Chapter 116: A Big Change

‘My dear Roy, the boy who talks in his sleep,

Pardon me for calling you that. First, I would like to apologize. My obviously flawed research almost caused your death. If that were to pass, the whole Viper School would be hunting me down. That would also make me the first one to get hunted down by them. Fortunately, you managed to pass the trial, and you recovered at a breakneck speed. Honestly, not even the leader of the brotherhood could find out what happened to you. Even until today, I am still baffled by that golden flash. What was that?

You’re doing unbelievably well right now, so train hard. I’ll find a way for you to triumph against that barbarian you call a mentor. That’ll happen before he dies of old age, of course. But that does not excuse my mistake. Allow me to apologize by extending you a courteous welcome to Kerack. If you can make it here within the year, you’ll have a surprise waiting for you, prepared by yours truly.

I can understand why you wanted me to stay away from that bastard, Geralt. He is infamous, yes. Even now, he’s still hanging around Yennefer. Honestly, I don’t get why she’s obsessed with that idiot.

And two questions before I leave you. One, why’d you ask me to never go to Sodden Hill, no matter what? Two, what secrets does it hold? You must tell me the next time you visit.

I’ll leave you now. Belohun will be furious if I don’t get back soon.

Va faill!

Your friend, Coral

Written in the month where the flowers bloom. Temple of Melitele, Ellander.’

A lean young man was lying on the hammock in the temple’s yard, sighing. “Dark gold iris? Is that because of the high concentration of the mutagens?” He kept the letter carefully, then he thought back to the moment Coral said goodbye. He vaguely remembered her standing before the swirling portal. There had been a loud rumbling around them, but he could see her waving goodbye to him. Of course, she was as beautiful as ever.

Roy rubbed his head, feeling slightly vexed. Do I really talk in my sleep? 

He told Coral to never go near Sodden Hill, for that was where she died in the original timeline, during the first war. And it was her death that gave Sodden Hill another name — Hill of the Fourteen. He considered Coral a friend after all she did for him, so he would try to save her if he could.

“At least regrow my hair before you leave. I look weird.” Coral promised he wouldn’t go bald, but it happened anyway. Roy wondered if it was because his choice backfired on him. Fortunately, he could feel some hair growing on his head, and at an exponential rate, so he wouldn’t be bald like Letho was. Roy never expected Full Recovery to not regrow his hair. The character sheet probably doesn’t think having short hair is a bad thing.

Hair loss wasn’t the worst thing in the modified trial. He would have died if he didn’t have his character sheet. The deadly sensation he felt after taking the potions still sent chills down his spine. Even though he had a plan to pass the trial, his mind was jumbled up in the last part of it. He almost didn’t activate Full Recovery in time. If that had happened, the trial would have killed him. It was thanks to his Will that he managed to regain some sanity during the trial. That split second was enough for him to use Full Recovery.

It’s been four months, but it’s finally done. He clenched his fists, feeling excited. Then he read through his character sheet.

‘Roy

Age: Fourteen years and five months old 

Status: Civilian, Viper School witcher

HP: 146 (Trial of the Grasses +40)

Mana: 145 (Trial of the Grasses +40)

Strength: 5.3 → 9.3

Dexterity: 6.3 → 10.3

Constitution: 6.6 → 10.6

Perception: 7 → 8   

Will: 6.5 → 8.5 (Main Stat +1) 

Charisma: 6 → 7 

Spirit: 6.5 → 10.5

Skills:

Massacre Level 4

Observe Level 2

Meditation Level 3

Crossbow Mastery Level 1

Sword Mastery Level 1

Alchemy Level 1

Witcher Senses Level 1: The Trial of the Grasses modifies all witchers’ organs, granting them extrasensory perception. Your five senses are now linked with your instincts, allowing you to ‘see’ scents and voices. You can track down traces normally invisible to the human eye. This skill can be strengthened by leveling it up and increasing your Perception. You can increase its level through training. 

Elegance of the Wind (Passive)

Trial of the Grasses (Passive): After a grueling trial that involves hormonal injections, viral infections, and bodily mutations, your immune system has received a considerable boost. You are now immune to most diseases, and you have resistance to lethal poisons. You can see better in the dark. Your stats have experienced an explosive growth. Your HP is permanently increased by forty points, and you have unlocked your mana pool. Your mana is permanently increased by forty points.’

***

Roy took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming. Then he leaped into the air, easily reaching the ceiling that was ten feet from the ground. He cracked all his joints, making them pop. I feel strong. My condition has never been finer.

The trial increased his stats by a total of twenty points, and he unlocked his mana pool. In other words, he could learn the core skill of the witcher community — signs. All that was left was for Letho to teach him. He was still quite far away from Letho’s total combat stats, but he was confident he’d surpass the old witcher once he ranked up in his job.

It hadn’t been a year since he’d reincarnated in the witcher world, but his Will was almost on par with Letho’s, while his Spirit and Charisma surpassed his mentor’s. Roy also had some cheat skills like his bound weapons. His battle prowess had improved by leaps and bounds.

However, the explosive growth had also caused some trouble for him. His increased Perception heightened his hearing, so every little sound was grating to him. His Strength was double that of a normal human’s, so he’d crush small items easily if he wasn’t careful with them. The increase also affected his swordplay adversely. Roy needed some time to get used to his newfound strength, but it wouldn’t take too long, since his Dexterity had also increased.

Aside from his stats, Roy had grown in stature. He was five feet seven, and his body was toned. Every inch of him was taut and muscular. His features were sharper and more attractive, while his eyes were dark gold in color. There was a special vibe about him. Whenever he wasn’t smiling, he’d look like a solemn killer, but whenever he did, he was approachable. Maybe this is why my Charisma grew.

Since his hair was only starting to grow, Roy stood out among the crowd, and those who walked the world more would recognize him as a witcher. But Roy could accept that, since his changes weren’t extreme in nature. 

I’m not an albino like Geralt, and I’m not permanently bald like Letho, nor did I go insane. No complaints there, that’s for sure.

***

He read through his character sheet again.

‘Level 5 Witcher (2/2500)

Rank: Rookie witcher

Conditions for intermediate witcher:

Tip: The six witcher schools used to be one. It is up to you to complete the recipe.

School: Viper

Job perks:

Main stat: Will. Every time you level up, your Will will be increased by 1 without any cost (Rookie witcher).

Bound weapons:

Crossbow — Gabriel (Not chosen yet)

Steel sword — Gwyhyr (An ancient black metal flame sword made by gnomes. A hidden power in its components is awakened after its second power up.)

Type: Steel sword 

Materials: Black iron, lava, meteoric iron, pine wood, and body parts from powerful monsters. 

Details: The sword weighs 3.06 pounds, and its handle measures 9.3 inches, while the blade comes in at 36 inches. A spirit dwells within. 

Circulation: Heals the user for a small amount of stamina after every kill.

Ignite: Every hit has a very low chance of igniting the target’s blood and causing burn damage.

Painful Strike (New): Every time you hit a target, there is a small chance to trigger an overwhelming pain that can take out most humans. Warning: This effect may trigger an unquenchable hatred in the target.

Silver sword — N/A

Full Recovery

Mount (New): All witchers have a mount by their side on their journey. You may bind a tamed creature. You may communicate through telepathy with the bound creature. Additionally, you may also spend a hundred points of mana to summon the creature no matter where it is. You may also heal its wounds with mana. Unlike weapons, you may unbind it at any time and free it into the wilds.

Loot package: two → four cubic meters

You have (1) skill point(s) and (1) attribute point(s) remaining.’

***

Roy was shocked about the new additions and power ups. He spent quite a while combing through the new things he just got. First, there were the weapons. Gwyhyr can get one new effect every time it levels up? The sword had three effects at the moment. Even though the chances for them to trigger were low, once it had enough effects on it, Roy could imagine the devastation it would cause. One hit from Gwyhyr, and the target’s going to get hit with all the special effects. Man, that would be a fireworks show. Not even trolls could take that, I think.

He was delighted and almost summoned Gwyhyr back to admire it, but then remembered Letho took it to clear a request from Dennis Cranmer. If he’s in a battle, summoning it back would kill Letho. Roy put that thought aside. I should wait for him for now.

He closed his eyes to feel where Gwyhyr was, and he realized it was in Ellander City. It wasn’t far, but that was why he was worried, because Letho didn’t come back to celebrate his victory despite the fact that he loved that tradition.

Cranmer’s request is that hard, huh? I’ll have to take a look. Then Roy looked at his hand crossbow, which had a different path of evolution.

‘Gabriel (Not chosen yet)(Gabriel used to be an old, dusty hand crossbow, but it has regained its strength after powering up twice. It has also become a better match for your abilities. The second power up unlocks two paths of evolution for Gabriel. The paths are chosen after evaluating your stats and abilities. You may choose one path. Different paths will provide different power up choices.

Roy took a deep breath. One of the paths leaned on the number of shots fired. It would allow him to fire more shots at the same time, while the other path emphasized precision and power. The arrows could even lock onto his targets.

He had some speculation of his own. If I choose the first one, then burst shots might turn into multiple shots or an AOE skill in the future. But the second path is related to mana. I bet the effects down the road will be more on precision, range, and power. And I bet it’ll synergize perfectly with my mana pool.

***

What should I choose? Roy didn’t think too long about it. The first path was limited, since it only relied on the number of arrows, while the second path was related to mana, so it had more possibilities.

Once he made the decision, Gabriel’s details started changing.

‘Gabriel

Type: Hand Crossbow 

Materials: Mulberry wood, tendon, hemp 

Details: Weighs (5 → 6) pounds and measures at (2 → 2.2)  feet. Has a draw weight of (30 → 40) pounds and an effective range of (150 → 180) feet. 

Effects:

Simplify: Gabriel reloads automatically as long as there are bolts in your inventory space. Reload time is now 0.4 seconds.

Guided Arrow: Costs twenty mana points. Fires a magically charged shot. Effective range and penetration are slightly increased. The arrow will lock onto your target and is able to change directions in a 45 degree angle range.’

***

Roy caressed Gabriel lovingly. After the double power up, Gabriel had grown in size. It was great to touch, as if it were made of real skin. Roy wondered if it would have a soul of its own if he kept powering Gabriel up. Nope. Too early for that. He kept the weapon in his inventory space.

Then he kept looking into his character sheet. After becoming an official witcher, his inventory space expanded as expected. He could keep more items, making future battles easier. After that, he read up on mounts. Long-distance summoning and telepathy, huh? Perfect vehicle. Hmm, taming a horse needs time. Roy had another idea. The skill didn’t specifically state that I have to tame horses. Can I tame other creatures? Even monsters?

But that wasn’t important. Roy had to travel to Ellander and see why Letho was stuck there.