The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes

Heading eastward.

The flow of people and carriages on the road gradually thinned out until the area was deserted.

The sky dimmed. Behind the witcher riding a white horse, the sunset painted the clouds in brilliant gold, as if the gates to a divine kingdom had opened.

But ahead of him...

The undulating horizon was illuminated by firelight, which dyed the early crescent moon a blood-red hue.

Black pillars of smoke rose straight into the sky, dividing the heavens.

At this moment, the witcher seemed like a man standing with heaven at his back, marching toward the abyss.

Before long, a dry, warm breeze blew against him, carrying with it the scent of smoke and an indescribable burnt stench.

For a fleeting moment, the witcher on horseback felt a strange sense of disorientation, almost believing himself to be one of those chosen heroes from a novel, destined to vanquish a world-ending demon king.

But when he thought about the identity of the Wild Hunt, their use of the Gate of Ard Gaeth to travel between worlds, their conquests and massacres, and the apocalyptic White Frost that followed in their wake, it didn't seem like such a delusion after all.

He passed through one desolate village after another, then followed a narrow path through a forest.

The sound of rushing water reached his ears not long after.

A wide river, its surface shimmering faintly with red reflections in the dim light, flowed beneath a stone bridge, heading downstream.

On the other side of the river...

The city was engulfed in rolling black smoke, and the flames lit up the sky.

Beyond this river, Allen would need to pass through another small forest and two villages to reach Ban Ard.

The reason he had landed so far away was not just because of the refugees fleeing the area—he had hoped to gather some information from them—but also because the griffin's large size made it too conspicuous to land near Ban Ard.

As for the river before him...

Its name was Lixela. Originating from the Blue Mountains, it wound its way through Ban Ard, Ard Carraigh, the elven ruins of Shaerrawedd, and finally merged into the wide Pontar River near Kaedwen's southern border fortress, Ban Glean.

Allen was quite familiar with this river, having crossed it two or three times earlier this year.

"This should be about right."

Allen dismounted, tying his newly purchased white horse to a thorny acacia grove by the river.

The waters of the Lixela River ran swiftly in this area, and the stone bridge was frequently traveled. Hiding his horse here wouldn't expose it to danger from drowners.

After taking care of everything, Allen stood at the bridgehead.

The sun had completely dipped below the horizon, and the sky was dark.

This timing was precisely what Allen had calculated before setting out.

Villagers, travelers, mercenaries, and merchants would all be fleeing in haste at this hour. No one in their right mind would head toward Ban Ard.

The road was utterly deserted. If he traveled during the day, no matter how well he disguised himself, he would stand out too much.

The strength of the Wild Hunt aside, while the Ban Ard Academy had undoubtedly suffered significant losses from the attack, the fact that their protective barrier was still intact indicated that many of their sorcerers were still alive.

Unless Allen encountered someone isolated or particularly weak, being discovered would pose a considerable risk to him.

After all, his purpose was to take a chance—see if he could track down a member of the Wild Hunt and extract information about Aen Elle and the White Frost. He had no intention of directly confronting the sorcerers.

For him, this was the perfect time to act.

[Name: Night]

[Type: Magical Item]

[Effect: When worn and activated with a small amount of magic, grants invisibility in darkness or dimly lit areas.]

[Note: It only provides invisibility!]

--------------------------

[Name: Shade]

[Type: Magical Item]

[Effect: When worn and activated with a small amount of magic, eliminates the sound of breathing, footsteps, and even a heartbeat.]

[Note: It only silences!]

The stealth set gifted to him by Francesca was perfectly suited to the current environment.

Silent and invisible in the darkness, Allen could stroll openly down the street—who could possibly notice him?

"Speaking of which, the elven reinforcements Sadia promised should be arriving at Kaer Morhen soon..."

"Although it seems the Wolf School doesn't really need that aid anymore..."

Allen donned the mask and tied the headscarf, pondering.

How quickly things changed.

Who would have thought that six months ago, the Wolf School, which had been on the brink of extinction, would see its two greatest enemies—the nobles of Kaedwen and the sorcerers of Ban Ard—fall into chaos?

One lost its king and plunged into war, its forces leaderless and being overrun by Aedirn. The other had its troubles diverted eastward, with its main city almost entirely destroyed.

And both of these upheavals were closely tied to him—a seemingly ordinary witcher.

No!

It couldn't even be called a coincidence anymore; he might as well be the mastermind.

The king had died by his hand. The Wild Hunt, attracted by the "Conjunction of the Spheres" he unleashed during the apprentice combat tournament, had attacked...

Apart from Aedirn's proactive maneuvers, almost every major event was connected to him.

Standing at the bridgehead, staring at the red glow of the firelight in the distance, Allen felt a bit dazed.

It was hard to believe that the flap of his butterfly wings had caused such monumental changes.

His presence was genuinely influencing this world—rewriting history and altering the fates of witchers, sorcerers, and countless humans.

For better... or for worse...

Clop-clop.

The narrow, muddy stone bridge was riddled with ruts and refugee footprints, making strange noises with each step.

As Allen crossed the bridge, lost in thought, ready to activate his Night and Shade items to conceal himself, he suddenly froze.

Buzz—

The wolf medallion on his chest vibrated.

"What's this?"

Allen paused, noticing a silver mist-like veil wrapping around him, one end binding him while the other extended into the infinite darkness.

In an instant, the phenomenon vanished.

A familiar, peculiar sensation arose in his mind...

His heartbeat quickened, and a strange impulse surged through him...

"This... this is destiny's call!"

Allen murmured softly.

He had experienced the pull of destiny before.

Whether it was over a month ago, when he made the Law of Surprise pact with Yennefer's father, accepting a child as payment for saving him...

Or two months ago, when he rescued Sadia from Viscount Hudson's abandoned mine, taking a fragment of the Gate of Ard Gaeth as her payment...

He had felt the Witcher world's fate—so alive, so vast and unstoppable.

But!

This time, the pull of destiny was far stronger than ever before.

Fate had even taken form.

She was...

"Destiny is guiding me..." Allen muttered.

[Following destiny's call, I returned to Shaerrawedd.]

[But now… the Rose Palace of Aen Elle in Shaerrawedd had… become a ruin...]

[I followed destiny's thread to the heart of Shaerrawedd...]

[From the beloved white rose bushes of Aelirenn, I found a gemstone...]

Sadia's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

His slightly dilated blue feline eyes narrowed sharply, focusing on the upper reaches of the Lixela River.

There, where the thread of destiny extended...

Something was calling to him. Something intensely compelling.

"Could it be another fragment of the Gate of Ard Gaeth?"

--------------------------

Mastery of Space, Blink, Portals…

Though Allen rarely used the latter two abilities to hide his identity, the distinction between having and not having them was monumental. Even if he hadn't used them much, Allen had to admit that both could be deemed divine skills.

Especially Blink, which practically granted dominance in combat.

For a warrior, it could instantly close the distance.

For a mage, it allowed evasion of attacks while maintaining casting range.

For a Witcher, whether against large monsters or powerful sorcerers, a single Blink could mean life or death.

The Portal was equally useful. While Allen lacked sufficient experience points or a variety of stored coordinates, limiting its utility for now, he could only imagine how much time it could save once upgraded, enabling long-distance travel in mere moments.

These two abilities stemmed from absorbing a single shard of the Gate of Ard Gaeth.

Such a powerful artifact, possibly tied to the origin of the mysterious Witcher's Journal... After fully absorbing that shard not long ago, Allen naturally wanted to gather the remaining fragments.

Unfortunately, even the archives of Kaer Morhen lacked any mention of the Gate of Ard Gaeth, let alone clues to the locations of its fragments.

Who would've thought that just approaching Ban Ard would lead to such an unexpected discovery?

"No, wait," Allen stroked the stubble on his chin. "This can't be a coincidence… It mustn't be!"

"I've crossed this very bridge three or four times before without ever triggering such a call of destiny. Why now?"

"Hold on…"

Allen furrowed his brow, suddenly recalling a question he had long overlooked.

He had always assumed that the Wild Hunt's target was him, specifically the Witcher's Journal and the Gate of Ard Gaeth.

The Hunt's actions seemed to support this theory.

But here was the question:

How was the Wild Hunt tracking the Gate of Ard Gaeth's trail?

Even though the Conjunction of the Spheres event ended almost three months ago, they managed to pinpoint the blue barrier around Ban Ard shortly after it fell.

How did they do it?

Could it be through the shards of the Gate of Ard Gaeth?

At this thought, Allen's expression turned grave. He immediately activated the Night and Shade artifacts.

In an instant—

On the northern bank of the Lixela River, a figure carrying twin swords became transparent, blurred, and then vanished entirely into the night.

Only the occasional impressions left in the dead leaves and branches on the ground hinted at his presence.

"That's it!"

"The only difference from my previous trips is that the Wild Hunt attacked Ban Ard recently. The object fate is calling me toward is most likely in the hands of the Aen Elle!"

Allen clenched his fists with excitement.

Not only did he have a chance to obtain a treasure closely tied to him, but he also had the opportunity to capture the weakened Wild Hunt.

This was a double win!

Despite his exhilaration, Allen remained cautious, carefully concealing his presence as he advanced toward the direction fate guided him. Occasionally, he used his Tracking ability to make visible the footprints and marks on the ground as glowing red trails.

For a moment, it felt like using Witcher senses in The Witcher 3 to track monster traces.

Under the eerie red glow, the roots and branches extended like blood-soaked tendrils from the forest, stretching ominously toward the riverbank.

The blood moon, already dim, was further obscured by black smoke.

Darkness spread from the pitch-black woods like an expansive mire.

This was even better.

It made him even harder to detect, and the Aen Elle didn't have the innate night vision that many peculiar monsters did.

Allen's hand instinctively hovered over the potion pouch at his waist as he cautiously pressed onward, strategizing how to deal with the Wild Hunt once he found them.

Then, at a certain point—

Allen suddenly halted both his thoughts and steps, holding his breath as he stared at the ground.

There—

Dark red blood traces outlined a figure that had fallen, surrounded by small splashes of blood.

Nearby, roots extending from the forest had been sliced apart, and the ground bore countless small craters.

After scanning the area, Allen cautiously stepped forward, squatting to pick up a piece of black cloth dotted with dim starlight.

"A sorcerer… and a high-ranking one, a Black Robe," he muttered, his lips pressing into a thin line. "The sorcerers of Ban Ard fought here?"

Allen's attention locked on the humanoid blood trace.

The crimson glow composing the blood trail began swirling, transforming into a constellation of small red specks. These then reassembled into the form of a pair of lower legs and feet, floating where the humanoid trace's legs had been.

Then they began to move.

Rising as if from the ground, they sprinted toward the dense woods behind Allen, where beyond lay the still-smoldering ruins of the city.

"He… escaped?"

Allen followed the spectral legs into the forest, chasing for about thirty to forty meters before giving up.

So far away and yet still alive, this sorcerer had likely managed to flee back to Ban Ard. And…

"With injuries this severe, yet even the Wild Hunt couldn't kill him…" Allen mused as he looked back at the now re-lit blood traces. "The Hunt must be in rough shape too."

"What an opportunity!"

Allen's vivid blue cat eyes gleamed, but he frowned as he thought about the injured sorcerer. He glanced ahead into the oppressive darkness that seemed ready to swallow everything.

There was always a chance that Black Robe sorcerers wielding staffs might suddenly rush out of those woods.

"The Wild Hunt is heavily weakened, and the sorcerers might catch up at any time. I don't have the luxury of creeping forward anymore…"

"I have to find the Hunt before the Ban Ard sorcerers arrive!"

With his decision made, Allen no longer worried about leaving deep footprints or traces on the ground.

Grinding his teeth, he pressed forward with haste, rushing past the humanoid blood trace.

Ahead—

The upstream reaches of the Lixela River.

Destiny was showing the way.

.....

📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢

For advance chapters: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)

368. Hunting the Wild Hunt.

369. The First Battle with the Wild Hunt.

370. A Grand Welcome Ceremony for the Sorcerers from Afar.

371. Fireball to Destroy the World.

372. The Burning Skeleton Knight.