Ch 15: Lady Of Space and time.

The wind was howling as he lay in bed, thank god that the cottage he had inherited from his father was designed to withstand the winters of Maine.

He got up and tossed a few logs inside his furnace while he placed some water in the teapot.

his house was far away and with the amount of snow that was falling he would be cut off from any civilization for quite a while,

thank god that he had power and internet, he went to his computer and started the witcher 3 game.

"what is this shit?" he looked at the black screen with only the words [chose your own adventure] he clicked his mouse and found a few icons

[witcher] [sorcerer] [human] [nonhuman] he scoffed. when did CDproject Red had added this patch? no matter, it was rad.

Of course he was going to choose [witcher], sorcerers are persecuted by Radovid same as nonhumans, Radovid and his little Hitler complex, he sighed.

"school, huh" overall he discarded the School of the Cat, those guys were unstable psychos despised by the people and if this is a new patch they probably added that too. he could choose viper, however something caught his attention, on the bottom half he saw an [import saved game] he almost chuckled. he was in NG+ already with all of his gear Grand master crafted.

He clicked on import character, in front of him there was a 3D model of Geralt, he was currently wearing the wolven gear, his current build was Alchemy, light attacks with Spin To Win, and with the viper silver sword with the burning enchantment, for the DPS that poison and burning gave, as for steel he went with the Kreigmesser that Olgieerd gifts you with armor piercing runes, there was a character edit. dialing the age back he found himself staring at a far younger looking witcher in his mid to early 20s not the ragged battle hardened 40 year old witcher from the game, he checked the schools of witchers he could get, and the two that interested him the most where manticore and viper.

[School of the Viper]

+15% damage with light attacks

+15% damage inflicted with Oils and Poisons

Double critical hit damage with surprise attacks.

while

[School of the Manticore]

+20% Effectiveness of consumables. be it potions or decoctions, even food, it also increased the effects of the grenades, which he often used with this current alchemy build.

+20% damage inflicted by Oils and Poisons

the choice was clear, in game sneaking on people or monsters was impossible. why even give those bonuses? also, Manticore suited him more for this playthrough.

editing the overall appearance was quite interesting since he could change the overall hair color and eyes, he decided to keep the eyes like they were but made his hair chestnut colored, longer than Geralt and braided, finally he removed the facial scars, not that he did not like them they looked badass but also they were Geralts' and he wanted to make his own character, the face editor also helped with making him not look so Geralt like, higher cheekbones, wider jaw, and a short but neatly trimmed beard, he also increased the height to his own 6'8 than the one of Geralt.

[Name your witcher]

Name? he thought. well for a name he could go with something Zerakkenian since he chose the school of the manticore just for Roleplaying purposes, but to be truly honest he did not know any names from there.

Ulfrik? Agnar? no, does not sound right, if he had chosen School of the Bear maybe.

After much deliberation, he was between Igaid and Igalid. he tossed a coin and Igalid won. he named his character and clicked on [Finnish]

[Would you like to start your own adventure?]

[YES] [NO]

He clicked [YES], his vision got blurry and then faded to black.

~~~

He regained consciousness because of the rocking he was feeling. he opened his eyes and saw that he was sitting on a horse strolling along a dirt road.

Information flooded his mind, he pulled the reins of the horse gently to stop the horse, it was not painful but it confused him. His old memories from a life on earth melted with those of a Witcher named Igalid, two lives merging in one brain, the sensory overload from his witcher senses did not help.

he remembered the training at the witcher school, learning about the monsters, potions, decoctions, poisons, oils, useful monster parts, all of it, especially the trial of the grasses, He betted that he would have a few nightmares about that in the foreseeable future.

After guiding the horse to a nearby tree that was growing alongside the dirt path he dismounted and tied the horse to a branch. Just the fact that he knew how to ride a horse gave him the creeps since he has never done it before.

"let's see if this is some kind of bad acid trip or if I truly got Isekaid" He drew Iris and saw the runes shine with a golden light, he observed the masterwork that was the sword, it was exceptional.

he started slow, with a few quick strikes, he noted his perfect edge alignment when swinging. then he went through the forms he remembered from the days in the witcher school until he riled up and started to spin around down the dirt path like an ether madman or dancer, but if you call this a dance, it would be a dance of death.

the technique, muscle memory, and overall skill were there.

After sheathing his steel sword on his back as if he had done it 1000 times before he tried an Aard sign in the opposite direction of the horse and it was like a force push from SW. he then cast Quen and saw the little golden little light dancing around him.

So the signs work too he thought.

"Inventory," he said but nothing happened. thinking about it for a second he just willed his inventory to appear. instead what happened was that he had a mental list of what he was carrying. trying to withdraw a regular looted steel sword it just materialized in front of him and fell to the ground with a Clang. He picked it up and immediately by instinct knew that it was far worse craftsmanship than the sword he had held before. storing it was also easy, just willing for it to go to the inventory the sword disappeared.

"spatial magic" how the hell was he supposed to explain that to anyone that was not a peasant? regular nonmagical folk might buy the whole "witcher can make things appear out of thin air because of magic" but other witchers or any sorcerer would not buy it. keeping it a secret unless a life or death situation arises.

He wondered about oiling up the blades, willing into the inventory for a second he chose Hanged Man's Venom for his Steel Sword and felt something in his hand, a bottle of oil was there.

"So it's not like in the games, I have to apply the oil myself." He decided to just use the opportunity and drew Iris from his scabbard, with a piece of cloth he rubbed the oil on the blade just like his witcher memories instructed him. after that he sheathed the sword and wished for the bottle to go back to his inventory.

By his Witcher memories, Igalid was on his way to White Orchard because he heard from some Nilfguardian soldiers that a Griffin was wrecking Havok in the area. He should arrive at White Orchard in the morning and looking at the sky it was almost dawn.

There should be Ghouls in the road ahead. so he summoned some Necrophage oil and oiled up his Silver Sword.

He untied the horse and mounted, then rode ahead at a decent pace.

while riding his mind wondered why he was so calm and ok with all of this until he almost facepalmed from how much of an idiot he was. Witchers have dulled emotions, probably the only reason he was not panicking at the moment and rolled with everything as if it was all normal.

~~~~~

After riding for good 30 minutes he saw that the sun was coming up on the horizon, not that he needed it, with his enhanced eyes he could see very well in the dark.

He heard fighting ahead and urged his horse into a full sprint, he must have missed the conversation between Geralt and Vesemir before the Ghoul attack for messing around after being Ported here,

After a sharp turn right, on the road he found two men fighting what looked like 15 ghouls.

"Damn you are ugly!" The white haired man who he assumed was Geralt said as he slashed a ghoul and then did a small jump back dodging a left swipe from the ghoul. while the older looking man Vesemir was slashing and spamming Igni.

He did not have to think twice, instincts took over. while the horse was in the middle of a sprint towards the witchers he dismounted with a jump, and rolled over the ground while drawing his Viper Silver Sword, by the time he was on his feet he was already sword in hand and casting Quen.

He ran a few yards and made it to the back of the first ghoul who has yet to detect his presence and stabbed it in the head from the back killing it instantly. feeling that he had the sign cooldown again he jumped over the corpse and used Igni on three of the ghouls that still had their back to him setting them on fire.

this alerted the ghouls of a new threat and they turned around, he targeted the closest one to him with a spinning pirouette and a diagonal downward slash he landed at the monster's neck almost decapitating it making it an instant kill. the ghoul to his right lunged at him and did a claw swipe, he jumped back slightly dodging the attack, and stabbed forward burying his sword almost halfway through between the ghoul's neck and shoulder before pulling it out. the third monster tried to ambush him from behind but his witcher senses were sharp, he just rolled to the side and let the ghoul fly over him, back on his feet he started to slash and dash around the ghoul he stabbed before, 3 more strikes and the ghoul fell down on a pool of black blood, not moving.

the last ghoul tried to engage again but he just Igni his ass setting the monster on fire before he started to spin, in 2 seconds the ghoul looked like minced putrid meat. dead.

looking around he saw that there were still 4 monsters left. he willed to equip the exploding grenade and threw it between two of them sending them tumbling around the ground. rushing the closest downed monster he just stabbed it in a vital area finishing it instantly.

Geralt and Vesemir took each one of the three ghouls left and he focused on the last one.

the ghoul approached him, he just used Yerden and took a few steps back, when the monster stepped inside the circle he saw how the ghoul slowed down significantly, a few quick and easy slashes, and the skirmish was over.

looking at his sword coated in disgusting black liquid he just took a rag from a pouch and wiped it clean before sheathing it.

"We appreciate the help, stranger. not many witchers left in the world, and now we have 3 on the same road," Said Vesemir in his usual tone.

Igalid just looked at him without saying anything. whistled and waited for a few seconds. his horse who was a diester appeared from the woods, the horse already knew the drill, when his master fought, flee and hide until called upon. grabbing the horse by the reigns he approached the two witchers.

"Well met Wolves, although I'm positive that you could have managed by yourselves I never say no to some warming up exercise in the morning." He said, now that he was a few feet from them they could see his medallion.

"Manticore? I thought you were extinct" Said Vesemir while scratching his jawline

He just shrugged and used Bullshitnojutsu "Heard the same about the Griffins, found one doing pit fights in Kovir to earn some extra coin" they did not have to believe him, but it was possible.

"We are looking for a Woman, medium height, Raven hair, purple eyes, smells of lilac and gooseberries, have you seen her?" Geralt like always, right to the point.

"Cant say I have, but there is a town nearby, maybe you should try your luck there" he paused "in fact, you should make it there before noon easily"

"We are heading there already, White Orchard right?" Said vesemir

"Yes, on the road heard some gossip from a few Nilfguardian soldiers that there was a Griffin in the area, thought they might be interested in getting rid of it for good and make some coin"

"Don't see why would you need the coin for. your gear is masterfully crafted, must have cost a pretty penny" Geralt, as always direct and rash.

"It sure did. but good gear does not put food on my table if I don't use it" he said as he mounted his horse. "We could share the road or I could go my own way. it is up to you two"

"we will be fi…" before Geralt could finish Vesemir put a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

"Wait Geralt, another pair of witcher eyes will come in handy. especially if we have a Griffin in the area" Vesemir, as always the voice of reason.

"Fine" Geralt mounted Roach and we started to troat down the road towards White Orchard.

"My name Vesemir of the School of the Wolf and this is G…" Vesemeir introduced himself bit Igalid interrupted

"Geralt of Rivia, White Wolf, his reputation precedes him." Geralt just groaned "I'm Igalid of the School of the Manticore, from where I was born. I don't know, don't remember anything before being trained to be a Witcher" After that, he just shut up and kept riding in silence, enjoying the chilling morning air on his face.

While riding down the road Vesemir and Geralt did some talking while he just stayed quiet. the nature around him would have been beautiful if not for all the people hanging from the trees around, it kinda gave the whole thing a very bitter taste. then the burned down and dilapidated houses came and it was just sad to look at.

He heard some noises to his left. sounded like drowners in the distance, but if he said something now he did not know if they would make it in time to save that merchant down the road, so they kept riding. after crossing a bridge they could hear some commotion in front and pressed the horses to go faster.

Arriving at the small stream that the road crossed a Griffin was feasting on a horse

"Help me!" screamed the man hiding under his cart.

He dismounted with Geralt and Vesemir. Geralt rushed in and slashed at the Griffin as it took off flying. only to come back targeting Vesemir. Igalid cast Quen and gave Vesemir a shove out of the way as the griffin was closing in, then he tried slashing at the Griffin's wing only to give it a small graze.

It screeched in pain, grabbed the horse, and took off flying. he could have tried to take it down with the crossbow on his back but they needed to talk with the Niflguardian in charge of the garrison first. he did not want to derail the Storyline this early.

"Thanks for the save, but I think I would have been alright," Said Vesemir as Geralt was talking with the merchant

"The Griffin targeted you ignoring me, I thought I had a better chance to strike it, besides, we have avoided unnecessary possible injuries," Igalid said while shrugging, he cleaned the little blood on his sword and joined Vesemir and Geralt in talking with the merchant

"...Besides my cousin is the innkeeper. Tell her Bram sent you, and she will treat you like family"

"Not a bad idea," Geralt said, not mentioning anything about a wound this time.

the conversation followed just like in the game and then they were on their way to the town. Some people called them freaks, others spit as they rode by them but most kept to themselves.

Tying the horses outside the Inn they were about to enter. There were two things that he was interested in while inside. one was the stash chest. the second one was Gaunter O'Dimm. He wanted to see what the Master of Mirrors had to say.

~~~

Entering the tavern was well, as expected. They received insults, the Tavern wench gave us each a roasted chicken as food, a good hunk of bread, and a drink, Igalid asked for a Shnappsie, he always wanted to try that drink.

While Geralt asked questions to the Tavern woman, knowing that Gaunter might just disappear after talking with Geralt he decided to talk with him first and check the Stash later.

Approaching Gaunter's table at the end of the tavern he looked at him, studying the being in front of him. it was never explained in the lore what Gaunter really was. if some kind of devil or some other entity, but he also knew that Gaunter would not do anything to him.

First Gaunter liked his games way too much, and second, he has not struck a deal with him.

"May I?" Igalid said as he pointed at the seat in front of Gaunter who just looked at him with curiosity.

"Go ahead. Witcher" Gaunter had a few mugs of drinks in front of him already empty, meaning he has been waiting for Geralt here for a bit.

Placing his food and drink on the table Igalid sat and looked at the Master of Mirrors, what started just as an assessing look at each other ended up turning into a staring contest between the two.

It was Gaunter who broke the silence first

"So what does bring 3 witchers into this small town, especially one of your School? I thought the last one of yours died Years ago"

"Cut the crap Mirror Master I know who you are. what is more important I know what you are" This Shocked Gaunter for a second only to turn into amusement, like a kid that has found a new toy.

"Well then we don't have to pretend then" Gaunter took a sip of his drink, so far he has not blinked once since Igalid sat at the table. unnatural. "What does bring someone like you," Gaunter said as he pointed at Igalid up and down with his mug "and I don't mean the 3rd Witcher of surprise, I mean YOU," he said putting an emphasis on the 'You' "Into a place like this, and by place I mean World"

Igalid could get some information from Gaunter already, not only he can tell that he was not supposed to be here in the first place, but he also knows that his mind or soul does not belong in the Witcher universe, it was time to cut off the rotting finger to save the hand.

"Geralt will approach you any second so let's make this quick, you like deals don't you?" Igalid asked rhetorically already knowing the answer "I will let you play your games, and you will leave me be undisturbed" This of course did not stop him from helping Geralt during the Hearths of Stone Expansion, it would just take away gunter's influence from him and stop him from scheming behind his back trying to trap him like happened with Geralt

"Deal" Gaunter, a Master of Deals already knew that he would get to play with Igalid when he trapped Geralt, but at least it would be another thing he would not need to watch out for in this mad world.

They shook hands and Igalid just moved to the side, right in time for Geralt to have finished his Gwent match and approach them.

"you don't mind right?" Igalid pointed at the cut wheel of cheese in front of him

"Ohh no my friend, help yourself, I'm already full," Gaunter said with a smile

"do you know each other?" Geralt asked him

"just met him, but introductions are in order." Igalid pointed the knife he was using to cut the cheese at the bold man and then at Geralt "Gunter O'Dimm, a merchant of mirrors, Geralt, a Witcher" He then continued to cut the wheel of cheese. and started eating.

The conversation between the two went a bit faster than he remembered in-game Gaunter doing his manipulative speech thing and Geralt learning that he had to go to the Garrison to ask about Yenn, then Gaunter vanished into thin air just like in the game.

"Geralt, sit please," Igalid said as he pointed at where Gaunter was sitting. so he did "you should eat, we have a long day ahead of us"

"Why is that?" Geralt asked wishing to go rush the garrison as soon as possible.

"Because I have dealt with the black ones before." Igalid was speaking with his mouth half filled with food. "the garrison commander is in charge of this lands. he has a Griffin problem, and now 3 witchers have dropped on his doorstep like a present sent by the gods. what do you think he will ask for?"

"For us to kill the Griffin," Vesemir said as he approached thei table with a tankard of ale and some food. seems like he saw them talking and got bored of drinking alone in that corner.

"Exactly," Igalid said while pointing a chicken bone towards Vesemir who sat next to him. He picked up the place with the wheel of cheese and placed it in the middle of the table for all to share. "And when you ask for any information about Yennefer of Vengerberg, he will not give it to you until the beast is slain." having overheard the conversation he had with Gaunter he did not need to pretend that he did not know her name anymore.

"We could just slay the Griffin and bring him the head" Geralt clueless as always about how politics and leverage work.

"Why would he tell you then? his problem is already solved, he would send you on some other quest, like clearing drowners in the river bank or killing bandit camps or hunting the remnants of the Temerian army that are probably hiding in the forest giving him a headache."

"I'm not a killer for hire, I hunt monsters, not people" Geralt rebuked but Igalid already was seeing how his point was coming through

"Point is, the Commander wants stability, and right now his biggest problem is the Griffin, he will give you the information for the beast slain, otherwise you have no leverage over him, it's just politics and war"

"I hate politics," Geralt said in a grumpy manner

"You should listen to him Geralt," Vesemir said "We should head to the Garrison, talk with him, strike that deal, with the three of us we can make quick work of the Griffin and be on our way soon enough" Vesemir continued eating after that

"Vesemir, you should stay here, Gather information, perhaps you might learn something from the locals coming and going, Geralt, you should go to the garrison, strike a decent deal and make sure we get paid, it's your sweetheart we are looking for but witchers don't work for free, and meanwhile I will explore White Orchard, maybe find an herbalist and get some Buckthorn in case we need to lure the beast out," Igalid said as he finished his Shnappsie, good refreshing lemony light liquor. he guessed it did not have more than 12%alc vol. more like a bottle of strong wine.

"She is not my sweetheart and since when it is "we" ?" Asked Geralt which made Igalid scoff.

"Do you know how old I am? being a witcher and not dying of old age gets dull with time. and this" Igalid said waving his hand around "smells of something interesting down the line, and my nose has never failed me, at least not since the Trial." Having his memories merge with Igalid who was 80+ years old already plus his 26 from earth made him more than 100 in total.

"fine, we do that, We meet here at nightfall. I will tell you what I have learned" Geralt left his food half finished, got up, and left.

"I will book us 3 beds somewhere. we would need to be rested for tomorrow." Said Vesemir

"I'll also check the notice board, in case of contracts, would sully our already bad image if 3 witchers appear in town and leave without clearing them," Igalid said and Vesemir nodded.

The first thing Igalid did was check his stash, Approaching the chest in the main room of the Inn he opened it, it was empty but the same as his inventory he could somehow know everything that was inside the chest, all the unique swords he collected along this last 2 playthroughs. Depositing all the junk from his inventory inside and retrieving the Ungvik set into his inventory he was ready in case he had to deal with big groups of humans since it was one of the best armors against steel weapons, also it looked cool AF, he also grabbed Olgeerd's robes in case he needed to dress fancy for something, he already knew that this world had different mechanics than the game, for example, he got thirsty and hungry, probably tired too.

After making sure his gear was in order he left the Inn.

It was early morning, the sun has risen not even 1 hour ago and it would be 3 more perhaps 4 until noon, and then another 4 until nightfall, he had time. lots of time to do what needed to be done, he could probably clear all the quests in this map by the end of the day, since he beat the game like 5 times he remembered most of them, even without a map or quest markers.

First was giving the drunkard that burned the smithy a good beating and a scare. yes, he was a drunk and ruined an honest business but he did not need to be hanged for that. a good beating and a scare would suffice.

Entering the Hutt of the drunk he found him standing there

"w-w-what are you doing here?" Igalid just threw a haymaker to his face making him land on his ass groaning in pain, then he started punching him, by the time he was done with him the man was more bruise than anything else.

"burning the smithy? do you have shit for brains?!" He hissed at the man to the face while holding him by the collar, the man was whimpering, he had lost a few teeth and was asking for mercy

"mercy? this is mercy. What kind of mercy do you think the black ones will have with you if they find out what you did? you drunken oaf, they will hang you for sabotaging a military keypoint" The witcher saw the fear in the man's eyes.

"Please! please! don't bring me to them, ill pay you!" he said through his broken mouth.

"me? you should be paying the smith, gather all your coin, we are going there, you will give it to him, kneel, kiss his feet and ask for forgiveness." Igalid knew that it would not be enough but he had ways to persuade *cough*bribe*cough* the smith from hanging this guy. he did not want to play goody two shoes, but a punishment according to crime was his motto.

"I will wait for you at the Smithy, if you are not there in 10 minutes I will personally inform the Black Ones of who set the smithy on fire, they will hunt you down and make an example out of you, I doubt you can run faster than a horse in the state you are now" Igalid ignored the whole 'I'll be there as soon as I can' and left the house. heading for the smithy

finding the dwarf was easy.

"Found your Arsonist, gave him a lesson, he will be here shortly, if you inform the black ones about him they hang him. but if the coin he brings is not enough we can strike a deal after he is gone, still, reporting him or not, the choice is yours" Igalid knew that the Dwarf had all the right to report him, and would not stop it if it came to that, but deep inside, he hoped that he saved that idiot's life and that the idiot is less of an idiot after this, even with 80 years of witcher memories, the cruelty of this world still clashed with his early morals. perhaps it will fade as time passes.

Nameless beaten idiot came limping in all bloodied, gave all his coin to the dwarf, and did everything Igalid told him to do while crying like a little kid.

The dwarf screamed angrily at him gave him a few kicks, and said that it would not cover all the repairs, and that the idiot will have to slave his ass off like a workhorse to earn the coin and pay him back as soon as possible or that he would report him to the black ones, and that he let him off the hook this time only because he was fond of his late mother.

The idiot limped away leaving the dwarf and Igalid alone.

Igalid reached behind his back and did like he withdrew something from a pouch while taking out a crafting material from the inventory.

"This is a meteorite silver ingot, should cover the rest, make sure he still pays you what he owes you for the inconvenience," Igalid said, he had like 60 of those, and his armor and weapons were all good, he doubted he would need anything else to beat the full story. as he learned this is a more realistic world than the game, and he always could loot more.

"tis too much, I can't take it," said the Dwarf to which Igalid scoffed. he drew both his swords and placed them on the anvil.

"Do you think I lack coin master Dwarf?" The Dwarf almost lunged and started to examine the blades with trembling hands as they would break at any time.

"I-I I have never seen craftsmanship like this. This… This is beyond what I could have imagined possible fer a mortal to forge" Grandmaster gear was no joke. After he gave the swords back Igalid just tossed him the ingot and was about to leave when the dwarf stopped him.

"why? why are ya doing this Master Witcher?" Igalid turned around.

"That kid, he is an idiot and a drunk, he screwed you badly by burning your shop, but that does not mean he is irredeemable. and the Nilfguardians would have hanged him for his crime, a beating, a good scare and him learning a lesson should be enough for his crime"

"And they say Witchers are heartless monsters!" laughed the Dwarf

"Don't make a mistake, I'm no ordinary Witcher" With that he left with a clean conscious. It's not like he needed the coin like if he was having a fresh run, he had 60k Crowns in his inventory and enough crafting materials to sell to make even more. basically a small fortune.

After cleaning up the noticeboard he headed to the closest quest and that is the contract.

After talking to the man and not even haggling for 5 extra gold as a reward He decided to head north towards the riverbank. the Wraith was a NoonWrath which means it would more likely appear at noon, he still had hours until he had to go there so he mounted his horse and rode towards the silly old woman that needs her pan back.

Breaking the door with Aard and returning the Pan to the woman He did not even bother with the spy's notes.

Now ride East to find the Herbalist, buy the buckthorn for the bait, flirt a bit, and maybe get some action if he is lucky, she was thicc and he would not say no to a few hours of fun.

~~~~

After killing a few wolves that were on the way toward Temira's hut He reached it, Dismounting and tying his horse to a pole he knocked on the door a few times.

"Looking for an Herbalist, and it seems I found one" Igalid said as he looked around the garden full of herbs surrounding the house. he was not going to full LootHobo and harvest her plants like in-game. she would probably curse him out for that. besides, it was not like pressing E two times, harvesting materials took time. another difference between this world and the game. "I'm a witcher, looking for Buckthorn, do you have it?"

"come in" Came the voice of a woman from the inside after he heard a latch being lifted to open the door. This again confirmed his suspicions that these were real people, not a game, nobody leaves his door unlocked in a wartorn area full of bandits.

Entering the small Hutt he found the thicckest girl in White Orchard. Temira the Herbalist. She was turned back bending over a table using a mortar and pestle to grind some herbs together, probably for some remedy. Those skintight pants do not help at all.

Well, they do say that Witchers are lustful creatures. Igalid blamed his mutations, insinuating anything else was slander.

"buckthorn, I might have some, Do you mind waiting for a bit, I want to finish this batch before it spoils." Her ass jiggled slightly each time she pounded down with the mortar.

"not at all, the view from here is quite enticing," Igalid said as he leaned on the wall. Temira turned her head rose an eyebrow and then shook her head. she muttered 'men' under her breath so quietly a normal person would not have heard, but with witcher senses he did.

After 10 minutes of pounding and adding different spirits and herbs, Temira scooped the concoction into a bigger bottle of spirit, corked it, and shook it up and down to make sure everything mixed well.

Igalid regretted not drinking his Enhanced Blizzard potion to enjoy her jiggling in slowmo.

then he remembered something. the best Waifu of this game. Ciri. He was not Geralt. And while he now was in the body of an 80 year old witcher, the mind that controlled it all only was 26, he still had the memories of Igalid, but they were just that, memories, he has not lived that life. Deep down he was still that 26 year old chump from Maine.

In other words, Ciri was free to be courted.

"Buckthorn… Buckthorn…" Temira said as she checked her shelves around until she found the herb. "Here it is. it would be 2 Silver Crowns"

Silvers? he only had Golden Crowns. Fuck, of course, people did not sell a loaf of bread for 5 gold coins, that was just game mechanics, this was a far more realistic setting. of the Witcher.

"Ummm. Well… you see… I only have Gold coins." Igalid said in a sheepish tone.

"for the rest of what the gold is worth I'll buy as many of your herbs as you see fair"

Temira looked at him, and placed a hand on her hip, bending slightly to the opposite side, changing the leg she was putting her weight on.

"you would buy all the herbs I have in stock and still it would not be enough to cover the gold coin, also you would leave me without anything to work with until I gathered more, and now, with the war, it's not safe to go around gathering" Temira was right, a Woman alone, in the middle of the wild gathering plants when at any moment there could be bandits sneaking up to… well, use your imagination.

What the fuck he could buy with 60k Gold Crowns? a freaking castle? Igalid was not surprised about the 10 gold contract for a NoonWraith now. Those were probably the savings of a few generations from the farmer that wanted to save his daughter, it also explained why the Dwarf said 'tis too much' when he gave him an ingot of Meteorite Silver. it would probably be enough for the dwarf to retire and live the rest of his life if he managed it well.

"Don't worry, just give me what you can spare and we are even." Igalid did not want to make this even more awkward but she did.

She crossed her arms which pushed her ample bosom up. "Are you perhaps trying to buy something else? you have been staring at my ass since you walked in."

Igalid decided to quote one of his favorite characters from GOT.

"I'm a Hunter, and it ain't Hunting if you pay for it, besides I have another gal on my mind at the moment" Temira looked at him seriously for a few seconds but could not keep a straight face and laughed.

"Honest and Handsome. I like it" She then proceeded to grab a rough linen sack and started filling it up with some herbs she had stashed on shelves and crates. "This is as much as I can spare. Take it or leave it"

Taking the sack from her hands and placing a golden coin on them Igalid just noded "Farewell Temira the Herbalist" He turned around and as he was exiting he heard her shout

"Farewell Witcher!"

Igalid attached the sack full of herbs to the saddle of his horse and galloped away. once he was out of sight he just stored all the herbs in his inventory and the linen sack, especially the Buckthorn, he did not want to draw the Griffin on him too soon.

With still time to kill he did not know what to do, so he just decided to go and finish the contract on the NoonWraith even though it was still early, he could try to meditate and get a feel on it.

Arriving at the gates of the abandoned village he saw the NoonWraith in the distance floating around the well, appearing and disappearing every now and then.

Getting down from Artus, or at least that is how the original Igalid called him he petted the horse on the nose, letting him roam free for a few minutes while he prepared for the fight. In the videogame version, the NoonWrath did not attack until you burned her remains with the bracelet at the bottom of the well but better be sure than sorry.

He used Specter Oil on his Silver Sword, He stored his Superior Dancing Star Grenade, and changed it to Superior MoonDust.

Igalid had a suspicion that he would need to manually brew potions and oils when they ran out, and he would need to craft the grenades again. this made his current build quite expensive to maintain, but not even a full squadron of The Wild Hunt would be able to kill him if he used his high toxicity threshold and a few decoctions, plus all of the other arsenal at his disposal. and this Geralt seemed to be Speedrunning the main storyline, so he was positive he would have enough crafting materials from HoboLooting 2 full playthroughs, not that he was going to stop looting now. he knew of a few treasures in White Orchard that he could loot after taking care of the NoonWraith.

Igalid left his horse to eat grass as he approached the well with caution, casting Quen just in case and being ready to throw Yerden at any moment.

"Thank God" He whispered since The NoonWraith behaved like in the game and ran away when he approached.

Pulling her hanged skeleton with the rope tied to the well he placed it carefully on the ground and did a little prayer to pay respects. now it was the time to dive into the well.

And like a moron he almost did so in full armor and with two swords on his back.

"Yea drowning on my first day. what a way to go it would be" He willed his inventory and tried to store his boots but it did not work, so he willed them to unequip and they disappeared, he willed them to equip and they appeared on him. Igalid almost knelt and thanked the skies for this blessing. his instincts told him it would not work in the middle of combat but to be able to do so out of combat was a blessing. "Emperor Provides," he said jokingly like a zealot from Warhammer.

He unequipped everything until he was on his trunks and dived head first. the water was cold and refreshing, a blessing on itself after being in that armor all day. After a leisure swim of a few minutes cooling down he dived and sharpened his witcher senses. It was totally different from the game. it was as if his focus increased tenfold and he could see every detail. Not long after he found the bracelet.

After climbing the ledge that lead to a corridor and a new pool of water, he submerged himself again, using his witcher senses to see ahead, holding his breath was not difficult and he could see a pocket of air up ahead, under it a chest, it did not have a lock or padlock so after opening it he looted everything inside and swam to the surface. mostly crafting components and a diagram that he already had, he would just give it to the smith in town since it was useless for him.

Swimming some more led him outside into a small lake near the abandoned village. After he was out of the water and on dry land he equipped all of his gear once again and headed to burn the body, it was not noon, but the wraith should appear.

Placing the bracelet on top of the body and summoning a bottle of hard liquor or 'potion base' from his inventory he coated it in the fuel and since he had a few minutes before burning the body with the bracelet he did some warm-up and some stretches.

so far Igalid has treated this as a game, but this was its own world, people had personalities, and there were consequences to his actions. if he got hurt here and died because he was not ready enough he would try to commit Sepukku even in hell.

Creating a spark with Igni the corpse lit up, he did not know how long it would take for the Wraith to show up, that is why he waited, not even a minute later the Wraith emerged from the Well. He immediately casted Quen and dodged the blurry figure that lunged at him.

If he did not have the Emotion Numbing mutations and was him from back on earth he probably would have pissed himself and puked at the same time. the thing was Horrific.

Once he knew he could cast again he prepared to throw a Yerden sign at any moment. the Wraith charged him and so he did.

Taking a few steps back the Wraith floated on top of the sign, materialized, and then all hell broke loose.

He went with his Spin to Win hitting the wraith, continuously staggering her with each hit until he pushed her out of the magic trap. with a blinding flash of light, the Wraith disappeared and took three forms.

Igalid sprinted towards the copies one by one, they all desintegrated with one strike until it was a single Wraith back again.

It floated around trying to attack him but he dodged and cast Yerden, this time he could only land two quick attacks before the wraith floated out of the trap.

This dance continued 4 more times before the Wraith screeched, disintegrated, and finally, the haunting spirit was put to rest.

Lotting the pile of dust gave him some alchemy components but strangely enough no trophy.

"Guess cant have the head of an uncorporeal beeing on a hook dangling from the side of the horse." He went for Artus and rode east. as far as he remembered there were a few treasure hunts in that area, also the drowners at the beginning of the game near the river bank, and he still had plenty of day before heading back to kill the Griffin.

For the rest of the day, he rode around White Orchard, near the bridges he found treasure, and he made quick work of the drowners, not even needing to use oil, only spamming Quen and Igni and slashing at them with his Silver Sword, he avoided the Bandit Camps for now.

Igalid has killed humans before but his current self has yet to do so, it would be inevitable at some point but he did not want to start as a Murder Hobo on his first day in this World. he could always ride here back later and take care of them.

Perhaps not the best solution since they were bandits and would do more harm than good but it is what it is.

He told the farmer that the Contract was completed and took only half of the reward since he had no proff, no trophy, the farmer agreed and paid him 5 gold, after that he arrived at the Inn in the evening, they had around 1 and half hours left of sunlight.

He found Geralt and Vesemir sitting at a table drinking some Ale.

"Got the Buckthorn, are you ready to kill some oversized Chicken?" Igalid asked the two witchers.

"thought you would never ask. Scouted a place already, let's head there and slay this beast" Vesemir said as he finished his ale, so did Geralt.

It was time to get some KFC.