Clinging to the Witcher world to become a god of martial arts

"Let's go, to the next place."

Lorne stood in front of the cabin, silently withdrew his gaze, and turned to leave.

Time is tight and the task is heavy. After inspecting several places that the original owner was extremely familiar with, it's time to return to the conscription.

Currently, the outer areas of the manor have been less affected by the battle, with no particularly serious magical pollution or devastating damage.

It was most likely a battle between low-level wizards. What made Lorne most uneasy were the spatial rifts he had just seen outside, which were most likely located directly above the manor castle.

His intuition told him he couldn't go near there.

The livestock farm used to be a terraced field with multiple levels, and most of the crops planted there died. However, a few plants mutated due to pollution from various energies, and their stems swelled up.

Fortunately, there were no residual magical properties...

Lorne couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, as he still vividly remembered the [Dryness] property of Hyman's magic.

The combat power of a wizard with magical abilities is incomparable to that of one without.

The essence of magic is the embodiment of a wizard's spiritual power, a means of rewriting reality, and the gap between an apprentice and a formal wizard is enormous.

Lorne did not know the specific method for apprentices to advance to wizards, only that they needed to convert their mental energy into magic.

But how to transform it, and how to achieve that transformation, are significant questions.

Thankfully, it hasn't reached level three yet. We can worry about the future later...

Passing through the farmland below, you reach the end of the path, where another farmers' settlement awaits.

At the entrance, wooden stakes were used to form a tall gate frame.

Unfortunately, all the houses inside had been destroyed; not a single one remained intact.

Lorne entered with a bewildered expression, traversing a small open space that felt both familiar and strange, before walking through layers of broken walls, moving back and forth.

We passed a well, a small square... and finally stopped in front of a small courtyard enclosed by a fence.

The house's cross-section was uneven, and rubble was scattered all over the ground, as if a violent explosion had occurred.

"Where is this?" Penny glanced at Lorne timidly, sensing that something was very wrong!

I made my way through the ruins with a sense of direction, walking so fast that I almost lost my way.

Most importantly, they stopped precisely in front of this courtyard, as if they had come here specifically for some purpose.

It's like going back to my own home...

"It's nothing," Lorne replied, seemingly ignoring the question, his bewildered gaze sweeping over the stove visible through the broken stone wall inside the house.

The image of a middle-aged woman unconsciously appeared before my eyes. She was busy in front of the stove, using dough made of water and flour as raw material to bake steamed buns with slightly charred edges.

A middle-aged man carrying a hoe and a basket gently pushed open the seemingly intact wooden door with his calloused hands.

Calls came from inside, and the children in the yard clapped their hands and skipped towards the gate, covered in mud...

The faint sound of reproach came from inside the house, while the man laughed heartily with a doting tone.

The intact low house gradually merged with the dilapidated ruins before our eyes.

The ending was unsatisfactory and incredibly ironic, but at least they had a perfect childhood...

In an instant, a feeling of relief erupted in his heart like a torrent, overwhelming Lorne.

Soon, sadness spread.

Penny kept swallowing, completely unable to approach the brown-haired boy standing in front of the yard.

This guy doesn't seem like a simple person... I should have known better than to come along.

That was the only thought that remained in her mind.

...

Whether you are dead or alive, from this day forward, I, Lorne, will have no further blood ties with you in this world...

After standing in the courtyard for about half an hour, Lorne returned to normal once the mixed emotions subsided.

For him, only the feelings of admiration truly came from him; the rest were mostly his original emotions, stemming from instincts etched into his genes.

It was time to leave... Lorne forgot that there was a stranger with him, so he informed Penny, "Let's go, to the next place."

"Oh...okay." Penny snapped out of her daze, and when she looked at Lorne again, her eyes were filled with fear.

"Have you been to Wall Manor before?"

"No," Lorne replied calmly.

He still didn't intend to tell Penny that he had once been a resident of Wall Manor, even though it was a small matter, since he was currently on a mission at Wall Manor.

If Gunnar found out, he'd probably become the guide at the very front of the main force.

Lorne had some doubts about this recruitment.

Gunnar was talking about clearing the battlefield and recovering useful items, but then he added that all that was needed was to explore the complete situation of the Wall Manor.

In a war, wizards would have scattered hundreds, if not thousands, of magical artifacts, yet they didn't provide any tools for their recovery. Instead, they simply had their apprentices notify them of any unusual occurrences.

Gunnar's words and actions... seemed to be in search of something.

Instead of what is stated in the recruitment notice.

Is there something he doesn't want his apprentices to know? Lorne figured it was highly likely.

Leaving the farmers' settlement, the road becomes gentler, and soon you arrive at a large open space. On the ground next to the path is a square platform that occupies a large area.

It all started here.

He was transported here to a time of catastrophe, and was almost burned alive after being tied to a bronze pillar.

The scene of the sacrifice replayed in my mind, and doubts gradually emerged.

That is to say, what exactly is the purpose of the old man in black robes?

Following the orders of the Forest of Fireflies, how do you deal with the harbinger of disaster that will bring calamity to the world in the future?

That doesn't make sense.

If that were the case, how could they let a few mortals slip through their fingers?

It seems like they have ulterior motives.

The only thing Lorne could connect to it was that bronze pillar covered in runes.

If we could decipher the runes, we might be able to deduce the black-robed elder's purpose. Unfortunately, the situation was urgent at the time, and even if I tried to recall carefully, I could only remember the appearance of a few runes.

Lorne actually had a theory: the bronze pillar was very likely an unfinished magical artifact, and the reason the black-robed elder sacrificed several people was to forge the artifact.

However, there are many inconsistencies in this conjecture.

If sacrificing a life is required to complete the artifact, then why specifically choose a young man from the Vole Manor who is about to come of age?

Given the domineering power that wizards wield over the mortal realm, it would be a simple matter for them to slaughter some lives without leaving a trace.

Why not just grab some able-bodied men, tie them to bronze pillars, and sacrifice them?

Why make such a big fuss about going to Wall Manor, specifically to kidnap a few underage kids and publicly put them on the execution platform for sacrifice?

There must be an information gap involved, which makes it impossible for Lorne, who hasn't fully explored this world, to explain this matter from any angle.