Elder Blood Witcher

Chapter 5: Not so magic mushrooms...



Reima goes through the forms he observed from Vesemir, he finds it easy to seamlessly shift through various footwork placements, posture and stance. He watches as his peers slowly think about their actions and position themselves with great contemplation.

Eventually they are taught how to swing a sword, how to fix blade alignment and apply force correctly, after causing an audible swish through the air and fixing his stance he looks to Geralt who was watching close by.

"How is it Sir?"

"Good, you have talent... Be careful not to get lazy."

After the session, everyone is directed to the library where Vesemir begins to give a lecture on types of creatures that exist such as Necrophages, Relicts and Spectres.

"Now who knows where I could find a Ghoul?"

one or two students put their hands up but Theun ends up answering.

Theun "A Graveyard?"

Vesemir "Yes that's right. Although nowadays most battlefields will be covered in them if corpses are left and not burned."

Vesemir also gives a basic idea on Potions, Oils and Bombs that Witchers sometimes make use of.

"Alright, we are almost done... But there is one last topic I think we should discuss. Do you know what Signs are?"

No one speaks up so Reima decides to answer.

"It's magic that Witchers sometimes use Sir..."

Recognition lights up in a few recruits eyes.

Vesemir "Yes, Although we are not Mages or sorcerers, the Witcher trials enable us to use a limited form of magic called Signs. The kinda of Signs we use are Aard: A telekinetic blast that can destroy walls of knocks foes off balance, Igni: A blast of flame that ignites those it's used on, Yrden: A trap that slows or damages those that cross it, Quen: A shield that protects someone from all perceived harm, Axii: A form of mind manipulation can be utilised in a number of ways and Heliotrop: An obscure Sign that in it's basic form allows someone to block one strike be it an extremely powerful magic attack or a pebble being thrown from a child..."

Vesemir "You will not be learning about Signs until after most of your trials are done but knowledge is always valuable and you should seek it if you can."

After the lecture was over Vesemir escorted us back to our room and gave us a small amount of Herbs, weird-looking mushrooms and some unidentified plant matter.

"This will be your meals for the foreseeable future, not only is it used to cleanse your system but also to bring you closer to earth and nature. As the trials are Druidic of nature you will need to be as close to nature as possible. You decide how much you eat but we will not assist you with more meals if you choose that path."

Reima looks down at some sort of blue stem in his bowl and takes a bite. VILE!

"Cough!! Cough! What is this!"

He looks around at his friends trying to suppress their gag reflexes and swallow the foliage.

Geralt looks on amused from the door with Lambert trying to chat his ear of. Reima approaches them.

Reima "Any tips on getting this stuff down Sir?"

Geralt "Don't chew, just swallow..."

Lambert "A rule for any man at a whore house, am I right Geralt hahaha!" He nudges Geralt with his elbow and receives one to the solar plexus.

Reima shakes his head and follows Geralts advice by shaping a small amount of the herbs into a compact ball and swallowing it like a pill. While it is a lot more pleasant, it's not something he would ever choose to eat if he had the chance.

Lambert "Alright, once your done, get to sleep as we start early tomorrow." He states this while placing a single bucket next to each bed.

Reima "Sir what are those for?"

Lambert "You will know later..." He says sagely... Or as sagely a Lambert can sound.

The recruits all jump into bed, some leaving scraps of herbs in their bowls and some looking rather uncomfortable.

Reidun "Night Reima"

Reima "Night Reidun"

4 Hours later...

"BLUUURRRGGHH"

Reima jumps at the sound of projectile vomiting from a few beds down, luckily the recruit seems to have used the bucket placed at the bedside... Looking at Reidun he seems to be feeling the same way, Reima himself feels absolutely fine if rather peckish.

"BLuurrgghh.. Uhhh I wanna die..." The moans from the other side of the room trouble those trying to sleep...

Reima "Can you do that quietly please? Or quieter than you currently are...

??? "Can you shut your mou-Blurrrgghhhh, uhhh"

Reima tries to ignore the pained sounds of vomiting and slowly drifts back to sleep.

In the morning Reima wakes up and smells the absolutely stinking room and quickly hops out of bed, he walks to the window and opens it while spying those who seemed to be having trouble... A child whos name he recalls is Arie, poor guy doesn't seem to take well too the diet...

And so another day starts with training forms for the recruits with two exceptions being Reima and Arie who are beginning footwork and dodge practise... Arie who looks like a typical noble although with the recruits clothing being a stained white shirt with leather pants he looks rather less impressive than Reima would expect. Arie seems to have had prior sword training outside of the school and is adapting quickly if you exclude his bodies rejection of some of the Herbs.

Geralt took them to the side to teach them more advanced techniques due to their progress.

After practice they were giving another small serving of wild herbs and mushrooms and quickly went to attend Vesemirs lecture. After which they were given a break so they can socialise with each other and had their last physical training session of the day.


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