The spectators cheered in unison. Crow's Perch had enough to talk about for the whole year.
"Beautifully fought, witcher!"
Many soldiers, craftsmen, and commoners congratulated the champion, still hungry for more. A few even asked whether the White Wolf took apprentices.
"Pro, you're sho awesome!" Little Gretka stood among the adults' legs, nearly getting stepped on.
When she had seen the White Wolf's steel sword get cut in half, she had thought Chen Xu had won.
A child's world was different from an adult's.
Yoana, the blonde girl from Skellige, helped Chen Xu up. Compared to the White Wolf, she preferred this handsome young man who excelled at both fighting and forging.
"Shame there's no bard here, or you'd be famous, lad!" Fergus teased.
His rough palm swept through the air, as though a banner hung there:
"They'd definitely add some backstory to this duel, something like 'Little Blacksmith challenges witcher, all to win a beauty's heart!'"
"Shut up, Fergus!" Yoana chided softly, but an unstoppable blush rose to her face.
Only two people in the entire crowd felt unhappy and afraid:
The swordsman and the Rotten Hand's Chosen had already slipped out of Crow's Perch with the crowd, obediently going off to trouble the boxing champions of the regional circuits.
They were now profoundly grateful they had ultimately decided not to oppose Chen Xu.
The swordsman, especially, had almost begun doubting his own path of the sword, and Chen Xu had long since broken his sword.
The swordsmanship he took such pride in did not even count as proficient by the battlefield's standards, while that bastard senior brother had already presented betrothal gifts to his beloved senior sister.
He had thought being summoned to the battlefield by the Great Sage was an opportunity, only to find the slaughter even fiercer than sect warfare.
Nineteen years of bitter practice through heat and cold had earned him a mere inch and a half of sword radiance.
Painstaking devotion had yet to attain the Dao; when would that cold gleam shine upon his return?
This heaven-defying [Commoner] was right. Running away meant death sooner or later. How could he resign himself without giving it a shot?
The White Wolf's steel sword had also become a foil for Gram, leaving him to ask the Sergeant for a standard Velen longsword to make do.
He could tell Chen Xu had deliberately yielded, and felt rather ashamed:
"Are you all right?"
"Don't you know perfectly well what state I'm in?" Chen Xu laughed despite himself, sparing him no dignity.
Sure enough, the White Wolf turned red:
"Very well. You may have cut my sword in half, but I don't acknowledge it."
"I'd be perfectly willing to give up the championship, but not to you-to that sword!"
"Blah, blah, blah..." Chen Xu headed toward the tower indifferently, reminding him without looking back:
"Keep your urges in check, Geralt. We still have business to attend to."
He was afraid the fellow would go upstairs, announce, "I dedicate this honor to you, Fringilla!" and follow it with a champion's celebratory bang.
The White Wolf was about to argue further, but Yoana interrupted him. "I think he forged that sword himself, too..."
He nearly choked.
Heading down to the kitchen, Chen Xu planned to pack the prepared smoked meat, ham, pickled vegetables, and assorted pastries into his storage space.
"Where would you like these delivered?" The cook had intended to send a maid to help, but he declined with a vague excuse and carried everything into the guest room one item at a time.
Gretka was wildly swinging a little wooden sword. He hired her to help with a handful of coppers.
"Want to see some magic?"
The guest room was filled with food. Gretka was sneaking bites, and Chen Xu pinched her chubby cheek.
"Yes!"
Chen Xu passed his hand over roughly seventy kilograms of food, putting it into the panel's storage space item by item. The little girl's eyes went wide, and she cheered and bounced:
"Do it again! Do it again!"
Chen Xu ignored her and even snatched back the little cake she had stolen.
"Wah! Stingy! What's so great about that? I met a big sister who was way better than you!" Gretka picked up her little wooden sword as she spoke:
"She can fly, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! She flies from here to there in a flash!"
Standing at the door, she jumped into the corner of the room with all her might, doing her best to demonstrate how powerful this big sister was.
She was probably talking about Ciri, who possessed the Elder Blood and could travel through time and space. With her and Geralt, it was a case of a crooked upper beam making the lower one crooked too.
A born magic prodigy, yet she insisted on being a melee brute.
"Steal food and you get spanked." Chen Xu could not help smiling. He slapped her bottom and told the "child laborer" to hurry up and scram.
Thinking he did not believe her, Gretka pulled a gleaming emerald from inside her clothes:
"Look! Big Sister Ciri gave me this!"
Tsk! These days, even children are richer than me... than the White Wolf.
Chen Xu picked up the gem and examined it against the sunlight. Its quality was flawless.
Returning the gem and cake to Gretka, he instructed her earnestly:
"Keep it safe. Don't let anyone else see it. It'll be enough for your dowry someday."
But the little one had no idea what a dowry was and skipped away with her cake.
After finishing lunch, the wife-searching party regrouped and set off again.
Velen outside the swamps was still beautiful, especially this stretch near Crow's Perch but away from the moat. The sky was clear, the air fresh, and the sunlight bright.
Green trees cast their shade, and even the wildflowers and grasses beside the fields were charming in their own way.
The nearby wraiths and monsters had all been wiped out in the morning's battle. Now the land could truly be called peaceful and clear.
Chen Xu walked alongside the White Wolf, leaving the sorceress behind:
"What's the trick behind that sword dance of yours? From what I saw, it seems to take quite a toll on you."
The White Wolf owed him a favor, and had also promised to "teach him a few moves," so he began reluctantly explaining his understanding of swordsmanship and his techniques for applying force:
As witchers traveled the Continent, their combat techniques had to account not only for monsters, but also for humans with ill intentions.
In theory, they should use technique against immensely strong monsters, while relying on brute force against humanoids with inferior physical abilities.
Reality, however, was different.
Monsters were not entirely without intelligence, and humans included the likes of Zhaotian Zhi and Chen Xu, and often came in groups.
After undergoing the Trial of the Grasses in childhood, witchers used materials taken from powerful monsters, containing strange powers, to perceive a mysterious energy that came from the unseen, incredibly heterogeneous yet omnipresent.
Most of that energy conflicted with their bodies and could not be absorbed.
A small portion, which witchers called "magic," was compatible with them and could be absorbed, purified, and stored. It became a special energy separate from stamina, likewise controlled by the body's consciousness.
Signs were activated using this energy, but their consumption was enormous and their margin for error extremely low.
So he had devised other efficient ways to use this special energy:
[Whirl] wound magic into threads, wrapping them around the body and pulling them away, making the body spin like a top at an extremely fast, stable speed.
This method required a witcher's powerful physique to withstand the impact on the body once the skill ended.
[Burst] was best initiated from a lunge, with magic running along two parallel paths.
One protected and reinforced the spine, while the other formed threads attached at both ends to the wrists and calves, storing force like drawing a bow.
Both were simple, practical techniques for using magic. Geralt lightly patted Chen Xu's shoulder:
"Feel anything?"
What?
Chen Xu gave him a puzzled look. A warm sensation suddenly penetrated his bracer, passing into him from the White Wolf's hand!
[You have obtained 5 Gerkka of [Source Power]. Stored. Can be used as advancement material, or you may attempt analysis and perception. Current reaction 14, spirit 1. Perception chance 21%. Analyze?]
Analyze my ass at twenty-one percent. Chen Xu closed his eyes and felt it for a moment.
If he could not perceive and use this so-called Source Power, it should have seeped out of his body on its own or dispersed with the wind. Fortunately, the panel immediately drew it away, turning it into free material.
"Nothing at all. How about trying again?" The more of this good stuff, the better. He tried to con him.
The White Wolf obliged and sent another stream into him, though he was much stingier this time: only one Gerkka.
"This depends on talent. You can't force it. The facts prove you lack aptitude." He could not help chuckling, thinking he had finally clawed one back.
Without suffering through the Trial of the Grasses, how could he possibly perceive magic?
This one unit of Dark Energy rapidly dissipated, without even triggering a response from the panel.
Fair enough, the White Wolf was not really being stingy. His Dark Energy had already dropped by six units, measured in the unit Chen Xu had just learned about: [Gerkka].
Chen Xu's own attributes had not changed either. If he could grasp it, he would have done so on the first attempt. Further attempts would only be a waste.
Some things were like picking up girls. If you could not do it, you could not do it.
Geralt seemed to have anticipated the result. Perhaps, subconsciously, wasting his Dark Energy had merely been an attempt to repay the favor.
Or, in his own view, he simply wanted to prove Chen Xu "lacked aptitude."
Neither dwelled on it any further, turning instead to a discussion of swordsmanship.
Drawing, sweeping, lifting, blocking, striking, thrusting, tapping, snapping, binding...
It overlapped with saber techniques, yet offered many more variations.
For instance, compared to a saber, a sword in a witcher's hands could be coated with two different sword oils, because it had two edges.
Light and flowing, yet formidable in battle; adept at dueling, yet skilled at assassination.
Some insights gradually separated from [Saber Technique] and [Armed Combat], finally forming a cool notification chime:
[You have acquired the specialty [Sword Technique], beginner level. Sword attack speed +10%, precision adjustment +25%!] [You have acquired the skills [Whirl] and [Burst]!]
"Geralt?"
"Hmm?"
"Perhaps we should find an opportunity to spar again."