Gatler felt like he was in a dream.

A dream full of pain.

Chaotic and disorderly memories rolled in his mind, as if he had sunk into the depths of the ocean, and above the drifting currents, only a faint light of chaos could be seen. Like a frozen person, the weightlessness of being at a loss was wrapped around his soul, and in the gradual suffocation of paralysis, he quickly fell into the darkest abyss.

He wanted to call for help, but he couldn't.

He tried to struggle, but couldn't move a finger.

He could only let the dark power wrap around him, the coldness as smooth as the skin of a viper, tightening around his neck little by little.

It's a nightmare.

A nightmare that most likely will not have an end.

His memory was stuck in the moment when he drank the potion given to him by the wizard with the raven mask, and he only remembered an unbearable pain in his body.

Maybe the experiment failed, maybe he's dead, maybe it's hell here.

A hell that belongs only to the traitors and the wicked.

Maybe this is the punishment he deserves, the things he did in the past, those sins, like a collapsing mountain, can't be avoided, can't escape, this is the judgment

"Hey."

The next moment, Gatler suddenly felt a pair of cold hands slap on his face, and the clear touch from the material world, like a beacon guiding the soul to return, suddenly lit up in front of him.

As if calling home, Gatler struggled to open his eyes in the direction from which the voice had come, and in a vague way, he saw Merlin standing in front of him, holding a glass of water, looking at him condescendingly.

"Are you alright, John?"

Merlin looked at the old cowboy in front of him, and he said:

"Was it a nightmare that you were yelling just now?"

"Water!"

Almost subconsciously, Gatler snatched the glass of water from Merlin's hand and drank the cool water in one gulp.

The icy liquid flowing through his parched throat like a heavy rain that moistened the parched ground made him let out a comfortable groan, and he felt like he had never felt like he was drinking water as a rare luxury.

"One more drink!"

He looked up and handed the cup to Merlin, who looked at him with his arms crossed and a playful expression:

"If you want to drink water, pour it yourself, Gatler, the kettle is right next to it. You are not a weak patient, so why should I take care of you? ”

"Me"

Gatler instinctively wanted to refute, but the next moment, he felt something abnormal in his body.

He reached out and felt his lower back, and in the direction of the kidney on the left, the metal life support device that had been embedded in the flesh was gone, replaced by a real piece of flesh.

There is warmth, there is a sense of touch, and when he presses gently, the nerves will transmit that unfamiliar feeling of pressure to his mind.

The fatal wounds left more than ten years ago have been restored.

"The experiment was successful?"

It was a few minutes before Gatler looked up, his eyes shining with undisguised ecstasy, and he looked at Merlin:

"Those wizards, brought me back to life?"

"You saved yourself."

Merlin took a mirror from the side of the bed and handed it to Gatler, saying:

"My wizard friend said that you are strong-willed, and your luck is good, and the mutation experiment has yielded incredibly good results on you. But I should have told you before that there were some after-effects of this experiment. ”

"Well, I remember."

Gatler took the mirror, and he put it in front of his eyes nonchalantly and looked at himself in the mirror.

His face was still reflected in the mirror, and the mutation test had reshaped his body, and it seemed that he had suddenly made him several years younger, and now he looked like a person who had just turned 30.

But there is a clear change on this face that cannot be ignored.

His eyes.

The original brownish-gray eyes turned into yellow pupils, and there was a thin pupil in the eyes, just like a cat's eyes. Gatler also found that as Merlin moved, his pupils were still dilating and shrinking under the change of light, just like a real cat.

"Uh, that's weird."

Gatler didn't care about his changes.

He is a man who has crawled out of hell once, and for him, the existence of life itself does not change its essence because of these small changes. A healthy life itself is the most important thing.

He sat up from the bed and moved his body, feeling the explosive force coming from his body. He clenched his fists like a gymnast warming up, moving every joint of his body, and the rattling sounds that came from his body seemed to indicate that he hadn't moved his muscles so freely in a long time.

"It's great."

With his hands on his waist and like a middle-aged man, Gatler leaned back, and after a moment, he looked out the window at the sunset and let out a sigh.

"It's like a dream."

He looked back at Merlin, and said very sincerely, without a hint of hypocrisy:

"Thank you, Merlin, really, from the heart, thank you."

He looked Merlin in the eye, and he said with extreme seriousness:

"I will repay you! I swear! ”

"Don't be in a hurry to thank me yet, the mutation test is indeed done, but there are still some follow-up things I need to tell you."

Merlin waved his hand, he stood up, and said to Gatler:

"Follow me."

Merlin led Gatler down the stairs to his lawn, and in the light of the setting sun, he took two training wooden swords from his pocket and threw one of them to Gatler.

The old cowboy took it in his hand, waved it decently, he carried the wooden sword, looked at Merlin, and said:

"What? Merlin Kid, is he finally going to challenge his seniors? ”

"Nope."

Merlin raised his wooden sword and made a sword dance gesture, and he said:

"I've got to get you to use this new body as soon as possible, Gatler, it's a serious matter, and you don't want to accidentally break Liv's wrist while you're making out with her, right?"

"You bastard!"

Gatler scolded, saying:

"You should call Liv sister."

"You just need to understand the meaning."

A smile tugged at the corner of Merlin's mouth, and he said:

"You may not understand the meaning of the transcendent body yet, but it doesn't matter, you will understand it soon. Ready to get started? ”

Gatler placed the wooden sword horizontally in front of his chest and assumed a defensive stance, saying:

"Come!"

"Huh"

Merlin's wrist flipped, and the wooden sword made a precise trajectory in the air, falling towards Gatler, which was blocked by the old cowboy with the wooden sword. But this is only the first blow, and for Sword Dance, which requires attack speed and skill, the first blow is blocked, which only means that the subsequent storm is coming.

Between Merlin's body turning, the wooden sword in his hand also cut an oblique arc, like the waves of a storm, and under the rapid change, the wooden sword in Gatler's hand also changed direction, trying to block the second blow again, but unfortunately, as an agent who is more familiar with firearms, Gatler's swordsmanship can only be said to be not bad, but it is slightly worse than true mastery.

"Smack"

Merlin's wooden sword struck Gatler in the shoulder, causing him to feel a tingling pain, then his arms, chest, waist, thighs, and neck.

In less than 2 seconds, Gatler was wasted several steps back in Merlin's sword dance, and he was able to avoid the storm set off by the sword dance.

"That's not going to work, Gatler."

Merlin stopped in place, the wooden sword in his hand once again in the sword dance pose, and he said:

"With your senses, don't act like a reckless beast and just think about fighting back, I mean, your eyes, your ears, your senses, you can hear the wind, you can see the trail of the blade falling, you can even smell the smell of the grass that erupts when it is trampled underneath your feet."

"The mutation test you have undergone is a continuation of an ancient tradition, and you must understand it in the shortest possible time and become familiar with it."

"We can replace this fighting sword with books."

Rubbing his wrist, which had hurt from the beating, Gatler said to Merlin:

"Or give me a gun, and we'll shoot."

"No, Gatler, you don't understand yet."

Merlin's expression became serious:

"You can already see 'them' without the help of any external forces, which means they can see you too, and I don't want to hear that you were attacked and hospitalized the day after I sent you back to Europe."

"They?"

Gatler heard a hint of admonition in Merlin's words, and his expression became a little more serious, and he asked:

"Who are they?"

"Devils who smuggle into the world, ghosts who search for prey, or high-level vampires who roam the world, dangerous creatures that are invisible to the naked eye"

Merlin Says:

"Not all aliens can be solved with guns, and not all aliens are so weak. Gatler, now you've stepped into their world, whether you like it or not. In that cruel world, you can only choose two identities, either prey or hunter"

"You mean, those eyes?"

Pointing to his cat's eyes, which had become very slender in the sun, Gatler said:

"Is that what you said, the trouble that comes with conversion?"

"Not only."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, and he whispered:

"In addition to being an agent, you have to learn to accept your new identity, you have to learn to become a witcher."

"Witcher?"

Gatler moved his shoulders, and a smile of interest appeared on his face:

"It sounds interesting, I have a hunch that this is going to be a great experience, so, are you my instructor? Lord Merlin. ”

"At this time, call me Mentor!"

Merlin stepped forward, attacking in almost the same way as before.

"Smack"

The first sword was blocked.

"Smack"

The second sword was blocked.

"Smack"

The third sword was blocked.

Gatler held the sword in one hand, his breathing became a little heavier, the pupils in his eyes became a little wider, his ears vibrated slightly, just as Merlin said, after consciously mobilizing the power in his body, his witcher senses were activated for the first time, and a world more vivid than ever before was revealed to Gatler's eyes at this moment.

More real, clearer, more nuanced, like stepping into another layer of real world.

Even Merlin's mysterious swordsmanship seemed to be slowing down.

It's like the whole world is in slow motion at this moment. Gatler even had the feeling that if he was prepared, he could easily dodge bullets, even reach out and grab them.

"It's not that hard."

The old cowboy whispered:

"Are you going to enter the second phase of training?"

"Nope."

Merlin answered, and the sword dance started again, and this time, the speed at which the wooden sword fell was more than 3 times faster than before.

Gatler, who had just found a little self-confidence, was hit 4 times by the wooden sword almost instantly, and between the unbalanced steps, the whole person fell to the ground in embarrassment.

"Sword training is now in earnest!"

—————————————————

Four hours later, in the evening, a shirtless Gatler sat on the lawn of Merlin's house, holding a tube of latex-like potion and wiping it on his blue and red skin.

Merlin, on the other hand, sat beside him, holding a bottle of wine in his hand, feeling the wind in the dark night, and looking at the stars in the sky.

"You bastard, you're ruthless."

The old cowboy complained:

"I don't even know, when did you learn such a powerful swordsmanship?"

"It wasn't long ago that I learned it from an old man."

Merlin pulled something out of his pocket and placed it in Gatler's eyes, it looked like a special kind of card with some strange patterns on it.

"What is this?"

Gatler asked curiously.

"GWENT."

Merlin, skilfully shuffling the cards, said to Gatler:

"To be a good witcher, combat skills, alchemy, and magic seals are all important, but a subtle hand is just as important. In the Witcher's circle, GWENT cards can convey a lot of information, and if you want to make friends quickly in this circle, then learning GWENT is a very good way. ”

"Uh, that sounds weird."

Gatler picked up a card, put it in front of his eyes and looked at it, he looked at Merlin who shuffled the card, he hesitated for a few seconds, and then whispered:

"Are you still tracking those dangerous guys?"

"Hmm."

Merlin nodded, and he placed a stack of cards in Gatler's eyes, and said:

"It's been going well lately, I took out one of their high-ranking people, it should be said that it was a faction, but those guys have a lot of factions, maybe I killed only the weakest one."

"You can't do it alone."

Gatler picked up his cards and looked at the cards a little awkwardly, and said:

"Fury is very qualified as a backup, he can always find the news you need from all over the place, but he is not good at fighting, and he is very popular, and his every move is watched by those who care. Merlin, you need some trustworthy help. ”

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Merlin looked up at Gatler, and he said:

"What do you mean?"

"Let me help you."

Gatler threw down a card and said:

"You trust me almost unconditionally and give me a life, and I have to do something for you."

"This"

Merlin hesitated and said:

"You have a wife, you have a family of your own, I can't just do it"

"Don't be stupid."

Gatler laughed and said:

"Liv has Meiwa blood, she will not be a woman at home, I spend less time with her, more time away, most of the time I am alone. And I can also help you gather some information in Europe, and most importantly, no one knows that I am on your side. ”

"Remember what you learned during your agent training?"

"At all times, there must be hole cards."

Gatler said to Merlin:

"I'm your hole card!"

"Okay then."

Merlin took a deep breath and said:

"Then come together and be a snake catcher!"

"Ding"

At this moment, a sound sounded in Merlin's ears, like the sound of a dice flipping to the ground, and he looked left and right, trying to find the source of the sound, which was captured by Gatler, and the old cowboy asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Merlin rubbed his forehead, and he said:

"Let's keep playing"