Chapter 64

The last of Triss's personal items she wanted to move and things she might need for the job were quickly brought over the next day. The process was made much easier when I told her about the Circle of Elements under the keep that would basically allow her easy portal travel to anywhere on the continent rather than having to make multiple tiring trips.

Not to mention I figure it's a good thing for a friendly mage to be able to easily tap into a major source of power; either to help with their research or helping us in other ways, though Vesemir did grumble about it and muttered something about 'don't absorb any energy source larger than your head' even if he agreed it would be useful. He felt better though when Triss told him she would make sure that the odds of the portal travel activity being tracked would be lessened as much as possible.

As for the things she actually brought over much of it was unsurprisingly her wardrobe, books, various pieces of fancy furniture, personal nick-nacks and other things to fill up the room in the tower to basically make it her own, and a surprisingly small amount of equipment she planned to use in our joint project. Mages loved making wherever they lived for a time their own it seemed.

"That should be the last of it." Triss said proudly as I gazed upon the large room at the top of the tower, full to the brim with stuff where once before it was nearly empty. Triss had totally transformed it to fit her needs in less than a day. She even put in a damned enormous bathtub behind a green and gold changing divider for goodness sake! "A nice home away from home, and by tapping into the Circle of Elements I can easily portal back to Vizima whenever I need."

"Glad to see you're all settled. You think you're ready to look into researching the details of the Trial of the Grasses soon? Promise to work hard not to make it boring and we can take breaks to investigate other interesting things in this valley in between when it's not snowing like crazy." I promised from where I stood by the stairs.

"Of course. Though I did find something up here when I was moving in that might be related to that latter part." She said as she went over to a nearby bookshelf and picked out one of the tome's before handing it to me. A look at it's title revealed it to be Monstrum, or a Portrayal of Witchers. Volume 2, a book that normally would not be well-received by Witchers, though I knew there was more to this book than meets the eye.

"While reading through it I noticed a note near the end of it. More importantly, there is a magical aura around the book which I believe makes it act like a literal key to somewhere. Any ideas?" Triss asked me.

"Well, the Witchers did have mages in their employ in the past before they were killed off so it's not crazy to think they may have hid something behind some complex locked door. We plan to investigate the two towers they worked out of before after all. Though if the note is correct, it must be referring to the old iron mine that was depleted centuries ago past the old dam on the river. Might be worth checking out if the mage hid it."

"Almost certainly since mages don't tend to hide things behind magical locks unless they are important and they last a long time. I know I wouldn't." Triss said with a smile. "Something to add to the list of important locations to look into then when the weather is more agreeable for us all. This valley has an insane number of them apparently."

"You have no idea." I just shook my head of all the important gear and knowledge hanging out in crumpling outbuildings for nearly a century. "Now, let's head downstairs and get to work."

---

"I think that is a good deal of progress made today." Vesemir spoke up for all of us after spending nearly the entire day down in the laboratory. "Just because Markus is needed down here, Merigold, doesn't mean he can neglect his training. I let you both spend most of the day down here to get the flow going, but starting from tomorrow and moving forward there will need to be breaks."

"And of course you won't let me stay down here by myself. It will slow things down Vesemir." Triss said, her tone a little annoyed for having her research time limited.

"Taking the slow and steady route can have its advantages too, you know. Despite being so long-lived mages certainly love rushing ahead it seems." Vesemir shook his head a little while Triss low-key pouted.

Honestly, I wasn't that bothered since we would have all winter and likely more to refine the Witcher mutation process and something that important should not be rushed. We had a good start though spending most of the day going over my written down notes on how to make the potions needed, ingredients that had to be mixed properly, mutagens readied, how to apply them to receiver safely, and plenty of my own notes and ideas to improve upon older methods thanks to my knowledge. Of course, alchemy was only one side of the equation and Triss soaked in everything she could on the magical end of things, of how a mage would have to carefully apply their power accurately during the whole process so that the body and mutagens mixed together correctly in such a way it bonded with the subject seamlessly. Making her own notes as we talked, she soon had a small pile next to her. All of this needed to be done with incredible precision and a flawless understanding of the subject's body to succeed which quickly led us to understand why the process had such a high failure rate.

Simply put, it was hard as hell being that exact with potions, spellcraft, and making sure all fit with the subject's body type since everyone was unique. It made me realize that the mages in the past must have spent the years during the trainees' training examining their bodies to get just that. The Choice made the process somewhat easier by heavily restricting what trainees ate and ensuring their bodies were in good shape when the time finally came.

It was all a very involved process where just one slight thing out of place could mean the difference between becoming a Witcher and a corpse.

It went without saying that, after this day of going over and studying the entire process with a fine-toothed comb, we would be altering things to see what worked and what didn't so the process was as safe for Leo as we can possibly make it. It might lead to a much less precise method being produced so that there are much better odds of future people becoming Witchers as well who are even more strongly mutated in certain ways with less serious drawbacks. It wouldn't be easy or fast, but it will certainly be possible.

However, all three of us agreed that we should keep in the built-in safety of sterility for Witchers. There was a good reason the Order first made it so that super-humans couldn't be easily bred by some crazy fool with a god complex.

Between our knowledge and the equipment in the lab, we could technically do the Trial of the Grasses in a few days if we wanted to, but the goal was to take it further if possible so that it could act as just the first stepping stone for the guild's future.

"My decision is final Triss, and it's not like you can't find some other ways to entertain yourself in the meantime knowing you." Vesemir smirked at the red-head.

"It's true - I have at least another dozen ongoing research projects along with my duties as court mage for one of the most powerful rulers of the North, I just figured you wanted this done soon and I put it on top of my list since we are friends. Here I get for being too reliable." she mocked grumbled before smiling. "If you need me for anything else I'll be in the tower most of the time, though I will come down for meals if you'll have me."

"I'm sure if Lambert had the choice he would gladly give you away." I said, and all of us laughed at the poor joke.

Elsewhere in the keep, Lambert sneezed.

---

"So what are you even trying to do?" Eskel asked me as I knelt down in front of the Circle of Elements of air before me not far from the lab. The large mass of pure magic in the form of light blue crystals standing before me and making the air tingle with literal magic.

From what I understood it was basically like a magical leyline and I was surprised that despite being built on top of it that Kaer Morhen itself didn't make more use of it for things like wards or something. Or maybe it did a long time ago but without mages around, like the many walls, they crumpled away. Either way, I was currently using it in an ongoing experiment to invent a new Sign ever since I got here.

Sadly, I was having no luck so far and Triss had better things to focus her time on than helping me with what was basically cantrips for her.

"I'm trying to create a new Sign based around the air element. I'm thinking something that covers me with the element for a short time, like how Quen makes you as tough as earth. Only in this case, it would speed you up like the wind itself, making one faster for a short time." I explained to him.

"Huh, not a bad idea, and I have to admit it has me interested. I'm basically the resident Sign expert." Eskel explained as he knelt down alongside me.

That he was. Eskel apparently had more magical potential than even Geralt despite the latter being the son of an actual sorceress. Makes me wonder if in another life Eskel could have become a sorcerer of some renown. Heck, why couldn't a Witcher become a sorcerer in general?

I can only assume that while they could easily do the years of training they would get too restless being off the Path for so long, or mages didn't like the idea of Witchers with powers on par with their own (it's what got my own order buried under an avalanche.)

"I was actually planning on offering to teach you some of my own since I know a few you likely don't and, while I don't mean to brag, likely can bring out more power in them than most of you if I tried hard enough." I said with a smile.

"Vesemir told me you Griffins were like that, which I find ironic since you also like knightly traditions and there aren't many stories of knights using magic. Of course, at least we don't go brain dead after a while of using too much of it."

"Thanks for reminding me of that lovely thought." I grimaced.

"Hey, don't worry about it too much. Vesemir said it only happens if you push yourself too hard and abuse your Sign usage too much. I assume that is partly why he wants you to up your swordsmanship so badly so that you lower the risk of being overly reliant upon it and having it happen. I know that I can count on my blades when needed even if I can fling around magic better than the others." Eskel reassured me.

"I could still do without the bruises and Lambert's constant comments about my form." I muttered to myself while imagining the prick eating dirt.

"That's just how he is. If he honestly didn't care he wouldn't say anything, but would just beat you into the dirt. Lambert's a prick, but he cares in his own odd way." Eskel smiled at me, the action looking natural even on his scarred face. "Want me to help out with your Sign creation business? I won't lie and say I'm not interested after all, and if I figure it out here I might be able to make more at other Circles on the Path. That way I'll surpass you in Signs no problem."

"In your dreams! That's my thing!... though if you wanted to help I won't turn away." I said as Eskel just chuckled.

"Alright then, what have you done so far?" he asked.

"Well, using what I could from books on the subjects of Signs in the library I focused on experimenting with different gestures and meditation to connect with the Circle…" I trailed on as Eskel nodded along, asked questions and offered his own insights.

I might not have made a new Sign yet, but that day I did get another study partner seeking to expand Witcher knowledge and skills.

---

"What's the point of this?!" Lambert complained as he missed another straw dummy by a mile with the sling Vesemir had handed out and made teaching it the point of for this snowy day.

With the snow coming down hard we had moved most of the training gear inside Kaer Morhen's main hall and started doing most of our daily training here since it was empty enough to do so. Thanks to the repair supplies we bought earlier in the city and work done in between training we had made decent patch jobs to the interior of the keep so that wasn't nearly as crumply looking as before, though it obviously wasn't pretty to look at. There were still a few piles of rubble around and wooden frames holding some parts up. But at least it kept the worst of the winter weather out.

The place still needed a good going over by proper stonemasons and I hoped we could do that in the not-so-distant future.

"Because a Witcher should be skilled in using all weapons, and I will freely admit that I haven't been having you go over the fundamentals of most beyond swords. Obviously a Witcher's blades are important, but there might be times outside of your control where you are separated from them or need another tool to get the job done. You also all rely too much on those fancy crossbows when you need a ranged option so I brought out these old slings to get you back into shape." Vesemir lectured from the side as he used his own old looking sling to nail a dummy in the head.

It took him a few tries to get it right but I guess using a sling was like riding a bike.

"So what? We gonna go through the whole list after this as well?" Lambert snipped.

"Now that you mention it, why not! I've got axes, hammers, spears, pikes, flails…" Vesemir listed happily and Lambert's face fell as the list went on.

"Nice going Lambert, now you got him excited," Eskel grumbled as he missed his own target, though not as badly as Lambert did.

I myself was not having a whole lot of luck, despite Vesemir's and-

"You aren't using a crossbow or a regular bow anymore! Slings are deadly weapons that when aimed correctly can kill a man with a single blow! However, it requires a head for angles and knowing exactly when to release your line to make your shot fly true! If shepherds can learn to use them to protect their flock I have no doubt Witchers can do it even better and learn faster too!" Ivar spoke up as he consistently nailed his targets in quick succession, reloading his sling with smooth motions and letting them loose with ease.

Vesemir had easily convinced him to act as his teaching assistant and as an example of what a good slinger can accomplish when he retold the necrophage and harpy stories, something which Lambert refused to believe and Eskel was interested in.

"Come on then! Leo is doing better than all three of you!" Ivar pointed it as Leo hit his target square in the head, knocking off the metal helmet in the process.

"It's not that hard. Just have to time the release right and make sure your aim lines up." Leo tried to downplay his talent.

"Nonsense! You are quite skilled my boy! I can see why Vesemir is so proud of you." Ivar said honestly to Leo's mixture of embarrassed pride.

"That's enough talking from all of you! No one is leaving till they can hit a target dead on at least three times in a row. We will keep doing this over the winter until everyone is at least passable in using a sling against men and monsters. We'll keep this up for an hour before moving onto other weapons. I will show you that I'm not just a good fighter with swords." Vesemir got a terrifying gleam in his eye as he said all this.

I'm pretty sure I saw Leo, Eskel, and Lambert all shudder, I certainly did.

This would only be the start of a very grueling and comprehensive daily life of training over the winter.

Not even poor Dogmeat was safe from the Witcher boot camp as she was put through scent and attack training under Vesemir's guidance and my direction.

---

There was a plus side in the form of acting as a teacher myself in all things related to Signs and alchemy. Even Triss took part in the lessons we did in the basement lab from time to time.

While I wrote down most of my formulas for the more advanced version of potions the Witchers were aware of it, which they were grateful for, especially for my efforts to lessen the need for rare ingredients when able, it was still important to practice mixing them up and making a nice stockpile for the fortress. It also allowed me to experiment with more potion ideas beyond Hearth Heart and swap ideas on useful effects to possibly have.

It also allowed me to finally have my experiments in watered-down/low toxicity potions examined by Triss to see if there was any potential there for use by regular people beyond Witchers.

"Trying to put local herbalists, village witches, temples, medics, and us mages out of business are you?" Triss said teasingly as she magically scanned a Lesser Swallow she'd picked up.

"Not particularly. At most my healing potion can help speed up the healing process and maybe make sure there are no lingering issues, maybe first aid in a pinch. It's no substitute for people who have actual healing knowledge. We Witchers cheat by having tough bodies that heal pretty good on their own, assuming it's not too bad." I said.

"Kinda like my face." Eskel said jokingly as he examined one of my experimental potions I called False Death. The idea behind it being that it would make the bodily functions of the Witcher that drank it slow down to such a level they would appear dead to anyone except a skilled physician. When asked why I would make something like that I simply said that sometimes playing dead could be useful.

Of course, since it makes use of its high toxicity to help achieve the effect it was naturally pure poison for other people and would make their death anything but false.

"Well, I can state with certainty at least that the toxicity levels are within normal human limits, even children." Triss said as she finished her magical scan and the glow left her hands. "Though like you said in comparison to normal Swallow the healing effects are heavily reduced. Still, it can turn what would normally take weeks to heal and cut it down to days with reduced risks of complications, lingering effects, or scarring. Would be pretty useful to cut down on healing time for nearly anything." Triss explained.

"Great! Just what I was going for. I could make a mint selling this stuff cheap and help a lot of folk in the process." I said. "I hope I can do the same for some other Witcher potions, at least the non-combat related ones. I know that having easy access to Wives' Tears would be well-received… especially if the reasoning behind the name is what I expect." I finished on a slightly dark note.

"I'm interested in it. I'm allergic to magic, so I rely on natural potions to get the care I need at times along with other effects." Triss explained.

"How the hell does that even work? Wouldn't that mean you should have killed yourself countless times by now?" Lambert asked.

"I can cast just fine. I just can't allow magic to interact with my body directly such as with healing magic or else my body has a negative reaction that could be more deadly than the injury," she explained to him.

"Oh… well, explain that beforehand before getting people's hopes up like that." Lambert grumbled and kept working on his potion mixture, hiding his relief about Triss' health.

"Well back in my day we couldn't rely on potions nearly as much. Whenever we got injured badly we had to splint bones, stitch ourselves up and hold ourselves up in the wilds for days or weeks until we could move again. You youngsters have it easy with ingredients for things like Swallow so readily available that you can patch yourself up quickly when needed, had to hunt for them during my time." Vesemir said as he parted his experience onto us again while also teaching Leo how to properly mix together some Black Blood.

I once asked Vesemir what would happen if a vampire drank that stuff directly, and got a very gory story for my trouble.

---

"Veoth is a pretty useful Sign since you can target individual targets and hit them with ultrasonic sounds that can at least seriously disorientate them, or cause serious damage to creatures with enhanced hearing like vampires. If need be, you can have it pulse out all around you indiscriminately, though of course the danger there is hitting those you don't want to." I explained as I went through the hand gestures for the Sign and targeted a piece of broken glass, watching as new cracks formed and it shattered.

"Very useful. In the right hands can make a great opening in a fight or even end it altogether. I see it being quite useful against monsters that rely on echolocation such as shaelmaars or katakans." Vesemir added his two cents as he tried to copy the Sign and after a couple of false starts was able to do so.

In fact, thanks to the fact we lived on top of a Circle of Elements to air, everyone was able to pick up Veoth pretty quickly. Even Triss said she could think of ways to use Signs in bigger and better ways, as mages loved to do since they considered Signs parlour tricks most of the time.

Though to be fair a large scale sonic attack spell does sound much scarier than just Veoth, even with me pushing it a great deal. I don't doubt Triss and other mages could pull off feats similar to sonic weapons back home if not worse.

"Could be useful on lesser vampires as well since they rely a lot on their enhanced hearing as well, and lots of other monsters and beasts too." Leo spoke up. "Under the right conditions, I wonder if you couldn't make an enemy's sword shatter just like glass!"

"Heh, there is the trainee thinking up new and exciting ideas. Though something tells me that blowing out someone's ears would be easier." Eskel said as he patted his back.

"I can think of a few people who deserve going deaf for a little bit…" Lambert said with an unsubtle glance at Triss, who merely gave him a 'try it' look.

"I wish I could teach you guys Gal and Xill, but without corresponding Circles of those elements they align to on hand, it would take quite a bit of time, and be unlikely to produce good results. Though Eskel and I are working on something and I do have ideas of combining Signs together to-"

"Easy lad, that's enough magic for today. We've still got supper and chores to do along with the end of day training. Though I do admire the drive to be productive while being all cooped up. Gods know it's tough to get Lambert to do anything other than laze around." Vesemir said with a smirk.

"I like to consider finding secret sleeping spots stealth training, thank you very much." Lambert defended himself, to all our chuckles.

"Food would be nice though. The royal palace back in Vizima might serve better meals but I like the 'rustic' taste of all your cooking." Triss giggled to herself.

"Then let's actually go up and eat then. Also, collect Ivar so he doesn't starve hanging out in the library all the time." Eskel pointed out.

"'Ivar. He died reading.' Something tells me he wouldn't mind that." I laughed.

"Not in my library. He needs to finish cataloguing and indexing everything first anyhow." Vesemir said as he led the way back up to the keep.

So it was after a very busy day by all of us that we got together and ate like some weird dysfunctional family. This would be our usual days during the course of winter until the snows finally settled a bit and we had time to explore other secrets buried within Kaer Morhen Valley.