Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 815 797. Knowledge of the basement

Vesemir turned around and started walking towards Kaer Morhen's basement.

The old witcher led the young witcher down.

Lan En noticed that there was a clear dividing line on this dim staircase. The building materials above and below the dividing line showed completely different degrees of oxidation and weathering.

"When used as a military fortress, Kaer Morhen's innermost reaches were limited to this."

Vesemir saw Lan En's desire to explore. Although the old man didn't even turn his head, he could hear Lan En's pause and doubts just by the sound of his footsteps.

"And the lower part has been excavated during the period of the Demon Hunter Order. That's why there is a difference in the degree of oxidation. Because during that period as a military fortress, even with the years of Kaer Morhen's existence, Look, it’s quite old too.”

As you continue going down, the stairs leading to the basement become darker and colder.

Lan En even regretted wearing only a silk shirt.

Fortunately, his [Second Heart] and gene seeds sensed the changes in body temperature and adjusted their physiological activities in time. The chill only bothered Lan En for a short while and disappeared without a trace.

The spiral stone staircase has no handguards or railings at all. If you slip and fall down, it is estimated that it is impossible for a normal person to lose several bones continuously.

As the key approached, a keyhole suddenly appeared on the seemingly empty stone brick wall.

As the key was inserted, the outline of the door frame suddenly emerged from the originally tight stone brick wall.

"You don't always carry this key?"

A brazier or hanging torch.

And in the end, as Vesemir gradually lit up the basement, which was as wide as the hall of Kaer Morhen Castle, the young witcher finally understood why the old witcher was so secretive about everything here.

Vesemir just glared at the cub.

"Adapt to what?"

"I said, 'dark'."

"Why didn't I see you holding a torch when I went down the stairs just now?"

It's a magic door, and there's a magic key to go with it.

Vesemir pushed the door open heavily.

Lan En suddenly spoke up.

Along the way, he lit the lighting facilities along the way with his torch.

Vesemir pursed his lips and replied: "I would rather have Alzheimer's disease and forget the existence of this key, child. To be honest. If I hadn't agreed to you."

Lan En complained angrily.

"This is my habit. Every time before I come in here, I am used to walking in the dark for a while to let myself get used to it first."

Then he took off the torch stuck on the wall and led the way.

"I didn't know Kaer Morhen was so short of fuel. Although this castle is located in the Blue Mountains with endless wood."

And when he reached the bottom of the stairs, Vesemir took down a torch from the wall and lit it with the [Igni Seal] with a 'pop' sound.

But considering that the people who come here are either senior level warlocks or demon hunters who have completed the mutation, this seemingly dangerous staircase is probably not stained with blood.

Vesemir pulled out a necklace-like key from his collar. The key was mixed with his Wolf School emblem, and the old witcher had to struggle to separate them before he could take it off.

Among the various utensils here that have long been dusty, rotten, and oxidized, there are things that look like mummies in rusty iron cages.

Because the thing was so shriveled, Lan En couldn't tell what species it was.

Some of these iron cages are stacked together, and some are placed in the middle as if they are being studied intensively. Others were hung directly from the ceiling with iron chains, until time eroded everything, and the steel chains were corroded by oxygen and water, breaking apart, smashing the cages and the mummies inside to the floor.

Many bookcases and desks with messy desktops are placed in the basement. Some desks even have uncovered ink bottles and unreplaced quills.

Of course, the only reason these decayed and fragile things remain the same now is because no one has touched them.

Lan En glanced at Vesemir who was walking in front. The old demon hunter's expression was just as he had guessed.

Resistance, heaviness.

He really didn't want to come down if it wasn't necessary, not even until the day he died.

"The people in these cages are not monsters, but people, children. Those mummies are all people."

Vesemir's voice was slightly dull.

"The mutation experiment of demon hunters from the prime of their thirties to the young of ten years old was originally intended to cultivate monster hunters who are efficient and more cost-effective than sending out the army. And in the process of establishing the formula and locking the age range of the recipients, the wizards Human life is expendable.”

"At the beginning, they experimented on strong men with combat experience, hoping that as soon as the potion was injected into the blood vessels, a powerful demon hunter who could tear griffons apart would emerge immediately."

"This ridiculous idea cost the wizards more than a hundred lives from the time it was proposed to the time it was abandoned."

"And there are endless similar ideas. Every mistake will kill someone, and many people will die to eliminate wrong answers."

"But even so, it cannot be denied that this group of wizards originally conducted research for the lofty ideal of 'a life where humans are no longer threatened by monsters.'"

"But it is precisely because of this, the lofty ideals that make this all the more sad."

Vesemir sighed in the cold basement like a tomb, and the heat turned into white mist and emitted from his mouth.

"Let a group of wizards with ideals continue to hurt and torture others in the process. Isn't this also a kind of torture to their own minds?"

"As a result, many wizards went crazy without persisting to the end. Some committed suicide, some went mad and were purged, and some conducted experiments on themselves."

"To be honest, I once thought that this basement must have been under powerful magic to prevent a bunch of resentful spirits from being born."

Vesemir shook his head and lit the last burning brazier in the basement.

"It was also the moment when the mutation formula and process were finally determined, the last thread that the remaining warlocks were holding on to was broken."

"Arzu and Malaspina disappeared one after another with their students and friends, and the demon hunters have since lost stable magical assistance."

"Those warlocks who encouraged the mob to attack together in the past would not have been able to survive half an hour in the hands of any of the warlocks conducting research in this basement."

"But on that day, I only saved my life by lying under the corpses of my brothers and teachers."

"That's it, kid. I put the equipment for the Trial of Green Grass here. Unless someone else really has to become a witcher, I will never open this place again."

Vesemir inserted the torch in his hand into the iron hoop on the wall, turned around and said to Lan En.

"The research records of the warlocks, the notes of Arzu and Malaspina, and the most original version of the alchemy knowledge system of the witchers. Everything is open to you."

The old demon hunter frowned, pursed his lips to suppress his inner discomfort, and pointed to the bookshelf beside Lan En.

"This is the reward for us 'old wolves'."

"And I am here to assure you of the same, Vesemir."

Without any hesitation, Lan En stepped forward decisively, stared into Vesemir's eyes, and said.

"I will never be the person you fear."

(End of this chapter)