Chapter 8: I Love Learning, Learning Makes Me Happy
Time flew by.
For Lynn, whose days were always packed and filled to the brim, the winter had felt like it had lasted only a few days.
By the final week of February, while the Blue Mountains were still covered in snow, the snow at the foot of the mountains had already started to melt.
And Geralt, Eskel, and Lambert had all left the castle.
The supplies they'd restocked last winter were all used up.
They needed to get out and earn some coin if they didn't want to go hungry this winter.
With Lynn's swordsmanship and Signs at full Witcher level, Vesemir was ready to leave him alone at Kaer Morhen finally.
Easier to have four people hunt for one, after all, than three hunt for two.
And so, Lynn was left alone at Kaer Morhen.
Kaer Morhen felt empty after Vesemir and the others had left.
Lynn's heart also felt empty.
Even though he'd been in this world for less than a year, he already felt that he considered Vesemir, Geralt, and the others to be family.
Maybe because he was an orphan in his past life and never experienced family love, and because individuals in the big city were always rushing, worn out by the pressures of modern living.
Because since he'd arrived in this world, albeit not for long, everyone in the Wolf School, even the skeptical Lambert, had welcomed him like family, and he reveled in that.
But he knew what would happen in the future.
So, to prevent those tragedies,
Even when there was nobody to supervise him, Lynn never loosened up.
He went monster hunting in the mountains daily.
But he was careful.
He tried to find solo, weak monsters.
He knew that even Witchers who had passed all the trials had a high death rate in their first year.
It was not much being an ordinary Witcher. Only the likes of Geralt and the rest, the seasoned Witchers, could survive in this dangerous world.
So he prioritized safety over experience points.
And at night, he spent all his time in the library, reading the massive collection of books in the castle.
When the Griffin School's main fortress, Kaer Seren, was buried in an avalanche caused by sorcerers, Kaer Morhen was the only place that still possessed a huge amount of Witcher knowledge and texts.
Lynn meditated for just three hours a day, replacing sleep with meditation, and spent the rest of his time reading books.
In three months, he'd read all the books on monsters.
Then, he had ample free time.
He had planned to learn about monsters for the whole year, so it would be perfect timing for Geralt and the others to teach him alchemy when they came back in winter.
Thanks to the memories of his past life, Lynn learned about monsters at a fast rate, understanding all of it and even making his own connections.
So, contrary to his expectations, he finished all the monster books in three months, not a year.
Lynn couldn't help but sigh.
He'd never considered that learning too fast could be a problem.
He still hunted monsters in the mountains during the day.
But now that he didn't have to study, he had free time at night.
It would be a waste to do nothing.
Sitting alone in the empty hall, eating breakfast, Lynn had an idea.
Why did he have to wait for Geralt and the others to study alchemy with them?
He could study it on his own.
There was an alchemy laboratory and alchemy texts in the castle.
He could go up into the mountains to get the herbs he needed.
And he'd collected enough monster materials over the past few months.
And even if it was slower without an instructor, he could always try it a few more times.
As long as he could put it on the attribute panel, he could allot points to it.
It was free, so why not?
Lynn was a very proactive person.
If he had an idea, he'd give it a shot right away.
Otherwise, he would not be able to sleep.
So, after breakfast, he went to Kaer Morhen's alchemy lab.
Kaer Morhen's alchemy lab was different from others.
Its walls were made of thick stone, so it was dark.
He pulled out a potion book from the shelf and started reading by candlelight.
The first potion he read about was called Swallow.
Symbolizing spring and rebirth, Swallow lent its name to this potion that sped up healing and recovery.
Swallow potion was extremely common and useful in a majority of situations, with no side effects.
It would also counteract the side effects of other potions.
Lynn read the brewing instructions for Swallow potion several times over.
He then put down the manual, picked a celandine and Drowner brain from the herb rack, and placed them in a stone mortar.
He ground and crushed them with a pestle.
He placed a cauldron on the fire and poured some dwarven spirits into it.
He snapped his fingers.
He lit the fire with the Igni Sign.
When the dwarf spirits in the cauldron started boiling, he added the ground herbs and started stirring.
While stirring, the concoction slowly turned red.
He put out the flames fifteen minutes later, allowed the potion to cool, and transferred it into a cylindrical vial he had prepared.
He shook the bottle, watching the liquid change from red to black, and smelling a terrible odor.
"Did I fail?"
Lynn wasn't disappointed.
He picked up the manual and read over the potion-making process again, then put it down, laid his right elbow on his left hand, and hit his cheek with his right fist, thinking:
"It's probably the heat. I'll try a smaller flame next time."
Three days later.
Lynn looked at a cylindrical bottle filled with red liquid, a wave of joy crossing him.
He'd done it.
Even though Swallow was a basic Witcher potion, he was thrilled and happy.
He opened his attribute panel, but it was the same.
Witcher alchemy mostly comprised three types: oils, potions, and bombs.
"So that's not enough? Do I have to create all the recipes for it to show up on the panel?"
Unfortunately, he was right.
Six months later, after Lynn had finally managed to craft all eight oils, eighteen potions, and seven bombs, finally…
A line of golden text materialized before his eyes:
"New skill: Alchemy (Novice)"
Lynn used the 3 attribute points he'd gained from monster-slaying on the "Alchemy" skill.
He watched the text change, first to "Mastered" and then to "Proficient."
A flood of alchemy knowledge filled his mind.
When the transfer completed, Lynn found himself with the knowledge and experience of a decade or two of working.
He closed his eyes, savoring the new memories.
It was as though he'd been in the alchemy lab for years, concocting potions over and over again.
"Phew."
He exhaled.
He stood up and walked over to the ingredients on the table.
He started concocting potions again.
But this time it went well. He did not have to stop and think like before.
When he "wanted" to brew a Swallow potion, his body did it by itself, the whole process going along fluidly.
When he finished, he'd not only made a perfect potion, which before had taken all his focus, but he'd done it so much faster.
This meant that in alchemy, he was now on the level of a full formal Witcher.
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