"Is it a coincidence?"
"But the lip-speech soothing spell, the woman skilled in alchemy — she can only be either a sorceress or a druid."
"There aren't many sorceresses in the Northern Kingdoms to begin with, at most a few thousand. Besides, her partner's name happens to be Korin; from the voice he sounds like a warrior. And considering the current year, it's roughly the right span of years before Geralt's birth…"
"Wait…"
"The one treating you is Visenna, future mistress of the Mayena Druid Circle. You'll definitely be fine."
Before he lost consciousness, Korin's deep voice rang in Allen's head. Allen strained through the splitting headache and relaxed a little.
No doubt now — he didn't need to puzzle it out any longer: he had indeed been rescued by Geralt's biological parents.
The characters Visenna and Korin don't appear in the game.
In the original books, Visenna only appears once, in the short story that precedes the long tale of Ciri's flight: "Something More" — there Geralt, grievously wounded, is healed by Visenna, and thus briefly sees his mother. That was the poor Geralt's first sight of his mother, and very likely the last.
Korin appears only in another, rarer short story outside the main canon, "A Road with No Return" — a hard-to-find tale not published in the east, so when Allen looked up witcher lore before he crossed over, he only found a few scattered translated excerpts circulated by enthusiastic fans.
That story tells of a treacherous druid, Fregenal, who stole forbidden druidic arts and summoned a Koshchey — a giant engineered insectile monster created in a lab — to block the Klamath road. His band of brigands used that blockade to control trade to the Amell mines and perpetrate atrocities in the region.
Visenna, a sorceress/druid, learned of this and while on her way to put down the band met the warrior Korin. The two of them together slew the Koshchey.
That encounter made them fall in love…
"A Road with No Return" is one of the few Witcher tales where Geralt does not appear. It's a story about how Geralt's parents met and fell in love, so naturally Geralt hardly features.
"But…"
As Allen thought this through, something felt off.
"If I remember correctly, the place where Visenna and Korin met was near the Mayena Druid Circle — but the Mayena Druid Circle is not in Ban Ard, it isn't even in Kovir."
"The Mayena Druid Circle lies on the border between Temeria and Sodden, at least two thousand kilometers from Ban Ard…"
"How the hell did I get from Ban Ard to Temeria?!"
"Could Eredin Bréacc Glas's final sacrificial explosion have flung me that far, across the whole Northern Kingdoms?"
"Impossible — no matter who the Child of Miracle is, it can't be that he survives that and ends up teleported thousands of kilometers…"
"Was that a black dragon? Could a black dragon, without my control, have flown me to Temeria?"
"But if a black dragon truly gained independent thinking, wouldn't it have been better to bring me to Kaer Morhen instead — and besides…"
He clenched his temples and replayed the scene in his head.
Amid the blinding white flash when Eredin Bréacc Glas self-destructed, he'd instinctively used the black dragon to shield himself; then there had been the dazzle of white light, and then he'd gone out.
"Could a black dragon really block that kind of self-detonation?"
He did not believe dragon scales alone would be that indestructible; though he was now gravely wounded rather than dead, he owed that at least in part to the black dragon.
But if not the black dragon, how had he come to a place thousands of kilometers away?
Thoughts churned in his head, making the already-throbbing pain ripen into a clerical-level pounding, as if an axe were boring through his skull and stirring his soft brain.
He realized at once he could not keep thinking like this.
He tried to empty his mind.
That eased the swelling ache, but a heavy, irresistible sleepiness washed over him.
"I can't just sleep now!"
Good rest would speed recovery, but he didn't know when he'd wake next; he had to seize every clear moment.
Because suddenly he remembered a troubling detail —
Although "A Road with No Return" ends with Visenna grievously wounded (blasted on the head by Fregenal) and Visenna and Korin together slaying the Koshchey, the story doesn't say what ultimately happened to Korin. In the tale fragments Allen had found, Korin seemed to later be killed by Fregenal's brigands.
But whether Korin died at the hands of the brigands gathered by the treacherous druid Fregenal — that was no longer important. He couldn't travel back to investigate the truth in detail anyway.
He only knew one thing for certain — Korin would definitely die at some point because of some accident. Otherwise, Visenna wouldn't have abandoned Geralt, forcing him onto the path of a Witcher.
And from what Vesemir told Geralt about his own origins and about Visenna's identity…
Allen guessed that Visenna, after losing Korin, must have encountered some danger, then met Vesemir, been saved by him, and triggered the Law of Surprise.
Reality would surely differ somewhat from the original novels — that had already happened countless times since his transmigration.
But the general main line, without his interference, still developed according to its original course.
Since Visenna and Korin had already met, that meant this strand of destiny had not been altered by his presence.
Which meant…
Korin would still die as he did on the original worldline…
Amid the agony and exhaustion, Allen formed that judgment.
And even though the time might not yet have come, and Korin's destined death was still some distance away, the danger was not diminished at all.
Reality was not fiction — it had already proven itself countless times.
What if the Koshchey was not waiting inside a cave like in the story, but blocking the road directly?
What if treating him had shifted the timeline just enough for them to encounter Fregenal and his bandits?
What if the treacherous druid Fregenal had restored not only a Koshchey, but also a Scurver, a Frightener — those killing tools created in experiments by Malaspina, Alzur, and Idarran, using forbidden methods on small animals…
These possibilities were not impossible.
In the original, magic in the Witcher world had already faded; monsters no longer even had elemental affinity, and even a witcher master could be killed with a pitchfork.
But in reality — even before Allen transmigrated — a seasoned witcher's Igni could melt steel, Aard could flatten people like posters, and the Ban Ard Academy could maintain a magic barrier covering the entire school…
When had such grand scenes ever appeared in the novels?
In the final battle, Vilgefortz and Geralt's group were merely exchanging fireballs and lightning.
"I must do something!" he thought.
Not only for Visenna and Korin's life-saving grace, but also for his own survival.
In his current state he had no combat power at all, and could only rely on Visenna and Korin's protection.
If danger arose strong enough to kill Korin even while Visenna was present, he would almost certainly die too.
As for Geralt's fate — whether his appearance would change it, preventing the boy from becoming a witcher…
He could not worry about that now.
Besides, a life with both parents, a peaceful, ordinary life — that might be exactly what the White Wolf Geralt, and most witchers, longed for but never had.
'But what can I do now? Right now I'm so weak I can't even speak — even a few seconds of thought takes all my strength…'
Fighting the grogginess and suffocating sleepiness, he couldn't help sinking into despair.
He forced his mind to turn and opened the Witcher Journal, hoping to find a solution.
Ding! Ding! Ding…
A flood of information poured in. The system notifications, normally insignificant, now thundered like ear-splitting lightning, like a great bell roaring right beside his ear.
The witcher had to exert everything he had to prevent his mind from shattering into idiocy under the impact of that torrent.
His soul, already flickering like a candle in the wind, was even more damaged than his immobile, barely-breathing body — damaged so badly that even the most basic reward settlement of the Witcher Journal was too much for him to withstand.
'I didn't expect the first calamity after waking up wouldn't be the destined attack of bandits or the Koshchey's slaughter, but the Witcher Journal itself…'
He forced himself to gather his thoughts and closed the journal.
At that moment—
The silence caused by his presumed "misfortune" was broken by Korin's deep voice.
"Nana, do you feel… something different…?"
"Different? What kind of different?" Visenna asked.
"It's just… just…" Korin seemed to be struggling to find the words. Allen could almost imagine his face turning red from the effort. "It's like I… like I've gotten stronger…"
"What nonsense are you talking? The child is right here," Visenna scolded lightly.
'Still cares about my presence', Allen thought bitterly, half amused, 'Don't let my appearance erase Geralt from existence…'
"I didn't mean it that way. It's just that these past few days my body has often felt a burning sensation, and my strength also seems to be increasing, but when I swing my longsword it feels like nothing has changed…" Korin explained in a fluster, "Forget it, maybe it's just an illusion…"
Visenna did not let the suspicious point go. She asked a few more questions, and the wolf medallion on the witcher's chest hummed from sensing magic. She must have also cast a spell to check.
"There's nothing special. It should be your body repairing the torn muscle fibers. Did you forget that big battle a few days ago?"
"Koshchey…" Korin fell silent for a few seconds, took a deep breath. "I'll never forget that name for the rest of my life, or that body flat like a plate, rust-colored, rough, covered with spines, the jagged pincers, or the eyes rotating on the stalk. At that time, I thought you were already dead, and I was about to die too…"
"But we survived."
"Yes, we survived…"
There was no joy or relief in Korin's tone. His low voice carried only remembrance and regret.
'His companions were killed', the witcher thought.
'But the Koshchey… has the Koshchey already been dealt with…?'
Allen guessed, his mood heavy.
From how familiar and natural Visenna and Korin sounded with each other, he could tell they definitely hadn't just met recently.
But the Koshchey was the final boss at the end of "The Endless Path." Its death meant that everything the witcher knew about the plot was completely outdated.
Moreover…
If Korin died at the hands of the brigands gathered by the treacherous druid Fregenal…
How much time do they have left?
Thinking of that possibility, the witcher immediately began struggling with all his might.
He wanted to make some sound or some movement, but his weak body felt like an empty shell separated from his soul, not moving at all. Instead, burning pain surged from his throat, chest, arms, and calves, like nerves being scorched alive.
The world disappeared, turning into shattered fragments.
Visenna and Korin's conversation faded quickly, disappearing behind a thick fog as darkness descended.
This pain was even worse than swallowing a decoction of green mutagen. It erupted suddenly and devoured all consciousness.
Pain made time feel infinite, every moment stretching into eternity. It made him wish he could just die.
'To hell with the Koshchey! To hell with the brigands! To hell with Ban Ard! To hell with Aretuza, Aen Elle, and the White Frost!
If I die now, nothing will matter anymore. Let me sleep. Let me fall into eternal slumber! Let me die! Let me die! Let me die!'
He roared with all his might. He felt his blood vessels swell, rupture, spraying blood with every scream…
He had no idea how long it lasted, nor when it finally stopped as he collapsed from exhaustion…
He only remembered distant, hazy voices, as if coming from far away — Vera, then the little priestess, then maybe Mary, and then Vesemir, Sol, and Aristo joining one after another.
"He's waking up…" Vera called, followed by the little priestess shouting incomprehensible terms, "Convulsions… spasm… shock…"
"What… do I do?!!" Vesemir, Sol, and Aristo asked urgently.
"…saying something…" Mary strained to listen.
"Danger? Don't worry, you're already safe." Magic was at work, red hair fluttering — Vela was comforting him gently.
'Not me! It's you… you…It's you who are… in danger!'
He gathered the very last bit of strength, opened his eyes wide, and screamed.
Then—
The void of dreams once again swallowed the witcher covered in wounds.
.....
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