247. The Temptation of Immortality.
"Click~"
The sorceress suddenly stopped, turning her head sharply to look at Ianna, narrowing her eyes in warning: "Don't do anything unnecessary, Ianna..."
Ianna sighed, "Every child should have a mother and a father, that's a truth that existed even before the Lady came into being."
"Vera, don't you feel it's awkward? Why run away..."
"I said, don't do anything unnecessary!" The sorceress warned once again.
Feeling the magic in the air begin to vibrate, a dreadful pressure faintly pressed down on her shoulders. Ianna looked at the sorceress's ageless beauty, unchanged for hundreds of years, and shook her head.
"Is this the only way you can solve disagreements?"
The sorceress remained silent, staring at her eyes without saying a word.
"Alright, alright, I get it, I get it!" Ianna waved her hands helplessly. "I won't tell him about your relationship as mother and son..."
The pressure on her body instantly disappeared. But Ianna could feel the chaotic magic stir slightly when she mentioned the words "mother and son."
"You're really being unfair, Vera!" Ianna sighed again, rubbing her shoulders with both hands.
Vera glanced expressionlessly towards the sanctuary.
"Ianna, I've been very kind to you already."
"Those two incidents with the holy icon, I haven't settled the score with you yet!"
The old woman mischievously raised her eyebrows, sighing, "Didn't we settle that already?"
"I'm an old woman nearing the grave, yet I'm still being threatened and taught a lesson with chaotic magic. I'll probably have nightmares tonight..."
The sorceress gazed at Ianna's face, etched with the deep lines of time. She recalled the once smooth and fair complexion on this face. Even knowing that Ianna was habitually making excuses, she couldn't help but feel a bit soft-hearted.
"Ianna..." she sighed, the icy expression on her face melting slightly. "Why won't you use the potions?"
Her delicate hand, almost devoid of pores, caressed the rough but warm face.
"Anti-aging elixirs could restore your youth. The Verdant Sigh could at least give you another ten years of life, and there are others..."
Ianna, feeling the cold hand on her face, smelling the unique blend of orange and cardamom, was momentarily taken aback. Then she raised her right hand, placing it over the cold left hand on her face. Closing her eyes, she gently shook her head, interrupting Vera.
"Vera, I don't need those potions."
Feeling her left hand enveloped in warmth, Vera instinctively trembled and continued to try to persuade her.
"Since the Verdant Sigh works for you, it means Lady Melitele permits... at least doesn't mind her priestess extending her life, why..."
"Mother Vera..." Ianna interrupted her softly again, looking into the sorceress's eyes.
The long-forgotten title left Vera momentarily stunned.
"To age naturally is the greatest blessing Lady Melitele has given me..."
Ianna opened her usually squinted eyes wide, standing straight as she looked earnestly and resolutely at the sorceress.
Vera fell silent.
She looked at this familiar yet strange face with a complex expression.
"Let's not talk about this anymore," Ianna squinted her eyes again, hunching her back slightly, smiling as she held Vera's hand. "We're both stubborn people, we won't convince each other..."
"After eleven years, let's talk about something happy!"
Ianna's eyes were filled with kindness and warmth. But Vera could see that, in the same clear eyes as when she was younger, the resolve and determination had not diminished one bit. She was serious, and she was right.
Ianna, like her, was a stubborn person. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone eleven years without meeting, neither of them taking the initiative to contact the other.
If it weren't for Allen being troubled by the evil god, perhaps...
Looking at Ianna's frail, elderly form, her face full of wrinkles, and the faint, almost imperceptible aura of death.
Vera sighed in her heart and decided not to persist. Lowering her head, she began to think back on the past eleven years, trying to recall if there was anything worth sharing. But she found that, for most of the time, she had been struggling in a vortex of resentment, guilt, and avoidance...
The truly happy days were mostly during the half-year after Allen passed the Trial of Grasses.
So.
Vera began to tell Ianna about Allen's journey after passing the Trial of Grasses.
From pawning the mirage pearl she gave him to learn alchemy, to independently creating the stinky concoction that extended witcher's ability to breathe underwater, the "Killer Whale"...
From being the Drowner Slayer to hunting the Drowner King and the Cyclops, to becoming the youngest master witcher...
From being a regular apprentice witcher of the School of the Wolf, to convincing Sol to establish the Witcher Corps...
And his unique alchemical creations: heart extract elixirs, sword oils, potions, and more.
Though everything was about Allen, Ianna squinted her eyes and listened, seemingly quite absorbed. She watched as Vera's expression grew prouder and more satisfied, occasionally chiming in. The atmosphere between them was very harmonious. There was a garden surrounding the sanctuary, and no one was around at the moment.
The two of them strolled slowly, enjoying the full bloom of spring, talking about a certain witcher who was meticulously cleaning the sanctuary.
Vera had no reservations with Ianna and spoke openly about everything. She even mentioned saving Sadia, Henselt's death, the Conjunction of the Spheres, and the capture of the sorcerer Ban Ard and his return to Kaer Morhen. She also shared her concerns for the future of the School of the Wolf and Allen's future.
Ianna, upon hearing these nation-shaking events, didn't react dramatically. She simply listened quietly, occasionally offering words of comfort. It was like a normal family conversation between a mother and daughter who hadn't seen each other in a long time.
Just like that.
Two hours passed quickly.
"No wonder he's called the Child of Miracles! That kid really can stir things up!" Ianna couldn't help but marvel after hearing the stories.
Vera gave her a reproachful look, clearly saying: "How can an older sister say such things?"
Ianna giggled mischievously, linking her arm through Vera's.
"Though he does seem to stir up a lot..." Vera thought of the two troublesome sorcerers still in the dungeon of the ancient sea fortress, rubbing her forehead. It gave her a bit of a headache.
"By the way, Francesca, Mary, and Lysa—who's your favorite?"
Ianna's clear eyes, belying her old age, darted around as she curiously asked. Vera scolded lightly, "After all the important things we've discussed, this is what you ask?"
"Besides..."
"Aren't you quite fond of Lysa?"
"Just asking," Ianna shook her head lightly. "And just because I like Lysa doesn't mean I'll bind her. She's free..."
"She always has been..."
Vera smiled at that and casually replied, "As long as Allen is happy. Sol is no longer a part of the Henrietta family, there's no title Allen needs to inherit..."
"But Lysa is unlikely."
"Though I like the girl, it's clear they haven't spent much time together..."
"So it's Mary?" Ianna probed.
Vera smiled but said nothing.
Seeing this, Ianna smiled as well and didn't ask any more questions.
At this moment, the two of them happened to circle around the garden once again and return to their starting point. Walking past the blooming pink and red flowers, they were only a short distance from the sanctuary.
The spring sun was gradually setting in the west.
Under the embrace of the floral corridor, the pure white building in the distance was bathed in the flowing red and gold hues of the evening glow.
"Ah, to be young again!"
Ianna suddenly sighed as she gazed in the direction of the sanctuary. Hearing this, Vera turned her head to look at the increasingly aged face under the sunset.
In a moment of reverie, it felt as though the day when she brought the girl orphaned by the war to the temple of Melitele was just yesterday.
Feeling a bit reluctant, she tried persuading Ianna again, "Ianna, you can always change your mind."
"Thank you, Vera," Ianna shook her head. "But there's no need..."
After a pause, she glanced at the sky, smiled gently at the sorceress whose face was tinged with sadness, and said, "It's about time. Let's call Allen and go have dinner."
-------------------
Meanwhile.
Allen, who had been cleaning the sanctuary, had nearly finished tidying everything except for the statues. To be honest, having a witcher whose average attributes had surpassed fifty points clean up was indeed overqualified for the task, but the witcher didn't mind it at all.
Not just because he was eagerly anticipating the removal of the cursed god's mark and had been waiting to fully utilize his blink skill for a long time, seeking help from the goddess Melitele. But also because, during the process of cleaning the sanctuary, he found that kind of focused tranquility seemed to slowly strip away the burdens from his body.
It felt very comfortable.
Like being under a concentration buff. So he kept cleaning, and cleaning, and even became somewhat addicted, losing track of time.
Two hours flew by in the blink of an eye.
Of course, aside from this faint feeling of his burdens being lifted, nothing strange really happened this afternoon. There were no eerie voices like the ones he heard when facing the giant-eyed evil god in Viscount Hudson's abandoned mine.
Nor was there any dark smoke from the evil god being forced out of his body by the sacred aura as he had imagined.
The entire afternoon passed without incident.
This left Allen feeling a bit empty.
To be honest, he was still quite curious about his origins as the Child of Miracle and the source of his 'Witcher's Journa'. Before coming here, he had thought he might be able to ask the goddess for some answers, but after spending an entire afternoon here, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
He felt relieved but also slightly disappointed.
Looking at the now-spotless sanctuary, Allen let out a satisfied sigh and thought, "I managed to clean the entire place in just one afternoon..."
"I wonder if Vera and Mother Ianna have any other tasks for me in the coming days."
Just then.
The witcher's ears suddenly twitched as he heard footsteps approaching the door.
"Thump thump thump~"
"Shh shh shh~"
The sound of footsteps followed one after another. The witcher recognized the footsteps as those of the sorceress and the high priestess. Within seconds, Ianna and Vera entered one after the other from the doorway.
At that moment.
Allen noticed something strange.
Ianna was still smiling as usual, but Vera seemed to be in a rather somber mood.
Did they have a disagreement?
The witcher speculated in his mind.
"Not bad, not bad," Ianna carefully surveyed the sanctuary, squinting her eyes in approval. "You've done a great job, child. Lady Melitele will surely like you!"
Allen chuckled.
Well, that's not out of the question...
After all, the goddess had already saved him from the evil god with the giant eye and had even spoken to him.
Thinking of this, he took out the Melitele pendant hanging around his neck and handed it to Ianna, saying, "Mother Ianna, do you think this pendant can be repaired?"
Ianna took the pendant, glanced at it, and shook her head.
"These pendants are meant to be used only once and cannot be repaired. I can give you another one."
Allen, a bit regretfully, took back the scarred silver pendant and said, "No need to trouble yourself, Mother Ianna."
"I'm content with this one."
Then he put it back around his neck.
Although in seven days, after the curse of the evil god was lifted, he wouldn't need the pendant anymore. But Allen still felt a deep attachment to the pendant that had saved his life and witnessed him open several double-legendaries.
Seeing Allen's action, Ianna's smile deepened, the wrinkles on her face growing more prominent.
"Good child, it's no trouble at all."
"But it's getting late. Let's go eat first. Your companions should be waiting for us!"
Allen was indeed feeling hungry.
He nodded, put away the cleaning cloth he was holding, and followed Ianna and Vera toward the door.
-----------------
Just as they stepped out of the sanctuary.
"Ziiiii—"
A sharp, piercing noise suddenly rang out.
The next second.
Allen's body abruptly sank, as though plunging into the depths of the sea, and his vision went completely dark.
In his daze.
He felt an immensely powerful gaze from behind, forcing him to "look" back in the midst of his chaotic consciousness.
At that moment.
"How dare you!"
A thunderous voice erupted from all directions in the space of his consciousness. Countless bright white lights followed, scattering the darkness.
"Ziiiii—"
A shrill cry of anguish resounded.
Amidst the faint scent of orange mixed with cardamom, the witcher opened his eyes.
At this moment, he was lying in Vera's arms.
"What happened, Ianna?" Vera asked anxiously, "What's going on?"
"Don't worry."
A strange, ethereal voice that seemed almost divine sounded.
Allen followed the voice and looked. A pair of glowing, pure white eyes filled with sacred light was gazing at him. Behind those eyes, he seemed to see three blurred figures.
But the next second.
It was as if they noticed Allen had awakened.
The white light vanished.
Ianna's gentle gray eyes returned to their usual kindness, making Allen wonder if what he saw was just his imagination. He then felt his hand being gently grasped.
A continuous stream of warmth flowed from the palm, spreading throughout his entire body. The last bit of discomfort Allen had felt was completely dispelled.
"It's alright now, it's alright..."
The old woman coaxed in a soft, soothing tone, "All the bad things have been driven away! They're all gone!"
Ianna's gentle, child-like coaxing made Allen almost burst into laughter.
"I'm fine now..."
Allen tried to stand up. But Vera and Ianna pressed him back down, carefully checking him over before finally helping him to his feet.
"What happened?"
The sorceress frowned, looking at Ianna.
In past cases of dispelling the evil god's gaze, there had never been a moment like this.
"Nothing," Ianna shook her head gently. "It was just the last struggle of some wretched creature."
.........…
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248. Yennefer's Talent.
249. The Light of the Little Monster.
250. The Little Priestess's Gift.
251. Who's Calling Me?
252. The Destroyer of the World.