204. Hen Gedymdeith Returns.

In the stands.

Bogdan had just been rescued from the drowners by the witchers of the Wolf School. When he looked up, he saw the Grandmaster of the Wolf School on the main stand. The Grandmaster sheathed his sword and gently pushed with his right hand.

A few large monsters, reduced to mere "Magic staves," fell off the stand. They landed in front of the young witcher who had just slain one of the creatures.

"Is this some kind of witcher ritual?" 

Bogdan tilted his head, curiously looking at Radek, the local. Bogdan was from Novigrad, only nineteen years old. After his Magical awakening, he had been sent to Ban Ard for just one year and didn't have the same deep-rooted hatred for witchers as some others.

One might even say that after this incident, after being saved by the Wolf School witchers, his impression of them had greatly improved. He also became increasingly curious about these powerful outcasts among humans known as witchers.

Radek thought for a few seconds and then shook his Chief: "Uh... I don't think there's any record of such a ritual in the books... nor has any of our teachers ever mentioned it..."

"As far as I know, the only rituals that exist for the Wolf School are the Trial of the Grasses and the Mountain Trials..."

"Oh!" 

"Right! There's also a ritual to slay a large monster to advance to Master Witcher..."

"But aside from the Trial of the Grasses, which does have some real effects, the other two seem to be more of a... uh, just ceremonial acts."

Slay a large monster? 

Bogdan thoughtfully glanced at the two drowned kings that Allen had killed in the arena. The distinction between large and small monsters wasn't just something witchers concerned themselves with.

As a sorcerer apprentice, Bogdan was also aware of the difference. Though other than the drowners, the monsters that appeared in the arena were unfamiliar to him. But there was no doubt that these creatures fit the category of large monsters.

"Are there many Master Witchers?" he asked.

"How could there be?" Radek shook his Chief repeatedly. 

"A Master Witcher is the highest honor a witcher can attain, aside from becoming a Grandmaster."

"In the past... every one of them was a top figure in the Northern Kingdoms!" 

"Every witcher who gained that title was celebrated in the noble circles, not just in Kaedwen, but throughout the Northern Kingdoms..."

"The man wearing the black wide-brimmed hat over there," Radek motioned with his mouth, "is the last to have received the title of Master Witcher—Master Vesemir, the youngest Master Witcher in over a century..."

"When he visited my house, my grandfather not only brought out his fifty-year-old treasured bottle of 'Beauclair White' to honor him..."

"He even hired the finest court painter to paint a portrait of my grandfather, my father, Master Vesemir, and a bloodied griffin Chief together."

"That painting still hangs in the banquet hall of my family's castle!" 

"And if I remember correctly, the most prosperous witcher school—the Wolf School—only has seven Master Witchers, including their Chief."

"As for the Cat School, which specializes in killing, they don't have a single Master Witcher..."

Radek's words made Bogdan's eyes light up more and more. Before Radek could finish speaking, Bogdan pointed to Allen in the arena and interrupted: "So, that blue-eyed witcher is already a Master Witcher?"

"And between him and Vesemir, who became a Master Witcher first?"

Radek was momentarily speechless.

"I... I think he can be considered a Master Witcher?" 

"And..." 

He lowered his Chief, pondering for a moment before looking up with shock at the youthful figure surrounded by the corpses of monsters. 

"If I'm not mistaken, there has never been a Master Witcher this young since the birth of the witchers!"

-----------------

Meanwhile.

In the arena, Allen hadn't received an answer from the Chief. Sol merely nodded at him, left him with the three monsters, and walked over to the bloody remains left behind by Henselt and Jenks. He stood there in silence, lost in thought. This wasn't the place for questioning.

Allen gazed at the back of the Chief for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the three monsters that had fallen.

"Ah~ Ah~"

The Drowner king and the drowners roared angrily but were powerless to do anything. Blood sprayed from their wide-open maws. Upon closer inspection, Allen realized that these three monsters were not only missing their limbs and tails but also had their tongues cut in half.

"Hiss~" 

Allen instinctively licked the roof of his mouth, drawing in a sharp breath. The Chief sure is ruthless! To prevent them from casting spells, he even chopped off their tongues.

But...

With Magical shields in place, how did the Chief manage to do it?

As Allen approached the three monsters, he pondered this in his mind.

What a pity!

He had been in such a hurry to steal the kills that he hadn't seen how the Chief dealt with these creatures.

Who would've thought the Chief would leave the monsters for him?

Sighing, he walked up to the nearest drowned king and swung his sword, beheading it. Step by step, he then decapitated the two massive swamp fiends, their crimson eyes brimming with terror. After waiting for half a minute, Allen was puzzled when he didn't hear the familiar mechanical voice.

"Hmm?"

"Why hasn't it settled?"

At that moment.

"Come up!"

A deep male voice suddenly echoed from above. Before Allen could look up, his vision darkened as black and yellow striped silk fell from the main stand.

Well, at least I won't need to blink up there... Grabbing the silk, he felt a sudden tug, and within moments, he was pulled onto the main stand.

"Chief!"

Allen bowed his Chief in greeting.

"Well done!" Sol appreciatively patted Allen on the shoulder with his left hand.

Then, turning back, he swung his right arm. The silk that had pulled Allen up unfurled like a flag, covering the two bloodied, indistinguishable corpses.

At that moment, Vesemir and several young witchers walked over and asked: "Chief, are we leaving directly?"

Sol remained silent, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. The surviving sorcerers from this Conjunction of the Spheres stood in silence, watching them. The faint sound of screams and roars could be heard outside the arena.

"We..."

Before Sol could finish his sentence, a strange noise interrupted him.

"Clang!"

A large, orange, square portal suddenly appeared at the entrance to the main stand.

A middle-aged man dressed in a red robe, wearing a red hat, and draped in a brown fur coat stepped out of the portal. Three or four black-robed sorcerers followed closely behind him.

The middle-aged man, after stepping out, surveyed the chaotic and blood-soaked Ban Ard arena and then focused his gaze on Sol. A black-robed sorcerer had just stepped out of the portal. Seeing the corpses scattered across the ground and the rivers of blood, he shouted loudly: "What... what... what... what happened here?"

The other sorcerers gaped in shock.

In the next second...

"Clang~"

After the orange, square-shaped portal disappeared, another portal opened at the entrance of the main grandstand.

"Gedymdeith, have you found the source of the spatial disturbance?"

A beautiful, dignified sorceress with an elegant demeanor stepped out of the portal. Upon seeing the arena full of corpses, she was instantly stunned.

"Gag~"

The sorceresses following behind her immediately clutched their chests and dry-heaved at the sight of the bloody scene.

"Yes, I found it."

The middle-aged man called Gedymdeith nodded gently and then bowed apologetically to the sorceress who had just come out of the portal: "Sorry, Tissaia."

"For leaving Aretuza in such a hurry."

"It's such a lively place. I liked it a lot."

"But the matters at hand will have to wait until the next meeting."

"As you can see, I have quite a bit to deal with right now!"

At this moment, Tissaia also noticed the Witcher from the School of the Wolf, who had been obscured by the other sorcerers. The other Witchers were fine. But when her gaze swept across the face of the School of the Wolf's leader, Allen noticed that Tissaia's delicate, crescent-shaped eyebrows furrowed slightly before quickly looking away.

"Do you need any help?"

Tissaia looked at Hen Gedymdeith. Hen Gedymdeith smiled, shook his head, and said softly: "This is Ban Ard."

Upon hearing this, Tissaia was silent for two seconds before she stopped insisting. She led the other sorceresses back to the portal. Before leaving, Allen noticed her frowning, her gaze lingering on the face of the School of the Wolf's leader for a second.

"Clang!"

The sorceresses left.

The portal closed.

Immediately, the sorcerers' gazes refocused on the Witchers from the School of the Wolf.

"Can someone tell me what happened here?"

Hen Gedymdeith stared at Sol. Before the leader of the School of the Wolf could speak, a sorcerer apprentice who had approached hurriedly raised his voice and said: "Dean, there was a sudden Conjunction of the Spheres in the arena... The Vice-Dean is dead... The Grand-Eater... the King is also dead..."

"What? The King is dead? Do you know what you're saying?"

A sorcerer who had returned with Hen Gedymdeith rebuked angrily. The sorcerer apprentice immediately shrank his neck, his mouth quivering as he tried to speak, but not a word came out. Hen Gedymdeith waved his hand, motioning for the sorcerer to step back. He then bent down and gently asked: "Speak slowly, what exactly happened here?"

As the sorcerers questioned the apprentice, it seemed like everyone instinctively ignored the Witchers from the School of the Wolf. However, ever since Hen Gedymdeith appeared, an invisible sense of pressure had slowly started to build, and it was steadily growing stronger.

It was a presence akin to being under the protection of Magic, yet not quite the same.

It stimulated the Witchers' heightened senses, constantly issuing warnings.

A strong sense of danger emerged, as if hundreds of sharp steel needles were pressing tightly against their skin. It was clear that Hen Gedymdeith was not as gentle as he appeared on the surface. At least, not to the Witchers.

"So this is the power of the Mage, the strength of the most ancient human sorcerers?"

Allen resisted the urge to draw his sword, doing his best to empty his mind, making sure the sorcerers couldn't read a single thought from him. At this moment, the satisfaction Allen had felt from easily killing several large monsters instantly vanished.

"I'm still too weak!" Allen thought.

Sol seemed to sense Allen's discomfort and took a step to the side, shielding Allen from view. Vesemir, too, was watching the sorcerers warily, shielding Hughes, Bond, and Fred behind him. The sorcerers of Ban Ard didn't pay much attention to the small movements of the two Witcher masters.

They all focused on the apprentice sorcerer who was brave enough to speak.

Listening to his account of everything that had happened.

From the duel tournament between the Wolf School and the Cat School apprentices, where Allen single-handedly defeated three Witchers from the Cat School. To the sudden Conjunction of the Spheres, from which a large number of drowners and a massive unnamed monster emerged.

"Impossible!" One of the sorcerers behind Hen Gedymdeith immediately interrupted: "How could there be a Conjunction of the Spheres without any spatial disturbance? The entire arena is inscribed with runes; even teleportation Magic requires one to be outside the arena..."

"Ahem~" Another sorcerer cleared his throat, glancing at the Witchers from the School of the Wolf before interrupting that sorcerer as well. "Let him finish, Pisces."

The sorcerer called Pisces was momentarily taken aback. Then, deep in thought, he stepped back.

"Go on," Hen Gedymdeith encouraged gently.

With that, the apprentice sorcerer, as if under the influence of some mind Magic, suddenly went from being terrified to eagerly continuing his account. The expressions on the faces of the sorcerers shifted from disdainful to incredulous as the story unfolded.

Two suspected Conjunctions of the Spheres, with one even involving an eclipse. But the key detail was that while they had been in a meeting at Aretuza, the sun had been shining as brightly as it usually does in spring.

They had returned only because the Dean had sensed strong spatial disturbances and followed them back. To find out that the source of the disturbance was right in their own home. And to encounter the "Curse of the Black Sun" as well—it was all quite unbelievable.

Compared to such earth-shattering news, the fact that a newly trialed Witcher had single-handedly killed two massive monsters seemed trivial by comparison. Only Hen Gedymdeith seemed to ponder something as he glanced at Allen, as if something had occurred to him.

That sharp, deep gaze, seemingly capable of seeing through everything, startled Allen. He feared that the truth behind the Conjunction of the Spheres had been discovered. It was only when the middle-aged sorcerer nonchalantly looked away that Allen breathed a sigh of relief.

After a long time, the sorcerer apprentice finished recounting the events, with other apprentices occasionally adding details.

Finally, when the tale reached the point where the Witchers of the School of the Wolf had slain the monsters and saved the lives of the apprentices, nearly all the sorcerer apprentices looked at the Witchers with grateful eyes. Even the newly arrived sorcerers exchanged glances. The strange oppressive atmosphere pressing down on the Witchers of the School of the Wolf dissipated instantly.

After a long silence, Hen Gedymdeith suddenly changed his tone, offering a warm smile of apology to Sol: "Grandmaster, on behalf of Ban Ard Academy, I thank your school for its assistance."

Sol nodded slightly, waiting for the sorcerer to continue. Everyone knew that Witchers required payment for killing monsters.

"As a token of our gratitude," Hen Gedymdeith paused, "how does ten thousand Orens sound?"

"Hiss~"

All the sorcerer apprentices around them almost simultaneously took a sharp breath. This reward was clearly quite high, but Sol knew that there were bound to be more requests behind it. After a moment's thought, he nodded in agreement. Then, everyone's gaze instinctively turned to what they had previously been deliberately avoiding.

The figure covered by the banner of the black unicorn.

The figure of the King of Kaedwen!

....…

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205. A Difficult Situation.

206. A-Level Evaluation Again.

207. Alder Knights.

208. Unboxing and New Skills.

209. Another Prophecy!