The Witcher: Elder Blood

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***

'You bastards,' I slash the overgrown dragonfly flying towards me with a swing of my sword. - 'I'm sick of you,' I use the Igni Sigil on the three more crowded around me. - 'Get lost,' I dodge sharply and kill the last insect by cutting off its head, sensing it approaching from behind with foresight.

I'm having trouble breathing air, which is helped by one of the latest artefacts I've made, one that normalises the flow of carbon dioxide with oxygen.

And the funny thing about it is that it's a full copy, a full copy of an elven artefact the Rector learnt when he was trained by the elves. It completely normalises the air around it to a state where you can breathe it in without any problems, or at least not die too quickly if the air is not originally designed for elves or humans. The artefact was created back in those distant times, when elves could somehow discover new worlds.

Most likely they managed to do it with the help of unicorns, as they are able to open a kind of portal, which then immediately closes, not letting the wizards know about the final point of transition.

The rector once suggested in one of our lessons that my gene was based on crossbreeding with unicorns. A sort of copying of the witches' mutagen system, only much more elaborate and complex. As a possible theory can be taken into account, there is no other in any case, and the elves who know the truth, go and look for them.

And yes, it seems it's time to be convinced of my theory about alternate lands. Why is that? Well. At the moment I'm near the hill I've just descended from, located in the middle of a coal forest. My knowledge of history is modest, and of the very past even less so, but I was once interested in prehistoric times, and have watched many videos on the subject. Some of the information had been filed away, for example, information about fucking coal forests, consisting mostly of huge ferns, and populated to the brim with huge insects.

'Okay, he wanted to know something about other worlds..... I'll tell him about the dinosaurs and show him these dragonflies,' I stuff the most intact carcass into the bag along with the severed head. - 'I forget the name of this shit...megahegra? Megavegra or meganevra? Whatever, you're megastrechauns now,' I finish stuffing the megastrechaun into the bag and head to the previously dropped bag of plants.

It was the second week of my solo travelling through random worlds. Well, it's the first day in a random world, before that I explored visited with Hen, spoiler - empty dead worlds, nothing interesting in them was found by my forces.

Vesemir will join only after wintering, wait and wait, in general, while wandering alone. I can be done with this world, I know even more about it than I do about the world of my current residence.

I pick up the bag of plants and concentrate on the 'spatial map', with the help of which I open a portal directly to the Ban Ard Academy with the thoughts: 'Let the old wizard study the "gifts", and I will confirm my theory and tell more about the prehistoric period.

- Hmmm, should I talk about human evolution? - I'm thinking out loud.

- R-r-rar-rah-rah! - I hear a loud roar in the distance.

'I'd better get out of here first,' I jump into the portal.

***

- An insect, you say? - Hela Gedimdeit was examining the megastreak I'd brought. - It was amazing how much taller it was than the standard size.

We were in his lab, separate from the main academy building. There was a lot of stuff inside. Dozens of flasks of various potions. A couple of long cabinets with books and scrolls. Ingredients, artefacts useful in research, and tools all adorned the spacious room.

- In those times on earth, there was many times more carbon dioxide in the air. Animals, fish, insects here, grew much bigger. They then evolved into the fauna of today. I can't tell you in detail, I only know superficially about it.

- Oh, evolution, the last time I heard that word mentioned was in the walls of elven cities. The elves told us about our evolution from animals, so I was not surprised by this information, - said the wizard to himself. - However, there is no knowledge of such ancient creatures in the elven libraries,' the rector began to arrange the plants from the second bag. - Didn't I tell you about the thoughts of the Elven Knowers, about their assumption about the artificial creation of the Elven race?

- No, I certainly didn't,' I leaned against the wall and watched the old man at work as he nimbly applied diagnostic spells and artefacts to the plants and dragonfly before preparing them for the usual methods of inspection.

- The genome of pureblood elves is so complex, bizarre in a word, yet perfectly calibrated, as if created by an evolved intelligent being rather than Mother Nature.

- They may well have been created by humans. Since the other worlds are alternate realities, in one of them humans may have advanced to the point where they could have bred the 'perfect human'.

- Three hundred years ago, I could only have laughed at your theory,' the warlock turned to me. - Now? Having witnessed the creation of witches, having personally studied genomes and having seen in person the crossing of a human and a unicorn.... - he pointed some kind of tongs in my direction. - ...Even if it's not proven about the unicorn, your theory has a place now. Just don't tell the elves about it, their pride is too wounded from the bloody defeat,' Gedymdeath sighed heavily, interrupting his work again. - Your theory will only make them angry, and you don't want that.

I didn't want to make enemies from the words I'd said, so I'd take the rector's advice. And who cares who created these elves? Maybe Chaos itself was to blame for their creation, it was not in vain that they learnt magic for thousands of years, long before the Conjunction of the Spheres.

- Then what now?

- We should visit the prehistoric world, as you call it. Visit me in two days, I'll be free by evening.

Gedymdate continued to rummage through the 'gifts' he had received, and I headed back home, resting after the jungle run would be good for me.

***

Once again I had to set foot on prehistoric ground. The dangerous forests were left behind, it was time to observe the mountain plain. In the distance could be seen various dinosaurs roaming here and there.

At the moment I was on the planet with the Rector, keenly observing the surroundings under the supported concealment charms. The enchantments hid us under a blur, preventing us from being seen properly, preventing sounds from getting beyond a five metre radius from the old warlock, and weakening the smell.

- It's amazing the giants you meet. And if what you say about the sea creatures is true, I'm afraid to imagine the size of the largest creature of this time. But you're right, I'd rather spend more time exploring other worlds. I could spend decades exploring these worlds, but it wouldn't do much good.

On the way out of the forest where I had previously had the opportunity to kill large dragonflies, we discussed the importance of exploring the prehistoric world. Hela is certainly interested in observing the local fauna, perhaps studying it, but he's primarily concerned with magical knowledge.

'At least my teacher isn't one of those wizards who created witches in their time. Cosimo or Alzur would not miss the opportunity to take dinosaurs apart, the second would have created chimeras,' I sighed with relief at not wanting to wander around the prehistoric planet, and decided to ask about the only purpose of our continued stay in this world: 'So who are we taking with us, an animal or a dinosaur?

He has decided to stop serious study of the local fauna, but wanted to take some creature with him to study while I continue my search for a 'more interesting' world.

- A dinosaur, with animals in general I understand. A small individual... Surie osanwe palan! - small white balls flew in all directions from us, high above the ground. - Keep an eye on the situation, I need to keep my attention on the search,' the rector sat in a meditative pose, leaving me on guard.

'On the one hand I want to see the tyrannosaur.... and on the other, I don't want to spend too much time wandering around.'

We were covered with artefacts, and the Rector had cast concealment charms on us, so we had to avoid groups of locals to avoid attracting attention to our personalities. It was better in the open-we were surrounded by hills and strange tall trees I didn't know the names of-than it was in the forest.

- It's done,' Hela got to his feet, shaking off his clothes with the help of the breeze he'd summoned. - Let's go south, there's a whole crowd by the river.

He had a compass with him. It helped us not to wander round in circles in the woods, though we could work out the way with magic, but sometimes you can do simpler things.

'Useful stuff, will need to take it with me on my wanderings.'

***

'Two moves a week is too much. How about two moves a month? Yeah, I think it's time to underestimate the amount of world hopping,' I thought to myself as I stood over the corpses of some ghouls.

It's almost a month later, in two days I'll have to go to the ball in Arethusa with Yennifer, and in the meantime I'm bouncing around the second world with intelligent life I've found.

'Can we find a peaceful world where harmony and love reign? Dinosaurs, now there's ghouls eating the whole village. Most likely, if I remember the laws of the genre, they were turned by real vampires, that's just great,' I dragged the bodies of the ghouls I had killed earlier to the open area in the centre of the village.

Whether I explore the world or just visit again depends on Hela Gedimdeit's decision. A world with vampires whose pack of ghouls freely attack villages at night is of little interest to me.

'There were only six ghouls, but they were very fast. They were on a par with the Ghouls of the Continent, but they looked better.

I sat down on a bench near the house of the supposed headman, waiting for the sunrise. The picture in the village was not as bloody as it might have seemed at first glance, just imagine the monsters attacking the defenseless population. The ghouls had attacked everyone in their sleep, and the part of the inhabitants that had managed to wake up and leave their homes had not had time to scatter heavily around the village to have their corpses decorating the local roads.

The rustic-looking houses did not make clear the exact stage of development of the world we had found, and I am no historian to draw analogies from my world for the peasants' clothing and utensils.

'This is where I'll have to linger. At least there are people in this world, a breakthrough in the search. Too bad the entire village population is dead, I could have created a translator,' I pull a necklace from my belt pouch.

It looked simple, but it was very useful in practice. An artefact based on mental magic: you take control of the creature's mind, pay special attention to its memory of the local language and the meaning of each word, and then copy everything onto the artefact. When the creature begins to speak, the wearer of the necklace will hear a faint echo of the translation. It is called a Language Library, but I think this name is not quite appropriate, as one artefact holds the knowledge of one filled language. Both the quality of the translation and the number of known words depends on the personality with which the artefact was filled.

'Boring, I can't wait for winter to be over, I can talk to Vesemir, and it will be safer...'

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bushes swarming outside the fence by the forest. The bushes parted to the side, branches cracked, and then a medium-sized figure appeared, barely recognisable in the darkness.

The mysterious figure stopped for a moment and looked at the pile of dead Ghouls stacked on the open ground nearby.

I had used a night vision spell on myself during the battle with the Ghouls, but it had its disadvantages. The main disadvantage was the range of visibility; the figure stood out of range.

Suddenly a melodious female laugh sounded: - Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, great, I won't have to track down the scattered rubbish myself, - the woman headed straight towards me, to which I stood up and drew my sword tighter. - What are you, warrior? Handled all of Fool Casimir's Ghouls without a single wound.

'I don't understand what she's telling me. If memory serves, it sounds something like Polish. Except that assumption in the language doesn't help you learn it,' the language was completely different from the ones I knew, so I could only assume. The woman came within range of my spell, allowing me to get a better look at her. - 'Fucking hell, a vampire wasn't enough for last,' what I saw made me tense up more, preparing to defend myself at any moment.

The woman I didn't recognise had the familiar ghosts of vampires, not the altered kind you see on the Continent - where they deform the human body when they take on the form of a vampire - but rather the more standard ones, with eyes that glowed slightly in the darkness and a wide smile adorned with two fangs. Her long black hair swayed slightly in the breeze, and her skin had a pale tint to it, only intensified by my current vision under the spell. The only clothing she wore was a bloodstained shirt with several long cuts on it. And the strangest thing about her appearance was the head of a much stronger transformed vampire in her hand.

- You're so uncooperative, you just want to bite.... - The vampiress lightly tossed her head back towards the pile of chopped Ghouls. - Casimir disrupted the masquerade, he's out of control, and he made me chase after him in such an inappropriate manner. Unforgivable impertinence... - She growled the last words loudly, causing me to use the Quen Sign on automatic. The vampire's eyes widened in shock, pupils flaring in different directions, surveying her surroundings at a rapid pace. Then her eyes narrowed again, and shifted back to me. - You're not an inquisitor, and you're here alone, aren't you? - She asked with interest, raising her hands palms up slightly above her stomach. - Ah, what a silent man, you had me scared for a second. A bunch of fanatics have been getting active lately, I wouldn't want to meet them in person.

'Did she say something about inquisitors? Does she think I'm one of them? Maybe that's what they call evil hunters around here,' I continued to drill the vampire who had taken my hand in hers, and decided to try one of the tricks of mental magic: 'Edledhia! - I sent a pulse of intent into her mind to send her a demand to get out.

The vampiress cringed at the sensation of a loud voice in her head, a voice that conveyed an unfamiliar word but whose meaning reached her without any trouble. She bristled, jumped aside, but was in no hurry to hide, or show any signs of affecting her mind.

- 'Tsk, tough nut,' he muttered faintly to almost zero effect.

- What have you done, mortal!? - I was hit by a powerful mental pulse at the same second. My vision blurred, the only thing I could look at was the figure of the vampire in front of me.

'Beautiful, her look... the figure...' - I couldn't take my eyes off the approaching figure. In an instant, any tension in my body was gone.

The woman threw off her slashed shirt and, heading towards me with slow steps, pinned my vision with her playful gaze.

Each step was accompanied by a scrutiny of her figure, her face, her breasts..... I involuntarily began to compare the stranger with Yennifer, and realised how much better the beauty I had met was.

- How did you manage, ah, you'll answer later.... tell all your secrets after the 'embrace'. Could your fate be the key to ending our conflict with the nasty Menelaus?

The woman came close to me, her mouth open, revealing long fangs again, but I couldn't take my eyes off her bright eyes, the lines of her refined body. Her head rushed to my neck in a flash and then.....

Poof.

The flash from Quen's blast tossed the vampiress aside. My consciousness returned to normal and my body was covered in goosebumps. In the horror that engulfed me, at the disgruntled hiss of the vampiress hurting her teeth, I jerked back.

'Fuck it,' I teleport to the next house. There's an angry shout from behind, during which I move again to another building, where I open a portal back to my world, the Continent. - 'Dangerous, I was saved by Quen, but I'm not ready for that right now.'

Before stepping through the portal, I cast a glance back towards the centre of the village. Immediately the figure of the vampiress appeared, bouncing over the first house I teleported to first.

- How dare you!? - The vampiress roared in a language I didn't recognise, then blurred from her speed towards me. I managed to close the portal exactly as she cut half the distance at an obscene speed.