Shadow of the Beautiful World

In the House of Blood, Merlin, who had been busy all night, sat relaxed on a chair filled with black velvet. In his hand was an old-fashioned wine glass that was very similar to Elsa's cup with a copper hoop.

It was full of mead.

It was a weird drink that Merlin had never had before. It was sweet and sour, but it had a lot of stamina.

Beside the table, Elsa is on the phone with her mother who is far away in France. The relationship between mother and daughter seems to be bad, but judging from Elsa's expression, she still loves her mother very much.

Occasional quarreling does not mean that the relationship is bad.

Oh, that's fine! Mom, you are really annoying.

Elsa picked up the wine glass, blinked at Merlin, and then said to the phone:

I really didn't lie to you, it's where my dad worked. Yes, the Strategic Science Corps, they have changed their name now, it's called Homeland Strategic Defense Attack, this name is a mouthful. But it must be true, yes! You can check through your own channels.

Elsa took a sip of wine and said to her mother:

If you find out it's fake, I'll go back to Lyon immediately!

Don't worry, I'm an adult, I can take care of myself that trial, I remember it. When I'm ready, I will go back to participate. Well, I won't forget, I will notify you as soon as possible Hello, don't bother me anymore, mother, you go to the opera with your old girlfriends.

Goodbye, Mom. If there is any news about Dad, I will inform you as soon as possible.

Elsa hung up the phone with a sigh of relief.

She carefully placed the letter of engagement Merlin gave her on the table, took a photo with a camera, and ran back to the room on the second floor. A few minutes later, she returned to the dining table and gestured an OK to Merlin. gesture.

Okay, the photo has been passed on, and the matter is settled!

You and your mother seem to be on good terms.

Merlin took a sip of mead, leaned back on the chair relaxedly, and said to Elsa:

It's quite enviable.

envious?

Elsa glanced at Merlin, she snorted:

Do you think my mother is the kind of person who can only care for her husband and raise her children? She is also an orthodox demon hunter, of course not as strong as my father. After my father left, she was in charge of my training. Perhaps it should be given to her. Look at the scar on my shoulder, it was whipped out by my mother.

Um?

Merlin stopped drinking, and asked curiously:

Why?

Because when I was 12 years old, I secretly went hunting alone a diurnal banshee that was doing evil in the suburbs of Lyon.

Elsa shrugged:

If I hadn't brought enough healing potions and moonlight bombs, I would have almost died in that farmland. After I passed out, I was snatched away by a group of deer-headed elves passing by. My mother and her old girlfriends overturned everything in Lyon. The forest saved me. An aunt was injured in order to save me, and she can no longer be a witcher.

After I recovered from my injury, my mother was crying and beat me with a whip in front of my aunts. She did nothing wrong, but I did.

Elsa said with a face of relief:

The existence of that scar will remind me never to challenge an opponent that I can't deal with. It will also remind me that there is only one life, and it will be gone when it is used up.

Ha, it seems that you were not a good girl when you were young.

Merlin smiled and commented, he said:

Actually, that was a very interesting experience, wasn't it?

Of course.

Elsa touched her shoulder and said:

The first time I defeated a dangerous enemy alone, it felt really good. At that time, I understood my father, why he was always able to challenge those dangerous monsters so fearlessly, perhaps, that kind of adventure , and not just to enforce justice.

Tell me more.

Merlin stood up and refilled two glasses of mead for himself and Elsa. At this moment of dawn, he said to the girl in front of him:

About a witcher, about a vampire hunter.

Aren't you a wizard?

Elsa glanced at Merlin, and she asked curiously:

Wizards should be very clear about this, right? The wizards I saw when I was a child were all like polymaths who knew everything. They were even more knowledgeable than my father, a genuine witcher, about the history and rules of demon hunters. In fact, without the help of the wizards, the inheritance of the demon hunters would probably have disappeared long ago.

My wizard is a parallel importer.

Merlin said unabashedly:

All my magic is self-taught. Because of time constraints, I don't have time to learn more. You are the first vampire hunter I have ever seen. All knowledge is found from the few words in the magic book.

Oh? Parallel imports?

Elsa blinked her eyes and said:

But it doesn't look like it when you cast the spell. The magic power flows smoothly, just like a real academic wizard.

Maybe I do have talent.

Merlin spread his hands, and he said:

But in fact, the sum of all the spells I have mastered now may not be as many as a 4-year-old wizard.

Oh I see.

Elsa nodded knowingly:

Don't be greedy, specialize in some spells, and then practice repeatedly, practice makes perfect. Just like the training of muscle memory I received, I practiced assassination movements thousands of times a day until my body naturally remembered that movement, and I didn't need to think about it. until it can be used.

Well, it makes sense, that's it.

Merlin took a sip of his wine and said to Elsa:

So, Counselor Elsa, can you reveal to your superiors some of the secrets that the witchers have passed down by word of mouth? What I want to know most is that you and your father call themselves vampire hunters, is this also a branch of the witchers? ?”

right.

Elsa's fingers moved, and a black metal animal head pendant appeared in her fingers. She said to Merlin:

Vampire hunters are just layman's terms. Our family is actually one of the ancient demon hunter sects, the Griffon School. And this is the symbol of the Griffin School of Demon Hunters.

oh?

Merlin stretched out his hand and took the pendant. He stroked it in the palm of his hand. He could feel that the material of this thing was not ordinary metal. It should not be as simple as just being used for pendant decoration.

A few seconds later, Merlin returned the pendant to Elsa, and he asked:

Except for the Griffin School?

There are many more. The school of wolves, the school of bears, the school of snakes that have completely declined, the school of cats who have all gone to be killers, and the rare flying lions. Of course, many people confuse the latter with the school of griffins, because their The badges are just too similar.

Elsa said to Merlin with all the treasures:

During the Middle Ages, demon hunters were very prosperous. There were thousands of people in each faction, and the number of all demon hunters combined was almost tens of thousands. But it is no longer the case now. The official demon hunters in the whole of Europe joined together. Up to less than 300

Speaking of the decline of the witcher, Elsa did not show any sadness. On the contrary, she said flatly:

After all, human civilization has been rising for a long time, and there is no need for demon hunters to protect them anymore. This is actually a good thing. Except for some old antiques who are reluctant, everyone else has accepted this fact. Just like my mother, A demon hunter who has survived the trial of green grass, finally started the work of husband and son willingly.

Peace is always the best thing.

Oh I got it.

While holding a pen and paper, Merlin quickly recorded these secrets, and asked without raising his head:

I found a book in the library earlier, it was written by a legendary witcher named Geralt of Rivia.

White wolf? No way?

Elsa glanced at Merlin suspiciously. She put down her wine glass and said to Merlin:

Do you know what era the White Wolf was a witcher?

I hear it's medieval.

Merlin replied truthfully.

But Elsa shook her head:

The Middle Ages lasted for a full 1,000 years. Fortunately, you are still a wizard. Let me tell you, the White Wolf was a demon hunter in the early Middle Ages. The era when he was active was the most chaotic period in the world of monsters. Master White Wolf Legends are all cut out by a sword and a monster, and there are only a few 'saints' who can be recognized by the Holy See, and Master White Wolf is among them.

But he disappeared as early as the end of the 12th century AD, almost 1,000 years ago, even in the wizard's library, there will not be a collection of witcher stories that have been preserved for 1,000 years! You must be wrong gone.

No, I still have confidence in my memory.

Merlin shook his head and said:

The date on the cover of that book is 1808! The author is Geralt the White Wolf himself. In the book, he also complained about the terrible nickname given to him by his colleagues, that is the 'sorceress' cough cough , I mean, that not-so-good nickname.

Really?

Elsa frowned, and she said while wiping her long hair:

Actually, on our side, there are really gossips saying that the white wolf has never died, and he has survived to the present by some means. But everyone listens to it as a legend. But if it is true as you said, it can't be done. , I have to go and see that book for myself.

Elsa's expression became serious:

If Master White Wolf is really alive, then with his strength, he can easily deal with Dracula. If my father is really trapped, we must find him!

Very difficult.

Merlin shook his head:

A person who has lived for more than a thousand years has almost witnessed the whole process of the establishment of human society from scratch. If he wants to hide, no one in this world will find him. Let's not talk about him first, and then say something The story of the witcher.

Merlin urged:

For example, how to become a real witcher?

Very difficult.

Elsa replied to Merlin with the same sentence pattern. She stretched out a finger, shook it in front of Merlin's eyes slightly, and said:

First of all, you have to get the breakthrough potion, which is the Trial of Green Grass. That is the most important secret passed down by the demon hunters. Only the master craftsmen of each generation of demon hunters are qualified to know the complete formula of the potion.

Secondly, not everyone is qualified to drink the breakthrough potion. In the era of Master White Wolf, only 3 out of 10 people can survive. If you are unlucky, no one will survive. It will also make the demon hunter lose Although the ability to bear children has been continuously improved by the alchemists who are familiar with the demon hunters, so that the fertility will not be affected, but until now, the survival rate of the breakthrough potion is only 50%.

Elsa shook her head:

That's playing with one's life, and that's the main reason for the downfall of the demon hunters. It's a very precious thing. It was not used for playing since it was born.

anything else?

Merlin continued to ask while recording:

Are there any other disadvantages of this potion?

Yes, I have.

Elsa took a sip of wine, she pointed to her eyes:

Breakthrough Potion is a potion for reshaping the body. It will allow the demon hunter to have an extraordinary body, so that he can face the terrifying monsters. A master like my father, even if he is shot from the front of the bullet, he can't hurt him. He. But the price is that certain organs will mutate, and my father's eyes are like cats.

What's more, after drinking the breakthrough potion, after going through an extremely painful transformation process, part of the demon hunter's emotions will be suppressed or even eliminated.

Elsa says:

This depends on luck. If you are lucky, you will be able to retain most of your emotions. If you are not lucky, you will lose almost all of your emotions like Master White Wolf. You will not be afraid, happy, or hesitant, but It is precisely because he has lost his emotions that he can be called a legend.

but you

Merlin asked suspiciously:

You are also a witcher, why do you still have emotions?

Because I haven't passed the test yet, genius!

Elsa stretched out her hand in dissatisfaction, and knocked on Merlin's head. She said:

Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm not ready yet, I haven't taken the breakthrough potion yet

In the era of Master White Wolf, the breakthrough potion could only be taken by children, but in this era, the ever-changing potion can be taken by adults at any point before the age of 35. My mother was only 27 years old. To become a witcher, my father is more traditional, he took potions when he was a child.

The price my father paid was 'fear'. He got the courage that would not be exhausted, while my mother lost her 'expectation', and she began to become easygoing. So even if she successfully took the breakthrough potion, it is hard to say whether it is a good thing or not. Bad thing.

Emotions.

Merlin sighed. He looked at the rising sun outside the window and said to Elsa:

For a while, I always got angry and it seemed like when I made a mistake, it just popped up. I didn't like that feeling, but it was getting harder and harder for me to control it.

There is a dark force in your body, and it is slowly devouring you. I have seen this situation in the handbook of the ancestors of the family. You have built a high wall in your will to hold back the tide of darkness, but your wall Not strong enough for it to grow, but the power of darkness is accumulating and growing day by day.

Elsa put down her wine glass, she said to Merlin seriously:

You really have to think of a way

I know, I'm looking for it too. But there's no rush for this kind of thing.

Merlin put down his pen, raised his wine glass, and raised his hand to Elsa. At the moment when the two drank the last mead, Merlin closed his eyes and said softly:

Oh, it's really hard to be a human being.

ps: Just calculated, even with the most conservative estimate, the number of chapters to be added tomorrow should be 35+, um, all the saved manuscripts have been squeezed out at once.

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