ALL NOVEL 41. Essence of the Drowner King’s Heart.
After retrieving dinner from the alchemy lab, Allen returned to the apprentice dormitory, reeking of alcohol. The corpse of the Drowner King had been handed over to Vesemir for processing. The Witcher master promised to consult the Chief to help solve the materials processing issue.
"Don't worry, 'Materials Processing for Large Monsters' was co-written by the Chief and Ms. Vera. Even the high-ranking sorcerer apprentices of Ban Ard and Aretuza use this textbook." Those were Vesemir's exact words.
In the apprentice dormitory, Hughes, smelling the alcohol on Allen, curiously asked, "Allen, where have you been?"
Allen hesitated for a moment and then said, "I went to the castle hall to join the bonfire banquet this afternoon."
"Wow!" Hughes exclaimed, putting down his cup and rubbing his hands excitedly as he continued to ask questions: "How did you get in? What does the castle hall look like? ..."
The barrage of questions overwhelmed Allen, and with Fred and Bont also looking expectantly with their cups raised, Allen sighed and briefly recounted the afternoon's events—slaying the Drowner King, then being brought into the castle hall by Vesemir.
Allen wasn't a good storyteller, yet the apprentices listened attentively, their eyes shining with admiration and envy. The castle hall didn't actually forbid apprentices from entering, and the Witchers' winter bonfire banquets didn't exclude them either. However, very few...or rather, none of the apprentices had ever participated in such a banquet before Allen. The reason was simple—no official Witcher would invite them.
"Don't remember the names of apprentices." This was an unwritten rule among the Wolf School Witchers, passed down through the years.
Even though Allen, as Vesemir mentioned, was the only Witcher apprentice to slay a large monster before the mountain trial, several Witchers at the banquet subtly reminded Vesemir of this rule. They thought Allen couldn't hear them. In fact, he heard everything clearly. After telling his story, Allen patiently answered their questions about signs before shooing them to eat and sleep.
Lying in bed, Allen opened his character interface to organize the day's gains.
[Name: Allen]
[Age: 13]
[Title: Child of Miracles]
[Level: 10]
[Health: 100%, Stamina: 150/150, Mana: 87/87]
[Attributes: Strength 9.6, Agility 9.6, Constitution 15, Perception 14.9, Mystery 8.7]
[Special Skills: Monster Hunting LV3, Identification LV1, Tracking LV1]
[Special Skill Points: 0]
[Skills: Wolf School Two-Handed Sword LV2, Tracking LV1, Quen LV3, Aard LV1, Yrden LV1, Igni LV2]
[Formulas: Killer Whale (Unavailable)]
[Items: Small Experience Orbs 5763, Experience Orbs 45, Essence of the Drowner King's Heart3, Drowner King's Chest 18, Drowner's Chest 23, Essence of Drowner's Heart 186…]
[Evaluation: Noob!]
Looking at his considerable wealth, all those melancholic feelings vanished instantly. Money is courage for a man. The ancients did not lie. Allen joyfully reflected.
One Experience Orb equaled 100 experience points, and forty-five Orbs meant 4,500 Small Experience Orbs. Altogether, Allen's savings surpassed 10,000 Small Experience Orbs.
He opened the system prompt he got in the morning.
[Do you want to spend 7101 Small Experience Orbs to unlock the Alchemy skill?]
The breath he had been holding was instantly released.
"More than enough," Allen thought.
Life's twists are truly unpredictable.
After Mary's alchemy class in the morning, he thought he would have to face the mountain trial unprepared. Who would have thought that by night, he not only had enough but even a surplus?
Should he unlock alchemy tomorrow and start brewing potions?
Or wait a bit, attend a few more classes to save some experience orbs?
After pondering for a moment, Allen remembered that Mary's class had only reduced his Small Experience Orbs by 19 after three or four hours. He sighed and shook his head.
"Unlock it after the last class tomorrow!" Allen decided.
The Monster Hunting Handbook was rigid, allowing him to review the system prompt for unlocking skills, but it was only historical information. So, he had to wait until tomorrow to unlock the skill.
Allen had finished his "dinner" a while ago. His body now started to feel the pain. However, the dinner now only caused a mild pain. On the flip side, Allen's physical attributes were no longer increasing. This indicated that his body had nearly fully adapted to the mutated organs created by the Trial of the Grasses.
Although no longer necessary, Allen still used an Essence of the Drowner's Heart. The cold liquid down his throat immediately alleviated the slight pain. After a moment, Allen eagerly focused on the Essence of the Drowner King's Heart.
"The Drowner King was so strong. His heart's essence should enhance all five attributes, right?"
The other four attributes were fine, but Allen was really weak in Mystery. Moreover, the Mystery attribute rarely had essence drops from common monsters. Allen currently relied only on the natural growth of the Witcher body. But most importantly, this attribute was crucial for him. Mystery determined the amount of mana and the strength of signs.
The latter was self-explanatory, while the former directly impacted the use of mirage pearl in combat. The Drowner King had taught him that using the orbs effectively was a matter of life and death in battle. Remembering how the arm-sized ice spike had pierced his mirage earlier, Allen still felt a phantom pain in his chest and involuntarily shivered.
Taking a deep breath, Allen mentally clicked on the Essence of the Drowner King's Heart. Instantly, A snowstorm erupted in his throat, rapidly reaching his stomach. Then, it felt as if his internal organs were frozen solid, and his blood began to congeal.
He underestimated it. Allen hadn't expected the essence of the Drowner King's heart to be so potent. It felt like the ice spike had exploded inside him. The Witcher apprentice's eyes bulged, his teeth biting down on the linen blanket, saliva instantly freezing. Had Allen not been a seasoned apprentice who had endured part of the Trial of the Grasses, he would have screamed in agony.
About an hour later, The internal blizzard finally subsided.
"Phew—"
Allen exhaled deeply. A cold mist blew from his mouth, reaching Hughes on the opposite bed. Hughes, still digesting dinner, shivered, muttered something, and tucked the blanket around his neck tighter, curling up into a ball.
Seeing this, Allen relaxed, then observed Fred and Bond to ensure they were fine before feeling completely relieved. Looking at the frost flowers on half of his blanket, Allen marveled at the phenomenon and eagerly opened his character interface.
Allen was curious.
What kind of improvements would such a significant reaction bring?
...….
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42. Affinity.
43. Big Bang.
44. Did Allen Die Again?
45. Where to Go?
46. The Drowner Transfiguration Spell.