The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 365 The White Frost is Approaching
"Ms. Tessaia?"

Lynn got out of bed and dressed again.

He lit the candles inside the room before walking over and opening the door.

Did I disturb you?

Tissaya stood outside the door, holding a mountain-shaped candlestick in her hand.

“It’s alright, I’m not asleep yet,” Lynn said, stepping aside. “Please come in.”

Then Tissaya came in, placed the mountain-shaped candlestick on the table, and then sat down in the chair.

Lynn closed the door and went to get the magic-patterned leather bag that was on the bedside table.

"What would you like to drink? Tea? Coffee? Or wine?"

The spatial artifact Triss gave him was very useful; he had prepared some things in the magic-patterned leather bag that he might need in any situation.

Looking at the familiar magic-patterned leather bag, Tisaya finally understood why that little girl Triss had been so persistent in pestering her.

So this is where we've arrived.

"No, I still prefer to sleep through the night and don't want to get up at night."

Tissaya pointed to the seat in front of her and said, "Sit down, Lynn. Actually, I mainly came to discuss something with you."

“So formal, Ms. Tessia?” Lynn sat down opposite Tessia. “Please speak, madam.”

“Well, Lynn, actually, I’ve been thinking about something before you went back to Kaer Morhen Castle.”

"What is it?"

“If you don’t mind, I would like to arrange for students from the academy to come to the castle. They can serve as resident sorcerers at Kael’Morhan and help take care of the children who are destined to become witchers in the future.”

Lynn thought about it.

Then he shrugged.

“I really can’t think of a reason to refuse, Dean.”

“It’s the former dean,” Tissaya reminded him with a smile. “As for the issue of confidentiality, you don’t need to worry about that. I will carefully select good students who are willing to devote their time and energy to research, rather than being obsessed with power.”

Lynn said, "I will prove with gold that you made the right choice."

Although there are only a few apprentices in the castle now, Lynn plans to start increasing the number of apprentices after the New Year next year.

In the coming years, at least a hundred apprentices will be guaranteed to train at Kaer Mohen Castle.

Injuries during training are secondary; if a sorcerer regularly uses magic to monitor the children's physical condition and adjusts the training plan and nutritional supplements accordingly, it will surely be of great help to the children in surviving the Grass Trial in the future.

If we were to ask warlocks of Tissaya and Yennefer's caliber to do this kind of work, not to mention whether they would be willing, even if they were, it would be a huge waste of their talents.

Now, Tisaya has offered to send students from Aretusa Academy over, which he is naturally eager to accept.

This former dean is meticulous and reliable; I'm sure the person she chose will be suitable.

Lynn was very grateful for Tisaya's initiative and thoughtfulness.

But at the same time, a perplexing thought also arose in his mind:

Why would Tessaia take the initiative to help herself?
Now, Tissaya's actions have clearly gone beyond the verbal agreement they initially agreed upon.

Although his career is booming, he hasn't given anything back yet, but Tisaya has already given him too much.

He was naturally flattered by such high regard.

But I also want to know the reason.

“Ms. Tessia, I appreciate your generosity, but if I may, I would like to know your reasons for doing so.”

Tisaya gave a graceful and confident smile.

"of course can."

Immediately, her smile faded, and she solemnly uttered a prophecy.

"Know that the time for swords and axes is near, an era of icy wolves and snowstorms. The time for white frost and white light is approaching, an age of madness and contempt."

"Tedd Deireddh, the age of ending. The world will die in the frost and be reborn under the new sun."

"That is also the time when the seeds sown by Hen Ichaer—the blood of the ancients—are reborn."

"This will not sprout, but it will ignite a raging fire."

"Ess'tuath esse! This is inevitable!"

"At that time, the leaves will have fallen, the buds will have withered, the fruits will have rotted, the grains will have become bitter, and the clear water in the valleys will have turned into solid ice."

"The white frost is coming, followed by a white light, and the world will be swallowed up by the raging wind and snow."

"Those who are far away will die of the plague, those who are close to the ground will perish by the sword; those who flee and hide will succumb to hunger, and those who survive will perish in the frost and snow..."

“You should all cry out in despair, for the destruction of nations is imminent.”

“Your land will be trampled and divided up.”

“Your cities will be burned, and your inhabitants will flee.”

"Bats, owls, and crows will roam your homes, and snakes and insects will make them their nests..."

Lynn's expression also turned serious.

Because what Tissaia just recited was the prophecy of Islinne, known to everyone in the world.

Islini, whose full name is Islini Egri Ap Evnien.

She is the daughter of the legendary elven healer, astrologer, and prophet Avenion, and is herself a legendary elven prophet.

Its prophecies accurately foretold the decline of the Elves (Ain Sid) and Nilfgaard's military expansion northwards, gradually annexing the southern kingdoms from 1239 onwards.

Therefore, many people firmly believe in the latter part of the prophecy, which foretells the destruction of the world by white frost.

However, few people truly understand the real meaning of phrases such as "the era of the cold wolf and snow," "the time of white frost and white light," and "the world will die in the frost and be reborn under the new sun."

Of course, there are also many people who scoff at Islini's prophecy.

They believed that the so-called white frost, including the wild hunt in folk tales, was just a way to scare disobedient children.

But Lynn knew that these things were real.

Even in The Witcher 3, if "you," acting from Geralt's perspective, make all the right choices, a hundred years later—in the 14th century—countries like Cordwin and Talgo in the northern part of the continent will experience a prolonged period of cooling, causing once-thriving crops to cease to exist.

As for the Wild Hunt, they are certainly not just a rural legend told by peasants. Their true identity is that of Ain Sid's lost kin, whose name is Ain El.

Ion Sid and Ion El were once of the same race, called Ion Woodod.

They possess the ability to travel between worlds, and can even open world portals (mega-portals) that allow the entire race to travel to other worlds.

Ian Woodward attributes this power to his divinely ordained bloodline.

But then, Bai Shuang arrived.

The white frost first slowly froze their original home world, and then the worlds they had traversed.

It was as if the Star God was punishing them for abusing their bloodline talents.

After that, Ian Woodward kept trying to escape White Frost.

Until, throughout their long history, the Gates of the Realms opened two paths:
One road leads to a lush, green world, while the other leads to the mountainous archipelago that would later be known to humankind as Skellige.

The group could not agree on a single point of view: which way to go, which side was safer, and which side would be furthest from the white frost.

So they went their separate ways.

And so, Ian Woodward was split in two.

The tribe that went to the mountainous islands was called the Ain Sid, while the tribe that went to the lush greenery was called the Ain El.

Ion Sid ruled the world for almost twenty centuries until the arrival of humankind, who overthrew Ion Sid's rule and brought them under their own.

Unlike Ion Sid, Ion El completely conquered that lush green world, slaughtering most of the natives and turning the rest into their slaves.

However, Ian El's good days didn't last long.

Because Bai Shuang didn't go in the direction her brothers were going, but instead caught up with them.

What troubled and despaired Aion El even more was that, for unknown reasons, they had lost the ability to create the Gates of the Realms.

Even if the unicorn race, which can still travel between worlds, is forcibly used and enslaved, it will no longer be able to open the gate between worlds to migrate the entire race.

In order to escape the White Frost, Ion El spent a long time "cultivating" a female elf sage named Laura Dorren who possessed "Ancient Blood"—as mentioned earlier, they believed that the power of the Gate of Worlds came from divinely bestowed bloodlines. The so-called Ancient Blood can be literally understood as the ancient bloodline before losing the ability to travel between worlds.

Originally, Laura Dorren was supposed to be betrothed to another elven sage, Avalak, but instead, she fell in love with Craigen, the human sorcerer Lord.

Because the couple was seen as traitors by both races, their fates were extremely tragic.

However, their bloodline was able to continue.

Oberon Mushtazi, the Alder King of Aion El, frequently dispatched Red Riders to the Witcher world in order to reclaim the Ancient Blood and search for Laura Dorren's descendants.

The Wild Hunt is essentially the truth that those country folk who survived the iron hooves and swords of the Red Cavalry tried to reveal in their madness and delirium.

……

The former dean looked at the Witcher and said seriously.

"Lynn, I see boundless potential and hope in you. Perhaps we can join hands to make this world a better place."

Tissaia's previous purpose in helping Lynn was simply to provide the students of Aretusa Academy with multiple places to take refuge in the event of war.

But now she has witnessed firsthand that Lynn has united with the Druid Ring and Brocleon, two factions that have never interacted with outsiders.

Suddenly, Lynn's importance and status in her heart rose even higher.

Perhaps, besides providing shelter for her students, there is much more they can do together, and even more they can do.

Tissaya knew this a long time ago.

This world is a world riddled with holes.

This is evident from the fact that dwarves, elves, and humans arrived in this world one after another.

Unfortunately, the foolish northern kings failed to realize this.

Even the most enlightened kings were not interested in the "vague" prophecies of Islinne, nor did they believe that the Wild Hunt actually existed.

Rather than believing in these things, they are more concerned with the struggles between ordinary people, such as how to seize more land under the sun.

Tissaya repeatedly and tirelessly reminded them of the importance of the White Frost and the Wild Hunt. Because of her status, the kings could not deal with her like they would with a hysterical minister (although in the kings' eyes, this sorceress was almost as hysterical as they thought), but over time, the kings also found ways to avoid her.

After learning about the kings' attitude towards her, Tisaya stopped appearing in front of them and getting in their way.

Unfortunately, her colleagues did not agree with her ideas.

Francesca, the only elven sorceress, had always hoped that the Brotherhood of Sorcerers could persuade the kings of the North to allow her to establish a neutral elven autonomous domain in the Valley of Flowers.

The eldest, Henry Gedimidis, also agreed with this.

Logevan's Wigford is the youngest member of the core leadership.

Although this young man (from Tissaia's perspective) always maintained a polite demeanor and rarely revealed any obvious political intentions, Tissaia could see the endless darkness and immense ambition churning in his eyes.

As for Alto Terranova...

Tissaya preferred to believe that the king and nobles would give away piles of silver to the poor rather than that Alto would suddenly have a vision.

The Warlock Brotherhood of today is no longer the purely organized group it once was.

Even the core members at the top level have their own ulterior motives.

This left Tissaya feeling utterly powerless.

Therefore, when she saw enough value in Lynn, she decided to increase her investment.

“Ms. Tessia, I am very grateful for your trust in me, and I assure you that I will not let you down.”

Lynn paused for a moment, then continued, "However... madam, since we want to deepen our cooperation, would it be alright to begin now?"

Tissaya raised an eyebrow.

She hadn't expected Lynn to make the request so soon.

However, she didn't dislike it.

"Hmm, what came to mind?"

"I want to buy a few amulets with camouflage effects, and an equal number of pouches with extension spells applied. Ideally, the pouches should have permanent extension spells, but if that's not possible, anything with a longer duration will do. Of course, the internal space doesn't need to be as large as mine; much smaller ones are fine too."

"Sure, when do you need it?"

"Anytime until the end of this winter is fine."

(End of this chapter)