Chapter 5: August decision

Hans walked through the cold corridors. Only the candles cast faint shadows in all directions. Kaer Morhen is a big castle, but these days it is no longer filled with life. In recent years, many Witchers have been killed, which has reduced the number of living Witchers in the wolf school. The number of living Witchers dropped to 23.

Hans still remembered when many people lived here, many old Witchers and many young. Some of them trained, some taught. Others came to heal their wounds and get well. Now it's an almost empty castle with 23 elders and a bunch of kids.

Walking down the corridor, he approached the tower where the magicians lived. Knocking on the door, he heard the answer. "Come in." Entering, Hans saw a magician. His name is Vincent.

He is the head mage of Kaer Morhen and the oldest of them all. No one knew how old he was, but everyone knew he was here as one of the renegade mages who broke away from the Brotherhood of Sorcerers and founded Kaer Morhen.

They separated in 954 – 955 from the arrival of the elves. Apostate sorcerers who continued inhuman experiments to create Witchers. They took test subjects from wherever they could. By force, they kidnapped and took away children for their goal.

With various herbs, they experimented with improving people to make them powerful and superior to others so that they could fight monsters on their own. The Witchers were the result of thousands of human corpses, adults, and even children. The magicians had no regrets about their actions, as they believed it was all for the benefit of science and their research, as well as for the 'Greater Good'.

It all started because of an accident in 954. This year, something unusual happened, hordes of monsters attacked cities and fortresses, leaving behind nothing but ruins, bones, and corpses. They were like an irresistible force that could not be stopped by the efforts of the magician and armies. It was the largest horde of monsters in the last 100 years.

The monsters killed many mages in the process, causing a dilemma between the members of the Sorcerer's Brotherhood. One side wanted to create humans who could fight the monsters and free the sorcerers from such work.

Others disagreed with using humans to create someone who could fight monsters. They could not imagine the number of people who would have to be sacrificed for the success of this experiment. They didn't want to take part in something as inhuman as this trial.

But not everyone agreed. This led to a split in the society of sorcerers. The 2 groups that split up went their separate ways, following their vision of the future. Some remained in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, while others became apostates mages, creating a Witcher school. During their experiments, they managed to grow many special herbs and plants that they used to create mutagenic potions that turn normal folks into super humans.

By the end of 960, the first Witchers appeared in the world, and it was a blessing, people were happy to see how someone single-handedly dealt with monsters and killed them. Witchers became popular in the world, people cherished them in the villages where they came to kill monsters. But this did not last long. The Witchers quickly wiped out most of the monsters from the continent, which led to a lack of work and hatred of them from society. Since not everyone was ready to keep traditions and hunt only monsters, they became killers and mercenaries.

Hans entered the room and looked at Vincent. He's an old mage, but magic doesn't make him look that old. Magic allowed people to live much longer than one would expect. Hans said: "Vincent, I found a boy near Kaer Morhen, and there is something strange about him."

Vincent turned to Hans with a curious look on his face. He looked like a man in his fifties. He had many wrinkles on his face. Small ears and a neat face, with a huge nose. He was dressed in a beautiful cape with various golden embroideries along its entire length. No matter what, all sorcerers were taught to look like nobles, even if they were renegades.

He kept his back straight and all his movements were fluid and graceful. What was good for the Witchers was that he was always in the lab creating new potions or working on improving Witcher mutagens. Vincent himself was obsessed with his experiments.

He always sought to improve them, to make them more perfect and efficient. But it took lives, many lives, but that didn't matter much to a man like Vincent.

Vincent asked, "What's so special about him?"

Hans sighed and told the whole story of their meeting. "I met him in the nearby lands of Kaer Morhen. He was running from Nightwrath, she hurt him badly, despite that, he got to the forest where I met him. He remembers nothing about himself, not even his name, but he knew that he should be in Kaer Morhen. Furthermore, he said that a force was pulling him to this place".

Vincent's eyes sparkled. He rarely found interesting things to explore. He was not interested in discussions between some young sorcerers and Witchers, but this story intrigued him. Not every day, such events happen when a random child came to the Witcher Fortress, not knowing where and why he was going. Vincent told Hans about his thoughts: "I think it's very interesting. I could hardly find anything captivating like this. Someone comes here on their own and wants to get something. Fascinating, just amazing! And with the potential to be a wizard, he could be a source. How amazing it is!"

Vincent showed great excitement and a radiant smile when he heard the news about a boy who can learn to cast spells and become the first Witcher and sorcerer in one guise. So, even under the supervision of Vincent himself, he can become a very powerful and useful asset that Vincent could easily use.

Vincent left the room, turned to Hans and called out: "Are you coming? You must show me where he is," said the wizard.

Hans rubbed his forehead and led the mage to the boy. Soon they came to the room where the boy was resting. He was still lying motionless on the bed. Hans just forgot to feed him and all this time he was just starving, but could not move with his injuries.

Vincent looked at August and said: "Indeed, I feel that he is the source, that's good, no, that's great! I was just finishing up the new mutagen kits for the wizard, looking forward to seeing how they affect the transformation and if the magicians can do better with these transformations than the usual bio-trash called humans."

Vincent approached August and ran his hand over the wound, saying: "Droga, z której się nie wraca." The wound healed instantly, and August felt it.

Standing up quickly, he bowed deeply to Vincent, saying, "Thank you, Mr Magic! I can move again! How did you do it, mister? Can I also do this? Can I become strong like Uncle Hans?"

Hans' face changed when he heard August call him "uncle". This did not come out consciously, simply due to the fact that August simply did not remember anyone who showed at least a drop of care, and when Hans, although cold to everything, showed small mercy to August, it immediately responded with warm emotions. August didn't mean to be impolite or annoying, he just wanted to be friendly to those who saved him. And on top of that, he's pretty young and doesn't remember anything. Therefore, it is easy for him to like new people.

Hans was silent. He wanted to see what Vincent would do. Vincent, on the other hand, was delighted. He has a boy who can be used for the experiments he has wanted to do for so long.

Vincent is a wizard, but who said that a wizard never wanted to have the same strong body as Witchers? This was his recent research, but due to the lack of test subjects, he could not get the desired results, and testing on himself is a stupid and rather dangerous step that the old magician simply does not dare to do.

Vincent looked directly at August, silencing him, and asked, "Do you want to become as strong as Hans and also learn magic?" His voice sounded suspiciously seductive, like a kikimora trying to attract a victim to the voice of a nice lady.

August nodded vigorously. Vincent smiled, and Hans just shook his head. He knew that the boy would have to endure a lot in order to survive and get out of the laboratory at least alive, to say nothing of his joy and fleeting admiration.

He did not know and could not imagine what awaited him during the mutation process. Hellish pain, a feeling that the muscles are torn apart, the entire nervous system collapses and rebuilds, increasing reflexes. But the boy had his way and his thoughts. He came here himself, and if he decided so, then Hans can only wish him good luck in overcoming inhuman suffering.

Vincent turned to the already agitated August and asked, "You will have to endure pain, a lot, but without that pain, there will be no results. Are you ready to endure?"

August smiled and said, "Yes! I will endure everything and come out as the best version of myself, stronger and more courageous!"

Vincent said to Augustus: "Get out of the room and go right to the end and to the stairs. There is a place to eat on the second floor from here. When you're done, ask Hans to escort you to me, and we'll get started.

August quickly left, and Hans suddenly grabbed the wizard's hand and said: "I will teach him after the mutation," but quickly corrected himself: "If he survives, I will teach him."

However, they both took different paths. Vincent made his way to his laboratory, while Hans followed the young August.

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