"Really?!!"
Allen's eyes lit up. He quickly set down the hose in his hand and hurried to the door in a few steps.
"It's true. The moment the news came out, I came to tell you," Vesemir said, pressing one hand against the heavy metal door as he stepped aside to clear the way. "Right now, Lady Ida and Lady Vera are verifying the procedure. They asked us to inform you."
"Allen," Aristo couldn't hold back and cut in, "how are things here? Do you know how to operate the instruments? Are you confident?"
Allen stepped closer but hadn't spoken yet.
"Aristo!" Vesemir's brows shot up as he glared. "Did you forget Lady Vera's instructions?"
The bearded witcher's face flushed red in the patches of skin not covered by hair. He stammered: "Sorry… sorry… I just… I just—"
"It's fine." Allen came over and patted Master Aristo lightly on the arm. "I'm worried about the Chief too. But I've gone through all the second-mutation instruments these past few days. As long as I have the principles and procedures, it shouldn't be a problem."
Aristo let out a long breath, gave a helpless chuckle, and shook his head. "To have lived this long, yet forget the truth that the greater the matter, the calmer one must be."
"Concern clouds judgment," Allen said softly, shaking his head. He stepped out of the Witcher Laboratory but noticed Jerome Moreau hadn't followed.
He turned back and asked, "Master Jerome, aren't you coming?"
"No," said Jerome Moreau, who was reassembling the dismantled instruments. He waved his hand. "I've already told you everything I know about the second mutation. If I go, I'll just get in the way."
"This is Wolf School business. When Chief Sol recovers, I'll go to him myself."
How could he be of no use at all… Allen thought. Jerome's very existence, having survived countless experiments, was itself invaluable.
But he knew the man simply wished to avoid facing his father. So he just nodded.
"Then I'll return with the second-mutation procedure, and we'll study it together."
"Mm. Go on," Jerome Moreau said with a warm smile. "I'll be here waiting."
And so—
Allen wasted no more time and strode quickly up the spiraling stone steps.
On the way, since Vesemir and Aristo deliberately avoided mentioning Sol, the conversation turned to Jerome Moreau.
"Jerome has helped the School so much these past days. I don't even know how we can repay him," Vesemir said as he pushed open the wooden door on the ground floor. "Of course, I mean from the School as a whole. The debt of saving a life is between you and him personally."
"Exactly. The two must not be confused," Aristo agreed with a firm nod.
They wanted Allen to keep his personal bond with Jerome intact.
Though still weakened by long hunger and not fully recovered even after several days, Jerome Moreau's presence alone was telling.
No matter how interested the masters were in testing the second-mutation effects, they couldn't do so now.
Yet the steadily growing aura he exuded, day by day stronger, akin to elemental blessing yet distinctly different, needed no testing to prove his extraordinary power.
A man like that, from the most respected Griffin School, would surely have a great future.
He might even become the next Griffin Chief.
Such a bond was precious.
Allen smiled lightly and didn't refuse. "Master Jerome has always wanted a master smith to forge the Griffin School's Grandmaster gear."
Aristo nodded. "The materials for Griffin armor aren't too different from Wolf's. Kaer Morhen should have them."
"As long as there are schematics, it can be made. I know someone in Ard Carraigh who—"
He froze mid-sentence.
Ard Carraigh, capital of Kaedwen, had long since fallen to Aedirn.
A master smith was a priceless asset. Whether dragged away by fleeing nobles or captured by Aedirnian forces, no smith could still be in Ard Carraigh now.
Vesemir spared Aristo the awkwardness, patting his shoulder and taking over: "No matter. I know a dwarven master smith who can handle it."
Then he turned to Allen.
"Houghton owes us a favor from last time. He won't refuse."
"But with Kaedwen and Aedirn at war, riding to Vergen is far too dangerous. We'll likely need to borrow Lady Vera's portal."
Allen nodded. "Once this is over, I'll ask her."
And so, Jerome's repayment was settled in just a few words.
After that, though, Vesemir and Aristo, weighed down by Kaedwen's turmoil, lost the will to talk further.
The three left the left tower in silence. But instead of heading for the dungeons as Allen had expected, they went to the castle's main hall.
Of course—
The hall was empty, with only a long oak table and a few scattered chairs.
"I became a witcher master half a year ago…" Allen said helplessly as he watched the two older masters take seats. "Wasn't Tomas Moreau's interrogation already finished?"
"Why are we waiting here instead of going straight to the dungeon?"
"Don't ask us," Vesemir smirked faintly. "This isn't our decision. It's Lady Vera's command."
"At Kaer Morhen, no one defies her in such matters."
"Not even two witcher masters," Aristo added with a rare smile, nodding in agreement. "Lady Vera truly likes you. And besides, there's nothing to see in the dungeon—just two sorcerers."
Allen felt speechless. Vera's logic was hard to grasp.
He hunted monsters for a living. Was he supposed to be squeamish about a bit of blood from interrogations?
Not to mention Tomas Moreau—he had killed no fewer than five true sorcerers with his own hands.
"Sit and wait…" Vesemir patted the empty seat beside him. "Lady Ida said they'll be here very soon."
Allen helplessly shook his head, pulled out a chair, and sat down to wait.
But he didn't have to wait long—before the seat had even warmed beneath him, an orange-yellow portal suddenly flared open in the center of the castle hall.
"They're here!"
The three Witcher masters of the Wolf School reacted even faster than their medallions. The instant they saw the portal, it was as if springs had been strapped to their backsides—they leapt up and strode quickly toward it.
"Bzzzz~ bzzzz~ bzzzz~"
By the time their medallions began to hum, they were already standing before the portal, just as the visitors stepped through.
"Lady Vera, Lady Ida—no problems, right?" Aristo's fists clenched tightly as he asked nervously.
The moment Ida stepped out, she found three Witchers staring at her blankly. Her steps faltered slightly before she replied: "No problems, but…"
She cast a glance at Allen. "But it's only 'no problems' within the limits of my own knowledge. I'm not skilled in genetic mutation studies, so I can't say for certain whether this will save Sol."
Allen opened his mouth to speak, but Vera cut him off.
She stepped out of the portal, her gaze less a glance than a sharp glare as it swept over Ida Emean.
"Ida, just do your part. Leave the rest aside."
Ida didn't take offense. Folding her arms, she studied Vera with interest, then looked at Allen as well.
Vera ignored her meaningful look. She approached Allen, her eyes soft and affectionate: "Don't overthink it. Sol has prepared for this already. All you need to do is your best."
Allen felt two hands pat his shoulders lightly from both sides. Turning, he saw Vesemir and Aristo.
"Yes, just do your best," the two Wolf Witchers said in unison.
"I understand." Allen drew a deep breath, his chest tightening slightly. "So then… what about the process and principles of the second mutation?"
"Here." Ida Emean stepped forward, passing Vera.
But Allen saw no parchment in her hands, nor did she summon anything.
"It's memory," Ida explained when she caught his doubtful look. "I've extracted every memory Tomas Moreau had about the second mutation. This way, nothing is left out, and it's easier to grasp."
"So in a moment, it will feel like a very long time—but don't worry. By the time you've finished reading through all the memories, only a brief moment will have passed in reality…"
Perhaps worried that Allen wouldn't adapt well, Ida went on at length, listing every possible side effect that might occur.
Though the elven sorceress always carried herself as if detached from the world, indifferent to everything, when it came to actually doing things she was painstakingly serious and reliable.
Still…
The more Allen listened, the deeper his frown became.
A technique to bear knowledge through memory? Why did that sound so much like "the Sorcerer's Memory"?
And Ida Emean actually had this ability?
"Allen, are you ready?"
Her voice cut through his strange musings, after she had finished listing every precaution.
"Let's begin."
Allen looked at Vera, Vesemir, and Aristo, then inhaled deeply.
Ida Emean nodded, summoning her white jade staff as she closed her eyes and began to chant a long and mysterious incantation.
"Woom~"
The medallion of the Witcher School hummed at the same time, but no one paid it any mind. Then, the incantation abruptly ceased.
The tip of the white jade staff gently tapped against Ida Emean's smooth, fair brow, pulling out a silver-white thread that glowed faintly with a soft radiance.
It resembled the silvery veil that sometimes emerged during a Calling of Fate, but not quite the same.
"Do not resist!"
With a sharp command from her, Allen instantly held his breath and tried to relax his body as much as possible.
Ida Emean nodded lightly, then with a gentle wave of the white jade staff, she pointed at Allen's brow.
In the very next second—
The silver-white thread seemed to come alive and burrowed straight into his forehead.
At once, a piercing, grating sound echoed through his mind, like sandpaper scraping across glass.
Immediately after, his body's balance faltered.
In a daze, Allen suddenly found himself standing inside a dimly lit laboratory.
Crystal-clear bottles and jars of the finest quality, distillation flasks, a furnace, and a cold steel bed that exuded an icy chill…
"A familiar layout…"
Because all the instruments looked too new—some still reflected the red gleam of polished copper—Allen only recognized the place after a second glance.
This was the very laboratory he had visited just a few days ago—Tomas Moreau's laboratory.
As soon as he realized where he was, the pungent smell of formalin, ether, and alcohol immediately awakened his sense of smell.
Only then did his vision begin to move—slow at first, then gradually accelerating.
"The 'startup process' is too long," Allen muttered, carefully observing the changes before him. "But aside from that, the memory Ida Emean extracted is almost identical to the Witcher's Notes reward settlement of 'The Warlock's Craft.' Practically the same…"
And at that very moment—
Ding!
A cold system notification rang in his ears.
Allen froze in shock.
He glanced around at the scene, which was already moving, though at most at 0.3x speed, and exclaimed in surprise: "This fast?!"
From his past experiences with "The Warlock's Craft," the system notification would only appear after hearing an explanation of knowledge and technique, or during actual practice.
But now, none of that had happened yet…
He quickly willed the Witcher's Notes open to check—and froze again.
The system prompt that popped up was neither Gene Mutation nor Secondary Mutation.
[Ding, a clue to the skill: Ida Emean's Mind-Bewildering Spell has been discovered.]
[Spend 1000 experience orbs to unlock this skill?]
"Ida Emean's… Mind-Bewildering Spell…"
Allen, like a child learning to speak, pronounced the name of the skill syllable by syllable. The next moment, his face lit up with excitement.
He had long coveted Ida Emean's higher-tier Axii Sign spell—the one that could break through layers of mental defenses and read the memories of a high-ranking mage.
But after all, that was the elven sorceress's signature spell. It was clearly impossible for it to be shared outside, let alone taught to a Witcher like him. So he had only ever admired it from afar.
Unexpectedly, here, he had actually stumbled upon the chance.
Of course, the price was outrageous—1000 experience orbs. Even if halved, it would still be 500. And since there was no way he could have Ida Emean's personal guidance, that kind of discount was unlikely.
But then again—being able to unlock it and being able to afford it had always been two very different matters.
"Still…" Allen suppressed his excitement, his gaze turning a little puzzled as he looked around at the scene clearly pulled from Tomas Moreau's memories. "What does Mind-Bewildering Spell have to do with this memory?"
No one answered his question.
But before his eyes, the memory continued to unfold.
Thud… thud… thud…
Heavy, eager footsteps echoed.
The figure crossed an open space where the "Iron Maiden"—the core instrument for Secondary Mutation—should have been placed, and stopped at the center of three telescopes.
By the telescopes, there was no velvet-covered pedestal holding memory crystals.
The figure simply reached into his pocket, pulled out a memory crystal, and set it into one of the telescopes.
Moments later…
A hazy white light shone from the telescopes, but no projection appeared. Instead, the figure's voice rang out: "Eighteenth of Yore-Moon, Year 1102…"
"Today, I have embarked on the greatest plan of my life…"
...
📢Advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
1. 20 advanced chapters of The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes.
2. 30 advanced chapters of What year is this? You're still writing a traditional diary?.