Witt did not blame Old Graz in the slightest. After all, he also wanted to know what secrets lay hidden in his blood.
"Actually, I discovered something incredible in your blood..." Old Graz's eyes shone as he spoke of his findings.
"Your blood is brimming with natural vitality and magic, traits almost exclusive to pure-blooded elves, yet you yourself are entirely human. It's simply unbelievable!"
"...My guess is that one of your ancestors was an elf of pure blood, Witt, and that this inherited elven blood underwent some abnormal change in you, causing you to become a Source. Perhaps it was a gift from Lady Destiny that made you possibly the only human in this world with elven blood. It's almost like..."
At this point, Old Graz realized something and abruptly raised his head, meeting Witt's eyes as he said in disbelief, "...Elder Blood!"
Then he hurriedly dismissed this wild notion of his. "No, that's impossible! We've already traced the Elder Blood lineage descended from Lara Dorren. How could it appear in an entirely unrelated male? I must have made a mistake! Damn that Rience!"
With that, the old mage gripped Witt's hands tightly and said with utmost gravity, "Witt, just pretend you never heard any of this. Don't tell anyone. I won't either. Believe me, revealing these findings would bring you nothing but endless suffering."
"I understand. I heard nothing, Mr. Graz, and you said nothing." Witt's voice was calm, but towering waves surged in his heart.
That question surfaced in his mind again.
Could it really be Elder Blood flowing through my veins?
Witt could not help feeling nervous. Rience had taken his blood sample, which meant that Vilgefortz, that extremely dangerous man who wanted to transfer Elder Blood into himself, also knew the secret that Witt might possess Elder Blood.
Witt was not afraid of facing this top-tier mage. In fact, he had prepared himself to face Vilgefortz from the very beginning, because that sorcerer was arguably the greatest threat to Geralt in the original story. Witt would not allow anyone to hurt his family.
It was just that he did not yet have the strength to challenge Vilgefortz head-on. Witt needed to grow.
He had originally thought he still had a year and a half to develop before his planned exposure of Vilgefortz's hypocritical facade on the eve of the Battle of Sodden Hill. By then, even if he could not defeat Vilgefortz, the rune enhancements gained from absorbing numerous Places of Power should at least be enough for him to protect himself.
Yes, Witt had planned all of this after absorbing his first Place of Power at Kaer Morhen and gaining the enhancement of a fire rune from it.
But plans could never keep pace with change. Witt had not expected that he might come into the enemy's sights so soon, and now he was growing anxious.
The thought hung over Witt's head like the Sword of Damocles, and he did not know when it might fall from above to deliver a fatal blow he could scarcely resist.
"Witt, are you all right...?" Watching Witt's expression grow increasingly grim, Old Graz feared that his words had upset the young witcher. "Child, we cannot escape the choices fate makes, and defying them is difficult, but that doesn't mean we must become fate's prisoners."
Those words seemed to snap Witt out of it.
That's right. Things aren't that bad yet, Witt thought.
By now, Vilgefortz should already have formed a secret alliance with Emhyr, the emperor of Nilfgaard. Until Emperor Emhyr's objective was achieved, Vilgefortz would not readily expose himself, especially since he had yet to establish a lofty reputation within the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
If anyone discovered his connection to the theft at Ban Ard Academy, every plan he and Emhyr had conspired to carry out would come to nothing. Then Vilgefortz would not only be hunted by members of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, but also face an empire-wide manhunt throughout Nilfgaard, the most powerful empire on the Continent.
Besides, compared with Witt, who was only suspected of possessing Elder Blood, Ciri, whom the Brotherhood of Sorcerers had already internally confirmed as Lara Dorren's descendant, was Vilgefortz's primary target. All his schemes revolved around Ciri.
And stealing Idarran's Forbidden Blood Transfusion Technique so suddenly amid the tense situation on the eve of war indicated that Vilgefortz's research into transferring Elder Blood had hit a bottleneck. He urgently needed earlier research as a reference, and he needed time as well.
"There's still time! There's still time." Witt gradually calmed down, and his expression slowly returned to normal.
Unaware of the dramatic changes in Witt's thoughts, Old Graz assumed his reassurance had worked. A smile appeared on his pale face. "That's more like it. Young people shouldn't go around looking so grim all day, or you'll end up like Geralt, annoying people just by looking at you."
"Hmph! Graz, I went to find you something to eat out of the goodness of my heart, and this is how you talk about me behind my back?" Geralt approached with several pieces of black bread and a bottle of white wine, smiling.
"Was that an insult? I was praising you."
Geralt shook his head with a smile. "You old bastard. If you're not dead, hurry up and eat!" Then he turned to Witt. "Thanks for your hard work, Witt. Hurry and have something before this old fart snatches it all."
Watching the two hundred-year-old men bicker, Witt gave a knowing smile, and the gloom in his heart gradually faded. "Sure."
Witt did not intend to explain the matter of Vilgefortz to these two people so important to him just yet. This was not some self-indulgent desire to shoulder the burden alone.
Rather, telling them would accomplish little anyway. Accusing a mage without solid evidence?
Even though Vilgefortz currently had little fame or influence, no one would take such an accusation seriously. It might even have the exact opposite effect, making people dismiss the planned revelation of the truth before the Battle of Sodden Hill as yet another baseless fuss.
Even though Geralt would certainly believe his brother unconditionally, Witt did not want to add to his troubles when he was already facing a choice concerning destiny.
Besides, Witt already had some preliminary ideas about how to improve his strength quickly and expose Vilgefortz's true colors with stronger evidence.
Having read the original work thoroughly and knowing how Vilgefortz operated was the key to Witt finding a way to defeat him.
Although this course of action would involve tremendous risk, Witt had already mentally prepared himself to face the danger.