After leaving the cave by the Killer's Lake, Allen made a brief stop at the Circle of Elements before heading back to Old Sea Fortress, which was already in the late afternoon. As for the Bog nymph's corpse, Allen didn't bring it back with him.
Encountering rare, large monsters once or twice could be chalked up to coincidence. But if it happened a few more times, even a fool would know something was up. The Conjunction of the Spheres was his core secret, and he didn't intend to expose it until his strength reached that of a Grandmaster level. Therefore, after pondering in the cave for a moment, he dragged the Bog Nymph's corpse to Big Rock and his group. In exchange for nine pieces of rotten meat, he asked them to hide it somewhere.
The rock trolls' camp was at a high altitude, where snow persisted year-round. The Bog Nymph's corpse wouldn't rot even if left there for a year or two. Plus, it gave Allen more opportunities to interact with Big Rock and the others, using the excuse of delivering rotten meat to improve their relationship. Judging by the reluctant looks on Big Rock, Broken Rock, and Little Rock's faces when Allen left, his strategy was quite successful. A few more deliveries of rotten meat, and he might even try to ask for some blood.
"It's a pity that the Circle of Elements, much like the Power of the Elements in the game, has such a brilliant river of magic that can't be absorbed to reduce the cooldown of the Conjunction of the Spheres," Allen thought as he unlocked the door to his quarters.
After returning, Allen bathed, changed clothes, and took out the Melitele statue from his chest, holding it tightly. "Goddess Melitele, bless me!" he prayed silently before opening the chest with his mind.
[Ding! Bog Nymph's Chest *4]
White, blue, white, white—four beams of light flashed.
"Well, it seems Goddess Melitele isn't home today," Allen mocked himself.
[Received: Experience Orbs 3, Bog Nymph's Heart Essence 1]
Hmm, not too bad... Including the nine experience orbs from the battle rewards, this hunt alone boosted his experience by the equivalent of 1,200 small experience orbs. That gave a good recovery to his Ritual Studies. And with two large monster heart essences, the haul was quite decent. Indeed, hunting large monsters is always more rewarding.
Feeling content, Allen didn't hesitate and promptly used the two Bog Nymph Heart Essences. The cold liquid entered his throat, and a surge of icy energy, mixed with a heavy sensation, spread through his body the moment it reached his stomach, violently cleansing his body. It permeated every cell, every bone.
A powerful sense of strength filled his limbs, and the mutant organ next to his heart seemed to grow.
"Ah~" Allen shuddered, unable to suppress a moan of pleasure. Within seconds, he absorbed both vials of essence. He opened his character panel with his mind.
[Attributes: Strength 31, Agility 29, Constitution 34, Perception 27, Mystery 40]
[Affinity: Water 7, Earth 3]
Though the attribute boost wasn't as significant as the Drowner King Heart Essence, the elemental affinity from the Bog Nymph was double. The size and power of his Ice Spear spell had significantly increased, bringing him a step closer to wielding a true ice spear, as thick as the Drowner King's thigh, rather than just a toothpick.
"It's a shame I don't have any Earth element skills to use with the three points of Earth affinity," Allen lamented before going to bed.
-----------
After hunting the Bog Nymph, Allen's life returned to its usual routine. Since he no longer needed to attend Ritual Studies, he convinced Vera with an excuse and devoted nearly all his time to the Witcher Corps.
A few days ago, Allen had asked Vesemir and the sorceress about the strength of the King of Kaedwen and Ban Ard Academy. Neither of them had paid much attention to the king's military power, so they didn't know. However, with his enhanced attributes, Allen vaguely recalled from his past life's multiple readings of the Witcher's original work that the lord of Kaedwen's vassal state, Kaedwen's Garrison, Nedamir, had 300 cavalry and 1,500 infantry in his personal guard.
If a vassal state was that strong, one can only imagine the power of Kaedwen, the largest of the Northern Kingdoms. The king's personal guard would certainly not be less than a thousand cavalry, with countless infantry. Of course, King Henselt of Kaedwen was a belligerent and greedy man. Not only did he have disputes with the elves, but he also had territorial conflicts with his neighbors, Aedirn and Redania. So, the actual forces he could muster were likely less than that.
However, Kaer Morhen only had records of sixty official witchers, and that number included Allen and his three companions. Among them, there were even a dozen or so who were disabled and no longer able to fight. The disparity in combat strength was overwhelming!
Moreover, this didn't even include the mages of Ban Ard Academy.
"Hen Gedymdeith is the most powerful sorcerer alive," the sorceress had said. She didn't mention the other sorcerers, but there were likely more of them than the members of the Wolf School.
But then again, with such powerful factions joining forces, going to such lengths just to deal with a school of less than a hundred people—there must be something they were wary of. For instance, reputation.
Witchers had been protecting the human world from monsters for centuries, saving countless lives. This wasn't the game world where witchers were reduced to a handful, easily maligned. The smear campaign against witchers had only just begun, and more people remembered them as protectors who risked their lives to slay monsters.
Therefore, declaring war on an organization like the Wolf School would deal a significant blow to their reputation. And for a king, a damaged reputation meant emboldened political rivals, rebellious nobles, and a populace ready to rise up. For Ban Ard Academy, it would mean a loss of students, rejection by nobles, and hatred from the public, making them the scapegoats when monsters ran rampant.
This crucial point took Allen days to figure out. So, even though the king and Ban Ard had decided to eliminate Kaer Morhen, they could only do so in secret. For the Wolf School, this meant a chance at survival. Thus, a solution to their dire situation presented itself.
On one hand, there was the Witcher Corps. The Drowner essence had already helped seven students pass the Trial of the Grasses, nearly a tenth of the current witchers. Over time, with a zero mortality rate in the Trial of the Grasses, their numbers would only increase. However, these novices were far from being seasoned witchers and couldn't even take on a single cavalryman. No matter how many witchers there were, it wouldn't make much difference.
Therefore, Allen needed to quickly upgrade the Corps, unlocking more member slots. By using Corps skills like [Instruction] to enhance their abilities and [Loot Lock] to gain experience orbs, essences, and treasure chests, the new witchers could improve their strength rapidly. Although they wouldn't catch up to Allen, they could surpass most ordinary witchers in no time.
On the other hand, there was the Wolf and Cat Schools' apprentice dueling tournament, which provided an opportunity to gauge the king's attitude. Although the Wolf School's position was non-negotiable, they could feign compromise, and in extreme cases, the wolf could even become a viper. This would buy the Witcher Corps more time to develop.
However, there was one major problem. When Allen left Kaer Morhen to attend the apprentice dueling tournament, what would happen to the Witcher Corps in Old Sea Fortress?
...…
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
126. The Corps, The Corps.
127. Mary Is Not Mary.
128. Destiny Favors the True Witcher.
129. Resonance.
130. What Are You Doing?