Chapter 123

Blue Mountains, Kaer Morhen castle.

After an absence of nine months, Wayne stepped back into this castle of the Wolf School witchers.

Before he and Geralt could lead their mounts into the stables inside the castle, the gates of the great hall were pulled open from the inside. An old man with white hair and beard, yet tall and strong, walked out. It was none other than the grandmaster of the Wolf School witchers, Vesemir.

He squinted toward the gate, and when he saw that the arrivals were Geralt and Wayne, a smile unconsciously appeared on his wrinkled face.

"Geralt, Wayne, children, welcome back?"

"You've returned really early this year!"

Geralt also showed a faint smile upon hearing this and nodded toward Vesemir, but did not speak. He was a reserved man who was not very good at expressing his emotions.

Wayne, however, handed his mount to Geralt and stepped forward to give the old witcher a warm hug, just like a traveler returning home after a long absence embracing his elder.

If one were to ask who returned to Kaer Morhen earliest every year, it was undoubtedly the old witcher. He would usually return more than half a month earlier than the other witchers, cleaning the castle that had been uninhabited for a long time, and then waiting for those children who had left home to return.

The old witcher also responded warmly to Wayne's hug. He patted Wayne on the back, his smile becoming even more kindly, and said with a laugh:

"Child, seeing that you are safe and sound, I am relieved. It seems you have indeed had a very good year; your body is even stronger than when you left."

Wayne hugged the old man for a few seconds before letting go. He looked at the sky and found that it was already approaching noon. He said with a smile: "I have indeed had a very good year, teacher."

"It's almost noon. I'll go to the kitchen and whip up some food. We brought back a few bottles of good wine; let's eat and chat later."

"By the way, Lambert and Eskel—have they returned yet?"

Vesemir shook his head and said with some regret:

"Those two usually return quite late. Sometimes they get delayed by things and end up returning while braving the wind and snow."

Wayne nodded and said with some regret:

"Then we'll ignore them for now. I'm going to cook. By the way, teacher, I have a gift for you later."

An hour later, the three were sitting around the ancient wooden table in the hall. In the fireplace nearby, a pile of wood was burning, and in the corner next to the fireplace, enough wood for a month had already been stacked—evidently prepared by the old man for the coming winter.

And above the fireplace, there was some game that had already been processed, undergoing the smoking process. This was one of the ways to preserve food; meat that had been smoked would not spoil even after a winter.

The warm atmosphere dispelled the winter chill, and the delicious food on the table also put the weather-beaten witchers in a pleasant mood.

"Teacher, hurry and taste the new dishes I researched this year: crispy fried chicken, spicy hot pot, and this—this pastry wrapped with meat filling is called a dumpling. It's especially delicious when pan-fried like I did."

At the dining table, Wayne was like a filial child, constantly and enthusiastically introducing various delicacies to Vesemir. His own culinary skills, combined with the system's bonuses, made even simple meals taste like rare delicacies that left one wanting more.

The White Wolf Geralt had no time to speak at all; he kept stuffing various delicacies into his mouth, an expression of happiness appearing on his face unconsciously.

They had returned from Wyzima to Kaer Morhen, and he hadn't eaten a grand meal cooked by Wayne for a month. Tasting these delicacies again made Geralt feel like he couldn't stop.

The old witcher was also eating happily, not just because of the delicious food, but also because of the sense of happiness that came from dining with family.

However, after eating a few bites, his attention turned back to Wayne's experiences over the past year.

The old man smiled, his tone slightly teasing:

"So, your experiences this year have really been rich."

"An evil god, the Lady of the Lake, a golden dragon, a giant, a green dragon, and a witcher from the Griffin School."

"I have never heard of a witcher who has only been out on his own for a year encountering so many bizarre events. It's just like a protagonist in a novel—wherever he goes, trouble follows."

Wayne scratched his head. He understood the hidden meaning in Vesemir's words: this was a warning not to always go looking for trouble, but to grow steadily and quietly.

"Teacher, although I have indeed had a few too many adventures, my gains have also been very rich."

"Look, in less than a year, I bought a big house in Wyzima, obtained my own master-level silver sword and a mount, and also made many friends."

"You know, I like making friends. Every time I gain a friend, we have one more source of help when we encounter difficulties."

Vesemir was noncommittal about Wayne's point of view, saying with a hint of emotion in his tone: "When they encounter trouble, you will also unconsciously be dragged into that trouble."

"Child, the achievements you have made this year have indeed surprised me. I am not dissatisfied with your attitude toward life; I just think you should be more steady and not so impatient. We still have a long time ahead of us."

"For a witcher, you are still too young. Even for an ordinary person, you are just a child under twenty." Seeing that the old witcher seemed to be starting to preach, Geralt, who was drinking beer, gave Wayne a wink, telling him to hurry and think of a way, otherwise, once the old witcher started preaching, there would be no peace for at least half an hour.

Seeing this, Wayne coughed lightly, took a red lump of meat soaked in a glass jar out of his waist bag, placed it on the table, and asked Vesemir: "Teacher, I heard from the Griffin School witcher George that this is a large red mutagen that can improve our witcher strength, agility, and reaction speed. Is this true?"

Upon hearing this, Vesemir also stopped his preaching. He reached out and took the large red mutagen that Wayne had placed in the bottle and observed it in front of his eyes.

Only then did he say with some emotion:

"This is a very rare and uncommon large red mutagen. Only in the bodies of very powerful monsters can such a thing possibly be born."

"Is this the one you mentioned you obtained from the body of a giant in Velen?"

Wayne nodded and said: "Yes, teacher. If it weren't for the help of the golden dragon Borch and the Griffin School witcher master George, I'm afraid it would have been very difficult for me to defeat that giant so easily."

Listening to Wayne's somewhat boastful statement, Vesemir stroked his white beard without refuting him.

Although most witchers were solitary—not to mention good friends, they didn't even have many acquaintances.

But it had to be said that sometimes connections were a very powerful force. When you had enough ability to gather your connections, you could often exert power far beyond what others imagined.

From a certain perspective, making connections was also a way to enhance strength. Of course, there were pros and cons; the more friends you knew, the more you would unconsciously be dragged into various troubles.

After observing the bottle containing the red meat lump for a few minutes, Vesemir carefully placed it on the table and pondered for a few seconds before saying:

"I have also heard of that George from the Griffin School. The suggestion he made is not wrong, but he probably doesn't know that you have only just completed the witcher trials less than a year ago and are completely a novice."

"Transplanting this kind of large red mutagen now is still too early for you."

"You should also know that our Trial of the Grasses involves using various potions and monster body tissues to infect our bodies, allowing our bodies to adapt to the operation of Chaos Magic and changing our body's genetic structure, thereby allowing us to become witchers."

"Actually, during the Trial of the Grasses, you had already transplanted mutagens."

"But at that time, you were still a child, your body was very weak, and what was transplanted were extremely weak mutagens."

"I remember the one in your body was a green mutagen extracted from an endrega embryo."

"It was able to make your body stronger, which allowed your body to barely withstand the mutations brought about by the mutation experiment."

Having said this, Vesemir glanced at Geralt, who had been silent and only kept eating, and then said: "In our Wolf School, only Geralt withstood the induction of two mutagens."

"One red mutagen that can enhance strength and agility, and one blue mutagen that can enhance Chaos Magic."

"Even in the entire history of witchers, very few people have been able to withstand as many mutations as he has."

"This also makes him naturally much stronger than ordinary witchers."

Wayne was also surprised to hear this. Although the original work and the game had mentioned this briefly, it was not as detailed as Vesemir had described.

It could only be said that Geralt was worthy of being the protagonist; from birth, he was destined to be an extraordinary person.

On the contrary, for his own body, if it weren't for the influence of his transmigration, he would probably have died on the experimental table during the mutation experiment.

Seeing that Wayne did not speak, Vesemir coughed lightly and added:

"So my suggestion is that you don't need to be in such a hurry to transplant this large mutagen. For your body, it is still too early."

"You must wait until your body has grown to a certain extent and fully adapted to the subsequent effects brought about by the mutation experiment before transplanting this large mutagen; only then will it be safer."

Wayne nodded upon hearing this. Although his body had already received the blessing of the Lady of the Lake and could be considered the top existence even among witchers, things like mutation experiments were too profound, and no one could say for sure what would happen.

At this time, listening to the advice of an elder was always more prudent.

However, Wayne changed the subject and said:

"Teacher, since using this large mutagen is still too early for me, then let's let others use it first."

"Geralt, Lambert, or Eskel can all use it; keeping it is just a waste."

"I think that in a few years, when I am also able to use this thing, I won't be lacking it."

(End of chapter)