Capítulo 6: 6. A New Bet.
"Yes, leave them to me."
Hearing Allen's confident reply, Letho and Vesemir exchanged puzzled looks.
"What do you want with the drowners?" Vesemir asked, confused.
Allen replied, "I want to try facing three at once, dealing with multiple drowners at the same time."
"Oh, it seems someone doesn't want his injured companions to feel lonely and is looking for an opportunity to join them," Letho raised an eyebrow, smiling at Allen. "Are you sure about this, witcher apprentice? There's no 17,325 Orens silver sword bet this time."
"Letho!" Vesemir glared at Letho and earnestly advised Allen, "With your current skills, you are not ready to handle three drowners at once."
After a brief pause, Vesemir continued, "Even if you have the Witcher's Eye."
"But fighting multiple enemies is not the same as killing a drowner with a steel sword. It requires more refined swordsmanship and footwork."
"Haven't you heard the saying? 'If monsters were easy, they'd come in packs.'"
Sensing Vesemir's sincerity, Allen felt a headache coming on.
[Limited-time mission: All of You, Come at Me! (Kill drowners 0/3)]
[Mission reward: Unknown]
The missions from the Hunter's Memoirs always popped up unexpectedly. The main quest "The Beginning of the Witcher's Path" did, and so did this limited-time mission. Just as Vesemir said, "Clear them out directly," the mission appeared before Allen. In a few minutes, the drowners would be dealt with, making it hard to come up with an excuse in time.
"Don't worry, Master Vesemir, I'm confident," Allen could only say.
Vesemir looked skeptically at Allen's dried blood-stained face.
Confident?
Wasn't it you who just collapsed from exhaustion, landing awkwardly on the drowner's corpse?
"Allen, if you fail, I can guarantee safety with one drowner, but not with three," Vesemir continued to persuade.
"Vesemir, let him try," the chief walked over from the wall.
"But…"
"Don't worry, the Witcher's Eye isn't that simple," the chief patted Vesemir's shoulder. "And I'm here too."
Vesemir fell silent.
He didn't know what the Witcher's Eye could do and didn't want to reveal this uncertainty before the chief. So, after a moment's thought, Vesemir finally agreed.
With a signal for Allen to be careful, he and Letho moved the cages.
Allen breathed a sigh of relief. He had just switched to the silver sword when he noticed the chief approaching. The chief glanced at the sword in Allen's hand and said, "If you win with a silver sword, I'll reward you with custom leather armor."
After a pause, the chief took out an amulet from his waist.
"But if you win with a steel sword, this Veera's Illusion Pendant will be yours."
The magical accessory lay quietly in the witcher's palm, emitting an alluring magical glow. Even without knowing its function, Allen could tell its value from Vesemir and Letho's envious expressions. However, seeing the chief's gentle smile, Allen felt more suspicious than delighted.
Vesemir opposition to this was understandable. Allen's defiance was sudden. Vesemir didn't believe Allen could win. Going along with it made sense. But why was this chief of the School of the Wolf doing this?
Though there wasn't much reliable information in his memory, being called the chief, this seemingly young witcher must be at the peak of the School of the Wolf. In the game, the witchers of the School of the Wolf were upright. Was Kaer Morhen full of Geralt-like good guys now?
Allen wasn't that naive. The number of children dead at the ancient sea fortress could bury Kaer Morhen.
Why was such a high-ranking figure favoring an apprentice so much?
Was it because of the Witcher's Eye?
Suspicious!
Very suspicious!
Wait!
Even the Witcher's Eye was suggested by this chief. Not only was it not recorded in the game, but other witchers also didn't know about that experiment. For a moment, Allen felt as if he were in an ice cave, cold sweat instantly forming on his forehead.
"What's wrong?" the chief asked, concerned.
"Uh... nothing," Allen forced himself to reply calmly.
"So, what's your choice?"
"Chief, are you sure I'll win?" Allen probed.
"I believe the Witcher's Eye won't lose," the chief raised an eyebrow. "Besides, even if you lose, what do I have to lose?"
Hearing his tone, did the Witcher's Eye truly exist? Allen pondered. Could this witcher genuinely be acting in the school's interest, nurturing the younger generation?
It seemed plausible. Without concrete evidence, Allen could only keep his suspicions to himself for now.
"Can I carry both swords and try?" Allen asked.
The chief nodded. Before entering the training ground, Allen handed the heavy and long Elsa to Hughes. This silver sword was too long and heavy for him to use now.
Once everything was ready, Allen walked to the center of the training ground. Gripping the steel sword, he took a deep breath and nodded to Vesemir. Receiving the signal, Vesemir and Letho simultaneously opened the cages, dodged the drowners' attacks, and pushed their right hands forward.
Aard Sign.
Their movements were as synchronized as skilled workers on an assembly line in Allen's past life. To be fair, drowners were indeed one of the simplest types of monsters. Although they had brains, they were useless. From a distance, they'd pounce, close up, they'd claw, and even closer, they'd bite.
Simple attack patterns.
After fighting a few times, one could control the distance and play the drowners around. Of course, this was only in the case of a single drowner. No matter what kind of monster, having more would be challenging.
Distance, terrain, stamina, frequency, and attack methods would all change with the increase in monster numbers. Especially in a place like the apprentice training ground, a narrow area of less than a hundred square meters with four beings fighting.
It was very difficult to maneuver. The witchers outside the training ground also consciously stayed away from the fence. This left Allen without the "unexpected" opportunity to shift the drowners' attention.
Sidestepping the leading drowner's pounce, Allen tried using [Hunter]. But as soon as his mental power touched the magical field around the drowners, the second drowner's claws were already close.
Holding the sword horizontally in front of his chest, blocking the muddy claws, Allen quickly adjusted his balance, stepping back with his right foot to counteract the force on the sword, then smoothly retracting the sword. A drowner always using full force naturally got flung by its own power.
When his focus returned to the first drowner, the progress bar for [Hunter] had already disappeared.
"[Hunter] indeed has significant limitations," Allen thought.
While thinking, Allen's body didn't stop. Quickly spinning his body, he slashed the steel sword prepared at his waist, hitting the last drowner's neck. Although the steel sword only chipped a bit, the drowner was still knocked to the ground.
Instantly, all three drowners fell. Seeing this clean and neat scene, Letho outside the training ground changed his expression from casual to serious, finally becoming puzzled.His gaze fixed on Allen.
After all the drowners fell, he asked Vesemir with surprise and uncertainty, "Vi... Vesemir! Is this apprentice's swordsmanship improving?"
...
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