Kaer Morhen wasn't large. Enclosed within its square walls, its area wasn't even comparable to a regular town—barely the size of a modest village.
Its limited scale was dictated by its purpose.
Though no one knew exactly who Kaer Morhen's hypothetical enemy was, from its inception it had always been a military fortress.
And for any military fortress, no matter how sturdy the walls, no matter how deep the moat—the core was always the people.
They defended the keep, drew bows, fought in close quarters, bled in the alleys. In each defensive layer, they were like grindstones, crushing invading enemies into blood and mud.
Without people, even the strongest fortress was just an empty shell.
In war, seasoned commanders could easily infer the size of a garrison based on the scale of a stronghold.
The reverse also applied.
Given the low numbers of Witcher recruits, and their extremely brutal training, it was clear from the start that Kaer Morhen could never be large. Its terrain—full of ravines and narrow paths—was ideal for maximizing the single-combat capabilities of the School of the Wolf.
At a brisk pace, an ordinary person could walk from the western gate to the eastern castle hall and back twice in ten minutes.
This kind of "tight" place was something Allen had already explored thoroughly in his early days after arriving here. Daily training helped him grasp most of the layout. After passing the Trial of the Mountains and becoming a Witcher master, the entire Old Sea Fortress offered him no barriers.
Even the living quarters of the master Witchers and the Chief were open to him. One could walk out of the main hall with a bottle of wine and knock on any door.
He thought he knew this place like the back of his hand.
But when Vera led him to an unremarkable wall and pulled down a fixed candelabra—revealing a deep, shadowed tunnel—he realized...
Kaer Morhen might not be large, but it hid many secrets.
"This passage was built when Kaer Morhen was first founded. Not many people know about it," Vera said, snapping her fingers.
A glowing orb floated ahead, illuminating the path.
The tunnel was rough. The left wall was smooth and solid, built from uniform limestone. The right side, however, was gray-white and pitted, with visible strata—blue-gray granite unique to the Blue Mountains.
The steps underfoot were carved from the rock, winding in curves.
Damp moisture clung to the stone, making the irregular passage resemble a dried mountain streambed after rainfall.
Allen lowered his gaze, contemplating his position.
He was likely right behind the main keep.
The Old Sea Fortress had been built into the mountainside. The left wall of the tunnel was the castle; the right side was probably the Blue Mountains themselves.
Allen didn't quite understand.
Secret passages in castles weren't unusual—for escaping surprise attacks, political plots, or secret rendezvous.
But Kaer Morhen wasn't King's Landing from Game of Thrones. Its total population never exceeded two hundred; fewer than a hundred lived here regularly. All men. Tucked away deep in the wilderness, busy only during the dead of winter.
None of the typical purposes for secret tunnels applied here.
Hmm...
Wait!
Allen's gaze shifted to Vera ahead of him.
Kaer Morhen had been designed by the Chief. At the time, the two of them might have been in a romantic relationship. Maybe, to avoid negative attention within the School, the couple had built a secret passage to meet in private.
But when Allen thought of the Chief's always stern and restrained demeanor, he became unsure again.
"We're here."
Vera's voice snapped Allen out of his thoughts.
Beyond her shoulder, at the end of the narrow passage, a massive black-iron door seemed to grow seamlessly out of the pale stone wall.
A ferocious wolf-head relief was carved into its surface, adorned with motifs of swords and flame. Under the magical light, it reflected an eerie blue glow.
That glow... looked familiar.
"Dimeritium?" Allen asked uncertainly.
"Yes, dimeritium," Vera nodded. "The purity isn't high, but it's enough to block magical fluctuations."
No wonder she hadn't used a portal... Allen thought.
Dimeritium suppressed magical energy. In areas where it was abundant, all four elemental energies grew sluggish.
Most spells had a reduced success rate in such places—especially precise ones like teleportation portals. Though, perhaps due to the low purity, the local magical dampening wasn't too severe.
Still...
Why would the Chief hide something here?
Allen thought back—this location didn't correspond with any part of the main keep. It was more like a chamber dug into the mountain.
"Cast Quen and maintain the Yrden sign," Vera instructed without opening the door. "I'm about to unlock it."
Allen frowned.
He didn't understand, but after a few seconds of eye contact with Vera, he raised his right hand.
Magic surged inside him. His thumb and forefinger curled slightly, sketching a triangle in the air.
The brilliant golden light shimmered across Allen's leather armor before vanishing from sight.
Quen Sign.
Then, crossing his hands in front of him, a transparent purple spherical shield rose from beneath his feet and sealed above his head.
Yrden Sign.
"Allen, the strength of your signs…"
Vera, who had been watching the entire process, looked on with a hint of surprise in her eyes as she sensed the magical fluctuations.
This was different from the Yrden sign Allen had cast earlier when he realized his mind was being read. Back then, he had merely triggered the Mind Wall; the magical fluctuation was fleeting, especially in the presence of the more powerful sorceress, Ida Emean. It had barely been noticeable.
But now, in this narrow secret passage where only the two of them stood, the intense magical aura surged like a full moon tide, echoing back and forth against the walls. To the sharp senses of the sorceress, it was like a thunderous bell ringing in her ears.
This wasn't the finesse of a Mind Wall. It was pure, raw strength, propelled by an overwhelming amount of magical energy.
"I've made some progress these past two months," Allen said modestly.
"That's more than just some progress," Vera shook her head. "Even the magic pulses Mary can release aren't this—"
Something seemed to strike her. Vera's voice halted suddenly, and she held her breath.
Stronger magical fluctuations than Mary?!!
"Allen, you… you've awakened your innate gift!"
It wasn't a question—it was a certainty.
The gene mutations triggered by the witcher's decoctions could grant magical abilities, but they had their limits.
To surpass Mary—someone who had already graduated from Aretuza—would only be possible by awakening a true sorcerer's talent.
"Yes, I awakened it some time ago," Allen replied.
He'd intended to learn more practical spells from Vera anyway, so there was no reason to hide it.
"Good, good, good!" Vera's lips curled into a delighted smile, her eyes arcing like crescent moons. She didn't even wait for Allen to ask, "You've always had a good head on your shoulders. Any spells in particular you'd like to learn?"
"For defense, Quen and Yrden are enough for now," Allen said thoughtfully. "To pair with witcher swordplay, Blind Dust and Magical Flash are both useful techniques."
"Magical Healing can enhance natural recovery," Vera added. "Hunting monsters is dangerous work. That should come before support spells like Blind Dust and Magical Flash…"
"Glide reduces one's weight when falling—it could be the key to survival if you run into trouble on a cliff…"
"Air Bubble creates fresh air—great for underwater or in poisonous gas…"
"There's also Talfen's Prison, Cleanse Water, Rainstorm…"
"Aren't you skilled in alchemy?"
"Flame Crucible, Impurity Separation… and a few more—all very useful spells."
"But fire spells are risky. Better to start with water magic…"
"No, wait!"
"You haven't even tested your elemental affinity yet. We need to see which element you're aligned with since water might not suit you. Earth's not bad either…"
The moment Vera learned Allen had awakened a sorcerer's talent, she became ecstatic.
Though she claimed Allen had good judgment and should choose spells himself, she had already gone off on her own and practically mapped out his entire curriculum.
"Miss Vera, there's no rush," Allen said with a half-smile, half-grimace. "I'll be staying at Kaer Morhen for a while. I've got time to study."
"For a while?" Vera picked up on the key phrase instantly. "It's almost autumn. The witchers of the Wolf School will return in a few months. You're still planning to leave the mountain?"
"I… might go down the mountain again," Allen replied, his tone a bit awkward. He quickly changed the subject, "Let's not talk about that now. We should go see the Chief. We can talk spells, talents, and affinities afterward."
As soon as he said that, the joy in Vera's expression evaporated in an instant.
She pursed her lips and looked at Allen for a long moment, as if trying to imprint the current version of him into her heart.
"…Fine. After we meet Sol, we'll have a proper talk."
With that—
Snap!
A crisp snap of her fingers.
Multiple colors of magical radiance flickered across Vera's body.
Each wave of magic she released was several times more powerful than the Yrden Sign.
Allen was tempted to ask why she was applying such intense protective magic just to see the Chief, but recalling Vera's serious expression earlier—and that the answer lay behind that door—he suppressed his curiosity and simply watched as she cast spell after spell in rapid succession.
When all the magical lights had finally faded, Vera turned to glance at Allen. She reached her left hand through the Yrden Sign's magical barrier and grasped his wrist.
Allen felt the icy coldness against his skin and nodded seriously.
Vera tilted her head, and her right index finger tapped directly on the snarling wolf's head embossed on the metal door.
"Wmm~"
The wolf medallion hummed.
The eyes of the carved wolf head shifted abruptly from black to a ghastly green, as if a starving beast had awoken from its slumber.
"Awooooo—!"
In the next moment, Allen felt as if something unseen was watching him—his entire body being pulled and torn, like a pack of wolves fighting to rip him apart.
The overwhelming sense of danger triggered a primal urge to retreat, but he remembered Vera's instructions and stood his ground, forcing himself to remain motionless.
The feeling of being torn apart only intensified. Then suddenly, the green light in the wolf's eyes flared blindingly bright.
Allen's vision blurred, his body felt weightless—
And the next thing he knew…
"ROAR!"
A thunderous roar exploded like the sky itself collapsing.
A titanic pressure came crashing down on him, as if a mountain had suddenly dropped on his shoulders, ready to pulverize him to a pulp.
In that flash of instinct, an invisible shockwave surged forward—the violet shield of the Yrden Sign trembled under the impact, while the golden Quen shield flared from the dark red armor he wore, flickering wildly as it struggled to stay intact.
"Dragon's Might! That's Dragon's Might!"
Caught completely off guard, Allen's hair stood on end. He instantly recognized the unique magical signature of the oppressive force.
His instincts screamed.
He looked up—
A colossal red dragon, as massive as the main keep of Kaer Morhen, was glaring at him with fierce vertical pupils. Its shadow loomed over him like a web laced with poison, ready to devour him whole.
The overwhelming Dragon's Might intensified under its gaze, like a tsunami crashing down upon him.
Allen was stunned speechless.
Where has Lady Vera brought me?!
Why is there a dragon here?!!
At that same moment—
Years of brutal training and life-or-death battles kicked in faster than conscious thought.
In a heartbeat—
Allen instinctively activated Monster Hunt, ready to dismiss the Yrden Sign, dodge sideways, and draw his sword—Balmur.
But—
A cold touch pressed against his right wrist.
Vera!
Lady Vera is still holding my hand!
Only then did Allen realize that the dragon's presence had made him completely forget everything around him.And just as that realization struck— "ROAARRR~"
The red dragon let out a furious, unwilling bellow. Flames erupted between its glistening metallic scales, and as though ignited by a volatile accelerant—BOOM—it burst into blazing fire.
The flames surged skyward, piercing a hole through the heavy, dark sky.
It was a real hole, a burning one—and before Allen could even process what was happening, the hole expanded rapidly, devouring the world in flames in the blink of an eye. Then, through the inferno of the burning world, Allen looked down again—
Vera was still holding his wrist.
"Are you alright, Allen?" she asked calmly.
"I… I'm fine." Allen blinked, finally shaken out of his awe from the Dragon's Might.
And then he noticed… something felt off.
Allen's gaze followed the hand Vera held, down to the ground where lush green grass swayed in the breeze, and the air carried a faint, refreshing fragrance of flowers.
Tricolor violets in purple, yellow, and white, white saxifrages, lupines, bearberries…
Across the gently undulating hills stretched a sea of blooming bluebells.
Amidst the floral ocean stood windmills spinning pure white blades, and charming little cottages draped in grapevines.
Since his rebirth, Allen's eyes had never been struck by such vibrant saturation of color—it felt as if he had been sealed inside an oil painting depicting an idyllic countryside.
Compared to the world-devouring dragon he had just witnessed, this was an entirely different world altogether.
"W-Where… where is this?" Allen reluctantly pulled his gaze away from the beautiful landscape behind Vera.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Vera smiled softly.
"Beautiful!" Allen nodded without hesitation.
Vera smiled even more brightly. Allen could tell this was a genuine smile, the kind that only appeared when someone's most treasured thing had just been praised.
"What you're seeing is Toussaint," she said, gazing out over the sea of bluebells. "Since the time of the elves, it has been the most beautiful place in the world."
Toussaint?
Allen froze for a moment, his eyes drifting past Vera's shoulder toward the intoxicating scenery in the distance.
What kind of teleportation spell could bring him all the way to Toussaint, deep within Nilfgaard?
Wait!
"You're seeing" Toussaint—so this isn't actually Toussaint, this is…
"An illusion," Vera said with a knowing smile, nodding gently. "I created this illusion—we're still in Kaer Morhen."
"Come on, I'll take you to see Sol…"
.....
📢Advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
1. 20 advanced chapters of The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes.
2. 30 advanced chapters of What year is this? You're still writing a traditional diary?.