Afternoon soon arrived.
In the basement of Kaer Morhen Castle.
After passing through a dim corridor, they entered a stone chamber on the left.
The chamber was furnished with wooden tables and chairs.
A candle sat on each table, giving off wisps of white smoke.
This was where Witcher apprentices took alchemy lessons.
Not far outside the door was the Witchers’ private cultivation chamber.
There, they grew the Witchers’ mysterious mushrooms, the main ingredient in the green juice.
Alvin sat in his place, breathing in the rich scent of herbs.
His gray cat-like eyes swept over the glowing stone above his head.
To ordinary people, the room would have seemed dim, but with his cat-like eyes, it was no different from standing in daylight.
“Why isn’t Master Vesemir here yet?”
Beside him, Paul yawned.
The other apprentices also had their heads drooping, looking as if they had not quite woken up.
“Tap, tap…”
Light footsteps came from the corridor outside.
Alvin listened for only a moment before immediately turning to look.
Those footsteps were wrong.
Vesemir was tall, but as a Witcher, his steps were extremely light, like a cat’s, and he barely made any sound.
A woman dressed in white nun’s robes walked into the stone chamber.
Her white hood covered her face, leaving only loose strands of black hair visible on either side.
She walked straight to the lectern at the front of the stone chamber and adjusted her sleeves with both hands, revealing pale, delicate wrists.
Paul, who had still been yawning a moment ago, immediately perked up and whispered to Alvin.
“Hey, Alvin, look.
That’s the herbalist nun I told you about this morning.”
“Her skin is so pale.
She’s completely different from the nuns I’ve seen at the Temple of Melitele before.”
The Temple of Melitele?
Alvin froze for a moment.
In The Witcher, Melitele was the largest religion in the Northern Kingdoms.
The Goddess Melitele they worshiped was mainly represented by three figures: a carefree maiden, a mature pregnant woman, and a bent old crone.
The faith preached love and peace.
Because of that, the Temple of Melitele had always maintained good relations with the Wolf School Witchers, who specialized in killing monsters and protecting humans.
A few years ago, they had even come to Kaer Morhen for a brief period of cultural education, and Alvin had naturally been one of their students.
One important figure had been there at the time as well: Nenneke, the future High Priestess of the Temple of Melitele.
The only difference was that the Temple of Melitele’s influence in the Northern Kingdoms was still far from the height it would reach in the era of The Witcher.
The herbalist nun swept her gaze around the room.
“Class begins!”
Her clear, ringing voice instantly pulled Alvin back from his thoughts.
The herbalist nun said, “Vesemir has something urgent to deal with, so I will be teaching this afternoon’s Herbal Alchemy class.
You may address me as Lady Vries.”
Lady Vries?
Alvin frowned slightly.
He had no memory of this person.
The apprentices let out a few surprised sounds.
The herbalist nun immediately raised her voice and said sternly, “Quiet, all of you.”
The apprentices obediently shut their mouths.
That single exchange made Alvin feel as if he had returned to his old school days.
Her tone was exactly like that of a middle school homeroom teacher with years of experience.
He vaguely remembered that the nuns who had come to Kaer Morhen last time had all been very serene, full of motherly gentleness.
Some had even strictly kept a Vow of Silence and never spoken at all.
The woman before him, however, stood perfectly straight, her bearing poised and confident, with a commanding presence that did not quite match the nuns in his memory.
The herbalist nun took a herb from a vessel beside the lectern.
“Who can tell me what herb this is?”
Alvin looked at the plant.
It had broad, emerald-green vine leaves, and a name flashed through his mind.
“It’s Reachcluster.”
One apprentice answered immediately.
The herbalist nun said easily, “Very good.
And what is it used for?”
A brief silence fell over the stone chamber.
The herbalist nun’s tone softened.
“Its rhizome is highly effective and is often used to make Antidotes.”
“Your bodies have already undergone mutation, giving you very high resistance to most toxins.”
“But when facing powerful monsters, you will often drink various Potions, such as [Cat] and [Thunderbolt].
These Potions produce powerful effects, but they also leave deadly toxins inside your bodies.”
“If you do not detoxify in time, the consequences can be just as terrible.”
“All right.
Come up and take your herbs and tools.
You’ll be processing herbs today.
Consider it a class test.”
Hearing that, Alvin did not stand.
Just then, a system notification sounded in his mind.
[Detected existing skill in host.
Unlocking Herbal Alchemy.]
[Herbal Alchemy Experience +1!]
[Herbal Alchemy Lv1: 85/100.]
Alvin was overjoyed.
Experience points!
And he was not starting from zero.
Alchemy was one of a Witcher’s most important methods.
In the high-difficulty The Witcher, even the strongest boss could be dealt with easily after downing a few Potions.
“Alvin, what are you staring into space for?”
Paul patted Alvin on the shoulder.
Only then did Alvin come back to himself and stand up.
Paul’s lips curled up slightly as he muttered to himself.
He claimed he was not interested in the nun, yet he had stared himself into a daze.
Alvin walked side by side with Paul to the lectern and caught a clean scent of Chamomile.
It came from the herbalist nun.
The herbalist nun noticed Alvin’s gaze, and beneath her hood, her thin lips curved into a gentle smile.
Alvin looked away and quickly picked up a wooden tray.
The tray had already been prepared with three herbs, a small silver knife, and pure white linen gloves.
The herbalist nun said clearly, “Each of you now has three herbs in your hands.
They are all the most basic kind.”
The apprentices began murmuring among themselves.
Many scratched their heads.
At thirteen or fourteen, they were at their most restless, and they naturally resisted the dull Herbal Alchemy lessons, complaints slipping from their mouths.
Seeing this, the herbalist nun spoke with great patience.
“Don’t worry about failing.
If you make a mistake while processing them, come up and take another one.
If there’s anything you don’t understand, you may ask me at any time.”
Only after she said that did the apprentices’ moods improve a great deal.
Unlike the other apprentices, Alvin returned to his seat and stared at the herbs on his tray.
Thanks to [Dual Soul], his past alchemy lessons remained vivid in his mind, and he quickly recognized the three herbs.
The first was the Reachcluster the herbalist nun had just explained.
The second was White Fern.
The green leaves at its tips curled inward, and like Reachcluster, it could neutralize medicinal effects, but it would also dull the senses and make a person fall asleep.
The last was the pale green Knitbone.
Its properties were the gentlest of the three.
As the name suggested, it was a herb used to treat injuries to muscles and bones.
Good.
Vesemir has taught all of these before.
Alvin first opened the System Panel, quickly put on the gloves, and picked up the small silver knife.
He was full of confidence.
Time to get to work.