The Witcher: Grinding Experience Starting as a Wolf School Witcher

Chapter 76 Legendary King Dismode

Easter Sunday, October 15, 1230.

A cave behind the Temple of Meriteli.

The top of the cave was carved out by humans and pieced together with pieces of natural crystal.

Sunlight streamed into the cave through these crystals, and rows of enormous flowerpots lined both sides, overflowing with densely packed clumps of mushrooms, sweet osmanthus, carnivorous plants…

In the middle is a puddle, surrounded by a wooden frame. Plants grow freely from here, climbing the wooden frame or the stone wall, emitting the fragrance of grass and trees.

In a sunlit spot, there was a rectangular wooden table displaying alchemy equipment such as crucibles and distillation apparatus.

Nannick stood by the table, his right palm pressing down on a corner of the yellowed parchment, his eyes scanning it quickly.

Alwin stood to one side, wearing a clean, silver-studded leather jacket, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.

This place looks just like a glass greenhouse, with sunlight gathering inside. He was seeing many of the plants for the first time.

Mia rolled up her sleeves, holding a bone club in her hand, and filled a small basket at her waist with half a bunch of grayish-yellow leaves.

"It's prickly grass..."

Arwen recognized the herb.

Mia stood up, wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, and then gave Alwin a sweet smile.

Alwin nodded in acknowledgment, and the latter left the room.

In the past few days, apart from his daily training and helping out at the temple with odd jobs, he has been here seeking alchemical knowledge from Nannick.

His gaze swept across the panel.

【Herbal Gathering & Alchemy Lv.2: 812/1000】

A faint voice came from behind.

"Looks like one of our girls' hearts is about to be stolen."

Alwin turned his head and met Nannick's narrowed eyes.

The latter had a teasing smile on his lips.

"She just picked 21 stalks of prickly pear grass, six of which had damaged roots and stems, which is very unusual for her."

Alwin did not speak.

Nannick shrugged. She had a lot of contact with witchers and knew their personality.

When faced with a difficult question, I simply remain silent.

"I have already reviewed your body-tempering alchemy formula."

Alwin's cat-like eyes narrowed slightly, revealing interest.

Nannick picked up the parchment with his right hand. "Have you read 'World History'? I saw it in your library."

"I've read a bit," Alwin replied quickly. Tisaya had also given him a complete set, but he hadn't had time to read it carefully before he went down the mountain.

Nannick's gaze fell on the gleaming tubers of the yam not far away.

"1500 years ago, the conjunction of the celestial spheres occurred, bringing various races and terrifying creatures to this world. However, there was a certain order in which they came to this world. Legend has it that the first to arrive were dwarves, but some say they were goblins and gnomes."

"According to the records in World History, the first time we northerners landed on this continent was 760 years ago, which is 470 years ago."

"At that time, the northern continent was covered with primeval forests, and there were countless man-eating monsters. Even dragons appeared frequently. They could easily destroy armies and burn down towns by simply breathing dragon fire."

"The legendary King Dismod and two other human monarchs led wizards and northerners in a long and arduous struggle to gain more living space. Even after a hundred years of cleansing, the situation remained extremely difficult."

"At that time, people urgently needed a powerful and professional monster hunter, preferably with a high level of morality, to deal with the killer monsters in the jungle and swamp, so as to protect people's safety."

"Wizards began human modification research in Risberg, and monarchs from various countries invested countless gold coins in it."

"Among them are some finished products, but they all have defects."

"Until the 10th century, several children emerged from Risberg who had cat-like eyes and reacted several times faster than normal people."

"The origins of the Witcher," Alwin said.

Nannick nodded. "Yes, that's the story of the origin of the Witcher. Vesemir should have told you about it too."

"But as I just mentioned, before we developed the Witcher, we had some other results, and this Body Tempering Alchemy was one of them."

"At that time, dragons were rampant, and even the sub-dragon species posed a great threat to humanity."

"This formula is specifically designed to deal with dragons. It uses the hearts of giant dragons and wyverns, combined with rare magical plants, to create an ointment. When applied to the body, it will grant power comparable to that of dragons."

"But..." Nannick paused, "the heart, like the brain, according to the doctrine, carries the soul of life."

"And dragons are an extremely powerful race. The lingering aura of violence will continue to erode the user's will, making them rage, extreme, and bloodthirsty, with none spared."

"As I just told you, the king desires monster hunters of high moral character, preferably knights, right?"

"Yes," Alwin said earnestly.

"The most important virtue of a knight is loyalty, but nine out of ten knights who use this ointment become bloodthirsty monsters, which is something the king does not want to see."

"Soon afterward, the first batch of Witcher children appeared. They had stable personalities and, although they looked fierce and vicious, they were malleable. Compared with the extremely unstable bloodthirsty monsters, it was easy to tell which was better."

"From then on, this body-tempering and gold-refining ointment gradually fell into disuse and disappeared into the long river of history."

Arwin stroked his chin. "Nannick, does the temple have the corresponding alchemical herbs?"

Nannick looked into his cat-like eyes. "You want to give it a try?"

"Um."

"Some of these herbs are very rare, and it takes time to collect them. The same goes for making this ointment; the success rate is very low."

Seeing that Alwin's gaze did not waver, Nannick's expression also became serious.

"You may try, but I must remind you that it must be done inside the temple. If any problems arise, I can stop it immediately."

"Of course."

"The temple should also retain a portion of the ointment and the materials from the royal pterosaur."

"No problem, thank you."

"Hehe, I'll say thank you when you succeed."

"Oh, by the way," Alwin said, taking an amethyst necklace from his pocket, "could you tell me what this is?"

Nannick took it and carefully rubbed his palm. "In my experience, this should be a magical item, but I don't know its specific function."

"Besides, I'm not a sorceress."

Nannick returned the amethyst to Arwen, and the two left the crystal greenhouse and returned to the temple hall.

Beneath the stained-glass dome at the feet of the goddess Meritelli, a man in red and a man in linen kneel, their heads bowed, their faces covered in bruises, silently reciting prayers.

Arwin glanced at them; they were the red-robed priest and the "shareholder" who had instigated the protesters that day.

In the past few days, he and Nannick interrogated the other party, using the Yakshi sign, but unfortunately there was a mysterious broker involved, and they did not know the real mastermind behind it all.

The two men seemed to notice Alwin's gaze, and their bodies trembled violently.

Just then, a commotion arose from the direction of the temple gate.

Nannick frowned, looking at the crack in the door that had been pushed open, a feeling of unease creeping into his heart.

She recalled the prophecy of High Priest Asumta that day, and murmured, "Danger is also coming..."

Arwin frowned. Through the peephole, he saw many heads, noisy and holding pitchforks and flails.

"You dare to come again?"

Arwen pulled up his hood and dashed out.