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[PR: Ash]

The light of dawn shone upon the petite houses of the orphanage. Letho held up the bottle of white liquid under the light, peering into it. “Vicki’s almost as good as a regular potioneer now.” He patted the girl’s head. “Teach these idiots in my place. I have somewhere to be.”

“Of course, Mr. Letho. Leave it to me.” The girl thumped her chest, and a sweet smile curled her lips. Vicki was already able to concoct more than a few dozen potions by herself. She interned at the potion shop in Novigrad many times, and Kantilla praised her.

Renee tied her hair up in pigtails that day, and she harrumphed. “Hmph!” She grinned and looked away. “I want a headpat too, Mr. Letho.”

Letho put his hand against her forehead. Just when she was closing her eyes to enjoy the pat, Letho flicked her forehead. Renee gasped and puckered her lips, trying her best to put on a puppy pout. But Letho was unfazed.

Conrad tugged on the hem of Letho’s shirt nervously. “Where are you going, Mr. Letho?”

“Ask more relevant questions, boy. Now go back to practice.”

***

Letho straightened his shirt, took a deep breath, and left the workshop. Over the last six months, the workshop had been renovated, and the walls were painted blue. The facilities inside had an overhaul too. It now looked more like a proper lab, and that was more than enough for the apprentices.

At the same time, Eskel put his book down and left the class. Vesemir took off his apron and handed his hammer to three muscular boys. Auckes and Serrit, who were in the field, handed the hoes and bows and arrows to three boys with soil-caked faces. Kiyan came back from the botanical garden in the woods, looking lively. Lambert, Aiden, and Felix left the apprentice witchers at the training field.

The witchers left their posts and came to the fence wall behind the yard. There, the beautiful Coral, Triss, and the alchemist were waiting.

The sounds of recital coming from the classroom slowed to a whisper, and the boys were starting to slack off on their training. “Hey, Carl. Where are they going? Seems serious.” Monti stared at the people in the backyard, his eyes brimming with anticipation. “We passed the Trial, and I’ve killed more than fourteen drowners.”

“Fifteen for me.”

“Thirteen here.”

“A hundred and twenty for me.” Carl sighed.

“Um, doesn’t matter. What matters is we’re more capable than most adults, so why aren’t they taking us along for the mission?” Charname grumbled, his pupils contracting.

Lloyd rubbed his head, his green eyes filled with determination. “Obviously they’re doing it for our own good. We just passed the Trial, and we need time to calm down. There’s a long road ahead of us. We’re going to have to work for their approval.”

“Don’t just stand there. You haven’t even taken the pre-Trial yet. This isn’t some conversation you can overhear.” Acamuthorm lectured them sternly, “Now put your backs into it! You’re weak! And run faster!”

“What? We’re all running as fast as we can. He’s not going on the drowner hunt next time!”

The newbies trying to listen in looked horrified, and they quickly went back to training.

***

“Why the sudden summon, Lytta? There are two months left before the pale widow lays more eggs. Not enough for a second mutation.” Lambert put his hands on his hips and sized up the sorceress sharply, his buttons shining under the sun. “Did Triss remember something?”

The witchers looked at the freckled and confused Triss, hoping she would have answers.

“Sorry, but I still can’t remember anything.”

Lytta looked at the witchers grimly. “I found something important at the Valley of the Nine, and I think we should see it together.”

“How important is it? You summoned all of us here.” Auckes looked at the sorceress in the crimson dress, and he asked, “You can’t be tricking us, can you?”

Lambert noticed something different about Lytta. “Why’d you change your clothes, Lytta?” He rubbed his chin. “You’ve been wearing a black dress for the last two months like a widow. What made you change your outfit?” He looked at her and noticed there was a slight blush on her cheeks. It was different from what she used to be like. “And you look a lot better now. Did you bathe before you came?”

“Shut it. I’m not a widow. You’ll get your answer when we get to the valley.” An angry Lytta waved her hand, and Lambert clutched his throat, his eyes bulging, but he couldn’t say a word.

The three sorcerers waved their hands at the same time, and the talismans on their necks shone brightly with magic. They then extended their arms, and three portals appeared in the air, winds howling around them. The sorcerers stepped into the portal, while the witchers winced, but eventually, they too leapt into the portals.

***

The underwater lab in the Valley of the Nine was brightly illuminated by the braziers in the corners and the multitude of torches hanging on the pillars. It was a quiet place in a certain marsh in Toussaint, and suddenly, winds howled in the lobby, then thirteen silhouettes leapt out of the portals.

Most of the witchers were breathing heavily, their chests heaving, and their faces pale. It looked like they had just gone through an intense battle.

“Now can you tell us why you took us here, Lytta Neyd?” Lambert asked. “Why’d you put us through that much torture? Something valuable must be here.”

The sorceress looked at the witchers, and she crossed her arms, a smile curling her lips. She had never smiled once over the last two months. Every second was torture for her, yet now she smiled, and the witchers could think of only one reason for that.

“Roy?” Letho spoke with a trembling voice, and he looked past the sorceress’ shoulder. Sounds of firm footsteps came from behind the wall near the abode of the pale widow, and a silhouette strode out of the shadows.

The light of the flames shone upon a slender man in steel armor with a pair of swords strapped to his back. His hair was slick, and one of his eyes was dark gold, while the other was silver-grey. A few red marks were imprinted on his cheeks, and a smile hung on his lips. “Morning.” Roy opened his arms and looked at his companions eagerly. With a trembling voice, he announced, “I’m back!”

An eerie silence fell upon the lab. Everyone held their breaths, and their faces fell. Light shone in their eyes like they were wolves eyeing their prey.

“Kid!”

“You brat!” Letho crouched and charged ahead like a beast, and he swung a blast of Aard ahead. The air exploded, but Roy rolled away, barely dodging it. However, he alone was no match for the group of witchers.

Nearly everyone stepped ahead, including Vesemir himself, and they surrounded the young witcher. The air was filled with the clangs and bangs of metals and punches. Eventually, Auckes, Lambert, Letho, Felix, and Serrit took off Roy’s armor and held him by his limbs and head, then they held him up in the air.

Roy was wearing nothing but a silk shirt and short pants underneath, and he was flailing around like a duck. Coen, Felix, and Aiden laughed in relief.

“Do you have any idea how much we’ve worried about you?” Serrit angrily smacked Roy’s rear.

Roy winced, but he didn’t fight back. It was a welcoming party, even if it was a little bizarre.

“You little pervert.” Letho’s eyes glinted coldly, and he pressed his fist against Roy’s cheek, caving it in. “You went to her first instead of us? What are we, chopped liver?”

Kalkstein smirked and pinched his cheek, watching the show. Triss felt conflicted. She covered her mouth in surprise at first, but when she looked at Lytta and Roy, the light in her eyes dimmed a little. Lytta was the one Roy wanted to see the most. He cared about her the most.

“Look at him.” Lambert pinched Roy’s cheek and chest. “He’s all fine and dandy, except for… the claws and bites. Of a certain woman. And you’re a lot stronger than you were two months ago. No wonder Lytta looks so refreshed. You’ve been living a good life, huh?”

“You too, mate. You went to the Spear’s Pit twice a week,” Aiden interrupted. “You’ve been living well too.”

Lambert smiled awkwardly and pulled his hand back.

“And I thought you went missing. Have you been watching us from the shadows?” Auckes asked sternly, looking at Roy sharply. “You never even showed up. We were worried sick, you little pervert.”

“Gentler!” Roy was happy, but he was also in pain. “Put me down. I’ll explain myself.”

“Not so fast. You have to be punished.” The witchers exchanged a look, and Lambert did the motion of slitting his throat with his hand.

Then the witchers slammed Roy against the pillars and ground into him repeatedly, until Lytta said, “Enough!” She waved her hand, and the lab was covered in the light of magic.

The witchers let Roy go, and he fell, but before he hit the ground, he held himself up a little, then a gentle magic pushed him toward Coral.

“That is enough.” Lytta held Roy’s arm and dusted his pants off.

Roy could feel his arm sinking into her chest, and he smiled stiffly. His whole body was starting to hurt again. She hasn’t had enough after a whole night?

“What? We haven’t done anything to him yet.” Lambert cocked his eyebrow, a little frustrated, then he slicked his hair back. “Fine. For Lytta’s sake, we’ll let you off the hook this time. Now tell us where you’ve been these two months, and why didn’t you make a grand entrance?”

Roy changed into his armor and straightened out his collar, then he looked at everyone sincerely. “This might be unbelievable, but I was somewhere millions and millions of miles away from Novigrad.”

“How far are we talking?”

“Another world. A planet called Nirn, a place called Tamriel. I was in Skyrim, and there was a keep called Whiterun…”

The witchers glared at Roy and cracked their fists.

“Let me explain.”

Auckes shook his head, apparently not believing Roy. “Nirn? Tamriel? Is that a joke you came up with? You don’t have to. As long as you’re back in one piece, that’s all we hoped for.”

“I am serious.” Roy looked around and took a deep breath, then he said, “You’ve all lived for nearly a hundred years, so you must have heard about the existence of other worlds and universes.”

Triss pursed her lips, displeased. I’m not even fifty yet. And Lytta tightened her grip on Roy.

To convince everyone, Roy used this world’s history to illustrate his story, “Fifteen hundred years ago, gigantic celestial bodies appeared in the skies of this world, and countless worlds merged with one another for a while. The creatures from all those worlds came into our world through the passage created by that conjunction. Vampires, banshees, nekkers, and even humans. This proves that there are other worlds that exist out there.”

“That is possible.” Serrit calmed down a little, but everyone was still doubtful.

“I have proof.” Roy opened his hand, and lying in his palm was a big item that looked like a thick rope.

“Is that a toe?” Kalkstein took the item and stared at it with great interest. “This is a few times bigger than any human’s toe. The creature must’ve been at least thirteen-feet tall.”

“That’s Old Speartip’s toe, isn’t it? The one we killed in Kaer Morhen.” Letho shook his head. “The kid has a lot of components lying around. This can’t fool us.”

“No. This toe does not belong to an ogroid. The bone feels different from the one in Oxenfurt Academy,” said the alchemist. “This comes from another type of creature.”

Everyone looked at Roy.