422. Double Yolks and the Restless Heart of Stone.

The soft, fragrant body in his arms trembled slightly.

"Welcome back," she said.

In the hazy light, the girl's jet-black hair glowed softly.

"I really don't want to interrupt you two, but…" Nenneke's voice suddenly came from the side, "You're blocking the way for everyone."

In an instant, the girl in Allen's arms bolted like a startled rabbit, jumping away from his embrace.

Her fair face, lowered, was burning red like fire.

"Hahaha~"

"Let them continue! We don't mind!"

"That's right! Priestess Nenneke, we don't mind at all!"

The surrounding soldiers erupted in laughter, their voices loud and boisterous, as if the night's battle had never exhausted them.

Vesemir crossed his arms, glancing at Allen, then at Lysa, his smile growing even more amused.

Lysa, hiding behind Nenneke, turned an even deeper shade of red.

Under the watchful gazes of so many people, Allen also felt a bit uncomfortable.

In the end, it was Nenneke who saved them from the situation. "Master Vesemir, Sir Allen, Duke Mason is waiting for you at the city gate. You should go now."

Allen quickly nodded, sneaking a glance at Lysa, who still had her head lowered, before pulling along Vesemir, who looked like he was thoroughly enjoying the scene, and pushing through the crowd.

Duke Mason stood at the gates of Ellanderer, leaning on his cane. His eyes were dark with exhaustion, his hair disheveled, clearly having not slept all night.

Several nobles and wealthy merchants of Ellanderer stood beside him, though their numbers were noticeably fewer than when Allen was knighted.

When they saw Allen and Vesemir approaching, they immediately put on warm smiles. But there were no long speeches.

As Allen reached Duke Mason, the old duke merely forced a kind smile onto his deeply wrinkled face.

"I heard from Arthur."

"Well done, Sir Allen, truly well done."

"I imagine when my descendants look back on my life, the moment I bestowed a title upon the 'Blue Death'—no… now I should say the 'Godslayer' Allen—"

The old duke lightly patted Allen on the shoulder.

"Granting you a knighthood must be the wisest decision of my entire life. It saved the city I love most."

He silently observed Allen for a long while, admiration and disbelief shining in his aged eyes.

"By Kreve, who would have thought you're only fourteen?"

"I can't even begin to imagine your future."

"Perhaps one day, my name will be remembered like Seigfried, who granted the legendary hero Zatret Voruta his sword, forever sung in the ballads of bards…"

Allen knew of Sigfried.

Legend had it that Balmur was the ancestral sword of the Dezmod Kingdom's Count—Sigfried.

When Zatrett Volta's sword was shattered by the minions of an Dark God, Sigfried gifted him Balmur in his own domain.

And it was with this sword that Zatrett drove out the Dark God.

This epic tale was a staple of bardic tradition. No bard would ever fail to know this song.

To stir emotion and generosity among their audience, bards would strategically place this song either at the beginning or end of their performances, depending on whether they were performing in a commoner's tavern or a noble's banquet.

"Now, go back and rest," the old duke said with a smile, patting Allen's right arm again. "I've been in battle, I know—at times like this, a comfortable bed is a hundred times better than an old man's wrinkled face."

"After the Falka Rebellion, I stood in the King's Square of Vizima, listening to Goidemar ramble on endlessly. I was so exhausted I wanted to punch him."

"Hahaha~" The surrounding nobles and merchants laughed heartily, displaying their social intelligence.

As the laughter faded, the old duke solemnly nodded at Allen.

"Go, but remember—Ellanderer will never mistreat any warrior who fights for her."

"Just as…"

He narrowed his eyes and surveyed the crowd. "Ellanderer will not easily forgive those who abandoned her and fled in times of crisis."

The noise at the city gate fell silent.

As Allen pondered the deeper meaning behind those words, the old duke turned to Vesemir. "Ellanderer will not forget the Wolf School's assistance, Master Vesemir."

Then,

He stepped aside.

A familiar carriage was parked by the city gate. Arthur sat in the driver's seat, dressed in a fresh set of clothes, nodding at them in greeting.

He had left earlier through the portal to report to the duke and make arrangements for the wounded.

"Take my carriage back," the old duke said. "The temple is quite a distance from here."

Allen and Vesemir did not refuse, walking straight toward the carriage. However, midway there, Allen suddenly thought of Lysa and Nenneke.

But when he turned to look, the two priestesses who should have been behind them had already disappeared.

"What's wrong, Sir Allen?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing."

Allen stepped into the carriage.

A faint trace of the daisy fragrance still lingered at the tip of his nose.

----------------------------

Inside a small wooden cabin at the Melitele Temple.

Rising steam blurred the interior space.

The breeze from the window caused the candle flames to flicker, illuminating the figure of a young man wearing only a thin shirt—or more precisely, a boy.

"Whoosh~"

The last bucket of hot water was poured into the wooden tub.

The boy removed his clothes, tossing them onto the wooden screen meant to block out moisture, and slowly stepped into the steaming bath.

"Ahh~"

Allen let out a deep sigh of comfort.

In truth, he had already bathed at the temple's communal bath with Vesemir upon returning, scrubbing off the persistent blood and grime that seemed embedded in his pores.

But having grown accustomed to the habits of Kaer Morhen, Allen preferred soaking in a private bath in his own room after an intense battle.

It was even more relaxing than a comfortable bed.

"Too bad the Melitele Temple doesn't have a tub that maintains its heat."

Feeling the water slowly cooling, Allen sighed and flexed his index finger, channeling magic.

"Blub~ Blub~"

The water in the tub bubbled and surged, returning to the perfect temperature.

Unfortunately, this warmth wouldn't last long, requiring him to use Igni again to reheat it, preventing him from fully immersing in the experience.

Truth be told, he missed the bathtub Lady Vera had given him.

"I wonder if Lady Vera has returned from Toussaint?" Allen leaned his head against the tub's edge, gazing at the ceiling.

Carved wooden charms of various shapes swayed gently in the rising mist.

[The most skilled assassin cannot kill a wary knight. A heavily guarded king is often poisoned by the one sleeping beside him.]

[Familiar people are the most dangerous, Allen.]

-------------------------------

Suddenly, Vesemir's warning echoed in his ears.

If he couldn't even trust Lady Vera, then no matter how much he prepared, Aretuza would be dangerous for him.

It was their home turf, full of cunning sorceresses, and more importantly, he was going there for the Wolf School master's enchantments, not for the "Sorceress's Memory."

"This is tricky..." Allen sighed.

Gurgle... gurgle...

Bubbles of hot steam rose from the bathtub, making him squint in comfort.

"There's still time. I'll wait until all the ghouls in Ellander are eliminated before deciding," Allen shook his head lightly. "Who knows, by then, the situation might change again."

It wasn't impossible.

After all, four or five months ago, when he first left Kaer Morhen, he never imagined that the defense of Kaer Morhen would be resolved through a war between Kaedwen and Aedirn, the Wild Hunt's interference, and the destruction of Ban Ard.

Compared to that, whether or not to go to Aretuza was entirely up to him. In the grand scheme of things, it was just a minor issue.

At least, for now.

Then—

He stopped overthinking and, with a thought, opened the Witcher's Journal.

[Inventory:]

[Essences:

@#￥%&'s Element 1

Summoning Ritual's Flesh Core 1

Heart Essence of the Rotting Lord 1

Monster Nest's Core 5

Heart Essence of the Scurver 7

Heart Essence of the Corpse Demon 1

Heart Essence of the Alghoul 15

Heart Essence of the Rotfiend 90...]

[Chests:

Chest of @#￥%& 5

Chest of the Summoning Ritual 5

Chest of the Rotting Lord 5

Chest of the Monster Nest 5

Chest of the Scurver 5

Chest of the Corpse Demon 5

Chest of the Alghoul 5

Chest of the Ghoul 5

Chest of the Rotfiend 5]

[Experience Orbs:

Experience Orb 163

Small Experience Orb 4002]

A semi-transparent panel unfolded before his eyes.

Allen's gaze was once again drawn to the dazzling purple nebula-like mist...

"Not now." He resisted the hunger surging through every cell in his body.

He had decided not to use any of the Heart Essences today, including the other Flesh Cores.

Using such attribute-enhancing items while in a weakened state would result in actual attribute loss.

Since there were no pressing matters at the moment, he might as well wait two days until his weakened state passed before using them. Then he turned his attention to the treasure chests.

Melitele's blessing had its limits—nine gold was the maximum for the Harvest Blessing. So, selectively opening chests was necessary.

Not only that—

Recently, he had also noticed something.

As his strength grew and the Conjunction of the Spheres continued to bring about a "revival of magical energy" in this world, the scale of battles he engaged in—both actively and passively—was growing larger. Naturally, the number and types of chests he obtained after each battle were also increasing.

It was time to establish some priorities.

Tap, tap, tap...

Allen tapped the edge of the bathtub with his right index finger, thinking carefully: "The Dark God and Summoning Ritual chests must be saved. Those are rare encounters, almost impossible to get seven of for a fusion into red-quality items. I'll open them first as soon as the Goddess recovers from bestowing divine spells and blessings."

"The Rotting Lord and Corpse Demon, as 'extraterrestrial visitors' from the Conjunction, might unlock a new power system similar to 'Beast Roar.' Since the Conjunction happens once a month, collecting seven of these chests won't be too hard."

"Alright... those will be the second batch for the Goddess's Harvest Blessing."

"As for the Scurver, Alghoul, Ghoul, and Rotfiend, they're not worth wasting blessings on."

"Even though there are no native monsters in the Witcher's world—all of them originally came through the Conjunction of the Spheres—there's still a distinction in the Witcher's Journal between native and non-native creatures.

"Killing monsters native to the Northern Realms only seems to yield in-game potion formulas or magical items related to those monsters."

"But the monsters that come from the Conjunction seem to drop all sorts of rare and peculiar skill-related items instead."

"I haven't tried a seven-chest fusion with native monsters yet, but with so many chests in stock, there's no point in wasting blessings on them."

"Of course..."

"For non-ghoul, wraith, or hybrid beast monster chests, it's still worth ensuring golden drops—at least to get all the low-level monster oils unlocked."

"As for the Monster Nests..."

Monster nests were not categorized in the game, and their origins were unknown, so Allen hesitated for a moment.

After thinking for a while—and reheating the bathtub once with an Igni sign—he decided to temporarily group them with the Rotting Lord and Corpse Demon. The origins of monster nests were indeed suspicious, and as long as he actively searched, encountering them again wasn't unlikely.

So…

"That leaves only the Scurver, Alghoul, Ghoul, and Rotfiend?"

As usual, Allen praised Melitele. Even though the goddess couldn't grant blessings at the moment, the ritual had to be done properly.

"Praise be to the Mother of All, the Goddess of Fertility, Harvest, and Birth, the eternal Maiden, Mother, and Crone…"

[Ding! Opened:

Scurver Chest ×5

Alghoul Chest ×5

Ghoul Chest ×5

Rotfiend Chest ×5]

Two gold, four blue, and fifteen white.

Jackpot!

Lounging lazily in the bathtub, Allen immediately sat upright.

A double gold drop—his luck was pretty good.

As expected, a bit of ritual did seem to help.

Both golden chests played the standard opening animation, meaning they contained nothing particularly important. It was just a flashy way to make golden-quality chests feel more prestigious. So, he quickly skipped through.

[Ding! Obtained:

Potion Recipe: "Maribor Forest"

Bomb Recipe: "Devil's Puffball"

Experience Orbs ×8

Rotten Meat ×11]

"Maribor Forest?"

Seeing the system message, Allen paused for a moment.

If he remembered correctly, Maribor Forest also had an effect related to adrenaline.

[Name: Maribor Forest]

[Type:] Potion Recipe

[Alchemy Level Required:] 3

[Ingredients:]

Dwarven Spirit ×1

Berbercane Fruit ×3

Alghoul Bone Marrow ×1

Drowner Tongue ×4

[Effect:] Accelerates adrenaline regeneration.

[Note:] "Good news! Maribor Forest can be used simultaneously with Alghoul Decoction. Of course, in a way, that's also bad news. A kid at such a young age already needing kidney supplements? That's just tragic!"

Allen's expression darkened when he saw the note.

What do they mean by "already needing kidney supplements"…

But there was no point in arguing with a system message, so he opened the Alghoul Decoction description next.

[Name: Alghoul Decoction]

…

[Effect:] Adrenaline generates faster than usual—until an enemy lands a hit on you!

Damn.

Adrenaline was a direct booster for strength, agility, and reaction speed.

He couldn't even imagine how powerful it would be to use both effects simultaneously.

Of course, setting aside whether his body could handle the toxicity, could a witcher's kidneys even withstand such violent stimulation and output?

Allen smacked his lips. His waist suddenly felt… a little empty.

[Name: Devil's Puffball]

[Type:] Bomb Recipe

[Alchemy Level Required:] 2

[Ingredients:]

Saltpeter ×1

Sewant Mushroom ×2

[Effect:] Releases toxic gas upon explosion.

[Note:] "Whether it's poisonous or not doesn't matter. The important thing is—it's cheap!"

If he remembered correctly, Devil's Puffball was effective against werewolves, higher vampires, Ekimma, and leshens.

That said, when Allen used to fight those monsters in the game, he had always relied on pure swordplay and never really used Devil's Puffball.

"I just hope that, in reality, Devil's Puffball actually triggers weak-point damage." He had high hopes for it.

With all the chests opened, Allen glanced at his total of over 200 experience orbs and took a deep breath. Then, with a single thought, the Witcher's Journal turned its pages.

A heart of stone, entwined with countless withered veins, pulsed with restless energy.

.....

📢Advanced chapters on p@treaon📢

For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)

1. 30 advanced chapters of American Comics: Multiverse of Madness.

2. 30 advanced chapters of Warhammer, but Emperor's Chosen.

3. 20 advanced chapters of The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes.