In the morning, in the northern suburbs of Sintra, two figures, one tall and one short, were walking on the path leading to the mountain forest.
One of them was wearing a black leather armor, carrying two swords, and had a slender figure, while the other had a horse-faced, thin body and kept his mouth moving.
"Two months ago, my brother Hadawa and I were collecting herbs in a cave and accidentally discovered the little griffin. It was just born, its feathers were still wet, and its claws and beak were soft. The body is less than the size of a fist, and it is screaming at us."
"At that time, we didn't recognize its identity. We thought it was the cub of a vulture and an eagle. We planned to take it home and raise it. When he grew up, he would perform in the market to earn money."
Galar sighed, a look of horror on his face,
"Who knew that as soon as we picked up the little griffin, something attacked! The monster was like a hunchbacked deformed man, with gray skin and a stench of corpse, running like a beast on all fours... Each paw has four fingers , the nail is a black hook..."
"I couldn't react at all. It came out of the shadows and hit Hadawa directly... It bit off half of his face in one bite, and pressed on the ground to pull and bite."
"I'm so scared... My mind is blank, just holding that little thing... " Ma face faltered, a look of shame on his face.
"Fleeing?" Roy asked.
"I left my screaming brother Hadawa and ran away..." Galar lowered his head, his face ashen, "I am a coward and a shameful deserter!"
Roy sighed and didn't blame him.
"Running is a normal human response."
The witcher knows how terrifying the image of a ghoul is, enough to stop a child from crying at night and stun the faint-hearted.
"Ordinary people face that thing, the first reaction is either to stay in place, or to run away, and less than one tenth of them dare to rush to fight it... In front of ghouls, let alone brothers, even if It's parents, wives and children, most people don't care. It's a survival instinct... "
"No, I did something wrong!" Galar was still full of self-blame, "If I didn't run, give that bastard a shot, maybe I could save Hadawa!"
"Whether it's running speed or strength, ghouls are far superior to ordinary people, and their sharp teeth and claws can easily cut through human skin and bite bones. If you don't escape, you will end up like that brother."
"But to die because of this is an honorable death."
Roy said, glanced ahead, they walked up a green hillside covered with alfalfa bushes,
"It's too late to regret now, tell me about your commission... Do you want to kill that ghoul to take revenge?"
"Yes, I want that beast to die!" Crohn gritted his teeth, and with a trace of remorse, "And then... I will gather the body for Hadawa... He is a warrior, a mercenary who has experienced many battles, but it is a pity that he later An arrow was hit in the knee, the legs and feet were broken, and I was not allowed to retire early... I traveled from Novigrad to Sintra and started a small business with me."
"I didn't expect to be sneak attacked by that dog! Die so miserable."
A retired mercenary who died in the wild, under the minions of monsters.
Roy couldn't help feeling emotional, this is also the home of most witchers.
"As a shameful deserter, I'm sorry for him, the only thing I can do is to give him a decent funeral... a sea burial in Sintra." Galar looked into the witcher's eyes and said sincerely, "If If you can help me achieve my wish, the little griffin will be given to you as a reward. If it is not enough, then I will add more... "
"The reward is enough, no extra money is needed." Roy didn't want to speak out against the lion with his conscience, the griffin in his childhood was invaluable to him, "but you have to be mentally prepared, if there is a lack of food, ghouls will not would waste Hadawa's bones,"
"Maybe your brother has been knocked out and sucked the marrow, and he has eaten so much that there is no slag left."
Galar stopped suddenly, his face was blue and then white, and after a long time he took a deep breath, "Even if I can find a bone... I want to bury him and confess to him."
"Understood." Out of serious consideration, the witcher's expression suddenly became serious, "Last question. Are you sure there is only one ghoul in the cave, and the parents of the little gryphon are not inside? I think I can handle a ghoul alone. Hell, but if there's anything else... we both have to finish."
"It's so impressive that I'll never forget the scene...I'm sure it was only a ghoul that attacked, silently emerging from the shadows of the cave and heading straight for my hapless brother..." Gala Er's face was very complicated, both fortunate and regretful, "If there is a second ghoul, or an adult griffin, I can't escape at all, let alone take the little guy!"
Roy nodded, the griffon cubs are very instinctive, and it is impossible to leave the children alone - they have probably had an accident.
"A ghoul is a decent challenge."
The witcher looked at the sky and calmed down.
At dusk or at night, the ability of ghouls will be strengthened, but at this time in the morning with clear skies, ghouls will be weakened, not to mention that he has a full recovery in reserve.
You can fight!
Half an hour later, the two of them appeared next to a certain glade, a hundred nights away, in a dark and deep cave.
…
The witcher and Galar looked at the entrance of the cave from a distance and observed it for a moment, the latter recalled the scene at that time, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes, and then shook his head in a cheer, "Master, what should we do next? What should I do?"
"Your only task is to stay outside and hide. You'd better climb up that poplar tree. Can you climb trees?"
After suffering from Old Huck's loss once, he is determined not to give laymen any chance to cause trouble.
Galar's face flushed, and he was about to say something, but was stopped by the witcher's hand.
"Be patient, I'll give you a chance to whip the corpse out of anger!"
Roy arched his toes and tiptoed to the front of the cave, turning on the witcher's senses - a row of colorful "ribbons" appeared in his field of vision, most of which were from wild animals he was familiar with, but there were a few scents Very unfamiliar, color, smell, all characteristics are highly consistent.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and now he can be sure that there is only one opponent, and he returned from hunting not long ago.
Check the alchemy materials in the space, take out the ghoul sword oil, and evenly smear the dark red blade of Arondite and the arrowheads of ten special crossbow bolts.
"Boo-gum-gum-"
After taking the swallow and thunder made by himself, a row of jet-black blood vessels appeared on the boy's face.
The five fingers are drawn on the chest, and the pale yellow light flows through the whole body.
He leaned against the wall of the cave and swam in ghostly.
In the dim cave, a pair of dark golden eyes looked around.
Under the gray shoot-shaped sharp cone on the top of the cave, there are messy piles of stones, cobwebs, moss, and cave mushrooms. Take advantage of all available conditions.
The witcher memorized the cave structures along the way, rehearsing the fight scene in his mind.
Two minutes later, when he turned a corner in the cave, he suddenly stopped and hid behind the raised rocks against the wall. In the open space not far away, the dim light reflected a wandering humanoid monster on all fours. .
Its skin is grayish-white like a corpse, and its body exudes a stench of carrion. Large bulging muscles can be seen on its limbs and back, and the connecting parts of its legs and feet are arched backwards, like the legs of a dog.
It has a black and thick mouth that reaches to the base of the ear, and its yellow rotten teeth are messed up like maggots wriggling in feces. The pupils are black without any impurities, as if possessed by a devil, which makes people shudder.
ghoul
Age: 1
Life: 130
Attributes:
Strength: 12
Agility: 10
Constitution: 13
Perception: 6
Will: 5
Charisma: 2
Spirit: 5
Skill:
Plague Claws LV3: The ghouls carry various toxins, bacteria and viruses all over their bodies, and the target injured by their claws will become feverish, weak, and the wounds fester.
Eat LV3: Ghouls can quickly heal minor injuries and restore health by devouring flesh.
Madness (passive curing): Ghouls will store a part of the flesh and blood energy they eat every day. When they are severely injured in battle and their health is less than one-fifth, they will activate this part of the energy, quickly recover their health, and increase their strength, sensitivity, and energy. , Body +1, become more brutal and not afraid of pain, lasts for one minute.
…
Roy held down the trembling pendant between his neck and breathed a sigh of relief. The attributes of the target did not crush him, especially in agility, which was not as good as him, which meant that there was room for maneuvering.
Besides, he has the upper hand now!
Quietly, the witcher's left hand outlined with five fingers, pressed the ground in front of him, and in an instant, a lavender Arden trap rose up.
Calling out the crossbow, crouching behind the rock, inhaling, aiming at the ugly head—
Guide the arrows!
"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-"
In one second, three crossbow arrows dragged their blue tails, like falling meteors in the night sky, hitting the target!
"Whoo-ah-"
A raspy roar resounded in the cave, and the ghoul shuddered, his dark eyes turned to the sneak attacker behind the rock, with three arrows on his bare forehead, and he ran like this!
Roy calmly continued to pull the trigger, three arrows again, the hand crossbow disappeared and switched to a silver sword.
A full six arrows, three guide arrows, and three ordinary arrows, when the ghoul jumped on the rock in front of him, half of his life was gone!
The wind blows!
The hook-like claws swung towards the arteries of the witcher's neck, and the stench of saliva between the rotten teeth almost dripped onto his face, but it was slow, and under the action of Arden's trap, its movements were covered with an invisible shackle.
The witcher rolled short to the ground, dodging the claws, rolling from front to back, abruptly getting up, spinning, swinging his sword—
The dark red blade swung through the air and slashed into the back of the ghoul's neck, instantly revealing the flesh and bones.
In the severe pain, it regained consciousness and turned around, and a pale green inverted triangular seal was reflected in its pupils, making it stunned in place.
Roy, who was under the rock, took a deep breath, and jumped with ten toes, like a big cat of prey, jumping up into the air, jumping over its side, and the plow-like blade in front of him went from top to bottom—a Slash, with all the strength and inertia of falling.
A crisp sound.
The blade slashed into the back of the neck, but was stuck in the middle of the hard bone.
The monster entrenched on the stone suddenly roared, a strange red light appeared all over its body, and its dry life rapidly soared - it jumped down and slashed its sharp claws to the attacker's chest.
The latter's toes lightly touched the ground, quickly retreated to avoid the pounce, and a cold light suddenly appeared in his eyes - shocking!
In an instant, countless waving blood-colored tentacles reflected in the dark pupils of the ghoul, as if they had emerged from the void, tightly entangling it, making it impossible to move an inch.
The wind blows.
The silver sword appeared in the witcher's palm, the muscles under the leather armor bulged, and for the third time, he slashed at the same position—a dark red blood light flashed through the dark cave.
The next moment, Dou Da's head was thrown flying, and he rolled to the feet of the witcher.
With blood splattered around its neck, the headless corpse fell heavily to the ground.
"Kill ghouls, experience +100... Demon Hunter LV5 (2850/2500)"
"Huh..." Roy shook his wrist, flung the blood off the silver blade, and his icy expression eased.
The entire battle lasted less than ten seconds, and his goal was clear from the beginning, attacking the Achilles' heel and never giving the ghouls time to recover. It turned out that his strategy was correct, and coupled with preemption, he won the battle.
But in retrospect, it was a bit unfinished, he was used to the days when he was madly abused by Oaks.
Roy laughed at himself, squatted down and skillfully dissected the ghoul, and then was pleasantly surprised to find an ordinary-level red mutation inducer, one step closer to the intermediate-level witcher, and the ten types of monsters that needed to be killed also changed. into 3/10.
After dealing with the ghouls, he swept the entire cave again, and accidentally found several clusters of herbs, such as mandala, big-leaf vine, and button grass.
In addition, the bones of various animals are piled around the cave: deer, roe deer, wild dogs, and even two hapless humans.
In addition, he also found two buffalo-like skeletons next to each other in the hinterland of the cave... Judging from the long beak on the head, hook-like claws and tail, it should be the little griffin 's parents.
As for the cause of death, one of them suffered multiple serious fractures. Perhaps it was a fall from a high altitude during flight due to special circumstances, and then died of serious injuries.
The other skull was shattered, and Roy used his witcher senses to find a feather-stained dry bloodstain on the wall next to the corpse, a very matching crack, which proved that it was a suicide.
Dark gold's pupils showed regret,
"Love that lasts to the death... Griffons are indeed the most loyal animals, but you just leave the children alone, okay?"
Suicide can certainly fulfill love, but their children are unlucky, if they didn't happen to be hit by the Galar brothers—
The ghoul was apparently drawn into the cave by the rotting flesh of the two griffins, and if Galar hadn't taken the young griffins, the latter would have suffered sooner or later.
…
"Hadava... bro... I'm sorry, I'm a big bastard, a coward!" Galar knelt before a human skeleton wrapped in blue cotton armor, and behind him lay a ghoul Baikong's headless corpse, "I don't ask for your forgiveness, but I swear that I will obey your wishes and give you a glorious sea burial!"
"Bang, bang, bang!" Galar slapped the corpse in front of him several times, his forehead red and tears streaming down his face.
He sobbed a few times, deep guilt appeared on his face, followed by relief,
"Master Roy, when I get back to the city, I will give you the reward immediately."
"Don't worry... In fact, you can continue to hold the rare animal exhibition in Sintra." Due to lack of will, Roy couldn't force the tame griffin, and it was extremely inconvenient to bring it with him, so he could only temporarily find a nanny.
"Are you serious, Master?" Galar couldn't understand what the other party meant.
"The money earned from the exhibition is yours, but you have to take care of the little guy's food, and you must not treat him badly!" Roy explained, "I will come to check often, and I will pick it up when I am fully prepared. How, Is there a problem?"
"Then, just do as you said!" Galar agreed immediately. After all, earning money by guarding a booth is much easier than other jobs. "Master, please rest assured, I will take good care of it!"
"Don't play tricks, or you will end up worse than a ghoul! And remember, reinforce the cage again, and don't let it run out and hurt people! Tomorrow, tomorrow I will go to the market to see it."
As for now, the witcher is going to sweep the herbs out of the cave.
…
When Galar returned to the city with his brother's remains in his arms, his expression was still a little stunned...
So much happened in a single day, entrusting the witcher to kill the ghoul, to recycle the remains of the brother, and the little griffin to be recovered, albeit temporarily.
But it's all like a dream.
It wasn't over yet, when he returned to the tent, the girl in the yellow dress who had questioned him suddenly appeared and smiled at him, her dark eyes flashing with curiosity.
"Your name is Galar, right, can you tell me what you did with the witcher this morning?"