Welcome to Haeudvun.

"So... are you sure, Coen?" - asked Alan with slightly blushing look. It was hard to guess whether he was ashamed or angry, but the fact that he was reluctant was very clearly written all over his face.

"Khm... I guess... I mean, it is not like we have a choice." - answered the witcher with a shifty look to his eyes. He wasn't willing to do it first too.

"You know, if we do this there will be no turning back. It is final." - said Alan trying to step back but was brought back by a strong hand.

"I feel comfort if we are together." - said Coen with stoic look.

"Coen..."

"Alan..."

"Coen, no way in hell I'm staying in an inn with this kind of shitty name and whore's advertisement!" - raged Alan in defiance, trying with all his might to change this fate.

"Do you think I want to come inside this shitmagnet shack? But we can't sleep on the street!" - screamed depressed Coen.

They both looked at the sign atop the entrance to the inn.

"Fuck." - they both sighed in defeat. Ghouls can't, nekkers can't, hell, they together can perhaps even kill a dragon. Well, okay, a wyvern, normal one, not royal. But today, here and now, they suffered an utter defeat by this.

"Who the hell will name the inn 'Pig's Wet Dreams'?" - cursed Coen while furiously rubbing his beard, which somehow became unusually itchy. Will it rain or get bloody?

"Yeah, and put an advertisement under it. How is it, eh? 'Best Pussies for Fun, Come and have a Run'! Coen, just kill me, this is too much!" - nearly cried Alan, while two drunkards stepped out of it with brick like faces, noses as large as potatoes and rags on, being similar dirty as the muddy ground under their boots, they never the less looked happy.

Someone clearly had nice race out there.

"Best... yeah... well, maybe we should first visit the contractor who requested a witcher?"

"And you were silent all this time? Onwards we go!" - Alan screamed and escaped, barely holding himself back from directly teleporting outside this place they call a town, which is just and overgrown village. It doesn't even have walls around, just fences. And even they not everywhere.

"Come on, at least they have no sewers here." - Coen grinned happily at that really questionable advantage of a settlement. - "Aside from this inn, Haeudvun is not that bad place to be."

"Yeah, sure." - looked Alan at the cow passing near him and taking a dump right at the center of a road. It glanced at the youth with arrogant defiance and mooed, showing whose the boss around this square meter of the ground really turned out to be.

"Well, let's say they have a certain local flavor." - compromised Coen.

"I see you are a man with glass always full. Even if it's only barely scratching the bottom." - said Alan. - "Come on, lead the way."

"It is handy to look at the better part of the picture." - witcher gave a signature wry smile. Perhaps without such positive outlook with the way they were treated one will really go emotionless killing machine route.

"Oh, like you prefer to see the better part of a woman, ignoring other inconsistencies? So that was your secret to appreciate a night with that woman the other day?" - Alan smirked, remembering how he stared at the woman of some really extreme appearance for a serious admirers of unconventional taste. She will be one hell of a sight to remember from time to time, when he wants to scare of straight guys with just a image post through the Vibe.

"I..." - he hanged his head low. - "Don't remind me... booze is evil."

"Yeah, right." - Alan looked at the bottle of wine in his hand. - "By the way, do you know where to go?"

"We have two contracts here actually, second I received at the gates. We will go the later one, as first is quite routine one. Ghouls here, nekkers there, well, your every day shit for a land clean up. As for the one we are looking for, it can be something very unusual. Address was pretty clear in request papers... hm..." - Coen nodded and took a sip.

"Here we are by the way. But before we go in I must remind you of something." - he stopped by the corner of the street. - "Sometimes I got in very complicated things. For most part we, witchers, always see what fear, greed, jealousy or superstitions and blind faith can do to reason and people. Human nature is more often than not selfish and ugly, so what I want to say is... don't get too emotional, kid. Are we good?"

"I guess. I mean I won't go on magical rampage or what not, if that is what you mean. I think after several weeks together you can tell that I'm not really a hysterical type." - Alan said while nodding.

"That is one of the reasons why I even talk to you and taking you with me. That and your talent. I even want to ask... are you sure you never trained in swordsmanship? I mean, after just two weeks you trained to the point if basic reflexes and that take several years normally." - Coen was very impressed by this, but he also knew that it is impossible to build a solid base without proper equipment. That is why he wanted Alan to go to Kaer Morhen even more now. Vesemir can make him one of the strongest swordsmen alive.

"What can I say?" - Alan tried to act smug, but it wasn't his forte and was seen through quite easily. - "I'm just that good."

"Anyway, after that we might need to find you a sword. Steel one." - added Coen the last sentence, before Alan started to ask for a silver one again.

Actually, witcher world is full of blacksmithing masterpieces and relic swords that can cut stone and steel like butter. And apparently weapons here have a real history and power. They are imbued with very strong magic.

When Alan took a closer look at Coen's silver sword, he saw clearly that either it is metal, forge methods or runes engraved, even average sword is on par with Isu best cold weapons and that was very surprising! How did he come to such conclusion? Easy, Amal taught him well about forging too, but Alan never had a chance to try his hand before. No materials was first issue, second his lack of magic teachings to create engravings on Isu language. Of course he didn't compare Coen swords with Apple of Eden, as it was one of the deadliest and surely the most forbidden creation of Isu race and from adamantine to boot.

When one starts to talk about adamantine, everything else became broken and meaningless. Where that metal even came from was a question in itself.

However the rune magic was appreciated highly by Alan and it went to the point, where he thought that most likely in terms of magic the current witcher world might be on par or even higher than Isu at their peak.

But core magic language is one thing, there are many similar languages out there, like ancient elven, dragons or high demons, they all stand on similar height of magical study and Isu is only one among them.

The real magical technology is different here.

'It seems I can learn much in this world and gear here will be very useful to me. Let alone this is a magical world and only in terms of resources it is hundreds times richer in comparison to Earth, albeit a Harry Potter version one.'

Another thing that Alan discovered is that so called signs are very similar with wand magic, but broader and can be casted in many different ways according to the meaning the wielder incorporated it with, but they were far from normal magic that mages use here.

Not that powerful.

And the main issue about might of witcher spells is ability of locals to use natural energy around, and not just mana. That is actually something not seen in Harry Potter world at all.

Signs still better than normal spells from Harry Potter. However, the later if developed to instant cast and further integrated with Isu language can turn to be something that in this world is known as Thought Magic. A long lost art of creating spells using only mind.

Albeit lost, some mages of witcher world can train to perform low class spells almost instantaneously, however if one wants to describe witcher spells properly, it would be a synergy of three words: array, thought and emotions. That is why they are tremendously more powerful than Harry Potter version spells, even Isu ones.

Casting signs took professionalism, however real magic is an art.

"Fine." - said Alan, but emphasis on steel sword really tasted bad.

"Okay, let's go in and let me do the talking." - Coen knocked at the door and it was only half a minute later it was opened by a man in his fifties with a clearly scared look.