Chapter 39: Episode 37

Disclaimer: I don't own Nasuverse or any other franchise that can be found in this fanfiction.

Words Count: 6009

Here's my usual spiel:

You can read up to 10 Episodes in advanced plus my other fic: Ars Goetia– Antichrist here.

p a tr e on . com (/) LiamThePoor

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It was both confusing and disorienting.

There were no references for up and down, left and right.

I was just floating freely in the Void between Space-Time.

Falling hopelessly in an ever twisting spiral of endlessness.

There were only the occasional flashes of colorful lights dancing and weaving to distract me from my predicament.

'Those, those are Universes…' I soon realized.

Of course, not all of these specks were Universes, some seemed to shift and twist like the tentacles of octopus.

Elder Gods, perhaps?

My mortal mind struggled to keep itself grounded so I'd not go mad.

Even though the rational parts of my psyche told me I had been here for but minutes.

It felt weird having nothing to measure time itself.

I plummeted further and further, until the swirl that brought me into this Void could no longer be seen by my mortal eyes.

That was when I saw him.

Dressed in medieval attire, his shirt an ugly, leathery yellow.

His pants blue, spotless in spite of his… Vagabond appearance.

Whereas most of the Supernatural I had seen who took humanoid forms were unimaginably beautiful, perfect.

Even Angra Mainyu had been something sculptured out of an artist's dreams, despite the distinct lack of humanity in its movements.

This man was different.

With his head shaved and skin spotty with blemishes.

He was no more handsome than your local ruffians and swindlers.

The type you would expect to trick an old lady out of her life savings.

And yet, his attempt to look 'normal' merely highlighted the abnormality of his presence in this endless expanse.

I knew who he was, I had seen him plenty during my first run of Wild Hunt.

"Gaunter O'Dimm?" The alleged 'Evil Incarnated'.

The Devil of the Witcher Universe.

An Entity who could stop time with a clap and grant wishes beyond your wildest imaginations.

"I couldn't help finding it rather unusual that you know of me, Traveler."

The Devil chuckled, amusement clear in his gaze. "But, where are my manners? Greetings, Traveler. I am Gaunter O'Dimm–"

His eyes flashed a baleful, yellowish orange, black veins surfacing on his skin. "The Master Mirror and a merchant of… Things."

"Souls, you mean." I replied sarcastically.

"Ah, it seems you are already aware of my expertise!" The Devil commented almost joyfully. "Then, you know how this goes. Unless, you fancy floating in this Void until your demise?"

I sighed. "State your terms, Man Of Glass."

"You see, I was planning to have the White Wolf help me with a few rather... Stubborn customers, who refused to pay their dues. Seven of them, to be precise."

Gaunter smiled. "But, it would appear I've found an even better helper."

"Return me to my Universe, my planet and I shall collect their payments in your place." As much as I tried to portray fearlessness, I couldn't shake the tiny tremble in my tone.

I was completely at his mercy here, and should he leave, I could be stuck in this Void forever.

Or worse, become a plaything for the more monstrous Entities.

"Ah, sadly that's not possible, Traveler. I can't bring you back to your Universe, the Great Swirl prevents me from doing so. It is quite territorial, that thing. But, I see you already have a means to return."

His eyes landed on the Receiver Pearl secured in my pocket as he continued. "What I can do, however, is extract you from here–"

Gaunter gestured at the Void, voice silvery and slick with taunts. "– And put you near Lidenvale, Velen. It is close to civilization, and will grant you an opportunity to meet with someone who can aid you in your Quest to find a way home…"

He chuckled. "Once she has mastered her powers, that is."

So, he planned on letting me meet Cirilla? That, that wasn't a bad deal at all.

If I could gain access to the Elder Blood, I might be able to push my Temporal Magecraft to a new, unforeseen height.

"What do you say, Traveler? Do we have an accord?"

In spite of my reservations, I felt awfully calm as I reached to shake his hand.

It's just killing a few people, it wasn't like I had any other choice. "I agree to your terms, Gaunter O'Dimm."

The deal was struck, an accord made and I was suddenly thrown into a tube of Space-Time that flung me forwards somewhere.

There was no transition.

One instance, I was in the Void Between Space-Time.

The next, I was quite literally shot into another World.

The last thing I saw was whitish, turquoise-colored flecks before I slammed into Princess Cirilla Of Cintra.

Knocking us both unconscious.

——◇  [Fate: DML] ◇——

"Fucking Hell." I grumbled, massaging my eyelids as I pulled myself back up using the wet, slimy rock next to me. "Dammit, Gaunter. Couldn't you have been a bit gentler?"

I shook, trying to get rid of my spinning headache that seemed determined to split open my skull. Eventually, the hammering headache subsided and I could see my surrounding once again. It was night already, the darkened sky shone with the brilliance of the Stars. I truly wasn't in Nasuverse anymore, Fuyuki could never have had such a beautiful sight, not with the ever increasing pollution of Earth, which seemed to want to blot out the Sky.

Sadly, the scene didn't fill my heart with happiness. All I could feel was an odd sense of melancholy and fear as I remembered the creatures who lurked just underneath its deceiving beauty, a few of whom I had gotten a glimpse of while stuck in the Void. I continued to stare, murmuring cryptically to myself. "Like the ocean, the Cosmos is only beautiful if you do not know of the horrors who have made it their residents…"

My vision darted towards the slumped form of the passed out Lady Of Space And Time, who had fallen a bit further away from where I was.

Cirilla wore her iconic white shirt, belly covered with leather armor to protect her stomach. On her were several straps that likely looked cool from a designer's perspective, but seemed oddly useless and impractical for battles. Although I did recall reading about how bicep straps could help blood circulation by widening the veins in certain areas, thus increasing muscles, such a thing would only tire you out quicker when you tried to swing your weapon.

Not to mention, it would feel really restricting. 'The cons simply outweigh the pros.'

Whatever, it wasn't my problem anyways. I cautiously approached the young woman, Mana thrumming in my Circuits as I projected a small syringe. I was almost surprised at the perfection of my creation and the ease of it. It was freeing, as if several tons of shackles I hadn't even known about before had been taken off me. Then, I realized why that was. Without Gaia to govern and rule over Mana and Mysteries, even basic, ordinary Spells like [Gradation Air] could become immensely powerful and versatile.

In fact, the projected syringe didn't seem to be suffering from the erosion of the World's Will at all, which was simply ridiculous.

"This is–! What the fuck?!" What's more, the Ambient Mana was over the fucking roofs, not to mention non-toxic, unlike the shit Gaia threw at us that burnt our cells from the inside out. Obviously, excessive usage of it would still tax the body, but from what I could see, the adverse effects would be a mere tenth of Gaia's Ambient Mana at worst. "Holy shit, Gaia is an even bigger bitch than we thought. If Mages had been left unrestricted and with access to this kind of power-source..."

I couldn't even to begin to imagine just how much this could have changed Humanity's history. My guess was we would be flying about the vast expanse of our Universe with Magitek Spaceships, instead of languishing in the confines of Earth, fighting for each other for finite resources. Granted, this was merely a prediction on my part, perhaps the rise of Christianity and all its doctrines would have limited our advancement regardless.

Besides, despite having such a ridiculous source of clean and usable energy, it didn't seem to have helped this World's version of Humanity much. If anything, the selfishness of Sorcerers and Sorceresses had only hindered them. Now, don't get it twisted. I utterly despised Radovid and the Eternal Fire, which bore a striking resemblance to most Abrahamic religions for their non-tolerance policy when it came to the Supernatural.

But, having an internal debate with myself about the nature progression of religions wasn't why I was here.

"Sorry." I murmured an apology to the unconscious woman, before stabbing her arm with the syringe. It didn't take too long for me to successfully get her blood and within seconds, I had a full syringe of the coveted Elder Blood in my hands. Once I had carefully stored her blood in a newly projected vial, I dispelled the syringe and put it next to the Receiver Pearl in my pocket, without the interference and constant erosion of Gaia, that vial should last indefinitely.

Then, I hauled Ciri to somewhere less dirty and wet, lest the young woman caught a cold. I couldn't allow the Child Of Prophecy to suffer under my care, could I? I set her down under a tree, letting her rest against its trunk while I went to collect dry sticks to hopefully warm us up.

Perhaps I could hunt us an animal to eat as well? Truth be told, I was feeling quite hungry and slightly lightheaded, due to having neglected to eat dinner and the left-over vertigo from spinning like a yoyo in the Void. If I didn't get anything in my stomach soon, I might just start vomiting everywhere, and that's not good for anyone, neither Ciri nor me.

"Rest well, I'll return soon." Waving goodbye to the unconscious young woman, I set out to secure us food, sticks and possibly a temporary shelter. I didn't go more than a hundred feet when I encountered a pack of wolves and heard the screaming of a child. The predators stalked towards me menacingly, jaws watering as though they had found a delicious prey. To be fair, I did look delicious, just not in this context.

"Right, there is no way you bunch could have known this, but I'm having a very, very bad day–" The wolves growled even louder, seemingly able to feel the threat in my tone. "– Which I will take out upon you if you do not fuck off this instance."

Understandably, being the dumb beasts that they were, the wolves didn't back off. I rubbed my glabella tiredly, sneering as I knocked my own head in self-depreciation. "Good Gods, I'm talking to fucking animals! Am I losing my damned mind? Is that it?!"

The wolves ignored my words entirely, jumping forwards to try and get a bite out of me. I kicked the closest one so hard its head flew off, the second and third were both bisected with a casual swing of Invictus. Meanwhile, the girl hiding above the trees was yelling and shouting encouragement, which was bloody stupid since her voice was high-pitched, therefore sounded extremely appetizing to most forms of predators. Thanks to her, thirteen more came searching for fresh meats.

"Wait…" Weird-ass river bank, a child seeking shelter in the tree and wolves? If my brain hadn't failed me, wasn't there a Ciri's Side Quest in the first Act of Wild Hunt with the exact scenario? "The King Of Wolves, was it? Nice, I get to experiment on an actual werewolf! Sven is gonna be so jealous when he hears of this!"

I laughed loudly, startling the animals. But my high wasn't very long-lived as my brain helpfully and rationally reminded. 'If he will ever hear of this.'

"Fuck off, brain. I don't need all this negativity right now!" I swept my gaze over the approaching wolves, scowling. "As for you daft cunts. While I usually hate even the idea of eating dogs, I'm gonna make an exception today."

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That seemed to ring the dinner-bell for the beasts as they launched towards me from all sides, fangs bare. [Petal Burst] activated, I jumped into the fray, punching, kicking, killing as the canines yelped and whimpered in pain. I didn't use Invictus this time, there was no need to, not for a pack of ordinary wolves anyways. Besides, I wanted this to hurt, if only to alleviate the overwhelming hatred I felt for one Kotomine Kirei.

Sure, these wolves made for a poor replacement to the real article, but in my current circumstance, I'd have to make do with them. After all, 'Beggars can't be choosers.'

I straightened my hand, crushing the spine of one wolf, going airborne to avoid the three that were aiming to take a chunk out of my ass, literally. With the beast crippled, I moved onto to my next target, throwing a spinning kick which straight up blew the brown wolf away like a cannon-ball, slamming into its brethren with enough force to uproot several trees in its trajectory. The rest, once they realized I wasn't the easy prey they thought I was, swiftly fled in panic.

Still, I was under no delusion that they wouldn't dare to come back, probably with a werewolf accompanying them. Animals could be terribly vengeful, and I did just kill eight of their pack. "You can come on down, it's safe now–" I told the girl, whose name was Greta? If I wasn't mistaken. Then, I glanced dispassionately behind me, catching a glimpse of matted white hair. "And you, how long do you plan on hiding? Or do you just prefer doing jack-all over there while others are fighting for their lives, Lady?"

Sure enough, the Witcheress sheepishly revealed herself. Face burning with slight embarrassment, the young woman spoke. "My apology, you didn't appear like you needed my help… I'm Cirilla Of– I meant Ciri, just Ciri." Smooth, Princess. Real smooth. I could almost believe you, almost.

"Uh-huh, so Just Ciri, what were you running from? You looked like you were in quite a hurry when we… Collided. And those wounds, they don't look like the claws of any beast I've seen." I already what she was fleeing from the Wild Hunt, but there was no reason to reveal my knowledge and scare her off. While I could likely build a second Star-Gate and figure out a path back home with the Receiver Pearl on my own, having her help would undoubtedly shorten the time required.

"You meant when you slammed into me out of nowhere?"

"In my defense, it wasn't my intention to." I licked my lips, mouth twitching as I remembered how Gaunter sent me to this World. "I was literally thrown into a rather nauseating portal by a Malevolent Entity, whom I was forced to sign a pact with."

"And this pact pertains…?" Ciri hummed, tone purposefully light to portray a false sense of indifference. Sadly for her, I could hear her heart thumping quite loudly and nervously. "Nothing you will have to worry about, I just have to help him hunt down a few difficult debtors."

That seemed set her on edge as she asked cautiously. "So, just to be clear, you are not here for me?"

I shook my head and popped, eyebrow raised. "Nope, unless you happen to have sold your soul to a certain, sketchy-looking merchant for riches, or some other stupid things like that. Though I'd appreciate you allowing me to tag-along, might be nice to have some company, seeing as I'm still new to this World. Mine was quite different, you see. Better in some ways, worse in others, but very, very different…"

I wasn't lying either, I definitely needed the help. While I did remember parts of the Game, The Wild Hunt had been a long experience and a massive World to explore, albeit scaled down to fit the screen of computers.

I didn't doubt there were things I had forgotten, things Ciri or her family could be of assistance. It would also give me an opportunity to meet Geralt, which let's be honest, was amongst the Top 10 list of male fictional characters every Gamer would have given a limb or two to have an actual conversation with. In fact, Geralt was up there with Master Chief and Solid Snake in term of sheer badassery, and equaled John Marston when it came to emotional connection with Gamers.

I could recall vividly the sense of loss I experienced when I finished Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and he just stared at me through the screen, as though to say 'Fun's over'. Hadn't experienced anything similar since.

"New to this World?" She mumbled, but quickly recovered.

"Are you sure? Won't your parents or guardians be upset if they couldn't find you?" For a second, Ciri looked genuinely worried for me, and it struck me how similar she and Shiro were. Both had terrible hands dealt to them by Fate, both had 'bigger than life' Destinies awaiting them. In Shiro's case, it had been to stop the Tainted Grail and possibly revival of Angra Mainyu– The Daemon King, and in Ciri's, it was to stop the artificial disaster known as the White Frost.

Which, when you really thought about it, were both Supernatural Apocalypses made by the very people who resided in their respective Universes. Angra Mainyu was born out the hatred of the innocents, sacrificed to satiate the bloodlust and Evils of Humanity. While the White Frost was most definitely a product of those stuck up Elven Sages' meddling with Forces they did not understand. Fuck, even their facial features and personalities were somewhat similar!

Granted, Ciri had sharper features, presumably due to her Elven heritage. But, they were, at their very cores, basically the same person with little behavioral differences. And that's not to mention Ciri's inexperience with using her inborn powers, something I had no doubt I would be able to help her with using my own knowledge about Temporal and Spatial Magecraft, which was similar to Shiro's natural Affinity with Swords and my [Sword God Style].

"Holy fuck… It's like seeing and meeting Shiro #2.0." I murmured beneath my breath. I looked up at the young woman again, who seemed a bit confused, if not weirded out by my behaviors. "Are you alright? You seem a bit pale."

"I'm fine, sorry. You just remind me of someone I know. And no, no one will come for me, my parents are gone and my guardians lack the capability to traverse dimensions–" I shook the distracting thoughts from my mind to focus on the present. I only had one opportunity to gain Ciri's trust, I couldn't waste it because I was too occupied with stray thoughts. Gotta make this count "– But where are my manners? I'm Leonis, Leonis Magnum. You may call me Leo for short and this girl besides me is… What's your name again?"

I paused, seamlessly letting confusion bleed into my expression and tone. "In fact, why the bloody Hell are in the middle of a forest at this time of the night?"

Somebody should really give me that damn Oscar, 'cause I was fucking killing it with my portrayal of the clueless, yet confident Magus-boy.

"My name's Gretka. My father brought me, told me to follow the trail of treats and eat my fill, he said he would wait. I kept to the path at first, but I saw a butterfly, so I went to catch it and lost my way. I wanted to return, but by then..." She looked down, feet shuffling. "By then the path is already block by Wolves King and his pack."

"No King amongst wolves–" Ciri unhelpfully chipped in as she approached. I probably should let her handle this, never been much good with children, didn't plan on learning how to either. And no, Rin and Shiro didn't count. Rin was too fucking smart thanks to her education and upbringing, while Shiro was generally a pretty quiet and obedient kid, that was as long as you didn't manage to piss her off somehow.

"These have one–" The girl, Gretka interrupted cheekily. I tuned out most of the conversation that followed, not too interested in things I was already aware of. Here's the gist of it, there was a werewolf living in this forest, and the villagers were essentially sending the children to their doom so they could live peacefully and remain undisturbed by said 'Wolves King'. Not exactly a course of actions I'd approve or agree with morally, but I could understand why they were doing it.

It was, after all, the lesser of two Evils. A few children sacrificed in exchange for their whole village did sound like a decent deal. Though they could have hired a Witcher or contacted their Lord, finding the coins to pay one would be quite tough in this time of war, death and disease, especially for these peasants. And I doubted whoever it was they could have ended up with, be them magically-enhanced mutant or snobby rich noble, would be compassionate enough to do the deed free of charge.

Whatever, it was none of my business. I pulled up my flashing Notifications in an attempt to alleviate my boredom. I had been here for barely an hour, and already I could feel boredom settling in. Usually, I'd be in a training montage or a particularly intense session of research, but instead I was stuck in a medieval planet where everyone smelled like they hadn't bathed for weeks, which probably wasn't too far from the truth. I raised an eyebrow at the two newly-received Quests.

[Quest Chain: No Way Home?]

Your first Jump, albeit an unplanned one, can have a huge impact on your existing Abilities, perhaps even give you new ones. But, what is the point of a Jump if you can't even return to your Home-World? Figure out a way to go home, or die on this planet with no mouthwash and toothpaste!

Rewards: New Game Function, Exp, Title

Consequences: Remain Trapped in Witcher-Verse

'Those are some nice rewards if I do say so myself.' What caught my attention was the new Function to my broken-ass, pissed poor version of the Game. Even with one new Function added, it would still be shit compared to its peers, but at this point I'd take anything I could get. As for the Title, it might be useful, but it also might not. Although it wasn't really something to be excited about, I welcomed it all the same, if only to give me further reason to get home quicker.

The second Quest Chain was pretty self-explanatory in and of itself.

[Quest Chain: A Devil's Dues]

People often say 'Don't make a deal with the Devil'. You've taken that shit and thrown it right out the window, haven'tcha? Seven debtors there are, seven lives you must take, lest your own will be forfeited in their place.

Debtors Caught: 0/7

Rewards: Your Life, Exp, Ars Goetia

Consequences: Your Soul

Ain't that ominous. But, it's fine. For all his Evil and cunning, Gaunter O'Dimm could be trusted, as long as you did not try to cheat him of his payments, which meant no clever wording in your pact, no trying to run away with your wishes, and he wouldn't, shouldn't hunt for you. There also didn't seem to be a time limit, so I wasn't in too much of a rush to finish my end of the bargain.

Sadly, it would appear my presence in this World was considered as the Rewards by the Game, meaning there wouldn't be anything for finishing the Quest.

Whilst this was disappointing, it wasn't totally outside the Realm of my expectations. Just being given the chance to study the Elder Blood was more than rewarding enough. I scratched my chin in contemplation, head filled with thoughts, wondering what I should do with the vial I had stored on my person. Could I replicate it? That would certainly be the ideal outcome. But, it would definitely be time-consuming.

Seeing as it took multiple, if not all of the Elven Sages to develop the Elder Blood hundreds years ago and they hadn't been able to recreate this feat since. What were the odds of me being able to accomplish a feat that a literal group of Ancient, 'older-than-dirt' Elven Mages could not? Pretty damn high, as it would turn out. "Hmmm, those are not bad odds. Not bad at all…"

67.17%

I waved both the Notifications and [Future Calculation] away dismissively, attention shifting back to the pair who were conversing still. I watched Ciri point at the blade on her back, a light, confident smile tucked on her lips as she spoke.

"See what I got on my back? Wolves fear it, Kings do too." To be fair, she wasn't wrong. Kings were dying like flies in Witcher 2 and 3. Letho Of Gutlet had killed quite a few all on his lonesome, I had little doubt Ciri would be able to do the same, provided she managed to master the Elder Blood. "Come, I'll help you up." The Witcheress pushed the small girl on top of the slope first, then glanced back at me questioningly. "You coming, Leonis?"

With my reinforced strength, I leaped above the slope, sending the Witcheress a challenging smile. The young woman's mouth twitched as she spoke between chuckles, her green eyes twinkling gorgeously. "Show-off."

One moment Ciri was below the slope, the next she was besides us, appearing in a flash of turquoise specks. The scene was both jarring and amazing. Jarring because I had never seen anyone or anything teleport like that and my mind kept struggling to properly identify the Supernatural happening before my very eyes in a logical way. She hadn't displaced herself through Space, she hadn't torn open a path between like I had initially expected.

No. What she did was even more amazing, and it's what I'd consider the pinnacle of Temporal Magecraft for the Modern Age. To put it in layman terms, Ciri had blinked herself into the future. What was even more ridiculous was there were no incantation, no chant, and I was pretty sure she didn't have a Magic Crest to handle the heavy-lifting for her, the ashen-haired Witcheress played with Space-Time like a fiddle.

I clicked my tongue. What annoyed me the most was the fact that Ciri likely hadn't even comprehended the sheer extraordinaire of her feat since it would be no different than taking a breath for her. Yet, she still had the gall to complain to Avallac'h in Kaer Morhen about, and I quoted, 'Not getting anywhere' with her powers. I called complete and utter bullshit.

Hell, if I remembered correctly, her control over Space was so ridiculously precise she was able to levitate rocks without morphing or breaking their physical forms… Like telekinesis!

That was so not 'making no progress'! If anything, it was the opposite of that.

"How was that?" The Witcheress winked, seeming smug with her powers. I rolled my eyes testily, shouting back as I swept Gretka in my arms like a sack of potatoes and activated [Petal Burst], but not before clicking my tongue. "Tsk, let's race then! The one who loses has to get the other dinner!" With that said, I shot forwards, ignoring the startled noises she made.

"I'll take that bet!" Ciri replied laughingly, blinking dozens of feet ahead. I chased after her, glowing, tortoise-green petals fluttering behind as I pushed forth. Weird, I didn't recall this section being this long, but perhaps it was due to the technological limitations at the time. A computer that could display the true complexity and size of the Witcher-World wouldn't have been available to the general public, thus it would have been fairly useless even if CD Projekt Red did manage to recreate their vision.

On the way, we encountered several wolf packs, but they posed no challenge as we tore through them like wet papers. And those that somehow survived fled as quickly as they could. I was simply too powerful, too fast and strong for them to land a clean hit, the closest they got was a bite that grazed my thigh. While Ciri's sword was more than enough deterrent, ensuring no wolf would dare approach her lithe form despite her overall fragility compared to my toughened skin.

We raced each other under the moonlight, amidst Gretka's panicking screams, which soon turned into excited shouts as the winds blew past us.

Finally, I landed near a broken carriage with Ciri blinking next to us seconds later. I looked at her, a smirk on my lips as I addressed the Witcheress. "I'll be waiting for that meal." Then, I returned my gaze to said carriage and the mauled body of some poor fool that had ventured into this forest alone. The corpse was still fresh and the blood stank to high heavens. Ciri sank to her knees, speaking to herself as she inspected the corpse.

She touched the body, mumbling. "Blood's still moist, he died recently." Her gaze moved up to the corpse's mouth. "Lips parted and bloated, bit clear through his tongue… Immense pain before death, his chest is crushed, ribs probably pierced his lungs–"

I interrupted, arms crossed as I set Gretka down. "He died to a werewolf."

Ciri glanced back at me, seemingly annoyed that I intruded on her train of thoughts, gaze questioning. I continued with my assessment. I meant, even if I didn't have the foreknowledge, it was still pretty obvious how he died. "What's there to investigate? Wolf packs everywhere, a mangled and mauled corpse with almost half his body missing, the blood pooling from his back and crushed skull clearly indicated that he died due to blunt force trauma, likely thrown into the carriage by something big."

"I bet it was the Wolves King, it has to be!" Gretka helpfully chimed in. The girl didn't appear sacred whatsoever, and it truly struck me what kind of World I was in. In Nasuverse, only those in wars-torn parts of the World and Mages' children would react so calmly to a destroyed corpse, yet here, even an ordinary peasant child seemed almost totally unfazed by the gruesome sight. It was rather unnerving to say the least.

"Nice observation, Gretka." I patted the girl's head as she beamed in joy, visibly happy with the compliment. "Point is, Ciri: If this isn't the work of a werewolf, I'll eat my shoes."

"Well–" Ciri stood up, patting the dust from her gloved hands. "If you two are right, then we will need a silver blade to kill him, but since we don't have one, a cursed oil is the next best thing... We'll have to gather some alchemy ingredients like–"

I coughed, interrupting her rant as I threw the projected Black Keys to her. The blades shone ominously under the moonlight, glimmering with malevolence as though it could sense the roaming werewolf nearby. "There's no need, use that instead. It's specifically forged to slay cursed and demonic beings. And if I'm not mistaken, a werewolf does belong to those two categories, correct?"

Being weapons designed to be mass-produced by the Church, Black Keys were one of the few Mystic Codes I could project with little effort. And although my efficiency in [Gradation Air] wasn't the best, without Gaia's interference, those Keys were infinitely close to their actual counterparts. Of course, I had only been able to project them thanks to their simplicity. If I had tried to project a Noble Phantasm, even should the real article was placed in front of me, I'd have failed regardless.

Ciri narrowed her eyes, titling her head in confusion. "Where did you get those?"

"You will find that I'm full of surprises, Ciri." I replied cryptically. "These weapons are just one of them."

I clapped playfully, lips tugging upwards under Ciri's suspicious gaze. "Now, I do believe we have a rabid werewolf to find and hopefully put down?"

Ciri made to argue. "Let's make the cursed oil first, in case these blades don't work." Honestly, I'd rather just get this over with, if it wasn't clear already, I wasn't much of an outdoor person and being in this wet, dirty forest was getting on my nerves. What could I say? I liked having a roof over my head, hot water for showers and electricity. Since the last was out of the question here, I would settle for the first two, preferably as soon as possible.

I corrected. "They're Black Keys, mostly used by the Church in my World to slay the more monstrous and demonic of the Supernatural. And fine, I s'pose we can spare the time to look for alchemy ingredients. I'm quite interested in Alchemy anyway."

Thus, we set out to gather the ingredients. Ciri offered to go with, but I disagreed, telling her I'd be fine on my own. After listening to the descriptions of the ingredients, I went to search for them with… Moderate success. I did find dog tallow and wolf's liver by retracing our steps and extracting them from the dead wolves we slaughtered. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't attacked, like at all.

Didn't even catch a glimpse of the wolves that inhabited this forest, meaning my short trip was fairly uneventful, unlike Ciri's with Gretka, which was just absolutely plagued with dangers and bloodthirsty canines.

"Sounds bad." I offered the girls a monotone condolence while Ciri carefully cooked the boiling concoction inside the pot. Turned out, there were way, way more to Alchemy than throwing ingredients together and mixing them up. The Witcheress had wanted to use a hollow log, but seeing as I was here, and projecting a pot cost me nothing, I pulled it out from behind me before she could waste her time with the dirty, wet log.

Again, Ciri gave me an odd look, which I ignored. But, she didn't question where I got it, probably realizing I wouldn't be truthful to her anyway. Smart. "Is it done yet?"

"Almost–" Ciri muttered, throwing the minced wolf's livers inside. The livers instantly melted, turning the mixture into an oily, sludge-like substance that looked and smelled disturbingly similar to piss, that or beers. 'Cause fuck beers. Ciri quickly dipped a rag into the pot, fishing it out to cover the Black Key I had offered her, then she dropped it on my hand. "There, coat your weapons in it, should be useful when we face the werewolf."

I grimaced, pinching the rag in my fingers as I threw it back. "Yeah… I'm good, I'm not smearing that shit on my weapons.." Ciri glared at me, but didn't insist on it, which I was seriously thankful for.

"Well, since everyone is ready, can you tell us where we can find the Wolves King, Gretka?" I turned to the girl, who was humming a tune I did not recognize. Once more, I was struck with an unsettling feeling as I set sight on the peasant girl. We were about to go hunt an actual, God-forbid werewolf, and it just seemed like another Tuesday for her. No matter how shitty this World was, a normal child shouldn't be this indifferent to a threat to her life, no?

I still remembered the peasants that Geralt met, all of whom were scared shitless of the Supernatural, even the soldiers. Was it simply naiveté, or something else? The girl peeked up from her seat, her high-pitched voice causing me to wince as she spoke excitedly. "I know where he is! My father said the Wolves King often stays in this cave, I'll bring you there!"

And with that, Gretka took off, leaving both Ciri and I to trade bewildered looks. 'Maybe I'm overthinking things…'

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