A cool morning breeze blew down from the mountains, rustling the leaves. It drifted into the brightly lit statue room, illuminated even in the misty morning due to its intricate structure.
In the warmth of the sunlight, a young boy lay curled up on the floor, his eyebrows furrowed slightly even in sleep.
"Chirp, chirp~"
A clear birdsong echoed from outside the window.
The boy with twin swords strapped to his back suddenly opened his eyes. His deep blue pupils trembled, shifting swiftly from a line to round.
"Ah—"
He let out an instinctive scream, only to realize he hadn't melted away. Covered in leather armor, with arms and legs clad in woven chain mail...
He was intact.
There was no scorching lava turning him into steaming blood, starting from his hands.
"No..."
The witcher withdrew his right hand from the wooden pillar. He looked at the indentation, a noticeable handprint pressed into the pillar. After two seconds of surprise, he brought his hand up and clenched it gently.
"Boom!"
The immense strength in his palm compressed the air with a blast in an instant.
He... seemed stronger.
Standing up, dazed.
"Click, click, click~"
His entire skeleton sounded like firecrackers, his muscles hiding an explosive power akin to a volcanic eruption.
"What did I do? Why have I suddenly grown so much stronger?"
He opened the Witcher's Log with a thought.
[Name: Allen]
[Age: 14]
[Title: The Miracle Child]
[HP: 100%, Stamina 650/650, Magic 730/730]
[Attributes: Strength 61 (+10), Agility 60 (+10), Constitution 65 (+10), Perception 68, Mystery 73]
[Affinity: Water 14 (Magic Source: Water 4%), Earth 9, Wind 8, Fire 3, Space 2]
What the heck!
His Strength, Agility, and Constitution had increased by one-fifth!
No wonder the changes felt so pronounced; he even struggled a bit to control his body. And, if he remembered correctly...
[Name: Vesemir]
[Attributes: Strength 53, Agility 57, Constitution 69, Perception 70, Mystery 42]
"Exactly..."
"Now, Vesemir only surpasses me by four points in Constitution, with his average stats way below mine!"
The witcher's heart swelled with joy.
Now, even without Blizzard and Alghoul decoction, he should be able to defeat Vesemir... right?
Allen felt a bit uncertain and decided to test it when he got the chance.
"But..."
"Where did this sudden advantage come from?"
Pulling himself out of the excitement of his newfound strength, he began to recall last night's events.
"Could it have been the King Kanu?" the witcher muttered.
Yes!
Before he passed out, that was the only possible source of his sudden surge in power.
Yet, the witcher still felt it unreal.
What kind of place had those seven golden treasure chests brought him to?
His sight, hearing, smell, touch...
He could still feel that overwhelming pressure and now this leap in strength—all as vivid as reality...
But...
But there was no way it was real!
Not to mention that it all started with the seven golden chests.
During the scene transition in "Battle Roar: Berserk," he saw the endless green turn into a desert last night. The Cyclops giants charged with fierce determination toward some unknown enemy.
And...
"Huh~"
Right before he lost consciousness, there was a sigh deep in his mind and the reflection of a Cyclops giant in King Kanu's eyes.
Was he Itali...
That Cyclops ghostly spirit he had finished off with Balmur, screaming something at the top of its lungs?
---------------------
An impossible event becoming reality only made the mysteries deepen...
The witcher looked at the ancient, translucent pages of the Witcher's Log in front of him, his expression complex. He was more curious than ever about the origins of the Witcher's Log.
"Right..." Lost in a web of bizarre questions after his sudden power boost, he suddenly remembered: "What about the red 'chest' from last night, and the purple chest that hadn't been absorbed? What did they hold?"
The instant he opened the system prompts, a notification popped up without needing to search.
[Ding! Acquired: The Path of Battle Roar, Blessed Battle Roar Horn of the Cyclops Clan *1]
Huh?
The Path of Battle Roar...
The witcher froze.
Was this some kind of skill?
He opened his inventory and scrolled from top to bottom.
Only one item was new—a weathered horn with a chipped gray-brown icon.
[Name: Blessed Battle Roar Horn of the Cyclops Clan]
[Type: Magic Item]
[Function: Amplifies the strength of roars to a moderate degree, greatly increasing the range of roar projection]
[Note: Blessed by the alien deity Shagadazar, the horn's power is greatly enhanced, and wearing it daily also grants a special effect.]
The Battle Roar Horn's attributes seemed good. But it was clearly a specific tool, only effective for those who practiced The Path of Battle Roar. So, here was the question.
"Where is The Path of Battle Roar?"
Allen opened his personal stats page and began to search through his skills.
He didn't have much hope; after all, this wasn't a game where you could click a mouse and unleash a skill without any understanding.
Any skills listed in his skill panel, aside from unique skills, were ones he knew.
A skill newly learned wouldn't be entirely unfamiliar.
"No unique skills..."
Allen hesitated and continued scanning.
"Hm..."
He noticed a change in his last skill draw, squinting as he looked closer.
Wait!
He recalled the previous skill wasn't Battle Roar, but rather Battle Cry...
The witcher frowned slightly, checking the details with a thought.
[Name: Berserk]
[Type: Battle Roar]
[Requirement: Basic understanding of The Path of Battle Roar]
[Passive Effects: By routinely maintaining the Battle Roar: Berserk energy flow, one can
1. Gradually enhance strength, agility, and constitution.
2. Increase the activation speed of Battle Roar: Berserk by 50%.
3. Boost the intensity and range of Battle Roar: Berserk by 20%.
[Active Effect: Consumes energy to let out a roar, placing allies within range into a berserk state. When this state ends, affected targets enter a weakened state.]
[Note: Exercise caution when using the active effect. Upon mastering The Path of Battle Roar, restrictions are lifted. At the extreme limit, Battle Roar: Berserk may cause the roarer and affected targets to die when the berserk state ends!!!]
?
??
!!!
"Is this even the same skill as before?!"
The witcher could hardly believe his eyes.
Passive effects combined with active effects—what kind of god-tier skill was this?
And the most crucial part: "Gradually enhance strength, agility, and constitution."
Could just breathing and speaking make him stronger?
Thinking back to this morning when his stats in strength, agility, and constitution had all been boosted...
"Perhaps this is also the doing of King Kanu?" the witcher wondered.
And one more thing different from the Battle Cry—the levels of the Battle Roar had been removed.
While this meant Allen couldn't use experience beads to enhance Battle Roar's power, it also wouldn't consume his levels.
Besides.
Just looking at the effects of "Battle Roar: Berserk"—this was equivalent to receiving it at full power right from the start. Moreover, it didn't even take up a character level as a god-tier skill.
Now, the Witcher's mind had only one final question:"Where exactly is The Path of Battle Roar?"
He willed himself to flip through the pages of the Hunter's Manual from beginning to end, examining each carefully. Personal panel, inventory, monster encyclopedia, Divine Dreamwalking...
Wait!
The Witcher suddenly noticed that after the Divine Dreamwalking page, a new, turnable page had appeared.
On that old, gray-brown tab were the weathered words "Path of Battle Roar."
"Roar!"
As soon as he flipped to that page, a desolate roar echoed in the Witcher's mind.
"Crack~"
It sounded like glass shattering from the force of that roar. The page, hidden in darkness, instantly split open.
A strange scarlet light burst from the cracks.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
Two more roars followed, each louder than the last.
The darkness shattered completely.
In front of the Witcher appeared a gray heart, resembling a stone heart. Countless withered veins extended from the heart, with large and small nodes along these veins.
He traced these veins.
The veins on the left, right, and bottom were all gray, stretching into the void.
Only at the very top was a large red node, positioned like a person's throat.
Focusing his will on it, the term Battle Roar: Rage immediately appeared. From this red node, tracing down toward the heart, he noticed a smaller, gray node. The vein connecting these two nodes was trembling, as if the red one were transferring blood and energy to the gray one.
So this is... a skill tree?
He focused his will on the gray node.
Ding! Would you like to unlock "Battle Roar: Natural Speech"?
No cost? Can he learn it directly?
After a moment's hesitation, Allen willed it to activate.
"Bang!"
The connecting vein trembled, striking the gray node and causing it to shudder, turning red. In the next instant, a surge of information flooded his mind.
[Name: Wild Speech]
[Type: Battle Roar]
[Learning Requirements: Entry into The Path of Battle Roar, unlocking "Battle Roar: Rage"]
[Passive Effect: By maintaining the power flow of "Battle Roar: Wild Speech" in daily life, you can:
1. Slowly enhance perception attributes.
2. Reduce hostility from low-intelligence creatures.
Active Effect: Consumes energy, enabling the user to sense the thoughts of low-intelligence creatures and transmit simple commands. ]
[Note: Are you sure The Path of Battle Roar isn't actually the Druid's Path? ]
Not bad.
A very practical skill, although it's a bit of a shame that maintaining it only enhances perception. After absorbing the information in his mind, the Witcher traced the veins further down.
Here, the veins branched into three small nodes, with one leading straight to the heart.
The other two branched off on either side.
He focused his will on each of them, revealing their names: Battle Roar: Life Whisper, Battle Roar: Trap Perception, and Battle Roar: Scent Suppression.
Battle Roar: Life Whisper was the one linked directly to the main vein.
The Witcher thought it over.
Although the function of "Life Whisper" was unclear from its name, the other two were more straightforward.
Especially Battle Roar: Scent Suppression, which would pair perfectly with the enchanted tool Francesca gave him — the "Nightfall" — which grants invisibility and silences sounds.
Just imagine.
If someone could move through the night invisible, silent, and without any scent...
Oh, and with the Cat's Eye potion for night vision as well...
Even Allen himself couldn't think of a way to defend against such stealth.
But considering that unlocking Battle Roars might have some hidden costs, the Witcher chose Battle Roar: Life Whisper instead.
After all, it was blocking the main path leading directly to the heart.
And further down, the Battle Roars along this main vein would surely be more powerful. Moreover, the main path Battle Roars would eventually need to be unlocked, so it was a wise choice. Thus,he focused his will.
[Ding! Would you like to spend 100 experience points to unlock "Battle Roar: Life Whisper"?]
He stared at the red text in front of him for a long time, then exited and checked the other two Battle Roars. Both also required 100 experience points.
"Ridiculous!"
He had saved up for half a year, only managing to gather just under two hundred experience points. Last night's Divine Dreamwalking had used 100, leaving him with just 77, not enough to unlock even one Battle Roar.
"Hunter's Manual, you're truly a rip-off!!!"
The Witcher gritted his teeth.
He had unlocked the red treasure chest — The Path of Battle Roar — through his own skills, so why should he have to pay experience points to buy skills?
Plus,he still had Signs, Alchemy, Rituals, Swordsmanship...
so many skills, not to mention the "Blink" skill he'd long been planning to invest in once the curse was lifted. There was no way he could pour all his experience points here.
Just then, as Allen gritted his teeth, intending to close The Path of Battle Roar and check the system logs he hadn't been able to review since lifting the curse…
The surge of energy from Battle Roar: Wild Speech reverberated through the gray node connected to Battle Roar: Life Whisper.
The words Battle Roar: Forbidden Space flashed briefly before fading.
The Witcher froze.
"I think... I may have found a way to deal with the Wild Hunt…"
At that moment,
"Clang~"
A familiar soft sound echoed from outside the sanctuary. Shortly after, elegant footsteps could be heard in the hallway outside the statue room.
"It's Lady Vera…"
The Witcher looked up at the sky. It was indeed getting late.
"Allen, how's the curse of the Evil God? Has it been lifted?"
Before Lady Vera even entered the statue room, her worried voice floated in from the hallway. Soon after, her porcelain-smooth, flawless face appeared in the doorway, carried by a hurried but graceful stride.
The fresh fragrance of oranges mingled with cardamom filled the air. The Witcher willed himself to put away the Hunter's Manual.
"If the curse isn't resolved, we could travel to the Druids' Circle in Mayena, southern Temeria…"
"I reached out to Lady Visenna, the leader of Mayena's Druid Circle, last night by letter. The Druids are skilled in purification and healing; they might be able to cure this curse…"
"Don't worry!"
"Lady Visenna is an old friend of mine. She'll do everything she can to heal you…"
The Witcher hadn't even had a chance to reply.
Vera, like a rapid-fire arrow, said a whole string of words, urging Allen to follow her to the Druids' Circle in Mayena.
The warmth in her care touched his heart.
Lady Vera, who had no personal ties to him, had been dedicated to finding ways to lift the curse for him.
The leader of the Druid Circle…
It couldn't have been cheap or easy, even for an old friend, to seek the help of such a notable figure.
"I'm alright now," Allen said with a smile.
"Alright, then I'll go call Ianna right now..." The sorceress paused, "Hmm... What did you just say?"
"The Evil God's curse was lifted by the Goddess last night," Allen nodded, "We can head back to Kaer Morhen today."
Hearing this, the sorceress couldn't hide her joy.
"Tweet-tweet~"
The sun shone brightly outside, a kingfisher chirped, and green trees rustled in the breeze. It had been a long time since they left Kaer Morhen; it was finally time to go home.
........
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
296. Surprise.
297. The Cambridge Ceremony.
298. Kaer Morhen Is Missing?
299. The Heavily Guarded Kaer Morhen.
300. The Evolution of the Mirage Pearl.