The doors and windows of the conference room are closed.
The delicate three-tiered candlestick sheds soft light, illuminating a black-clad sorceress with an icy expression and arms around her chest, a frowning little girl in a pale green floral dress,
Stacks of paper and pens filled with various shapes are stacked on the long table in the conference room.
"Ugly girl, continue with the magic test..." Yennefer looked at Ciri, her violet eyes filled with a solemn warning, "The same request, answer seriously and honestly."
"But I don't want to take the test!" Ciri twisted her buttocks on the hard stool angrily, and said stubbornly, "It's been three days in a row, testing one afternoon every day, drawing stars, moons, animals, and labyrinths. house!"
"Ms. Yennefer, what does this have to do with magic? What I want to learn is to light candles with my hands, to breathe freely in a stream, to create bread and water when I am thirsty and hungry, and to create bread and water anytime, anywhere like Golphin. The magic of spreading your wings and flying, instead of sitting here and painting, are you a painter or a warlock!"
The test for three consecutive days made the little girl's lower back sore, and it was getting worse day by day.
Yennefer's class was completely different from what she expected, boring and dizzying.
And the lady doesn't allow her the slightest distraction.
Where can I do this? Isn't it natural for children to wander
She began to miss the days of teasing big cocks and training little black dogs in the yard with her classmates, Miss Kaiyan's ugly cheeks in the classroom, and sweet classroom naps.
"I repeat, because magic has multiple properties, it is both a science and an art." Yennefer grabbed Ciri's slender and delicate fingers and broke them apart, "If you don't have a few hands in painting, The technique of his, his fingers are not flexible enough, and his spellcasting gestures are as ugly as chicken feet, and he will not let his colleagues laugh out loud!"
"Haven't you finished the test yet, how do you know that I have a talent for magic?" Ciri wrapped her arms around her small chest, and turned around on the chair with a light snort, her thin body turned her back to Yennefer, and growled tenderly, "I don't want to draw these stupid animals anymore, I declare - I don't have the talent for magic now, I don't want to learn magic!"
"I declare your statement invalid!" Yennefer shook his head, as if telling the truth, "You are destined to embark on the path of magic!"
"No, I'm going to practice swordsmanship with Carl and Monty!"
"what!"
The little girl suddenly cried out in pain, covered her red forehead in grievance, and sniffed, her emerald green eyes filled with tears.
And Yennefer rubbed the index finger that tapped the little head melon, "You forgot how you promised me and Geralt? Not afraid of hardship, not afraid of fatigue, absolutely obedient, absolutely sincere, it's only three days, you Want to go back? You want to make witcher apprentices, alchemists apprentices, blacksmith apprentices… the students in the classroom look down on you?"
"Where is the intrepid spirit of Sintraans?"
"Uuuu... Grandma Yennefer, you are child labor abuse!"
The temperature in the conference room dropped a few degrees, and the sorceress stared straight at Ciri with a dangerous light gleaming from her eyes.
"You can't just ask me!" Xiao Xili jumped off the chair with her chin up, and she thought of other blind spots. Like a little adult, she put her hands behind her waist, looked at her stubbornly, and said seriously, "The first rule of the Witcher Brotherhood, equality."
"You demand my absolute obedience and absolute sincerity, then you have to comply too."
Yennefer sneered, "You're wrong, I've never been from the Witcher Brotherhood, but I've always been sincere to you, ugly, girl, head!"
"Don't call me an ugly girl! Renee and Collier all said, I'm one of the most beautiful girls in the Gawain family, um, not worse than the doll Vicky! Several boys have a crush on me. When I'm in the yard and eating, look at me secretly!"
"That's why they pity you," the sorceress pinched the girl's nose, and her violet eyes showed a hint of pity, which made Ciri panic, "they were thinking—whose girl is so ugly, with a nose so similar A boy with too thin lips, weird green eyes and crooked eyebrows like little tadpoles, will he be able to marry in the future?"
"This... Madam Yennefer, honestly tell me, am I really ugly?" Ciri folded her hands on her chest and looked up at the sorceress, her voice choked and frustrated.
"Cry when you feel uncomfortable, but don't be too sad, maybe the ugly duckling can turn into a white swan?"
"Hmph, I'm not crying, but trying to make fun of me! Now, if you are sincere to me, answer me a question honestly, and I'll obediently paint after answering it." Ciri frowned with a little fox-like slyness, A sentence that Roy once mentioned to him came to his mind.
"Tell me…"
"I heard that you have a unicorn wood sculpture in your collection? I have ridden a griffin. Can you cast a spell to make the unicorn come to life and let me ride it?"
"No! You forget about this damn unicorn! Don't mention it again!" The sorceress didn't know what kind of beautiful past she remembered, and her pale cheeks flushed, "Sit me straight now, and grab a pen. , spread out the paper and draw the obsidian star around my neck!"
"You're not sincere, Lady Yennefer! Why can't you and Geralt ride while I can?"
"Bastard, how dare he tell a child such a thing!"
…
Alder forest.
"Ah!" The white-haired witcher who was supervising the child digging sweet potatoes rubbed his nose, feeling a sense of unease in his heart.
"You're getting old, Geralt... a sorceress can't handle it?" Lambert blinked at Geralt. "Would you like me to go to the spear cave for a few sprints and change to a new trick?"
"Fuck off!" Geralt shrank his neck and began to actively reflect on whether he was negligent and annoyed Ye
…
"Puff-"
The waves beat against the reef.
The boat crossed the icy water, slammed into the golden sand gently, the bow broke through the gravel, and half of the hull sank into the soft ground.
The bright sun adorned the figure in the black cloak with a few specks of gold.
After rowing the boat for two days and two nights, Roy, who smelled of blood and sweat, quickly pulled the boat closer to the nearby bushes to hide.
Then he left a series of shallow footprints on the beach and disappeared into a row of beautiful golden willows on the shore.
Today's Udvik Island is far from what it looked like ten years later, when the frost giants were rampant, deserted, and completely reduced to a paradise for wild animals and monsters.
Because of its excellent location, Udvik Island is the second most popular island in the Skellige Islands, and a large number of tourists come here every year to enjoy its beautiful scenery and taste the top seafood and local delicacies.
Roy walked along the paths and street signs shaded by green trees. During this time, he saw a few coyotes that were chopped in half by an axe, which should be the work of the islanders.
Tourists can be seen from time to time on both sides of the road, depending on the style of clothing, there are people from Redania, Temeria, and Aden.
These tourists are even more numerous than the native islanders!
An hour later Roy arrived at the Marlin Coast, a human settlement north of Udvik Island.
Dozens of brick-and-mortar flats, with wide and open roads, Skelliger vendors pushing wheelbarrows along the street sell their own special tuna pie, smoked whale meat, archipelago herbs, and colorful, delicate shapes, roughly It is a stone and souvenir used to fool people.
Roy noticed that a Skellige man with a puffin feather knitted hat and bare chest hair was selling pickled shark meat. The strange smell of urea fermentation almost made the witcher think that there were corruptors nearby.
There are also genuine treasures, such as ambergris and black gold caviar of white sturgeon.
There are also many wonderful products, such as the monsters Irenia and Hekna Jerky produced by Skellige. Roy's mouth twitched. As far as he knew, these two types of monster meat were weakly poisonous.
It can only be said that the Skellig barbarians are naturally amazing in resistance
…
Roy stood in front of a thin, bronze-skinned hawker, spent ten copper coins, bought a piece of slap-sized, grayish pickled shark meat, held his breath and packed it into the space, ready to give it to Gawain's House. The children sent warmth, "How do I get to the Todaroqu family's territory?"
"Their family is located in Codfish Town, which is close to the mountains in the south. You can follow the road signs all the way to the south." The hawker's gray eyes widened over the witcher, "You want to buy weapons, right?"
"right!"
"You buy another piece of smoked whale meat, and I have a friendly suggestion for you."
Well, the kids were even more pleasantly surprised.
"The blacksmiths of the Todaroqu family are very proud. They only sell the best weapons and equipment to real warriors..." the hawker said proudly, "so they usually set up a test for the buyer. Complete the test and prove the bravery fighters, only qualified to get them!"
"I heard that the Todaroqu family has encountered a lot of trouble recently, and several people have died. The test is expected to be very difficult."
"What if I give money?"
"Your Excellency, you can try it. Todaloqu has lived on Udvik Island for generations. The family members' love for forging is no less than that of the dwarves in Mahakan Mountain. They have devoted their whole lives to the improvement of forging technology. , money means little to them!"
"Okay, may Goddess Freya bless you...bye."
…
Cod Town is more prosperous than Swordfish Coast, with all kinds of facilities. In the spacious streets, there is an endless stream of tourists.
In the center of the town, under a granite eaves, in front of a blazing furnace with a blower, stood a blacksmith wearing a leather apron, showing his muscular, knotted arms.
The left hand uses an iron clip to press a long strip of embryo on the dark anvil, and the right hand swings a small hammer to beat different parts of the embryo with the rotation of the iron clip.
In the crisp sound of clang.
He was glistening with oil and sweat in the firelight.
The little sparks splashed against his strong body, his stubble-bearded but focused, determined face, and he felt no pain at all.
The striking action, with a wonderful rhythm and rhythm, is as if a master musician is playing a masterpiece, attracting one's attention to his movements, and the heart is accompanied by the hammer head as he falls and lifts. beat.
Chamil Todaro
Age: 45
Sex: Male
Status: Master Blacksmith (Having a superb forging technology that is not inferior to that of dwarves, whether it is in the field of armor casting or sword forging, he can be called a master.)
…
In addition to the furnace, iron felt, whetstone, and crafting table, there are other common ploughs, nails, door bolts, wheel rims, hoes, sickles, pots and pans and other daily necessities and agricultural tools that are common in blacksmith shops.
Outside the blacksmith shop, there are five or six men dressed as mercenaries or warriors, wearing chain armor, cotton armor, or fur armor, with swords, hammer axes, or a pair of round shields on their backs and horn helmets on their heads. .
They stared at the figure wielding the hammer with fiery eyes, and the rough faces that had been through the vicissitudes of life were full of anticipation, which was the soldier's yearning for the weapon of magic.
"clang!"
The last hammer fell, and Chamil removed the embryo with the prototype of the long sword.
The witcher in the black cloak passed the waiting men and stepped straight into the blacksmith's shop.
The five mercenaries did not stop him, but instead showed a look of jokes on their faces.
"Master Chamil... My dear Aux, I heard about the name of the forging of the Skelligetodaroqu family, and came to visit..."
"Sorry, there was an accident at the Yamanaka Forging Factory recently. At present, the most suitable forging furnace cannot be used, and there is no way to make high-quality equipment. You can only buy ordinary-grade equipment, and you obey the rules and go to the queue outside." The man took off the dirty Xi's cotton gloves, his eyes turned to the witcher, his voice was calm and powerful, with a forging hammer hitting the steel-like sonorous taste.
However, there was a hint of tiredness and anxiety in his expression.
"To be honest, I'm not buying equipment." Roy shook his head and made a sincere request, "I want to hire a forging expert in the Todalocchu family, such as you, Master, to work in another place, and you will definitely be satisfied with the remuneration."
"Sorry... let you down, there are no more than three capable blacksmiths in our family now. We have been used to the cool sea breeze and salted shark meat of Udvik Island for generations, and we can't go anywhere else." Chamil The expression firmly refused him, "King Bran of the Tursek family, and Lord Kratz of the Kleit family also sent an invitation to the family...but we refused. Besides, there are still two compatriots who are still in an unknown situation."
"Haha, did I hear it right?" A man with a horn helmet and a big forehead outside the blacksmith sneered, "Is this kid crazy? Can I get a set from the Todaro family? Armor and a weapon are already the greatest luck for a warrior, how could he dare to invite a master out of the mountain?"
"Yes, young man, stop laughing like a wooden pestle there!" persuaded a witcher with a bow and arrow.
"You thin body, your waist is not as thick as my arms, and you can't even swing my hammer, right? You still want to pass the test of Master Chamil?" If you are interested, leave quickly, don't be ashamed here!"
Outside the smithy, a group of men yelled and taunted him.
Roy turned a deaf ear to this, "I admit, in terms of my status in the Skellige Islands, I am naturally far inferior to King Bran. But there are other forging experts in my family, and I would like to invite you to have a few drinks and exchange ideas. Forging experience."
"I have the unique and precious forging materials of Udvik in my hands, and it can even be said that the entire Skellige Islands, no, the entire North, South, and the world is the only one. I believe that every forging master will feel it. Interested." Roy didn't hesitate, he gritted his teeth and spread his hand towards Master Chamil, showing a fist-sized surface covered with delicate and tiny runes, white jade-like joints, and a tough pitch-black scale.
Chamil's originally indifferent expression changed instantly, he took the dragon scale and keel and held it up in front of him, cautious and nervous, wishing he could stick it to his face and examine it carefully.
Breathing gradually increased.
Several mercenaries lining up outside also stopped talking.
At this moment, another middle-aged man with a blond shawl and a cotton-padded jacket walked out of the blacksmith's house.
Behind him was a tall, young and beautiful girl, with a blond ponytail bouncing around her head.
"What's the matter, Chamil, someone is here to make trouble?" The man just said the words, his eyes seemed to be attracted by a magnet, locked on the bones and scales in his companion's hands, unable to move his eyes.
He studied with Chamil in a daze, and muttered to himself,
"Ore, bone, or alloy, I've never seen such a material!"
"It must be checked with professional equipment, Your Excellency Oaks, wait a moment, we will go back!" As they spoke, the two of them didn't care whether the witcher agreed or not, they took the dragon scales and armor to open the door and got into the house. .
And Roy shook his head and smiled, turning his eyes to the innocent and lively little girl at the door, his eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Yuna.
The witcher's name in memory!
Nine years later, the female armor master who settled in the crow's nest and worked as a part-time job for the dwarves!
She is only fifteen years old now, and the delicate face that will be dotted with a few freckles in the future is now so tender that it is almost watery.
Despite being young outside, her forging skills actually reached level 8.
Absolutely talented, growing into a master blacksmith is almost a certainty.
The witcher's scorching gaze didn't make the girl timid and shy, but she raised her chest, "Mr. Oaks, want to buy the best equipment in the world?"
"Then you must first prove that you are a veritable warrior, otherwise you will be like the group of cowards outside the door, obediently lining up to buy ordinary goods!"
"Oh," Roy became curious, "How can I prove it? I heard that your family will give a test?"
The little girl turned her head to look behind her, pursed her lips, and a trace of worry appeared on Bai Shengsheng's little face, "Uncle Farik, the best blacksmith in our family, brought four warriors to the forge in the mountains in the north a month ago. Mine, build weapons and equipment, but there is no news."
"Later, Uncle Ocala gathered another team to search the mine, but they also failed to come back! I suspect that some monsters appeared in the cave."
She took a deep breath and raised her voice,
"If you can rescue my two uncles, or bring back his... corpses, avenge them! Then the Todaroqu family will tailor a piece of top-level equipment for you for free!"
"Hey, boy, I advise you not to get involved in this muddy water!" Outside the blacksmith shop, the hunter with bows and arrows persuaded, "Two heavily armed teams have entered the mining area to look for the missing persons of the Todaliqu family. The result is gone forever.”
"As far as I know, those warriors are experienced in hundreds of battles and have great martial arts. Not to mention human life at hand, Hekna and Erinia have also killed less, but they haven't even been able to send a message back! Now Udewei No one on Kerk dared to drill into the mines to the north."
"Let's weigh it, the weapon of magic is certainly valuable, but you can't use it if you lose your life!"
Roy was lost in thought.
According to his memory, the hibernating frost giants in the Udvik Mountains should wake up after several years, leave the forest, attack human gathering places, abduct people and animals, and make this tourist attraction a restricted area for human beings.
If the frost giant woke up early, the Marlin Coast and Cod Town should have been affected and suffered.
"Did you encounter other dirty things in the mine?"
…
"Lord Oaks," At this time, Master Chamil and Yuna's father Clough walked out of the room and reluctantly returned the dragon scale keel to Roy, "What creatures do the bones and scales belong to?"
"The forging performance is better than any material I know of."
"You two, if I tell you the answer and hand over the materials to you for forging, will the Todaroqu family agree to my terms and send a master forging to Nuocheng with me?" Roy asked without answering,
"I have to say that your conditions are quite tempting, but I'm sorry..." The two blacksmiths looked at each other and shook their heads, "Todaro Qu has no more members, and there cannot be any less!"
"What if I go to the mine in the mountains to find Farik, Ocala, or their remains?" Roy secretly glanced at the accumulated experience points, feeling confident.
Chamil's eyes narrowed and he asked incredulously, "Your Excellency, are you kidding me? Courage doesn't mean reckless... If you go into the mountains alone, you may risk your life in vain."
"Isn't Skelliger the most respected spirit of bravery and fearlessness? If there is an accident, it will only mean that I am not good at learning."
The two men of the Todaro family looked at each other.
"If you insist on doing this, then we can only say that we are very grateful!" Clough looked deeply at the witcher, "Ox warrior, this is the map of the forge in the mountains, if you can single-handedly retrieve Fari Ke and Ocala. I swear by the honor of the family, I will return to Nuocheng with you and become your full-time blacksmith, which is not a disgrace to the family's reputation!"
"Then it's a deal!"
"May Goddess Freya bless you for your safe return."