Kaer Morhen (Part 4)

"Alan, now you need to concentrate. First, before I will teach you the true language of magic, you need to understand what spells are made for. Actually, what you do can be said to be enhanced signs. I don't know exactly what magic language you use, but I can tell that you take a single symbol and extrapolate it's meaning into a mental image and project it to the world."

Alan nodded silently.

"Okay. That's where it got unusual about you. You see, human memory is very adaptable and ever-changing thing. You need to always revise and adjust your images to make sure they hold the same meaning for the spell, otherwise it will go awry. Even your attitude to a certain image can change the outcome, as emotions influence magic too. In mental spells to have constant diversity in effects is not rare at all. That is why normally people find them unreliable. But there is another reason why mages use spells instead of what you use. Your spells can't draw power from ambiance and can't use elemental might of planes and world around you. They are too simple for that, as images you created don't have any laws of magic weaving to them. You might have tried to make your spells more powerful or add some new effects to them, right? My bet it didn't work."

"That is true." - nodded Alan with surprise. Only now he noticed that they really can't.

"Here is where spells come in. It is all about sturdiness and capacity to store mana inside it and complexity of laws to influence the world around to a requested extent. Spells are a special sequence, a code, to not only make mana behave in strict way, but also to draw power from around you. The more complex the spell chain, the more it can infuse into itself. Higher levels of spells can even tap the power from mystical sources mages are yet to completely understand, and become something very big in scale and might. Signs are spells to, but they only have one dimension. Two-dimensional spells are like a drawing of a special circuit on paper. Your spells are borderline to that, that is why your sings are stronger, plus the language you use is more on intuitive side, more inclined to emotions. It is very fascinating! - she smiled with shining eyes. She was enthralled with new knowledge and so alive, so full of enthusiasm about it, that Alan was hard-pressed to take his eyes from her. Triss was very charming while focused on what she truly loved and what brought her happiness and motivation.

"So the impact of one letter is not enough in capacity and complexity?" - Alan finally snapped out of it, feeling strange deep within.

"Of course. Far from enough in meaning of laws too! You need a carcass for that, a suitable circuit and enough storage for elements. But also spells are there to project a will of a mage to the world. To make it bend to your desire and do what you envisioned. It is a very complicated art. So for now I will teach you language. Listen and try to understand."

She opened her mouth and produced a sound. It was vividly similar to what Amalgal done before and Alan easily found resemblance with one of the letters from Isu language. In a matter of seconds he fused them together. Like that meaning will gain more depth and capacity of language expand.

"You learned it already? Let me hear it."

"Za'ar'eha't." - Alan produces a sound that was a bit more complicated, but with that noticeable more powerful.

"W-What? How is that possible?" - Triss looked at Alan with complete disbelief.

"I fused both together." - said Alan nonchalantly.

"You did what again? Wait. No, don't answer. I think I better just use you for the fullest. Say it again." - she suddenly went closer and looked at him with expectation.

Alan nodded and thus their lessons continued through winter months and some spring weeks.

Triss taught him core laws of spell weaving and also some runecraft. Later they exchanged knowledge on alchemy and here Alan was truly amazed. Actually, this world went on slightly different path, giving similar results.

If Harry Potter world potions were mainly about ingredients and their proper mixtures, that literally created a complex process of brewing alchemy potions, than here they mainly use spell formations and spells to transmute ingredients with needed effects into something more potent and new.

So alchemy is actually a spellcraft too. But with that they don't really study ingredients that much as they see no need in it during the core theory. Little did they know that witcher potions were actually made by the principle of zero magic. After all witchers are not mages.

And if one combine witchers knowledge of herbalism with mages way of spellcrafting it can really create a miracle elixirs. That's what Alan intended to do, learning the whole archive of witcher alchemy and Triss spell formations coupled with strict knowledge of Harry Potter world alchemy brewing process... what things can he create out of it?

He was like a sponge, devouring knew information with frightening pace at day and meditation over Eye of Eternium to fill the holes through it's ability to search for knowledge during nights.

That became his routine for several months, but it soon was time to go outside Kaer Morhen, as Triss admitted that she can do nothing for Ciri, as she is not strong enough, however Alan taught Ciri two vital things – occlumency and bloodline meditation, making her way stronger than she usually was.

The former was able to stop her spontaneous visions and others influencing her. As for the later, it can fully integrate her Elder Blood with magic source and mind, making the power truly hers. And what is more – her body itself became something more than normal human can have.

This spring nearly every person of Kaer Morhen was leaving. Soon the nest of witchers will become empty with only Vesemir standing guard.

But before they left, there is one last thing Alan had to do to complete his training. He alone, not with Ciri.

"Vesemir, it is a bad idea. Let me go with the kid." - said Geralt.

"Tradition forbids. He has to do it alone."

"Old man, have you grew senile from all the centuries you are walking on this land?" - raised his voice Lambert, slamming a fist at the table. - "Are you trying to kill the kid? I know he is someone beyond our knowledge and even Triss is a bit afraid of what is lingering inside him, but we are talking about Hell's Road here, okay? A medallion trial! Do you expect him to get to the forge and take it just like that? Have you forgotten the cave? Have you forgotten the Old Speartip? You know that dickhead lived well all this time!"

"We trained him well."

"Shit, you serious? How many of us this monster killed during our trial back then? We were a group and yet he stomped us like kids! So you expect Alan to fight this one eyes freak alone? Did you forget that his kind is nearly immune to magic like many high ranking monsters out there? Otherwise why the hell they would even need witchers all the time?"

"Enough. Traditions has to be fulfilled and passed. He has a trial to go through and he will undergo it. Or he is not worthy of our medallion." - said Vesemir strictly.

"Vesemir... sometimes I really want to knock your head hard, open it and see what's inside. Perhaps nothing, or maybe something thoroughly detached from the one really meaningful thing that is here!" - he furiously slammed his hand at his heart and spit on the floor, leaving the room.

"Vesemir. He is rude and always like that. But on this note I must say it. I agree with him. It is too dangerous to go there alone. Even I won't risk it."

"I know. That is why you and me will go there beforehand. It is time to stop some things for good. He lived too long. Prepare Geralt. We will hunt him down."

"You know back then we didn't kill it together because you forbid it? Change of mind now? Why?" - Geralt formed up and raised from the chair with same apathetic face, but full of seriousness.

"Maybe Lambert is right. I'm getting old." - shrugged Vesemir. - "And on the other hand... traditions are good, but where it led us? Alan is more competent than any recruit I ever trained. Actually, he doesn't even need this trial. Maybe it is time to change..."