Psionic Ascension Starting with The Witcher

At noon, the two packed their luggage and sped south.

At the end of last night's conversation, Cohen revealed his true purpose for coming.

The Sintra Homeland Army's westward advance was halted by a sudden plague.

A plague that broke out in Sintra and spread rapidly outward forced both sides in the war to stay indoors and carefully carry out epidemic prevention work.

Because of the Witcher's immunity to the plague, Cohen volunteered to venture into the plague-stricken area to investigate the situation and find a solution.

However, Cohen soon discovered that the source of the plague was a newly born plague spirit.

He immediately fled without looking back. Plague spirits are rarely recorded in history, and if he rashly went forward, he would only face certain death.

At the time, Cohen didn't even have a single anti-magic bomb on him...

It is worth mentioning that the Plague Wraith wears a tattered and rotten crown on its head.

"Is it the same one we saw before?"

Upon hearing this, Effensor immediately recalled the enormous demon he encountered in a mass grave when he first landed in Sintra.

I vaguely remember that when he said the wraith hadn't been completely destroyed, Brondaen kept saying it was good, because that way the wraith could kill even more Nilfgaardians.

It now appears that the wraith did indeed succeed, but besides the Nilfgaardians, the number of innocent people killed by her plague is countless.

"Commander Sokonia has ordered me to organize a professional team to deal with this suspected source of the plague. Of course, there will be a reward. If the plague subsides after the plague is dealt with, there will be a large box of gold; if the plague does not subside after the plague is dealt with, there will only be a small box."

"Why not currency?" Effensor asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Because all the money—regardless of which country it came from—was used to purchase military supplies. So they used gold and silver, or rather, gold and silver ornaments, which couldn't be spent directly, as payment."

"I...join."

Effensor nodded slowly, as if making a major decision.

"So, what are you planning to do about her?"

Effensor then asked, as the two were riding side by side along the ruts on the road.

"have no idea."

Cohen looked worried; he couldn't come up with a suitable solution.

"This strange plague has now spread to seven small administrative districts, that is, the Count's territory. There are rotting corpses everywhere, and people coughing and sick..."

"There were almost no eyewitnesses to this plague spirit. Her plague came earlier and faster than she did. And no one would not only not run away when the plague broke out, but instead trace it all the way back to its source."

"Moreover, there has never been a successful case of eliminating the plague spirit. Usually, it will disappear on its own once the plague ends."

"Then let's set a precedent."

Effensor answered calmly, as if he wasn't worried at all.

"You know what to do?"

"I asked curiously," Cohen said.

"At least we have a direction now. I have a rough idea of ​​where she was conceived; we should be able to find clues there."

"Is it because of that crown?"

"That's right."

"Interesting." Cohen said thoughtfully. "Commander Sokonia reacted to the mention of the crown, just like you."

When Effensor heard the name Sokonia, he thought for a moment before realizing that it was Gitov's surname.

To be honest, he's not quite used to it yet.

"By the way, this plague broke out in Nilfgaardian territory, and they haven't done anything about it?"

"Unfortunately, no." Cohen shook his head, his face showing confusion.

"Logically, the Nilfgaardians should have discovered the existence of that wraith earlier than we did... but they never sent anyone to investigate the source of the plague."

"Well……"

So now it's Gitov's turn to send people to solve the problem?

Aifenso seemed thoughtful, and for some reason, he felt as if he could guess what Gitov was thinking.

Nilfgaard didn't know why he didn't care, but he knew why Gitov wanted to get involved.

Because the plague broke out in Sintra.

……

With this added incident, Effensor's original travel itinerary was naturally scrapped.

The two traveled day and night, taking a month and a half to cross the mountains and rivers of Cordwin, enter Upper Aden, and then travel south along the river, passing through Wengeburg, and finally arriving at Edsberg.

They were now close to the border of Livia. After resting for a day, Effensor and Cohen set off for Livia.

Effensor had been to Livia before, but had never been to the city of Livia.

The policies here aren't particularly prejudiced against non-human races, but the people here aren't exactly friendly towards them. Livia's commissions are poorly paid and often involve various excuses for making things difficult, so Effensor has no interest in wasting time haggling or outsmarting the unruly locals.

Therefore, he rarely stayed in Livia, let alone the city of Livia.

Upon arriving in the city, Effensor was immediately convinced that the Livia's notorious reputation in the north was not without reason.

When they entered the city, the guards demanded a toll. Not wanting to cause any more trouble, he and Cohen bargained for a while and paid an extra ten ducats to settle the matter.

After a while, another bald beggar covered in scabies harassed Effensor, demanding money. When no one was looking, Effensor gave him an Axe to settle the matter.

Then, after walking only a few steps, someone tried to put their hand into Cohen's saddlebag, but was scared away by Cohen's gesture of drawing his sword.

Then a group of local blacksmiths clashed with dwarves from Mahakam. During the fight, a hammer was thrown by someone and grazed Effensor's toe.

The excruciating pain in his fingers instantly caused Effensor to furrow his brow. He frowned as he watched the chaos in the street, and asked Cohen with a hint of helplessness, "Should we take a detour?"

"Hmm." Cohen dodged a wooden shoe that seemed to fly out of nowhere, pointed to the path on the right, and said, "Let's take this path. I took this path last time I came here, and it leads directly to Queen's Square."

Effensor nodded, then eagerly turned his horse around and rode Walker away.

Cohen followed closely behind, and the two quickly traversed the streets and alleys, finally stopping in front of a luxurious hotel next to the fountain in Queen's Square.

"Are you sure we want to stay here?" Effensor asked, puzzled. "If we stay here for one night, we won't have any money for food tomorrow; if we stay for two nights, we'll have to sell our belongings."

“Of course we don’t stay here.” Cohen shook his head. “Let’s go in and ask around. Before we left, Commander Soconia told me that he had written to King Foltest seeking help, and King Foltest had sent his court advisor.”

"A court advisor?" Effensor thought for a moment and immediately understood.

"Oh, you mean those sorceresses? Or the male wizards of Ban Ade? They live here? Who are they? How many are there?"

"There are two ladies, one named Kayla Metz and the other Triss Meligold, the fourteenth person on the hill."

"As for whether we'll stay here or not, I'm not sure. Commander Sokonia only said it's the meeting place, and the two court advisors will be waiting for us here. Let's go ask first."

"..."

"Effensor?"

Cohen didn't hear a reply, so he turned to Effensor and said.

"Oh, I'm fine."

Effensor smiled, recovering from his brief moment of stunned silence.

I'm about to see familiar strangers again.

I originally thought we wouldn't see each other until December, but I didn't expect it to be so much earlier.

He actually had a chance to see Triss beforehand; she had visited Kaer Morhen a long time ago. However, at that time, Affinso was being hunted by a group of bandits, spending the autumn to winter either killing or fleeing.

And now they will finally meet.

Decades later, all that remained of Effensor's memory of "Triss" were red hair, freckles, strength, and kindness; even her face had become blurry.

Furthermore, due to the various portraits of her circulating everywhere, his current image of Triss is probably quite different from the reality.

There's very little information about "Kayla." All I remember is that she was a blonde sorceress who pursued a materialistic life, and that she died in the game because of some unknown choice she made.

Effensor took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and cleared his mind of all these thoughts.

If he encounters these two later and his mind is read, he'll definitely be the one who dies.

The two tied their horses to the wooden stakes by the door, and then pushed the door open one after the other and entered the inn.

The interior of the hotel was even more luxurious than the exterior, with precious pigments of various colors applied everywhere as if they were free. The beams and pillars were painted with gold paint, and the windows were made of stained glass.

The other exquisite paintings, animal pelts, and animal heads hanging on the walls were clearly very valuable. Although Effensor had never been to the king's palace, he imagined that, apart from the difference in size, the palaces of the wealthiest kingdoms in the north, such as Covil and Bovis, were no more impressive.

A refined-looking middle-aged man dressed in silk stepped forward, bowed to Effensor and Cohen, and said in his deep, resonant voice, "I am one of the waiters at the Bonnies Inn. How may I serve you, guests who have traveled from afar?"

Cohen nodded in return and then said, "We've come to see Ms. Kayla Metz and Ms. Triss Merrigold."

"Ah, I understand." The middle-aged man nodded and gestured, "Ms. Metz instructed me that if anyone comes looking for them, I should take the visitor to a bath."

Effensor and Cohen exchanged a glance, and had no objection to it.

After their long journey, they were both covered in stench, so a shower would have been ideal.

The waiter led the way, guiding the two through a magnificent corridor and around to an open-air hot spring where steam could be seen from afar.

The hot spring pool is very large, divided into more than a dozen smaller pools by a low wall made of stones. Above the low wall, there is a wooden wall as a partition, plus a small wooden door, making each hot spring pool independent and forming a small private room.

The two took off their clothes in the changing room, handed them to the waiter for safekeeping, and then entered the hot spring pool with clean clothes taken from their luggage and towels provided by the hotel. At this time, the entire hot spring pool was empty, so Effensor and Cohen chose two private rooms side by side, put their clothes aside, and soaked in the hot spring.

"Well………"

Effensor let out a comfortable groan.

The hot water submerged his chest, with only his neck and above above the surface. The hot spring pool was ingeniously designed; when he lay down against the edge, he nestled perfectly into a recessed area. His body fit in flawlessly, and with the slight buoyancy of the water, he wasn't bothered by the stones at the bottom.

It was so comfortable; Effensor experienced the comfortable life of a wealthy person in the Middle Ages for the first time in a long time.

"Knock knock!"

The waiter knocked on the small wooden door of Effensor's private room and said softly, "Sir, I have brought you soap, toothpaste, silk cloth, and a soft brush."

Then the waiter put down the small tray containing the items and went to Cohen's private room, repeating the same action.

Effensor opened the door slightly, took the soap from the tray, and began to lather herself with the fragrant soap. Then she picked up a soft brush and scrubbed off the dirt. Soon, a layer of white foam appeared on the surface of the tub, and the water became slightly murky.

Suddenly, Cohen's voice came from next door.

Have you ever seen a sorceress?

Cohen's voice sounded somewhat muffled and echoed.

"...I guess you could say we've met," Effensor replied after a moment's thought.

Long ago, he passed through Goth Velen during the May Day festival. It was a truly lively day. All the sorceresses of Aretuza came out, and the whole city was filled with young women who were boldly dressed, beautiful, and had good figures. Affinso was momentarily stunned by the sight.

When these women saw Effensor, with his flowing white hair, handsome face, and youthful appearance, they seemed to have discovered a hot commodity, their eyes lighting up as they grabbed his arm.

That day was truly...wonderful.

"Effensor? You're spacing out again?"

"Feel sorry."

Cohen's words brought Effensor back to reality.

"This is the second time today." Cohen's voice carried a hint of teasing. "You get distracted when you hear about sorceresses?"

"Ha, how could that be!"

"When you meet the real person later, don't stare at them blankly. Also, I've heard that spellcasters can read minds, so be careful they don't know what you're thinking."

"I don't have any dirty thoughts."

"I didn't say your thoughts were dirty, did I?"

"..."

Effensor opened his mouth, but could not defend himself.

What else could he say?

……

After bathing and changing, the waiter led the two to the back garden.

This hotel truly embodies the saying "small but perfectly formed," possessing everything a palace should have, with rooms for all different purposes.

As soon as the two entered the garden, Effensor was immediately attracted by the various exotic flowers and plants before him.

To be precise, in his eyes, this was a garden overflowing with alchemy materials and potion ingredients, priceless treasures. He could hardly contain his excitement and longed to immediately go back, grab his little scythe, and harvest everything in the garden.

Suddenly, the waiter stopped, then took small steps back, and then turned and left.

Immediately afterwards, two beautiful women dressed in luxurious clothes emerged from behind the bushes and fence.

A blonde with brown eyes, wearing a light blue dress, agate bracelets on her left and right wrists, an exquisite crystal pendant around her neck with a silver ancacia dangling from the end, and a glass of red wine in her hand.

She looked at Effensor and Cohen with a smile, her gaze sweeping over Effensor repeatedly, scrutinizing him from head to toe.

The other woman, with reddish-brown hair and green eyes, was dressed far less daringly than her companion. However, although she wore a red high-necked dress, Effensor could still see a faint pink burn scar on her neck.

Upon seeing Effensor and Cohen, her gaze also lingered on Effensor, or more precisely, on Effensor's white hair. Her expression shifted from surprise to disappointment.

Effinso could vaguely guess what she was thinking—she probably hoped that Geralt, who also had white hair, would come.

The images of the two gradually matched the vague outlines in Effensor's mind: the blonde Kayla and the red-haired Triss.

"Oh dear, Witcher!"

Kayla seemed slightly tipsy, and as she swirled her glass and leaned closer to the two of them, she spoke in an irreverent tone.

"It's so nice to see you all at this time, what a perfect time and place..."

She spoke to Effensor and Cohen in an ambiguous tone, her slightly flushed cheeks and malicious eyes making her implication immediately clear.

"Kayla!"

Triss quickly grabbed Kayla's arm, pulled her to her side, and then moved behind her.

Then, turning to Cohen and Effensor, who seemed unsure how to respond, she asked, "Are you the Witchers General Soconia mentioned?"

"Yes." Cohen nodded and handed a letter to Triss.

Triss opened the letter and glanced at it quickly, only briefly looking at the contents. She mainly focused on the signature and seal at the end of the letter.

After confirming that there were no problems between the two, she looked away from the letter and then at the two people.

"We've made some preparations regarding this plague spirit," Triss said in a gentle voice, though with a slightly magnetic huskiness.

"That's right, alchemical products, potions... they have them all."

Kayla emerged from behind Triss again, swirling her wine glass. This time, her expression was as usual; she looked dignified, elegant, and natural, a stark contrast to her earlier unrestrained demeanor.

"Wait a minute," Cohen asked hesitantly, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "Actually, witchers have their own special potions, and even alchemical bombs..."

"Of course I know," Kayla interrupted him. "These aren't all for you."

"Because I'm going too."

"what?"

Cohen was taken aback; this was something he hadn't expected.

"Oh, come on!" Kayla waved her hand, subtly rolling her eyes. "Don't make that face. I'm fine, I can take care of myself. I'm not some fragile vase in a palace."

"Actually, I should have gone," Triss said apologetically to Kayla.

"That won't do. What if you catch the plague?" Keira took Triss's arm and patted her shoulder, saying, "It's because you can't drink potions!"

"Besides, who told you to be mine... um~"

"My dear friend."