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The Divine Hunter (Web Novel) - Chapter 526: Rience
Chapter 526: Rience
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Chapter 526: Rience[TL: Asuka]
[PR: Ash]
Back in Novigrad, Ciri had once again resumed her arduous life of magic education under Yennefer’s tutelage. The sorceress was strict and almost spartan-like in her teachings, never letting her take a nap. Whenever Ciri would lose focus, Yennefer would whip her into shape, speaking to her in an almost beguiling manner.
“Focus, you ugly duckling. Control your middle finger and pinky. Curl them up at the same time, but the ring finger stays up! Did you sleep badly last night?” Yennefer heaved a sigh of resignation and ruffled her hair. “You did well yesterday, but this is awful.”
“Sorry, Yennefer, but I have a question. Until I get my answer, I can’t concentrate. Why can’t anyone else learn how to draw the patterns you made me draw? And why can’t they make these gestures either?” Ciri was wide-eyed and curious. “I taught Vicki and Renee more times than I cared to count, but they just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.”
“I told you that the gods themselves granted you a gift, and the other sniveling brats aren’t that lucky. You’re effectively trying to teach them how to pluck the stars out of the skies, which is impossible. Save your breath and spend more time improving yourself. Don’t fool around with the brats or try to train the dog to pee while standing on its hind legs. That’s not going to happen, and it’s animal abuse.”
“Oh, so you know? Then why does the magic I learn differ from the witchers’?” Ciri licked her lips. “Before they learn their spells, Carl, Monti, Acamuthorm, and everyone else first learn how to meditate, and they talk to colorful tadpoles while they do that. The tadpoles will nestle themselves in the boys’ bodies and come back out when they cast their spells.”
“That’s chaos energy, not tadpoles. Meditation’s only for those without much talent. It’s a shortcut for them to get to their goal. Fine, it also helps with calming the mind. For Sources, however, meditation’s not exactly needed. You don’t need meditation to replenish your mana. You can take it from the convergence points in the earth, the waters, the fires, and the air. And remember, the things witchers cast are not spells. They are Signs. Far easier to cast, but weaker as well.”
“So you’re saying I’m going to be stronger than them? Even with the fire?” Ciri’s eyes shone, a grin curling her lips.
“Do as I say, and you’ll be strong enough to shock them within a year.”
***
Driven by her urge to win, Ciri started putting in hard work in hopes of one day besting the witchers. The girl was smart enough to learn a dozen basic gestures, poses, and movements. As Yennefer instructed, Ciri would move to her luxurious room in Gildorf when night came. There, she lit up her magical lamp and started reading the basic tomes of magic Yennefer prepared for her. Dialogues on the Nature of Magic, Natural Magic, and Elemental Energy were some of the few references she must read.
Ciri started yawning after she was done with her reading. The sorceress would hold her in her arms as they slept, trying to prove that she had no unicorns lying around, and Geralt never had the chance to ride one, since it never existed.
Ciri wasn’t really curious about it. She would fall asleep right after she lay down on the bed. Her training was exhausting, and she fell into a deep slumber, oblivious to the fact that Yennefer would get up after she fell asleep and go around gallivanting.
***
The children noticed Ciri’s moving out, and it hadn’t been that long since the lively girl joined them. She was no longer there in the dorms, and things got a little lonely without her. However, their attention was quickly turned to Yoana, the newcomer in their class.
The girls would surround the young blacksmith, asking her a lot of questions. One was why she spent her days in the smithy toiling away, while another was why her chest, unlike most girls, looked like a pair of mountains.
Some of the more precocious boys would steal glances at the curvaceous Yoana, even those who used to steal glances at Ciri. Carl once got too distracted staring at Yoana, he ran straight into the stake and got a bump on his head that took three days to heal. He became the butt of everyone’s jokes for two weeks.
Ciri felt down about that for a long time. “They only care about the new girl now, hmph!” Just like that, the young girl decided to give all her time to magic, with Yennefer as her tutor.
***
“Keep on walking, you ugly duckling. Vort caelme. Hold your hands out in front of you. Relax. Keep walking ahead.”
Frustrated, the girl stomped her foot. “Where is the stream supposed to be?”
“The stream is everywhere, and keep your temper in check.”
Ciri awkwardly held her hand before her chest, stiffly going into the bushes. “There are four elements, aren’t there? Why can I only take mana from streams instead of the earth or fire or the air?”
“Mana comes in different ways. You do not have enough strength to take mana from the earth; you do not understand magic enough to glean mana from the air; you do not have enough control over your will or mana, so you won’t be playing with fire unless you want to get burned and turn yourself uglier.”
“Hey, I felt something over there! Right behind the flower!”
“Good. Now focus your mind and hold your excitement in. Slowly move toward the stream, find out its location, and point it out to me.”
“It’s right here!”
“Well done. You should feel your index finger twitching now. See how it’s bending downward? That’s a sign you found a convergence point. Yes, that’s a stream right there. Perfect for an aspirant. Now, take this slow and capture—”
“Can I absorb mana now?” The girl swiveled around, staring at her teacher with excitement in her eyes.
“Hold on. I need to check the mana leve— Dammit, stop!”
“Bear witness, Yennefer!” Ciri cupped a ball of blue water in her hands, ripples spreading across its surface, and the water reflected the golden sunlight. She turned around, cackling. “I, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, hereby announce that I have captured mana! I am now a proud sorceress! I am the queen of monster hunt—”
Yennefer quickly held the dizzy Ciri in her arms. Blood was spurting out of the girl’s nose.
“I’m seeing stars, Yennefer. And there’s blood everywhere? Am I going to die? Am I seeing Grandpa soon?” Ciri looked green, and she shivered in fear.
“Why the queen of monster hunters instead of the queen of magic? Here I spent so much time teaching you everything I know, but all I get in return is an insult?” Yennefer plugged Ciri’s nose with some cotton wool and checked if she was fine. She heaved a sigh of relief and rolled her eyes. “You ungrateful duckling. Now tell me your last words.”
“L-Last words? I-I saw something just now. It’s like a kind of vision.”
Yennefer arched her eyebrow, her face tense. What’s going on? Some divination from overstimulation?
“I see that scar-faced sorcerer. The same one who wants to catch me. He’s coming!” Ciri said, her voice quavering, and she held Yennefer’s hand tightly.
“What? Where is he?”
“He’s with Aiden, Lambert, and a man with a mustache and fancy clothes.”
“They’re in Kovir and Poviss. The Dragon Mountains near the bay, to be exact,” Dandelion muttered, almost having a breakdown. “In a witcher fortress called Kaer Seren.”
Rience listened closely, his face tense. A witcher fortress? That’s possible. “Continue.”
“They’re at…” Dandelion suddenly grinned as he looked up the walls of the alleyway. His eyes went wide, and tears welled within them.
“I said, continue.”
“Hey, Rience.” Dandelion sneered at the sorcerer, his eyes filled with mockery and pity. “You have no idea who you just messed up. I’m not the kind of man you can cross and then get away with.”
“You bastard!”
***
Someone tossed a glass container from behind the walls. It smashed right beside Rience’s foot, and dimeritium dust filled the air like glittering fog, covering the sorcerer. He gasped in surprise. Chaos energy flickered like bolts of electricity around him, and then they fizzled out.
The bard yelped as he fell to the ground head first. Noticing the sudden change, the lackeys closed in. Four silhouettes leapt down from the walls. Two had eyes of beasts. They were lean, well-built, and carried a pair of longswords on their backs. The other two were much shorter and younger. Obviously, they were still teenagers.
The moment the witchers leapt onto the battlefield, they knew what they had to do. The grown monster hunters surrounded Rience, their blades slashing through the air.
The apprentice witchers dealt with the lackeys. Carl stood before the stronger thug and slammed a left uppercut into his chin with all the might he could muster.
The thug flew through the air and crashed into the alleyway’s wall. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
Monti faced the remaining thug. He was charging at the apprentice, but the lad wasn’t afraid. He quickly held his hand out and chopped at the thug’s throat. While the thug was holding his throat and gasping for air, Monti swung his leg at the thug’s crotch.
The thug let out a shrill scream as he curled up and keeled ahead, convulsing as he fell to the ground.
***
The tables had turned.
Rience’s vast experience on the battlefield saved his life. The moment he was hit by the dimeritium powder, he swiftly retreated, clutching at the obsidian talisman under his shirt with one hand. At the same time, he brushed his right thumb at the ruby ring on his right index finger, then he raised his hand.
A pillar of blinding flames shot to the sky, illuminating the rundown alleyway. A fireball hurtled ahead, leaving a red trail behind.
The ball of flames charged toward Aiden. The witcher stopped mid-charge and leapt away. The fireball whizzed past him, and his Heliotrop disappeared. In the end, the ball of flames hit the wall, leaving a charred mark on the bricks.
Lambert leapt ahead, thrusting his blade forward with both hands, but he hit a wall of air. A loud thud resounded throughout the alleyway, and he was pushed back by the rebound. While he was in the air, Lambert quickly made a bizarre Sign. A wave of mana charged out of the blue triangle, and a blast of Aard hit the sorcerer.
Rience grunted and staggered backward, bumping into the advancing Aiden. The point of the witcher’s sword was aimed at his waist, ready to carve a hole in the sorcerer.
The sorcerer’s shield broke, and a patch of crimson bloomed on Rience’s armor. He quickly rolled across the ground, looking messy, but he managed to dodge Aiden’s attack.
And then Lambert’s attack came.
A blinding golden light flashed across the alleyway, and an elliptical object appeared before Rience. He held his left side and jumped into the air like a fish struggling for water, then he jumped into the elliptical object and disappeared.
The golden light dimmed, and the sounds of battle quieted. It had been but ten seconds, the battle was done.
“Dammit. He escaped? Now how am I supposed to explain myself to Geralt?” Lambert muttered as he tucked his sword away in frustration.
“It’s not our fault. He was already affected by the dimeritium. I have a feeling that portal wasn’t his doing.” Aiden rubbed the scar on his chin. “Maybe some other powerful sorcerer, his accomplice, or even his employer did it. Opened up a portal somewhere far away and took him away. At least we got a couple of lackeys, though.”
“Yeah, and that’s real nice.” Lambert said, “Wanna bet that they don’t know anything about that bastard?”
“Yeah, sure. Challenge accepted. Loser pays for the next Pike’s Grotto visit.”
“Help me!” the bard howled, interrupting the witchers. “Lambert, Aiden, you have to help me, or I’m done for!” He held up his swollen, misshapen, and contorted wrist, almost tearing up, and his lips were trembling. “I can’t let anything happen to my hand. How am I supposed to work if it’s broken?”
Carl came over, yanked the bard’s dislocated wrist, and snapped it back in place. The bard let out a yelp of surprise.
“Stop yelling, sir. Can’t believe you’re so scared of a little dislocation, and you’re so much older than us. Our training’s a lot more painful than this.” Carl and Monti shook their heads in disdain.
Lambert, however, had a little change of opinion about Dandelion. “Didn’t think a bard would be that brave, Dandelion. You wouldn’t tell them anything even when you were tortured. Thought bards only flirted around with women and did nothing else.”
“Of course I wouldn’t.” Dandelion rubbed his wrist and stood up. He patted the dust off his clothes and righteously declared, “I’d rather die in agony and humiliation than betray my friends.”
That was a little lie. Had Rience kept on with his interrogation, Dandelion would’ve spilled everything.
“Ah, shut it. You did this yourself this time.” Aiden smirked. “We’ve been keeping an eye on you in secret. Can’t believe you’d sneak out of the ballroom and come all the way to the slums just to sleep with a widow. You duped Priscilla and us, and you see what that cost you? For the love of all things good, use your head a little. The head up there. Your gallivanting ways aren’t more important than your safety, get it?”
“You insult me. My love for Priscilla is true, and that will never change.” The bard swung his fists as he explained himself indignantly. “I was just trying to find some inspiration for better works. All for the business and your reputation.”
“You were finding inspiration while sleeping around with women? Yeah, whatever you say,” Lambert retorted and held one unconscious thug on his shoulder. Aiden took the other one, and they went to the Collector’s villa. The lads followed them, focusing on their every movement to sharpen their stealth tactics.
“Oh, right. What did the guy say his name was again, Dandelion?”
“Rience.” Dandelion shivered. With fear and hatred in his voice, he said, “He was looking for Geralt and the Unexpected Child. Wonder why he was doing that. Could he be a Nilfgaardian spy?” As if nonchalant, he asked, “So you know where the Unexpected Child is?”
The witchers exchanged a look and shook their heads. “We’re searching for the princess too, and this is none of your business, Dandelion. For your sake, the less you know, the better. Now go back to the ballroom and don’t run around again.”
***
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