An old house made of wood and stones. With a red roof and white walls. That was where Coen stayed. An oil lamp shone on the lackluster living quarters and the witcher who was reading a book on the sofa.

Once again, Roy had gotten the Book of Shadows from Coen. But unlike how it used to be, the cover was no longer gleaming and shining. The power of infinite recording was no more. All the knowledge regarding Keldar and the souls trapped within its pages disappeared with the destruction of its core.

Two thousand pages of content remained. Most of the content was written in northern common speech. Erland had already established Kaer Seren when he started writing the book, though a small part of the content was written in Elder Speech and its variants.

Roy skimmed through the book. On its yellowing pages was the history of all the witchers who saw it, written in the form of notes and addendums. The book was divided into a few main parts: a brief explanation of the school's mission, swordplay, Signs, the secret arts, alchemy tips and tricks, secret magical knowledge, and monsterology.

Every part of it was then broken down into even smaller parts. For example, the alchemy section was divided into regular potions, decoctions, bombs, and oils. There were examples for everything on every page.

For example, the arachas section had with it the records of Erland's battle. He cast a mutated Igni and Yrden, burning its mouth and turning all three arachas into grilled crabs. At the end of the story, Erland wrote that the poisonous arachas meat would be safe to consume as long as it went through ten minutes of intense cooking.

***

A few pages later, Roy found himself engrossed by Erland's creative battle tactics and Sign usage. Swordplay aside, the depth and complexity of the knowledge contained within this book was far superior than the Almanac of Monsters and the stories the brotherhood members told him.

The Griffins took prep time to an extreme and made it an art form. But Roy was not here to read these things. He flipped through the pages and arrived at the last part of the book: the secret arts.

He skimmed through Dual Signs and went straight to the section that held his interest: the Roar. The thing that could change Signs. He could still vividly imagine how Keldar bravely faced off against multiple Griffins all by himself. Roy desired the power to cast a large-scale protective Sign and send invisible chains after his targets.

The section read, Elementals. Creatures of the elements. Controllers of chaos energy. With a single magical roar, these creatures can summon the power of elements themselves. Hurricanes, lightning, flames Nothing is beyond them. Pioneers spent years and years within the depths of the void of meditation. Through the elemental dimensions they went, searching for the elementals that reside within.

The pioneers risked their lives and wrote down the four roars of the elementals for us to learn. But be warned, adepts. Should you attempt this, incredible talent and an iron will will be needed to pass the trial. Should you pass on the first try, you shall gain the privilege to learn this power. Should you fail, do not push yourself, or the consequences shall be dire.

***

Roy took a deep breath and slowly flipped the page. What greeted him were a passage written in Elder Speech and a beautiful picture.

In most cases, people could only communicate through sounds through a face-to-face encounter or by recording it with magical means. However, the pioneers took another path. They utilized the equally magical Elder Speech writing system and combined a few basic letters. If anyone could pronounce this combination, they would have imitated an elemental's roar.

But pronunciation was not the only thing this secret art contained. If the user wished to use this power, then alongside the Roar, they had to also create a vivid imagery of a certain rune in their minds that corresponded with the element of the roar.

Blazing flames, blue waters, wispy clouds, and sturdy mountains. All were elements, but all were different. Imagining these wasn't hard, but not when the user had to create a lifelike image with perfect details of it in their minds.

Roy memorized the combination for water and its rune. He tried to pronounce it, but the word couldn't roll off his tongue easily. It felt like someone jumbled up different letters that couldn't combine well with one another and forced them to work together.

Roy sat cross-legged, calming his heart and clearing his mind.

Five minutes went by. The young witcher took a deep breath, and he let out a roar that reverberated through the living quarters. "Gynvael!"

***

A gust of wind flew into the house. Roy closed his eyes to feel if any changes had taken place, but his mana remained silent. His character sheet showed no new information either.

A frown furrowed his forehead. My pronunciation needs some improvement. I sound like a babbling toddler.

It was his first try. The rune he imagined had nothing but the shape of a drop of water. He couldn't imagine what its color or edges looked like. The imagery was veiled behind something.

"I guessed as much. Shouldn't expect less from a Sign that requires its user to create vivid images in their heads. No, perhaps it requires a great affinity for elements. Real Sources can easily create that image in their heads. I'm just a guy with some Elder Blood within him. Still a long way away from a Source." Roy shook his head, but discouraged he was not. He gave himself one month to figure this out.

***

Roy spent the whole day in Coen and Igsena's house, but he made slow progress. Even after the sun had set and Coen had come back with Igsena, Roy still couldn't make out the rune.

The look on Roy's face failed to escape Coen's notice. He asked, "Mate, are you trying to imitate a Roar?"

Roy nodded. "The element of water's Roar."

"Take it slow." He took a deep breath. "Keldar spent three days creating a full image in his head. It was then he learned the first Roar and powered his Sign up. I spent a whole month trying to do it." Coen laughed at himself. "But the moment I made that sound, I passed out. The elements raged within me, knocking me out. Once I regained consciousness, I gave up hope on mastering a mutated Sign. That's what Destiny wants for me." He shook his head, sighing.

A confident smile tugged at Roy's lips. He closed the book and looked at the couple. "So, how was your first day in Novigrad? Did it go well?"

"I went around the city. It has been a while since I saw a place as bustling as Novigrad." Coen eased up a little. "It's even more bustling than Lan Exeter and Pont Vanis. Novigradians are friendlier than I thought. The brotherhood's efforts are showing results. At least the locals do not bear that much ill will against us. Even took an easy request from the bulletin board. Found a missing cat that belonged to an old bat living all by herself. Made five crowns from that." A sigh escaped Coen's lips. "It's like free money."

Roy nodded, smiling. "Stay awhile, and you'll fall in love with this place." And then you'll join us. "What about you, Igsena?"

The young lady turned red with excitement, and she spun around while holding Coen's hand. Her white dress swayed with the wind, though her dancing still looked unpolished. "I love this job. I love this place."

She kept gushing like a child who just got treated to a big feast. "I don't have to pick any greens. I don't have to feed the chickens. I don't have to do any of that. All I have to do is dance, sing, and listen to poetry and music. This is the life I've always wanted. I will be a Novigradian."

"I thought Dandelion said work was demanding," Roy joked.

"Oh, do not think of me as a woman of the city. Work of this magnitude is but child's play for this lady." She was starting to talk in rhymes, though it was a little off. "Compared to the work I had to do at home, this is heavenly."

"I see." Roy looked at Coen. He was a quiet, honest guy, while Igsena was full of vigor and curiosity for a new world. I have a bad feeling about this. This is a world filled with temptations. I wonder if they can hold on.

"I'll put the book here. Get some rest. I'll come back tomorrow."

"Where are you going, Roy?" Sleep was not in Igsena's plan that night. She said, "Let's go moongazing later."

"You should stay with Coen," Roy declined with a smile. He was thinking of the woman who would be inviting him to share a bed with her. Can't let her wait. Guess it's another sleepless night.

***

Roy's life went on with nothing eventful to take note of. By day, he would read the Book of Shadows and practice his Roar and imagery, learning the Sign of Clamp. By night, he would either stay with his family or Coral. Sometimes, they would do it in a room, sometimes in the lab, and sometimes in a boat on the sea. For more reasons than one, Roy was glad he went through a second Trial, or he wouldve wrecked his body doing something so extreme.

At the same time, Dandelion had dressed himself up majestically and set off for Toussaint with a gaudy Auckes by his side. On their merry way they went, where the celebration of Lammas in Toussaint awaited.

Auckes set a course to Toussaint's Mont Crane Castle. He would scout the place out and set down a portal waypoint.

Vesemir had returned from his short honeymoon trip. The news of Keldar's death came as a shock to him. He asked Coral to open a portal so he could pay his respects to his old friend. But Roy did not think Vesemir was too sad about this. In fact, he thought the grandmaster felt happy for his friend. Envious, even. Dying after a great battle was one of the greatest ways a witcher could go.

Vesemir was particularly caring for Coen. When he wasn't teaching the kids blacksmithing, he would summon Coen to the orphanage and ask him how he was doing.

Eventually, Coen lost a little of his wariness of the place. Sometimes he would come for a visit, though he was still adamant about not joining the brotherhood or sharing the Book of Shadows.

Still, it was a good sign. Eventually, he would give in. The kids were too adorable to resist.

On the other hand, Igsena was improving by leaps and bounds. Perhaps she did have a talent for theater. Not too long ago, she started to perform, though only as a supporting character. Still, her efforts were lauded by the acting staff. Everyone loved the straightforward lady who had a sailor's mouth.

Coen dragged Roy to one of her shows. She played the part of one of Cinderella's stepsisters

***

One week later.

Roy was in Coen's room, the sun shining on his anxious and solemn face. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes again, something glinted within them.

He weaved a complex gesture with his fingers that fluttered like a butterfly's wings. At the same time, he took a deep breath and let out a roar. The mysterious, primordial roar ignited the chaos energy that lingered in the air. A gust of air coming from Roy blew the curtains away, the plates on the table falling everywhere.

Azure lights shone and glimmered, and not a moment later, a slender figure popped into existence. He had black hair and heterochromatic eyes, and he was wearing Manticore armor. The silhouette leapt over to Roy and sat down with his legs crossed. It was as if two identical witchers appeared in the room.

They looked like twins, but one was inscrutable, while the other had a deep frown on his forehead. Roy stood up and cracked his joints, and the silhouette repeated his movements as uniformly as a shadow.

A sigh of relief escaped Roy's lips, and he concentrated on his character sheet.

'You have learned the seventh Sign.

Clamp (Original): Dispels illusions or creates an illusory image of you. The duration of the image is affected by your Spirit and Sign level.

Clamp, Mirror Image (Mutated): You have listened to a nymph's roar (imitation). Your Sign has mutated. The image is no longer a decoration. It possesses part of your stats and passive skills. You have full command of the image. The image will disappear after sustaining a set amount of damage. You may also dispel the image yourself. The duration and amount of power it possesses is affected by your Spirit and Sign level. If you embed a Wingflap into the image, it shall concentrate all the water element around it within its body. When the image disappears or is destroyed, it will release a frost nova around it.'

***

Sixty seconds later, the image disappeared into thin air, and a frost nova engulfed the surrounding area with chilly winds and ice. Even the ground was covered in frost. Roy tried to wipe it off, but all it did was hurt his hand.

"Offensive power aside, if someone gets hit by this, they'll get slowed at worst and frozen at best. The image lasts for one minute and is only as strong as a regular adult man. It has most of my passive skills, but the thing is stupid. It can't use any Signs. A bit useless in battle, unless I embed it with a Wingflap. A walking frost bomb that does anything I say is a good crowd-control skill. It might come in handy in some situations." Like stealth bombs.

***

Roy turned his attention to another Sign. The Roar of the water element could change two Signs: Clamp and Axii. Axii had mutated as well.

'Axii (Original): Axii infiltrates through your target's eyes, controlling their minds and movements for a time. The potency is affected by your Spirit, Sign level, and the target's Will.

Axii Puppet (Mutated): Axii can control your target's mind and actions. The Sign can work even without casting it at your target's eyes. The mind control is deeper, and it can change the target's perception.

Wingflap effect: The water element that lingers in the air will power Axii up. You no longer have to cast Axii into your target's eyes for it to take effect. Axii's duration and effect is now doubled.'

***

Roy rubbed his chin. "Okay, this isn't mass hypnosis, unlike Keldar's Axii. Guess this is a single-target effect. I can control their perception of things, huh? Wonder if I can get anyone to harm themselves?" He cocked his eyebrow and got an idea. "Or maybe I can change how they see themselves. Like maybe they'll think they're chickens or something. That's terrifying. This is the worst kind of torture imaginable."

Roy held his fluttering heart down and started getting himself used to the Roar to see how powerful Wingflap and mutated Signs were. And then he realized a pattern. Roy had to wait for five minutes every two times he used Wingflap. If he cast a third time in succession, the chaos energy in the air would backfire at him, just like how it did to Keldar.

***

And the training went on. One month had passed. There was a case of insubordination during that month. With Carl's support, the remaining reserve apprentices cut off all their hair and strapped their swords behind their backs like witchers.

They went on a protest. They demanded to know when they could take the pre-Trial. It had been six months since they started training, and still they had no idea when their Trial would take place.

The protest failed, however. The reserve members were taken down and subjected to a week of toilet cleaning. Roy cast his mutated Axii on the leaderCarl. He made Carl think he was a girl. The boy changed into a dress and tied his hair into a braid. Then he played jump rope with Vicki and the girls for an hour.

Since then, the kids toned down their shenanigans.

There was a reason they couldn't administer the pre-Trial, and it was simple. After Lytta started trying to modify the formula, she realized it was harder than she thought. Once, she tried to weaken the effects of the mutation to increase the rates of success, but it had little effect.

The orphanage would not conduct another Trial until she made a breakthrough. The witchers had a change of mind. They could not afford to lose any of the children.

***

The orphanage was running smoothly, and Roy's training was well underway, aside from the time he and Kantilla flew to the nearby mountains on Gryphon's back to kill a graveir. Most of the time, he stayed in the city.

Every week, Roy would learn a new Roar, and his Signs would power up. The second week was the Roar of fire. Igni had mutated into Ignifire, and with Roar and Wingflap, the fireball would absorb the fire element in the air and double its power. Now its effective range was forty meters instead of twenty. It was on par with a real fireball spell.

***

The third week was the Roar of earth. This time, Quen and Heliotrop mutated.

'Quen Sanctuary (Mutated): Summons a five-meter diameter dome around you, shielding you and your allies from physical attacks.

Wingflap effect: Earth element in the air will gather around the Sanctuary, bolstering its defense dramatically.'

Heliotrop Sanctuary had a similar effect, but against magical attacks. These two Signs boosted Roy's supportive abilities in group battles by a lot.

***

The fourth week was the Roar of air. And this time Aard and Yrden mutated.

'Aard Staticshock (Mutated): You may create high friction between the elements in your body and create a lightning bolt to burn and numb any target within twenty meters.

Wingflap effect: Air element in the air resonates with your Sign, causing your target to be hit by a second bolt of lightning.'

***

"Damn, I thought this was gonna be some Rasengan kind of skill, or a shockwave. But lightning? And Wingflap can summon another one to hit the same target? Lightning never strikes the same place twice? Yeah, ditch that." Wonder if this will cause a lightning storm if I keep powering it up.

Roy shook his head and tossed that ridiculous idea out the window. Now he had three offensive ranged attacks. Furyfire, Staticshock, and Gabriel. Already he had come up with a combo. First, he would cast Clamp and have the image get close to the target. Then he would invoke the frost nova. And then a Stun Bolt would keep the target in check, followed by Staticshock's numbing effect. Finally, Furyfire would swoop in and explode.

Roy was like a mix between an archer and a mage now, but he couldn't last long. Twenty fireballs, lightning bolts, and stun bolts would take all the mana he had. Unlike a Source, he couldn't tap into all the chaos energy lingering in the air and go on until the recoil took place.

But he had an advantage. His spells needed no incantation or gestures. All he had to do was Roar and cast the Sign. He could send out a barrage of Signs before a mage could even get through their incantation.

***

And then for the final Sign.

'Yrden Halo (Mutated). Summons a circular halo in a three-meter radius around you. The halo lasts for five minutes. Any enemy that steps into the halo will have their speed lowered and reaction time increased. Ethereal enemies will be forced back into the material world, and instant teleportation's effect is drastically lowered in this halo. The halo moves with you.

Wingflap effect: The halo's area of effect, potency, and duration doubles.'

***

"It's not invisible chains, but at least the trap can move now." Let's see how the wraiths like this. If I cast this and Suppression at the same time, it'll cause a double debuff for my enemies. It's like getting rooted to one spot and being unable to leave.

***

And with that, all seven signs had been mutated. Their powers had risen to a level beyond Roy's imagination. He had two systems he could go with in battle. The first one was the aforementioned long-range system involving a frost nova, stun bolt, lightning bolt, and fireball explosion.

The second one was a contingency for situations where Roy had enemies closing in on him. He would use Suppression alongside Halo to wear his enemies down, or he could combine Fear with Devour to end the battle swiftly.

***

Aside from Erland, I'm probably the only one who possesses all mutated Signs now.

He turned his attention to the last skill he learned.

'Griffin Arts Level 5: You have learned mutated Signs and Wingflap.'

***

And that left Dual Sign to be learned. But if he did that, he couldn't use his sword or hand crossbow. I'm a witcher. Gotta be able to switch between ranged and close-quarter combat.

Roy was in no hurry to learn Dual Signs. One month had passed, and it was now the middle of August 1262. It was time for the next part of his plan.

***

***