Learn Swordsmanship?

"What's with your face?" - asked Coen grinning from ear to ear in the morning.

"Nothing." - said Alan, tracing a woman leaving witcher's room while leaning on a wall. Poor girl was really ridden hard and long that night.

He still can't access everything from the ring here. Like Amalgal warned, it will take time to adjust the laws to each other and after a month or two it will come back on track. It is a gradual process as each day some part of space becomes available.

Tonight he had nowhere to escape to, albeit he wanted to apparate to the roof, it was raining all night long! Let alone in this world apparating is not an easy task. Somehow space here felt way more solid. It is like comparing a water surface with a reinforced steel wall in the bunker. He could only traverse small distances of space and even that with the help of his bloodline power.

Well, on the bright side practice made one the winner and with snail pace but still there he found improvement to it. Especially after training in meditation and noticing, that his magical body adapted to the laws of this world giving birth to a special organ the locals call The Source. It was like a burning fountain of mana with tremendous capacity. Alan saw bluish flame dancing joyfully around it. Still, his source was not large, albeit very pure. Meditation helped to enhance it and Alan planned to do it every day, let alone it also helped to strengthen his overall physique thoroughly.

All in all, he was forced to listen to the unceasing moaning and banging of the bed at the thin wooden wall. No soundproofing at all and he somehow didn't learn the spell that can remove sounds from outside, only the other way around. Although it is easy to change after some learning, it is actually dangerous to use it. Anyone can sneak attack you while it is on. So even if he knew, he would have hardly installed it.

Alan saw a morning zombie crawling out of the room in front.

'I feel you man.'

They went down to the first floor, looked over smashed hall with hidden glee and ordered breakfast. Nothing too extravagant. Actually, it was really badly cooked. Seems like food industry and cooking here are on the ever low level possible.

Their breakfast consisted of cut cheese, bread, some meat and porridge that lacks salt and sugar alike. Even butter wasn't added. Well, if one put it all at once in the mouth, it was fine to eat.

"I really want some coffee with milk and sugar. But I guess it is too much to ask here. So, what's the plan?" - Alan took a glimpse inside his ring, coffee is still unavailable among all tons of supplies he bought, spending nearly half of his galleons in Harry Potter world, leaving the quarter part of it to Selena and another exchanged for quite a sizable amount of gold and silver.

He thought he might need it, and he hit the jackpot. Silver is very rare and pricey here, in witcher world, especially as pure as the one he has. Not like he will sell it.

"Depends on how much time we have, but I got myself in request right near Cintra, the capital city." - shrugged Coen, continuing to devour food. - "Normally I would have stayed here for several days up to a week, Hochenbuz is a good place for witchers despite some local shits here and there, you know."

"And now?" - Alan ate all that was offered despite clear distaste of the thing. He vowed to cook some good meal for the old fossil and himself through a set of transmutation magic he learned while in Hogwarts unless he got another part of space open, where he stored salvation to all hungry men - burgers.

It wasn't considered being something difficult among other spells, which astonished Alan who knew a thing or two about science.

But there are some limitations.

First, it require quite a bit of mana, but he with his awakened bloodline and Isu pathways got it covered, let alone he can use Eye of Eternium as a buffer to seep mana directly from astral, its inner space is situated in, and replenish his magic reserves way faster than normal mage. That was one of the primary ways to use it, aside from storage function and all.

Speaking of the ring, it got disconnected from knowledge of Harry Potter world after he let Amalgal to extract Room of Requirement from it and now information wise became nearly empty, aside from subjects he asked to have. He felt unfortunate without the ability to access to Eye of Eternium library directly, but gramps noted that when it can connect to this world, it will work under the laws of the Witcher universe and what will come out of it is a question.

However, he already said, that Harry Potter albeit magical world, is not one of high order, Witcher is way more than that, as it might even have living Gods.

He got really in a pinch here and Room of Requirement was in another world. As for Eye of Eternium, it converted from a versatile training ground to just a place to store things in. Good thing that books Alan wanted were there to take out when it is ready.

But that is as far as it goes. For now, at least.

"We need to hurry. Contract needs to be fulfilled, as it is sacred for a witcher." - said Coen firmly, and Alan thought about it a bit. Could he have changed future already and made Coen appear near Cintra city ahead of time? Actually, he might have never made it there during original development of the plot, knowing that Nilfgaard troops burned down to the ground.

'Why do I think as if we are marching straight into lion's jaws?'

"You sure? We might arrive there right on time of the assault." - said Alan.

"No way around it then. Why do you go with me?"

"An old fossil like you will surely lose his donkey hoofs there without me." - Alan scoffed with a slight smile and seeing how hard witcher is breathing, seething with anger, made his day a bit brighter.

'Next time when you bring a whore to your room, think twice. Consider us even.'

"It is a chimera." - he protested, to which Alan just looked at him with a knowing look ready to enlighten an unsuspecting witcher, that chimera has hoofs too. - "Whatever, no use talking to you."

"Actually, there is one thing I wanted to know. I was wondering for some time already." - Alan scratched his neck a bit. - "Well, they say witchers are an unfeeling bunch because mutations you undergo not only make you infertile, but unable to feel emotions. You, however, anything but that."

"Ah, about that... well, it is not like we become emotionless, but because of our improved metabolism it also influenced our ability to generate and consume hormones."

'Wow! They know about hormones and how emotions are chemistry of a brain. Now that is somewhat impressive.'

"We just easily adjust and thus more stable in mind and body. But after a couple of decades production of hormones will eventually stand on equal ground with metabolism and overly emotionless state will be gone. It just takes time to adjust. So young witchers are really like machines, old ones already became experienced and wise enough not to show otherwise."

"So that is why you are like that. You have feelings, but emotions are troublesome." - said Alan while trying his best to chew lump of bread. This battle was won by his teeth eventually, but with some effort.

'Isn't it the same for me now? I feel, but suppress emotions.'

"More or less you got it. We were made that way to train us in fearlessness of what we need to fight. But really, gradually returning emotions can be a trouble for some witchers too. However, after a decade or two of constant work in our field you gain so much experience, that fear becomes but a dream, never reality." - nodded Coen finishing his meal and leaving ducats on the table. - "You owe me by the way."

"Sure thing." - he didn't try to forgo the money issue. After all right now he really is living off that witcher. - "When the hunt comes just take it all and we are good. Oh, can you teach me how to wield a sword and some information about monsters?"

"Why?" - asked Coen opening the door and stepping out of the inn to make his way to the stables. He looked at the boy and his contemplating face with platinum-gold eyes, strange but drawing to themselves. - "You got magic and you use it in battle like no one I ever saw. What's the use of swordsmanship? Just do your abra-kadabra and be happy."

"And if my magic is gone? I know how to fight with my body and knowledgeable in magic battle, however what I want is to be able to protect myself even without magic at all. And using fists to hit a shaelmaar is plain stupid, no? Who knows what might happen in the future?"

"Fair enough." - Coen nodded with a deep sigh. Seems like he remembered something he didn't want to, but Alan decided against prying into the matter. - "But I will say it now, I won't teach you signs or alchemy. Only swordsmanship. As for whether you can keep up depends on you. About monsters, well, it is easy, I have my journal here with some scrambling, as for something better, why not go to the library of Kaer Morhen. Among all witcher schools, they accumulated the most knowledge of the monsters in this part of the world. And they are best at swordsmanship too, by the way."

"Deal. Journal is in the bag, right? I'll read it. And old man, I need some time to meditate. Your... training regime during night didn't give me any chance to gather thoughts. Surprisingly." - said Alan. It is not like sound made him unable to enter meditation. He did, but was irritated more with the lack of practical result. He needed more time. - "So I'm riding with you."

"Can you even sleep while on a horse?" - asked Coen, leading his steed outside to the street that is yet to see another person during the misty morning.

"Sleep?" - Alan asked perplexed and suddenly didn't know how to respond. His eyes tiredly went all over the place. - "I forgot how to." - yawned Alan with sudden lazy attitude and while looking around quickly shifted to Tenebris, minimizing its size to the smallest possible, a bit more than a palm in size, puppy.

"Ya know, that way you are way more pleasing to the eye." - smirked Coen while stuffing him inside his spacious bag. He wasn't really the one to pry into other business that much or have a knack for being a good interlocutor, but even he figured out that this time it is better to keep mouth shut and don't ask.

He already guessed. That little guy had his own share of close acquaintanceship with the very bottom of this world that just can't help but shine in positive colors of crimson and black.

"Hands off, old fossil! This is harassment, I will sue you!" - grumbled Alan and created a suitable place for him to take a nap and meditate.

"Hey, careful out there." - said Coen, while giving his horse a leg bump and directing it to the exit of a town.

"Either that way, or I become the largest in my Tenebris form and believe me you won't like it." - said Alan continuing the renovations of the inner space of the bag. After a couple of minutes he finally crawled to the corner and closed his eyes, drifting into meditation and started to learn more about many spells he is yet to transform into Isu one.

Using them without it is not efficient, anyway.

"Cintra." - said Coen with some reluctance. - "It would have being a great place if it isn't such a shithole."

One just can't go and deny Coen in logic!