise, I would recommend you to the City of Ban Ard. It has the finest magic academy in the Kingdom of Kaedwen, and it isn't far from here."
"A magic academy..." Arwen murmured. "Can't witcher apprentices study at a magic academy?"
Viris turned and sat down in a wooden chair. "How unusual. As I recall, aren't you witchers uninterested in magic?"
"I've heard plenty of arrogant remarks from you witchers, saying that mages' magic is all flash and no substance, that it requires lengthy incantations, and that some spells even need the assistance of numerous magical devices just to be barely cast."
"Your Signs, on the other hand, only require a simple gesture, and magic gushes out like a fountain, ready to slay monsters or even kill witches doing evil in the countryside."
Arwen hurriedly said, "No, Lady Viris, I think you've misunderstood witchers. Signs only have the advantage of convenience. In terms of power, they're certainly far inferior to true magic."
"It's like archers and warriors on a battlefield. Each has a different role."
Viris chuckled. "You certainly know how to argue your case."
"So, you're very eager to learn magic?"
Arwen nodded without hesitation.
True magic was right before his eyes. He couldn't possibly let it slip away so easily.
Being a witcher was great, but a melee mage was the real dream!
The fervor in Arwen's feline eyes caught Viris's attention, but she sighed.
"Ah, as I just said, you've already become a witcher."
"The mutations gave your body great strength, but they also brought irreversible changes."
"That includes your ability to sense chaos energy. Compared to an ordinary magic apprentice, your sensitivity is probably less than a tenth of theirs."
"The more advanced the magic, the greater the sensitivity to chaos energy it requires. Otherwise, you witchers wouldn't be limited to crude tricks like Signs."
"You should give up your fantasies about magic as soon as possible. You aren't suited to it."
Arwen instinctively clenched his fists.
Not suited to it? Couldn't witchers learn advanced magic?
There were still the Trial of Dreams and the Trial of the Mountains ahead. If he could learn magic, it would definitely improve his chances of survival.
Intense disappointment tangled within him.
"Wait a moment."
"What does witchers being unable to learn have to do with me, Arwen?"
"I have a system. As long as I get an EXP bar, can't I just grind like crazy?"
At that thought, he raised his head, his gaze utterly earnest.
"Lady Viris, I'd still like to try."
Viris sat upright and adjusted her cuffs with both hands.
"You're persistent, but when something is impossible, you must learn to give up. It's for your own good."
After she finished, Arwen's expression remained unchanged, and an eerie silence fell over the room.
After a long while, Viris saw Arwen's determination and shook her head with a laugh. Silver light flashed through her pupils.
A parchment scroll tied with red cord suddenly flew out from the thick volume of World History on the bookshelf behind Arwen.
Viris raised a hand, and the parchment scroll hovered above it.
"However... persistence in exploring magic is also an essential quality for a magic apprentice."
She pushed her slender hand forward. The parchment scroll flew in front of Arwen, its red cord fell away, and it slowly unfurled.
Arwen looked at the densely packed symbols on it, overjoyed.
Viris rose. "I'll give you one chance. This is the most basic magical meditation, but you only have ten minutes. Let's see how much you can memorize."
Arwen's feline pupils narrowed.
The photographic memory ability of [Dual Souls] activated.
Her gaze swept over the writing line by line, every written character and every symbol etched deep into her mind.
Chaos energy, the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire...
Time ticked by.
Arwen concentrated intensely, sweat beading on his forehead.
Viris tapped her fingers lightly against the table.
Suddenly, her fingers stopped.
"Time's up."
The parchment scroll before Arwen immediately rolled itself shut.
"Ten minutes. I read it twice from beginning to end. There shouldn't be any mistakes or omissions."
[Detected that the host has mastered Basic Meditation. Skill unlocked: Basic Meditation] [Basic Meditation Lv1: 0/100]