Chapter Summaries

Arwen fought a coordinated Drowner pack led by a Drowned Dead, which controlled the monsters and drove him to the brink of defeat. After injuring the Drowned Dead with a feigned death, Arwen pursued it into the river, where it seized his ankle and dragged him underwater as he activated [Underwater Breathing].

• Arwen realized the unusually coordinated Drowners were being controlled by a Drowned Dead, while Vesemir identified the creature and Geralt ran to help.
• Arwen dodged the pack’s attacks and charged the Drowned Dead, but the Drowners wounded him and knocked him down.
• Arwen used a [Swallow] potion to recover, then feigned death and cut off half of the Drowned Dead’s right palm with his silver sword.
• Arwen pursued the wounded Drowned Dead into the river, but it dragged him underwater by the ankle.
• Arwen activated [Underwater Breathing] as the river water flooded around him.

Geralt killed the drowners on shore while Arwen fought a drowned dead underwater, and Viris guided him to his attacker. Arwen killed the monster and emerged from the river alive, carrying its head.

• Geralt cut down the twelve drowners on shore and searched underwater for Arwen, but could not find him.
• Vesemir prepared to dive in after Arwen, while Viris sensed that he was still fighting the drowned dead.
• Viris used her mental power to locate Arwen and directed him to strike toward his left hand.
• Arwen fought the drowned dead underwater, endured its attacks, and killed it with his silver sword.
• Arwen climbed out of the river carrying the drowned dead's head, and the system recorded his kill and swordsmanship experience.

After Arwen killed a Drowned Dead underwater, Geralt and Vesemir helped him recover at the camp while Viris healed his wounds. Arwen installed the creature’s mutagen and gained water affinity, allowing him to sense water elements and finally advance his meditation.

• Arwen surfaced badly wounded after killing the Drowned Dead, and Geralt carried him to camp for treatment.
• Viris healed Arwen with magic, and he recovered by the fire while Geralt brought him broth.
• Viris questioned how Arwen had survived underwater for nearly ten minutes, and Vesemir suggested his lungs had undergone a second mutation.
• Vesemir, Geralt, and Viris rushed to help an apprentice cornered by three drowners.
• Arwen installed the Drowned Dead Mutagen and gained Low-Level Water Element Affinity.
• Arwen sensed pale-blue water elements during meditation and received his first Basic Meditation experience point.

After Arwen killed a Drowned Dead during the apprentices’ test, he spent several days recovering and exploring Kaer Morhen with the others. He told Lady Viris he had sensed the elements through meditation, and her test revealed powerful spiritual sensitivity, leading her to say he should have become a mage’s apprentice rather than a witcher.

• Vesemir returned to camp with Aiken and Winston, and Aiken proudly showed off his drowner ears before Arwen revealed a Drowned Dead’s head.
• Vesemir brought the apprentices back to Kaer Morhen, where they rested and spent five days exploring and getting into mischief while recovering.
• Arwen declined to watch Paul and the others’ lizard battle because he had promised to meet Lady Viris about alchemy.
• Arwen visited the newly returned Viris and told her he had sensed the elements through Basic Meditation.
• Viris tested Arwen with a crystal magic orb, saw his spiritual power gather into a small sphere, and said he should have been a mage’s apprentice.

Viris tested Arwen’s mental power and understanding of magic, then taught him the first-circle Healing Spell. After he successfully healed his injured ankle, Viris sent him to join his companions at the arena.

• Arwen quickly solved Viris’s logic puzzles, and she explained that his mental power had reached the threshold for casting magic.
• Arwen described magic as something that could bring danger or progress, and Viris praised his understanding.
• Viris taught Arwen the hand sign and incantation for the Healing Spell, which he cast successfully using water elements.
• Arwen used the healing light to ease the injury on his ankle and received a system notification that he had unlocked the spell.
• Viris told Arwen that Paul and the others were waiting for him at the arena, where two lizards had been sent to face them.

Vesemir brought the witcher apprentices to Kaer Morhen’s library and taught them the meditation method needed to cast Signs. He ordered them to meditate several nights each week as they prepared for the Trial of the Mountains in 1230, while Arwen considered the two years he had left before he could leave Kaer Morhen.

• Vesemir led the apprentices into the library and showed them its books and locked reading rooms.
• Vesemir gave the apprentices a meditation method, and Arwen recognized that it was covered by his existing Basic Meditation skill.
• Vesemir told the apprentices to memorize the method, and several, including Aiken, Blyde, and Winston, said they had done so.
• Vesemir ordered the apprentices to meditate instead of sleeping on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, explaining that their sleep would decrease as they prepared for the Trial of the Mountains.
• Vesemir warned that the apprentices would face drowners, a cyclops, and trolls during the trial, and Arwen thought about leaving Kaer Morhen after surviving it.

Arwen practiced the Witcher signs under Geralt’s supervision as Geralt prepared to leave Kaer Morhen. Geralt and Arwen began a sword sparring match before lunch.

• Arwen practiced the five fundamental signs, with Quen as his most proficient, while Geralt scolded the apprentices.
• Geralt told the apprentices he was leaving Kaer Morhen and planned to visit Temeria to see the sea.
• Arwen said he hoped to travel south to Toussaint, and Geralt appeared interested in the place.
• Geralt challenged Arwen to spar without using signs, and the two took their positions for a duel.

Arwen challenged Geralt to a duel and used rolling evasions, Quen, and quick counterattacks to frustrate the stronger witcher. Geralt lost his temper, broke the rules by using Aard, and chased Arwen as he tried to concede and flee.

• Aiken introduced Geralt and Arwen before their duel, and Arwen impressed the onlookers with a fast three-strike combination.
• Geralt intensified his attacks, forcing Arwen to evade with rolls until Arwen used Quen to protect himself and counterattack from behind.
• Arwen’s strike tore Geralt’s jacket, and Geralt’s medallion revealed that Arwen had restored his Quen shield.
• Vesemir watched Arwen’s unusual tactics from the castle and recognized how effectively they used a witcher’s speed, coordination, and Signs.
• Geralt blasted Arwen with Aard despite his earlier promise not to use Signs, and Arwen shouted that he conceded before fleeing Geralt’s pursuit.

Arwen won his duel with Geralt after Geralt broke their agreement by using a Sign, and the witcher left Kaer Morhen. Viris also departed, giving Arwen moonlight grass and a card bearing Tissaia de Vries's name and an invitation to visit Aretuza.

• Arwen collapsed after training with Geralt, who declared him the winner because he had used Aard despite agreeing not to cast Signs.
• The apprentices celebrated Arwen's victory, and Vesemir served them lunch before they gathered to see Geralt off from Kaer Morhen.
• Geralt rode away, prompting Aiken and Paul to head for sword practice while Vesemir told Arwen that Viris wanted to see him.
• Arwen found Viris packing to leave and learned she was returning to her work after spending months at Kaer Morhen.
• Viris gave Arwen moonlight grass and a card for Aretuza signed by Headmistress Tissaia de Vries, then left through a portal and invited him to visit Thanedd Island.

Arwen hunted Drowners along the White Stone River, then killed a Water Hag that ambushed him. As he prepared to return on the autumnal equinox, Eskel appeared by the river.

• Arwen killed five Drowners and combined the mutagen fragments he collected.
• Arwen sensed danger, blocked a mud attack with Quen, and identified the attacker as a Water Hag.
• Arwen burned the Water Hag with Igni, kicked it off balance, and beheaded it with his silver sword.
• Arwen noticed the raven warning him of something nearby and spotted a figure emerging from the reeds.
• Arwen recognized the newcomer as Eskel and greeted him with delight.

Arwen returned to Kaer Morhen with Eskel and learned that Geralt had left the mountains the previous spring. Vesemir sent Arwen and the other apprentices to begin the Trial of the Mountains, leaving their fate to the perilous journey to the Circle of Elements.

• Eskel reunited with Arwen, who told him he was sixteen and had killed a water hag.
• Eskel and Arwen collected the water hag’s tooth and five drowner heads, then rode back to Kaer Morhen.
• Eskel greeted Vesemir, while Arwen joined the apprentices preparing for their trial.
• Vesemir ordered Arwen and the other apprentices to reach the Circle of Elements atop Troll before midnight the next day.
• Arwen and the apprentices equipped themselves, and Vesemir told them to set out.

Vesemir and Eskel discussed the apprentices’ chances at the Circle of Elements and praised Arwen’s leadership. As Arwen’s group crossed Killer Lake and prepared to pass Old Spearhead’s cave, an advancing fog and a ghostly voice signaled danger.

• Vesemir told Eskel that Blyde had died after recklessly fighting a monster.
• Vesemir praised Arwen’s confidence, strength, and ability to unite the apprentices, and said the group could succeed if they avoided Old Spearhead.
• Arwen led Paul, Horton, Aiken, and Winston through Killer Lake, where they killed Drowners and reached the opposite shore.
• Arwen ordered the group to rest and prepare before approaching Old Spearhead’s cave, intending to sneak past the sleeping Cyclops.
• Paul spotted a huge bank of fog rushing down from the summit, and Arwen recognized the eerie voice calling for Aiken as a Foglet.

Arwen and the other apprentices encountered a Foglet mimicking Blyde’s voice, and Aiken nearly attacked his companions while trying to avenge him. Arwen stopped Aiken and went alone to face the creature, ending the chapter as it appeared through the mist.

• Aiken recognized the distant light and Blyde’s cries as a Foglet, then insisted on pursuing it despite the danger.
• Aiken shoved Horton and Winston aside and attacked Arwen, but Arwen struck him with his sword’s pommel and the others pinned him down.
• Arwen told Horton to take Aiken to Old Spearhead’s cave, then walked toward the Foglet as Aiken begged him to kill it.
• The Foglet appeared as a broken-necked phantom wearing Blyde’s torn jacket, and Arwen gripped his sword and prepared to fight.

Arwen fought a foglet that used illusions and false sounds to ambush him, then exposed it with the Aard Sign and killed it. He left the clearing after beheading the monster.

• The foglet deceived Arwen with an illusion of Blyde and attacked through the mist, wounding him despite his Quen shield.
• Arwen healed his wound with [Healing Spell] and used the Quen Sign and Aard Sign to locate and knock the foglet down.
• Arwen wounded the foglet with [Whirling Blade] as it leaped and climbed around him.
• The foglet showed Arwen another illusion of Blyde, and Arwen beat it to death in anger.
• Arwen pulled his sword from the foglet and severed its head.

After killing two Foglets, Arwen returned to his companions and led them into Old Spearhead’s cave for the trial. They passed piles of dead monsters and a dead witcher apprentice before reaching a three-meter stone wall.

• Arwen recognized a Foglet disguised as Paul, killed it, and saw that Foglets had gathered in a pack by the lake.
• Arwen returned with two Foglet heads, and the apprentices buried them before heading to the cave.
• Arwen warned the group to move quietly, and all five drank their potions before entering Old Spearhead’s cave.
• Arwen and the others found heaps of Drowner and Foglet remains, including a dead witcher apprentice, then reached a tall stone wall.

Arwen and the other apprentices found their route through Old Spearhead's cave blocked by a recent collapse and realized the cyclops was awake. As Old Spearhead closed in, they blasted a narrow way through the rubble, but Aiken was trapped and injured, leaving Arwen to face the danger while the others escaped.

• Arwen led Paul, Winston, Aiken, and Horton along the upper passage above Old Spearhead's bedroom until they found it blocked by collapsed rubble.
• Arwen realized Old Spearhead was not asleep and ordered the group to retreat, but heavy footsteps approached from behind.
• The five apprentices used the Aard Sign to blast a narrow passage through the rubble as Old Spearhead pursued them.
• Old Spearhead hurled a dark-red projectile into the passage, causing a collapse that pinned Aiken's arm beneath the rubble.
• Arwen healed Aiken briefly, gave him a Swallow potion, and prepared to draw Old Spearhead out of the cave with his silver sword and Quen Sign.

Arwen fought Old Spearhead in the cave and lured it away so Aiken could survive. After escaping to Killer Lake, he spotted Foglets approaching and realized they might be drawn to the remains in the cave.

• Old Spearhead overwhelmed Arwen's defenses, but moonlight grass let him form a Quen Sign and dodge past the monster.
• Arwen drew Old Spearhead away from its bone hammer and ran toward the cave exit to keep it from reaching Aiken.
• Paul, Horton, and Winston heard Aiken through the rubble, and Aiken told them to go to the summit and find Vesemir because Arwen had lured Old Spearhead away.
• Arwen escaped the cave and prepared to flee into Killer Lake, but he saw Foglets gathering along the shore and suspected they were drawn to the remains in the cave.

Arwen lured Old Spearhead into a battle with the Foglets at Killer Lake, where an Ancient Foglet took on Vesemir’s appearance and attacked the Cyclops. As Old Spearhead fought the monsters, Arwen killed a fleeing Foglet underwater and prepared to ambush another.

• Arwen drew Old Spearhead toward the fog, then escaped into Killer Lake as the Foglets attacked the Cyclops.
• Old Spearhead fought off the Foglets until an Ancient Foglet arrived and transformed into Vesemir, wielding a silver sword with Wolf School swordsmanship.
• Old Spearhead swung captured Foglets as makeshift weapons and battled the illusory Vesemir, sending several Foglets tumbling into the lake.
• Arwen dragged a fleeing Foglet underwater and killed it with his silver sword, gaining a chance at a Foglet Mutagen.
• Another Foglet fell into the lake, and Arwen spotted it as easy prey while Old Spearhead continued fighting.

Arwen gained the Foglet mutagen ability Illusory Mist Invisibility and used the battle between Old Spearhead and the Foglets to harvest more mutagens. After the fight, he crept toward the wounded Old Spearhead, cloaked himself in mist, and prepared to strike as Old Spearhead searched for corpses.

• Arwen killed a Foglet underwater, synthesized its mutagen, and installed Illusory Mist Invisibility.
• As Old Spearhead battled the ancient Foglet and its followers, Arwen cautiously collected seven fallen Foglets from the water.
• The ancient Foglet withdrew with its followers, leaving Old Spearhead badly wounded and eating Foglet corpses on the shore.
• Arwen crept out of the lake and considered exploiting Old Spearhead's injuries, then rushed toward two intact Foglet corpses while a raven distracted him.
• Arwen concealed himself with Illusory Mist Invisibility as Old Spearhead approached and sensed an unfamiliar scent; Arwen suddenly thrust his sword.

Vesemir learned that Arwen and Aiken had stayed behind to face Old Spearhead, but he initially refused to intervene in the Trial of the Mountains. After Old Spearhead’s roar reached the summit, Vesemir sent Eskel down with cyclops blade oil; meanwhile, Arwen killed the exhausted cyclops at Killer Lake.

• Horton told Vesemir that Arwen and Aiken had stayed behind to protect the others, with Aiken trapped under rubble.
• Vesemir refused to intervene, saying the trial was over and the witcher code forbade him from helping.
• After Old Spearhead roared, Vesemir gave Eskel ogroid blade oil and ordered him down the mountain.
• At Killer Lake, Arwen stabbed Old Spearhead in its lone eye and evaded its attacks with Aard and Quen.
• Arwen repeatedly struck the cyclops as it weakened, until Old Spearhead collapsed and died.