Roy made his way to the remaining crime scenes, though he found nothing. The killer was swift and made sure it left no traces behind. And it was torturing its victims before it went for the kill. Glowing mushrooms—that were only supposed to exist in dark caves—littered the scenes, and that narrowed the scope of Roy’s search down.

The young witcher sat down on a big, jutting boulder on the river shores and laid his map out. With his charcoal pencil, he marked all the twenty-five villages and crime scenes. And yet he didn’t see any possible places of hiding for the higher vampire nearby. His gaze was drawn to the northern area, where mountains were aplenty.

“The villagers have searched the nearby area. I need to go further and see if there are any caves around.”

He did a double-check of his gear and items. Most of the items were provided by Kalkstein, like vampire oil and top-quality black blood. Kalkstein also gave him three dimeritium bombs and three clay bombs, which were his newest invention. The bombs had an effect that could restrict the area of effect to a narrow radius. One of these contained enough punch to knock out a basilisk.

And Roy was also decked out with twenty splitting crossbow bolts made of dimeritium. These bolts had vampire oil in them. He also had a pair of sunglasses that could see through any invisibility skill, a ring that could release a powerful magical shield when activated, and a grey cape that could lessen the sounds he made while he was on the move.

With Heliotrop and Quen added into the fray, this combination could cover the sound of his footsteps and his body odor. Not even a higher vampire could notice him.

The last item he had was the most important of them all—a coffin covered in dozens of sealing magic circles. If Roy could capture the vampire, then he would put it into this coffin.

All of these items cost Kalkstein everything he had. He claimed he sold all his perfect creations just for this operation. And according to the contract, even if Roy were to fail, he could keep these items, provided that he did his very best in the mission.

Aerondight and Gwyhyr’s runes were all lit up. Roy could go in with his strongest attack anytime he wanted.

With slight confidence in his heart, he tucked all his items away into his inventory space and made his way to northern Vizima rural. Gryphon stayed behind to keep an eye on the knights, reporting their every move to Roy. If anything were to happen, Roy would summon Gryphon back or teleport back to it.

***

Roy leapt down to the ground. He charged full speed ahead like a stallion, grass flying into the air with every step he took. He was moving five times faster than regular humans. From afar, he looked like a phantom who would blink in and out of existence.

Through the plains he ran. Through the ravines he sprinted. Through the woods, the bushes, and the fallen trees he charged. Two hours later, he found himself in front of a dark cave standing within the clearing of a forest, the sun hanging over him.

The witcher tiptoed to the cave and turned his witcher senses on. The air was filled with colorful ribbons that gurgled and meandered like streams of water congregating within the cave. He sniffed the air. Most of the ribbons smelled like the blood of wild beasts, but Roy also caught the faint stench of rotten meat.

“Nope, not a higher vampire. Probably a necrophage.” Roy heaved a sigh of relief and looked into the cave again. “But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you live.”

The witcher didn’t use any oils or decoctions this time. He was planning to do some warm up for the eventual battle with the higher vampire. First, he cast Quen and Heliotrop over himself, then he slithered into the cave, sticking to the walls like a lizard.

Roy looked around. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, pointing at the spacious chamber. Piles of stones, cobwebs, moss, and mushrooms littered the place. Skeletal remains of little critters slept in the corners of the cave, and alongside them were mangled, rotten corpses.

Roy turned a corner one minute later and stopped in his tracks. He hid behind the jutting boulder and stared into the chamber. Dim lights shone on three humanoid monsters circling a pile of bones on all fours. One of them looked bigger than the others. It looked like hyenas surrounding a tiger.

The smaller monsters had skin as grey as corpses, and the stench of rotten meat surrounded them. Their limbs and back were covered with gigantic muscles, and their legs were pointed backward like dogs.

Their maws were black, sturdy, and extended to their ears. Within the maws were teeth as yellow as maggots. Their eyes were as black as the void, as if there was nothing but a demon within that shell of a body.

The biggest of the three monsters had black, hardened skin, and obsidian spikes jutted from its back. It walked slowly, its tongue lolled out like a dog, and growls that resembled the sound of metal grating against metal escaped its maw.

‘Alghoul

Age: Five years old

HP: 220

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 16

Constitution: 22

Perception: 8

Will: 6

Charisma: 2

Spirit: 5

Skills:

Plagued Claw Level 7: Ghouls are carriers of various toxins, bacteria, and viruses. Any wound caused by their claws and teeth will cause the victim to lose their strength and contract a fever. The wounds will also rot as well.

Devour Level 8: Alghouls can heal regular wounds and some damage by consuming some flesh.

Madness (Passive): Alghouls will store some of the energy they gain from regular flesh consumption within themselves. Once their HP is lower than twenty percent, they can tap into this reserve energy and quickly heal themselves. +4 to STR, DEX, and CON when this happens. They will ignore pain and entire a frenzy mode. Lasts one minute.

Leader (Passive): Alghouls are leaders of ghouls. They can gather a troop of ghouls if they so wish. They possess a higher intelligence compared to ghouls and graveirs. This level of intelligence grants them the ability to organize their lessers to mount an effective attack on enemies.’

***

Thanks to the Cape of Silence and Roy’s shields, the ghouls and alghoul failed to realize his presence, despite how close he was to them. A toothy grin cracked Roy’s lips, and his gaze was drawn to the leftmost ghoul. A hint of murder glinted in the witcher’s eyes.

Without making a sound, he quickly weaved a complex sign in the air, and a crimson rune shimmered. A blinding flash of light covered the dark cave as Roy shoved the rune ahead. The yellow fireball hurtled through the air and hit its target squarely.

Sparks of flame scattered everywhere like ethereal glass shards, shining upon three grotesque faces. Even the air trembled before the incredible heat given off by the fireball. Howls of pain echoed within the chamber, but before the ghouls could react to the initial attack, the witcher was already making another Sign. A purple bolt of lightning arced across the ground, burning a gash within it. Soil and moss broke into little pieces, dancing in the air.

Once again, the attack landed on the same ghoul. Its charred head turned a darker shade of black, its brain matter fried. It tried to howl, but its voice came out as a whimper.

But then a red light shone from it, and the ghoul started regaining some life. It and its companions charged straight at Roy, but the witcher pulled the trigger without hesitation. A bolt pierced through its head, sending it flying through the air. It fell and rolled around, and it stopped moving.

A big hole had torn through its charred ugly face. The witcher killed it before it could even get close.

‘Ghoul killed. EXP +100. Level 9 Witcher (3760/6500).’

***

Five yards. Five yards and the remaining ghouls would be upon Roy. They snarled and roared, filling the air with their stench.

Roy could see the strips of flesh on the ghouls’ teeth, but he was unfazed. He shoved a black Sign ahead and took a deep breath.

And then he roared. A loud, magnificent roar that shook the stalactites overhead. The chaos energy that lingered in the air ignited, and the stalactites finally came raining down.

A surge of blue light appeared before the witcher, and a silhouette hopped into existence. It swung Gwyhyr around, charging at the incoming ghoul and entering a fight with it.

Roy held Aerondight in his hands. He crouched and leapt into the air only to bring the blade down on the ghoul on his right. Like cutting through butter, Aerondight sliced through the ghoul’s body, and another blinding flash of light shone for but a moment.

Once the light was gone, Roy had already landed, and behind him stood a headless body. Blood gushed through its neck as it slowly fell to the ground. He made another purple Sign with his left hand, and a halo of light shone beneath his feet, its patterns swirling and changing like a kaleidoscope.

At the same time, the alghoul smashed Roy’s clone into pieces. The elements that hid within the clone’s body exploded in the form of a first nova, covering the alghoul in ice as if it had been standing in a blizzard for an hour.

Its speed was half of what it used to be, and Roy seized the chance to attack. He turned around and charged ahead with a sword in his hand. The blade reached the alghoul’s neck, but it was stopped by the monster’s tough bones.

Roy pulled back and quickly circled around the monster like an agile cat, attacking it whenever it showed any opening, his blade the conductor of a song of death.

With the halo and frost nova in effect, the alghoul was now moving slower than a ten-year-old, but Roy was still as fast as ever. Like a bolt of crimson lightning, he attacked every time the alghoul showed an opening, bringing his sword down on the monster’s injured nape.

Every time the blade made contact, it would elicit a howl of agony from the alghoul. But howl as it might, the witcher still kept on his relentless attack. There was no one there to watch this dance. No one but the dim light of the cave.

Ten seconds later, crimson tentacles shot out from the void behind Roy and wrapped themselves around the alghoul like a boa constrictor.

The moment they lifted the monster off the ground, Roy swung his blade downward, slicing through the monster’s flesh and bones. A mangled head rolled over to the witcher’s foot, but its blood was deflected by Quen.

‘Alghoul killed. EXP +240 Level 9 Witcher (4000/6500).’

Roy flicked the blood off his blade and hunkered down to cut the corpses open for his loot. He took their claws, eyeballs, and even their innards. “That was a good combo. Hope it’ll work on the vampire.”

The battles lasted for less than thirty seconds. He didn’t even have to use Fear or Energy Slash. Just a year ago, it took him everything to kill just one ghoul, but now he could defeat three at once.

One of them had more than twenty points in one stat, but it was helpless before Frost Nova and Halo. “Oh, this is a big surprise.”

A smile curled his lips, and a happy Roy whipped out a greater red mutagen the size of a fist. Alright. One step closer to the next rank.

***

Roy searched the cave and found the remains of two unlucky bastards in one of the corners. He took the ten orens they had and buried them nearby. Adda might have given him ten thousand orens, but he wasn’t one to waste any money.

***

Roy spent his afternoon going through the caves in rural Vizima. He scoured the east and north region, but there were no signs of any glowing mushrooms or the higher vampire. And he didn’t run into any other monsters either.

There was a family of grizzly bears in a cave, but they didn’t attack Roy, so he spared them.

***

The sun eventually set, and night came. Roy set up camp on the big oak tree overseeing Hop Hamlet. He didn’t plan on making any moves during the night. Higher vampires might not fear the sun, but they still preferred night time more. If he were to run into the monster at night, Roy would have a lower chance of victory.

Gryphon had returned from its scouting mission, and with it were some interesting scenes. Right after Roy left, a gorgeous lady met up with Triss.

She was slim and petite, her hay-colored hair long and straight. She was wearing a pair of heels made of the hide of a horned dragon, and her dress was green and translucent. Triss was already scantily clad, but this woman was even more so.

“I see they’ll be trying to catch that werewolf.” And concern welled in Roy’s heart. Please don’t get that guy’s attention tomorrow, or you guys are gonna die.

***

Keira and Triss lived in a resplendent villa in the palace. The ladies were bathing in a gigantic wooden barrel made of cedar at the moment.

Keira splashed some water at Triss, who was clearly spacing out. “You’re spacing out, Triss. Did you take a liking to one of the knights? Finally decided to get into a relationship?” Keira scooped some water up and poured it down her chest, a big smile curling her lips. “So, you think Fritz will make a good partner? You like his courage, right?”

Triss shivered, ripples spreading across the water. She could never forget what she saw that afternoon. “As if.”

Fritz came back from relieving himself looking like a changed man. There was confidence in his eyes, and he cared not about the smell that came from him. Nor did he care about his colleagues’ mockery. He went to work without even cleaning himself, muttering something weird under his breath. Triss vaguely heard things like ‘true knighthood’ and ‘training.’

Since that moment onward, Triss vowed to never let Fritz go near her. Even if she wanted to date a knight, she’d want someone who could bring more value into her life.

She held the pendant hanging around her neck, her wet hair sticking to her glimmering, supple skin. “This isn’t about love. It’s about tomorrow’s operation. Wonder if we can catch the creature.”

“Why do you care so much, sweetie?” Keira leaned over, her chin touching the water’s surface. She raised her hand and held Triss’ chin. “This whole thing has nothing to do with us. We’re members of Temeria’s royal council. Our job is to solve any magic-related problems for Foltest, not play monster hunter in some dirty, backwater village.

“I can’t go with you every time. Yes, you’re being kind. I know you help the poor villagers during our hunt for the Lady of the Lake’s church, but that’s a job for witchers and the chancellor of security.” She waded through the water and sat down beside her companion, her arm wrapping around Triss’ shoulder. “If you really want to help, post a request at the town hall’s bulletin board.”

Keira stared into Triss’ eyes, caressing her red hair. “Remember what Tissaia told us? Don’t get adventurous. Don’t put ourselves in the way of danger.”

Triss pursed her lips, voicing her disapproval in silence. She did post a request, but for some reason, Vizima’s witchers didn’t take it. It was like they disappeared into thin air. She had to do it herself.

And Triss had a little wish of her own. This monotony in her life? She hated it. She wished for an adventure. Something different from everything she had done so far.

Suddenly, Keira chuckled and narrowed her eyes. “If you really want to help, you should make Foltest fall for you first. If you gain his favor, he might mobilize his troops and catch the monster for you.”

Triss raised her head and stared at Keira. She mocked, “You’re getting horny, aren’t you, Keira? You actually want to seduce the king?”

Keira touched the silver cross before her chest and smiled, a hue of crimson donning her cheeks. Without fear or fervor, she said, “Of course. I’m always ready to sleep with Foltest. He seems healthy, unlike most ministers. And certainly unlike most men.”

Keira stared outside the window with a feral desire in her eyes. “If he so wished it, I would be willing to carry his child. And he can rail me anywhere he wants. Anywhere. And then I shall have all the wealth I desire.”

Well, that’s exaggerating. Amused, Triss chuckled and smacked Keira’s hand. “Dream on, Keira ‘who-wants-to-be-pregnant’ Metz. First, we can’t get pregnant. And second, the king only has a third of your lifespan. If we can’t birth any descendants for him, we’re nothing but pretty toys he can abandon anytime.”

The light in Keira’s eyes dimmed. She leaned back and rubbed her belly, melancholy replacing the delight in her eyes earlier. A sigh escaped her lips. “I was joking. I know. We poor ladies have to depend on ourselves if we wanna live the best life we can.”

And then she clutched Triss’ hand. “But please, listen to me. Do not go after that monster.”

She pulled Triss into her embrace and patted her head. “Please, I don’t want to wake up one morning to find you dead or dismembered. I do not want to lose another friend.”

“Then help me out and get me some items,” Triss answered, her voice soft but filled with resolve.

A cloud of steam veiled them, but it didn’t stop their conversation from being overheard.

A cat hopped over the roof and disappeared into the night.

***

***