Roy looked at the creators, who'd just reached an agreement.

'Kasillas Burns/Alzur

Age: 14 years old.'

***

'Cosimo Malaspina

Age: 180 years old

Status: Grandmaster alchemist, sorcerer.'

***

The legendary creators were right in front of him. He could touch them. Their hair, their breathing, their slight odor, their billowing hair, and even the chaos energy coming from them all felt so real. It was as if this were the real world. Is this really an illusion?

The robed sorcerer in the pavilion turned around, staring at the uninvited guest. "And who might you be?"

The young Alzur was shocked. He did not realize that someone was standing with him.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to interrupt." Roy bowed a little and looked at Alzur. "I only wished to say hello. We have met before, in the garden of the House of Burns." Roy brought up the case of Alzur's torment back in the garden.

Cosimo looked at his new student curiously. Alzur opened his mouth, his hands rubbing the rough stone pillar. The young Alzur stared at Roy for more than a few moments, and he shook his head. "You must've gotten the wrong person, Roy. I do not remember seeing you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Cosimo. I’ve had a perfect memory since I was a child. I remember anyone I've ever seen, even if I have only taken a glance before, but I have no recollection of this man." He muttered, "But he had one thing right. I do like reading Virtue's Guide."

Why doesn't he remember me? These scenes in the mist are too real to be illusions. I thought I had gone back in time. First I talked to Alzur when he was a child, then I talked to him when he was a teen, but why doesn't he remember me? There's no butterfly effect at all. Roy was perplexed, but he had a feeling the answer to that question would reveal the core of this misty world. "I apologize. I might have gotten the wrong person, then," Roy said, thinking that this was a shame.

"Why don't you have a seat and talk to us? There aren't a lot of people who can control chaos energy in this world. Destiny must've brought us together." Cosimo invited Roy, smiling.

Roy nodded and took a seat on the stone bench across from the witcher creators.

"Pardon me, but do you come from the land east of the Blue Mountains?" Cosimo's eyes roved over Roy's attire, body, and the veil of chaos energy around the witcher. "I have seen a lot in my life, but I do not remember anyone in the North or South who has your attire. Custom-made magical leather armor and twin swords, silver beast medallion, and you have a lot of potions equipped. Your eyes are silver and beastlike."

Roy thought this was bizarre. The creator of witchers asked who he was, but then he thought it was right. At this point in history, witchers hadn't been created just yet. He had an interesting idea. "I live in the North, but I've wandered the lands like a tramp for a long time. It is a big world, Cosimo. It's natural you've never seen me."

"Were you born with those eyes? A controller of chaos energy since birth?"

"Just like me?" Alzur thought better of this intruding stranger all of a sudden.

"On the contrary, I gained this after I went through some modifications. Mutations, so to speak." Roy grinned. He said honestly, "I changed from a regular human into someone with a slight talent for magic. I armed myself with these weapons and learned a few spells, then I started traveling these lands, dealing with the monsters that would attack humans. Drowners, ghouls, higher vampires, and the such. You know how chaotic the world is. Dangers lurk around the corner. Great evil that threatens the little men are always around."

"You were modified? Went through mutations?" Cosimo caught something important, and interest flared in his eyes. "That's a bit like the project my colleagues in Rissberg are doing."

"You kill monsters and carry out justice?" Alzur was getting red with excitement. He felt like he just found a partner who shared his ideals. "That's the valor of a knight."

***

"Cosimo, you mentioned your colleagues are doing a project in Rissberg?" Roy asked curiously, stopping Alzur's and Cosimo's trains of thought.

"Very well, since you've given me honesty, then I shall respond in kind." Cosimo stroked his beard. "A group of sorcerers, with the funding of the Northern Realms' brotherhood, has started conducting experiments on regular humans. Modification and mutation experiments in a bid to give regular humans some talent in magic to deal with the monsters roaming our lands. If possible, they can even be powerful fighters. Alas, we've made no progress at all. The subjects… it does not end well."

"They died?" Alzur interrupted.

"Yes. All of them." Cosimo looked at Roy. "The fact that you claimed to be a product of body modification and mutation is nothing less than a miracle. If it's possible, why don't we make a deal? Tell me the secrets to your success."

Roy smiled. He mused over this option for a while and told Cosimo about the thing Letho told him. The truth of the creation of witchers.

"Time takes its toll. The older the clay, the harder it gets. You cannot modify adults. That will only destroy them. Only young lives have options."

Options? Cosimo was shaken. He rested his chin in his hands and fell into a trance, entertaining his thoughts.

Roy looked at Alzur. "So, are you still getting beaten up? Still poking your nose into everyone's business to gain their acknowledgement?"

"How do you know that? Have we met? Did I forget about you?" Alzur frowned. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Answer me."

Mist came rolling into the pavilion, obscuring the old sorcerer who was deep in his thoughts.

"I will spend my life upholding the valor of a knight…" Alzur's voice was starting to get cut off.

"Have you gotten anyone's acknowledgement?"

"Lylianna." Alzur's voice was a little sheepish. "She's the first to acknowledge me. She saved my life and still supports my actions. She has a dream even bigger and more noble than mine."

And then the mist covered everything. Roy remained seated in this world of mist, sighing. No matter if the illusion was true or false, one thing was for sure: this was related to Alzur. Roy had another goal. He would witness history itself in this world of mist, and he would find out how Alzur's life changed. He would witness how Alzur gained the shard.

The mist soared higher, and then another scene showed up.

***

A handsome man with short, curly hair was seated beside a clear stream. Beside him was a beautiful woman in makeup, and there was a herb basket beside her. They were soaking their feet in the stream. The girl stirred up some ripples with her feet. Her hair was shining under the sun, and she had a sweet smile on her lips. The man hung his head low, a gloomy look painting his face.

"It's not every day we see each other, Alzur. Cheer up." The girl patted Alzur's cheek with her wet hand. "I like your smile. Tell me, what bothers you?"

"Lylianna, Cosimo just told me that sorcerers can live extremely long lives because of the energy that modifies us."

Lylianna tilted her head and leaned on Alzur's shoulder. Cheekily, she blew into his ear. "How long?"

"A few times longer than a regular person's lifespan. Perhaps ten times longer." Alzur blanched. With a shivering hand, he held Lylianna's shoulder tightly, as if he wanted to meld her into his flesh. Lylianna suffocated a little. "I worry. Do you understand that?"

Lylianna pursed her lips and leaned in his embrace. She stared up at him. "It's my fault. I'm not smart or talented enough to learn magic with you, but they say it doesn't matter how long you live. As long as you have dreams, your life is never wasted."

"It's not enough." Alzur held her shoulder. A look of dilemma crawled onto his face. He was in a rut because of love. He muttered, "I can't imagine life without you."

"You're thinking too far ahead. I'm still alive, aren't I? As long as I'm here, I'll never forget about you. I'll always pray for you. Don't worry about it. Come on, smile. Tell me something happy. How is your magical education going?"

"Cosimo claims I'm a genius that only appears once in a century." Alzur quickly waved his left fingers around as if he were playing the piano. A big vortex formed in the gurgling stream, then water splattered everywhere.

A ball of clear water the size of a punching bag emerged from the vortex and swirled before them. As Alzur moved his fingers, the ball quickly changed form. From dog to goat to cow to snake. It was like he was performing magic tricks. "Chaos energy is incredibly powerful, Lylianna. I have only been learning this art for ten years. I can destroy the scumbags who abused me with a single finger. I never realized that upholding justice and punishing the wicked could be so simple."

The lad's face was gleaming. There was a kind of confidence he never had shining through his eyes, but the persistence and passion he had even when he was beaten up by the common thugs years ago were slowly dying like embers.

"That's a good thing." Lylianna joked, "You'll never be beaten blue and black and waiting for me to save you from a ditch again."

"No, Lylianna. I'll always need you." Alzur quickly stared into Lylianna's eyes. He held her hand and put it on his chest. "To me, you're like my soul's home, just like how the stories go. Without your companionship and encouragement, I'd have given up long ago and lived a decadent life like my cousins."

Lylianna smiled again, and she rested her head on Alzur's chest. "Tell me more about the brotherhood."

"No one looks down on me anymore, nor do they insult me for how I came to be. They respect me. To be precise, they respect my talent and effort. I no longer have to work myself to the bone just to gain anyone's acknowledgement. Yet the more I know about the arcane, the more insignificant I feel. There's too much evil and injustice in this world. I can never solve them all by myself. The top brass knows what I wish to do. They have been adamantly inviting me and Cosimo to congregate in Rissberg to assist them in a project of human modification to deal with the monster problem."

"Huh?" Lylianna tugged on Alzur's sleeve nervously. "And you agreed?"

"No. I still remember what you told me. If the price to pay for the happiness of someone is the torture and sacrifice of another group of people, then that action is fundamentally wrong. I do not wish to torment the innocent test subjects, and Cosimo respects that. He too thinks that the result of this experiment might be stolen and used in wars."

Lylianna heaved a sigh of relief and gave Alzur a smile of gratitude.

"How is work going for you? Smoothly, I hope?" Alzur affectionately patted the girl's head.

"The Eternal War is still ongoing. Every day, the temple's hospital receives countless injured soldiers. And the monsters keep piling up. Nekker and ghoul attacks are getting more frequent." Lylianna's eyes glistened with tears. Worried, she said, "The hospital is at full capacity every single day. We ran out of beds, so some of the injured had to sleep on the ground. It's cold, hard, and ventilation is bad. I can hear howls coming from everywhere in the hospital. Every day, there are patients who step past the line of no return, and they are thrown into the morgue."

"I'm just a regular healer. I cannot change anything." Agitated, a hint of guilt appeared in Lylianna's eyes. She grabbed Alzur's hand and said, "Do you remember our dream?"

"Of course. I have made it into my creed. We shall create a safer world and rid our brethren of the monsters hiding in the dark."

"Good. Always remember, Alzur, that you are my hope."

"I have something for you." Alzur took out an emblem the size of a fingernail from the pocket inside his shirt. A lifelike lily blossomed on the emblem, and chaos energy swirled on its silver surface. "Wear it and never take it off. It shall protect you."

"Okay."

Not far from the stream was a bush. A witcher hid within it, and then the scene before him blurred. The roiling mist took him somewhere else once more.

***

The sky was overcast again, a silver curtain of rain covering the land beneath. A cemetery stood on the outskirts covered in weeds. Within the rain stood Alzur. He had matured, and a short beard grew from his chin. Sadness swirled around him. Cosimo, still looking wise as ever, stood with him before a headstone. A dying lily sat on the ground, drenched by the rain.

"How did this happen?"

"She went to the outskirts to forage for herbs, and she saved a man from a ghoul. The man survived, but she… did not," Alzur said vacantly.

"Where's her protective charm?"

Alzur paused for a moment. He went down and gently touched the headstone. The sorcerer opened up his other hand, revealing a chipped lily emblem within. "The fool gave her emblem to the man and saved him from the ghoul, but it's laughable. The man has never visited her grave once."

"I do not understand." Alzur smiled at the headstone, but tears spilled from his eyes. Inexplicable agony, grief, and fury boiled his blood and seeped into his bones. "She said it's wrong to grant someone happiness by tormenting another soul, so why did she hurt herself and me just to save an ungrateful stranger?"

Alzur roared at the headstone, "Was it worth it?" His face was red and burning with rage. All the love he had was gone. Burned to cinders. He hung his head low, his rage morphing into guilt and dejection. "Why? Why wasn't I there with her? Why didn't I think that she would run into any danger? I'm an incompetent fool!"

Alzur punched the ground. His skin cracked, and blood trickled down his knuckles.

"We can't bring back the dead, Alzur. My condolences. That's what it means to be a sorcerer. You'll face the death of loved ones more than once."

"But she wasn't even thirty! She should've lived!" Alzur roared in dismay.

"I understand what you're feeling, but do not channel your hatred to the wrong target. Neither that man nor you are the culprit." Cosimo patted Alzur's shoulder. He gently said, "The monsters are, however. If that ghoul hadn’t been there, this would not have happened."

A world without ghouls? Alzur clenched his teeth. He took a deep breath and wiped his face dry. It was drenched in rain and tears. He looked at the lily emblem in his hand and saw Lylianna's innocent, beautiful face appearing from within. Her childish yet determined dream rang in his mind.

Alzur, I wish to create a safer world and rid our brethren from the monsters hiding in the dark. "It's impossible. I can't do it fighting alone." Alzur sobbed. He roared, "It was a little distraction. I was just learning a bit more magic, and… and you're already gone."

"What are you talking about, lad?"

"I wish to travel to Rissberg, Cosimo. I want to join the experiment. She has proved that sacrifices must be made sometimes."

"Have you made up your mind? The experiment has shown no progress thus far, and can you get over your morality?"

"I will continue her unfinished work, but obviously, wandering this world alone and killing monsters with all my might will not rid this world of its monster infestation. Not even if you tag along. I need assistance."

Alzur clenched the emblem. The edges cut through his flesh, and blood trickled down his palm. "If there is none, then I shall create some."

***

A medium-sized castle appeared on a cliff behind the roiling mist. The castles were painted in bright colors. Four towers and some exquisite turrets adorned it.

***

***