After leaving the scene of his revenge, Guilliman was not in a hurry to devour Koglrim's remnant soul.
This was a world of Witchers, teeming with monsters and evil gods. To be safe, he suppressed his anticipation, patiently traveled through the night, and only when he reached a pre-prepared cave did he light a bonfire, sit cross-legged, and enter a meditative state.
There was a fundamental difference between absorbing the souls of monsters and devouring the souls of intelligent beings.
The former utilized the power of the Soul Storm to directly crush the monster's soul into its most primitive soul molecules, destroying its will along with it, thereby allowing him to absorb relatively cleaner soul power with less resistance.
The latter, however, involved him lowering his soul defenses and integrating the other party's soul with his own by absorbing memories and merging souls, much like experiencing another life—a rather risky method.
If he encountered a soul with too strong a will, not only would there be no benefit, but he might also develop cognitive errors, experience mental Split, or even go mad.
However, to obtain the swordsmanship and knowledge of a Witcher, even if he knew it was a bit dangerous, it was worth it.
After preparing himself mentally, Guilliman no longer hesitated, manipulating his soul light cluster to envelop Koglrim's remnant soul and begin devouring it.
Although fundamentally, both were merely mortal souls, with no difference in rank.
However, Koglrim's remnant soul had lost its self-awareness, and due to Guilliman avenging him, it willingly offered itself, without much resistance.
With the help of the system's power, this soul fragment quickly dissolved completely and merged into his soul.
For a time, Guilliman, sitting by the bonfire, trembled all over, cold sweat streamed down his forehead, his teeth were clenched, his fists tightened, his expression was pained, and even his clothes began to be soaked with sweat.
An extremely vast amount of information drilled into his mind, and a series of black-and-white film-like images extracted from memories flashed rapidly in his mind.
It was like reliving Koglrim's life, from his orphaned days of hunger and cold, to being adopted by members of the Viper School, barely able to eat his fill.
From receiving Witcher training as a child, undergoing the Trial of the Grasses, to completing the near-fatal Witcher mutation.
From a rookie Witcher to his tragic death in the crypt of White Orchard.
Guilliman watched all of this from a third-person perspective.
However, because it was only Koglrim's remnant soul, these memories were not progressive; not only were many parts missing, and many contents dull and boring, but the overall picture also appeared very chaotic and incomplete.
The life he saw probably only accounted for about a quarter of this Witcher's life.
But even so, as a Witcher who lived for over sixty years, even a quarter of a life amounted to about fifteen years of memories, a rather rich and colorful life.
The experiences, battles, observations, and life lessons he learned from it taught him a great deal.
Time flew by, the bonfire beside him had long since extinguished, and the moon that had been hanging in the sky was replaced by the morning sun. Streaks of morning light shone through the crevices into the cave, illuminating Guilliman's face.
It was not until the familiar, emotionless mechanical voice sounded that he awoke from those dreamlike memories.
Ding! Soul fusion complete, gained Soul Power + 5.
Gained Witcher exclusive skills:
[Viper School Swordsmanship] LV1
[Aard Sign] LV1
[Igni Sign] LV1
Ding! Gained a large amount of exclusive skill experience from memory fusion.
[Viper School Swordsmanship] elevated to LV2.
[Witcher Alchemy] elevated to LV2.
Guilliman Jherman
Race: Perfect Witcher
Strength: 3.22 (Max 4.00)
Agility: 2.94 (Max 4.00)
Spirit: 2.05 (Max 4.00)
Magic: 3.05 (Max 4.00)
Poison Resistance: 15.52
Swordsmanship:
[Temeria Military Swordsmanship]: Mastered, Strength + 0.2, Agility + 0.2, requires one hundred Soul Power to advance to Grandmaster.
[Viper School Swordsmanship], Level: LV2, Strength + 0.4, Agility + 0.4, Burst Power + 2, Special Skill: Adrenaline Burst, current max level LV3, requires five hundred Soul Power to advance to next level.
Signs:
[Aard Sign], Level: LV1, Spirit + 0.1, Magic + 0.3, Special Skill: None, current max level LV3, requires two hundred Soul Power to advance to next level.
[Igni Sign] Level: LV1, Spirit + 0.1, Magic + 0.3, Special Skill: None, current max level LV3, requires two hundred Soul Power to advance to next level.
Auxiliary Skills: Witcher Alchemy LV2, Monster Gathering LV2.
Soul Sequence LV1: Mortal
Soul Ascension Progress: 10 / 100.
Soul Skill: Spatial Storage LV1 (One cubic meter space.)
Soul Power: 130 points.
The moment Guilliman opened his eyes, he felt as if everything around him had changed slightly.
His body felt lighter, stronger, more agile, and more coordinated.
His Witcher senses also seemed to have been enhanced; his eyes could see further, his ears could hear more clearly, his sense of smell became more acute, and his sense of touch became more sensitive.
More importantly was his understanding of swordsmanship, and countless Viper School sword moves, sword techniques, and sword experience, as if instinctive.
He had even mastered two of the commonly used Witcher Signs.
Undoubtedly, his strength seemed to have greatly improved; even without the help of the system, he could be considered a seasoned Witcher.
Previously, his control over his body was merely based on the natural instincts of an ordinary person, at most utilizing less than forty to fifty percent of his strength.
Now, having absorbed Koglrim's decades of Witcher experience, he seemed capable of utilizing sixty to seventy percent of this body's strength.
Squinting, Guilliman recalled how to use the Igni Sign from his memories, then snapped his fingers at the bonfire on the ground.
Snap!
He vaguely felt a flow of magic, released from the mutated organ within his body to the outside. The bonfire, which had already extinguished, instantly flared up, sparks flying, re-illuminating the somewhat dark cave.
Guilliman grinned, a smile spreading across his face.
This feeling was not bad; only those who could use both Signs and swordsmanship simultaneously could be called Witchers.
Before, he was merely a swordsman with only swordsmanship.
And not only that, from Koglrim's memories, he had not only learned a lot about monsters' knowledge and weaknesses, but also five common Witcher potion formulas, including Swallow potion, Thunderbolt potion, Blizzard potion, and so on, which he had already learned.
Unfortunately, despite the Viper School being very skilled in alchemy, Koglrim's remnant soul had very few memories about alchemical weapons. The only complete formula was the most commonly used Witcher beehive bomb.
However, reality was not a game. Apart from some real events, he could not find valuable items like pearls or gold in the homes of paupers who didn't even have pants.
Nor could he find various Witcher formulas in remote caves or wilderness areas.
To gain this knowledge, besides asking truly professional Witchers, he probably had to find a way through sorceresses.