(T/N: So there was lot of mistakes in name of witchers by me. So I have fixed it, from now on they will decrease. As for the earlier chapters I will fix them.)
To deal with Aedirn, the kings didn't have many options, and Allen believed most of them would rely on Ban Ard.
But now, with Sunny's radical faction, other factions of Ban Ard's sorcerers, Hen Gedymdeith, Ortolan, Rissberg's civilian cooperative organization, and now adding in the kings and great nobles of the Northern Kingdoms…
Honestly…
There were too many variables, exceeding Allen's ability to make any definitive decisions. All he could do was speculate and observe the situation unfold. Meanwhile, there was still the issue of the Royal Griffin lurking in Aedirn like a ticking time bomb.
It was uncertain whether Demavend II would feel indebted to them for their free assistance and help cover it up.
Exposing their involvement in subduing the Royal Griffin for Vengerberg wouldn't actually harm Aedirn at this stage—in fact, it might even be beneficial.
After all, Allen and Vesemir had already done the maximum they could. No matter what, the Wolf School wouldn't directly step in to help Aedirn fight.
Aedirn's greatest need for the Wolf School would likely come after the war—helping to eliminate ghouls and other monsters that thrived in war's aftermath, allowing the occupied territories to quickly recover their agriculture, craftsmanship, and trade.
Logically speaking, Demavend II should understand this and might even take the initiative to cover for them to gain the Wolf School's favor.
But then again…
As Nenneke had once said, the kings of the Northern Kingdoms were mostly products of inbreeding, making their behavior hard to predict. So for now, Allen could only wait and observe.
As for Kaer Morhen…
Such major news couldn't be kept completely secret.
After discussing with Vesemir, Allen briefly and objectively wrote down the sequence of events—from the unexpected encounter with Sunny, rejecting the dwarven master Houghton Qui-Gon's commission, Vilgefortz's ambush, subduing the Royal Griffin, to the potential fall of Kaedwen—and sent it back with several carrier pigeons.
Sol was the Grandmaster of the Wolf School. He had the right and responsibility to know everything and needed to prepare in advance.
If Kaedwen were to fall, the Wolf School, positioned within its borders, would be directly affected.
Requests for aid from kings and nobles, retaliation, marauding soldiers…
Keeping this from the Grandmaster might lead to major problems.
The Royal Griffin could deliver the message faster, of course, but both witchers tacitly decided to ignore that option.
For one, a round trip just for sending a message would take a day or two, and the commissions in Ellander would be wrapped up in a few days—there was no real need.
While Kaedwen's fall was important, it wasn't urgent enough to require shaving off a few hours.
Additionally, the two witcher masters weren't entirely sure—
Once they returned to Kaer Morhen, would they still have the motivation to continue chasing down ghouls across the land?
------------------------
Time passed quickly.
Soon, three days had gone by.
During this time, while clearing out lingering necrophages, Allen and Vesemir kept a close eye on developments in Kaedwen. However, aside from Sunny's evasive responses, there was no word from Nenneke, the old duke, or Tissaia de Vries.
Three days wasn't exactly a short time, but for Kaedwen and Aedirn, both cut off from outside news, it wasn't nearly enough to gain a clearer picture.
Without magical aid, this was simply the normal pace of information flow in this era.
Even Tissaia de Vries, who should have been the fastest to receive updates, would have needed to contact someone outside Vengerberg to learn about the war's progress—just the travel time alone would take days. So, Allen and Vesemir could only remain patient.
On the bright side, at least they hadn't received any bad news from Aedirn.
As for other matters…
The loot from killing ghouls, alghouls, and rotfiends was immediately opened, but aside from a few experience orbs, most of it was junk.
Last night, Allen estimated the timing and performed a "Melitele's Concealment Ritual" at the sanctuary, but unfortunately, there was no response.
The goddess likely hadn't recovered from the last time he contacted her. He planned to try again before leaving.
That said…
Not all was unproductive.
Allen had made some progress in his exploration of Elder Magic, managing to imbue his mental energy with power, allowing him to move objects as if with telekinesis.
Uh… not in the same way Vilgefortz or Ciri's mother, Pavetta, had done in the original story with their overwhelming displays of power.
It wasn't practical for combat yet, but it was quite handy for picking up small objects in everyday life.
Currently, he was trying to use Elder Magic to enhance signs, spells, and incantations—though for some reason, he hadn't succeeded so far.
In the original story, Ciri had used Elder Magic to see the future, and Vilgefortz had allegedly been able to send dreams across great distances—but Allen hadn't even come close to anything like that.
Still, he had only recently obtained the ability, so he wasn't too impatient. Meanwhile, Vesemir and the young witchers had been testing out the Path of the Battle Roar.
They discovered that the technique could improve their strength even without the beastial roar as guidance—although the speed of improvement was only a quarter as fast.
Additionally…
Erni, Klar, and the others had undergone a sudden leap in their Battle Roar skills, allowing them to completely dominate necrophages during hunts.
Two days ago, when they encountered a horde of over forty necrophages led by a massive alghoul, Allen and Vesemir didn't even need to step in.
The young witchers, in their berserk state, wiped out the entire horde—including the Alghoul itself—within ten minutes.
Afterward—
Vesemir, his tone laced with jealousy and bitterness, remarked, "Yet another bunch of 'genius' witchers are about to graduate from under me."
Then, with a mix of frustration and anticipation, he awkwardly told Allen, "I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to those old bastards when the traveling apprentices graduate at the end of the year. They'll be staring at me in shock… maybe you should do the talking instead."
Allen, of course, firmly refused and instead suggested that Vesemir simply dial back his usual boasting a little.
But to be fair…
An average attribute score of 20, full mastery of the witcher's silver sword and steel sword, Level 3 Quen and Aard Signs, and a long list of necrophage kills…
Before they knew it, Erni, Klar, Clay, Ice, Hugh, Spencer, and Silo—the first batch of Witcher Corps members—had already reached the mid-tier level of the Wolf School.
Of course, considering the Wolf School only had fifty to sixty witchers in total, "mid-tier" wasn't exactly an incredible level—it simply meant they were competent, average witchers.
They just happened to be exceptionally well-prepared before each hunt and fought within their limits.
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Ding!
A cold system notification interrupted Allen's thoughts.
[Monster Horde "Ghouls" LV11 Hunt Completed!]
[Reward Summary: …]
[Final Rating: D (Loot Locked)]
[Acquired Loot: Ghoul Heart Essence 6, Small Experience Orbs 3, Ghoul Treasure Chest 2]
[Acquired Battle Points: 60]
He jumped down from the tree trunk and looked into the forest.
Erni and the others had already sheathed their swords, skillfully harvesting the materials, and were walking back with a sense of unfulfilled excitement.
No wonder they were eager for more.
With only six ghouls, there wasn't even enough for each of them to take one.
However, after days of hunting, ghouls had become increasingly difficult to find. They had been tracking them all day and had only encountered two groups. Including the six ghouls just now, the total haul for the day was sixteen ghouls and one rotfiend.
Something about this was intriguing.
On the day of the demon-summoning ritual, so many had escaped—at least twenty scurver—yet aside from that first day after the ritual, when Allen and his group had encountered a few, they hadn't seen a single one in the past seven or eight days.
There was also a notable discrepancy in the number of Alghouls; their numbers had been lower than expected, and they had become increasingly scarce over time.
That wasn't normal either.
Alghouls acted as the brains of ghoul packs, so they should have been encountering one swarm after another, each led by a Alghoul.
"This pretty much confirms our earlier suspicion," Allen thought. "There must be at least one other entity behind the demon-summoning ritual, capable of controlling ghouls…"
They had already informed Ianna and the old duke about this theory, asking them to warn the neighboring noble lords and the kings of adjacent nations.
However, with the entire Northern Continent focused on Kaedwen and Aedirn at the moment, there was no telling what impact such a warning would have.
Looking up at the sky, which was now tinted with the hues of twilight, Allen sighed and opened his mouth to speak, "Alright, we—"
Before he could finish his sentence—
Ding!
A cold mechanical voice echoed in his mind. Allen froze for a moment before his eyes lit up with excitement.
He quickly focused his thoughts and opened the Witcher's Journal's Log.
[Ding! The Witcher Corps (Tier 3) has been upgraded to Witcher Corps (Tier 4). Please open the Corps panel for details.]
Sure enough, the Witcher Corps had leveled up!
Allen flipped straight to the Witcher Corps page in the Witcher's Journal's Log.
The ancient pages were shrouded in a mist of blood.
As Allen's gaze fell upon the interface belonging to the Witcher Corps...
"Boom!"
The thunderous sound of war drums erupted.
What followed was the clash of steel, the roars of monsters, the sound of blades slicing through flesh, and heavy hammers shattering bone...
The chaotic sounds of battle filled the air so vividly that Allen could almost smell the thick scent of rust and blood lingering at the tip of his nose.
"Kill!"
A furious roar, its owner's voice indistinguishable. Suddenly, all the noise vanished, and the swirling blood mist gradually dissipated, revealing a dark red panel that looked as if it were stained with dried blood.
"Whoa!"
"The effects are this dramatic?"
Allen felt a surge of anticipation. His guess had been correct—just like skills, the Witcher Corps seemed to evolve every three tiers, gaining additional special effects.
Based on this presentation alone, he was certain that a Tier 4 Witcher Corps had to be at least twice as strong as Tier 3.
---------------------
[Corps Name: Wolfpack]
[Tier: 4]
[Battle Record: 20/7500]
[Battle Points: 1829]
[Members: 10/25 (+10)]
[Loyalty: Hughes 100 (Devoted), Bond 100, Fred 100, Erni 96, Klar 95, Clay...]
[Skills: Loot Lock LV2, Teach LV2, Resonance LV2, Bestowal LV1]
[Hunting Mission: Monster Hunt IV (Slay any monsters 275/750) (+32)]
"Uh…"
Scanning downward, Allen immediately noticed the most important update—an increase in the number of members.
"An extra ten member slots…" Allen was at a loss for words.
Although this was double the growth of the previous three tiers, at this slow and stingy rate of increase, who knew when it would actually reach the scale of a true 'corps'…
Of course, fifteen slots were enough for now.
His gaze continued down to the skill section, and at first glance, he spotted a brand-new skill—Bestowal.
---
[Bestowal]
[Level: 1]
[Type: Corps Passive Skill]
[Active Effect: Grants one Corps member the rank of "Captain." The awarded rank can be revoked once. (A "Captain" can lead ten members. As long as all members are within the Captain's range, their hunting results can be calculated separately from the Corps Leader after a battle.)]
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A "Captain" rank?
Allen's heartbeat instinctively quickened as his eyes scanned the description.
Independent calculations…
That meant, if Allen promoted Erni to Captain, he could just lie around in the temple's quarters and watch the Witcher Corps panel rack up battle points on its own?
This skill was basically pulling him out of the endless nightmare of babysitting!
Not only that, but while the Captain led a team, Allen could take even more members on monster hunts, effectively doubling their battle records, treasure chests, and experience beads.
This increased flexibility by far more than just a factor of two.
This skill alone was already worth that dramatic opening animation. And in the future… if "Corps Skill: Bestowal" leveled up a few more times…
Tsk tsk!
Allen smacked his lips.
'The Witcher Corps had an unlimited future ahead. '
The only drawback was that the bestowed rank could only be revoked once, so he had to choose carefully.
But that could wait…
Allen's gaze returned to the two other newly upgraded Corps skills.
---------------------------------
[Teach]
[Level: 2]
[Active Effect: Consumes battle points at a 1:2 ratio to improve a member's skill experience. (Only works with battle points earned after the upgrade.)]
[Passive Effect: In combat, members' battle skill experience increases under the influence of the Corps Leader.]
---------------------------------
"Hiss—"
The moment Allen saw the 1:2 ratio, he took a sharp breath.
One battle point counts as two?!
With this plus Bestowal…
Honestly, even Allen was starting to feel a little jealous of Ernie and the others.
---------------------------------
[Loot Lock]
[Level: 2]
[Type: Corps Passive Skill]
[Effect: Corps hunts guarantee a minimum battle rating of D+ upon calculation.]
---------------------------------
"Not bad," Allen thought. "An extra experience bead per settlement. It all adds up over time."
There was no doubt—this rank-up had more than doubled the potential of the Witcher Corps.
At this point, Allen felt like he could take a team of Witcher's Journals, have Vesemir lead another, and grind every last monster in the Mahakam Mountains overnight.
Unfortunately…
"Allen…" Vesemir stepped over the decaying leaves and approached from the side. "The necrophages around Ellander are almost completely wiped out."
"Should we continue tomorrow?"
"No." Allen looked up at Vesemir's tense expression and sighed.
"Tomorrow, we're heading back to Kaer Morhen."
Who knew what awaited them at the Ancient Sea Fortress…?
..............
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