[Check Out My P4treon For +30 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][p4treon.com/echotales]
===
According to Ciri, or rather, based on her limited experience jumping between worlds, it looked like we had about a week before the representatives of the Wild Hunt would appear in our world. It would take them about another two days to find her, and after that...
After that, she usually spent another two weeks like hunted prey, moving through the world with short teleports until her power, which she couldn't control, reached a necessary level of strength and threw her into another world. She'd been doing this for almost a year now...
"You poor thing..."
"Don't..."
Ciri shook her head at Becca's words. Becca genuinely felt sorry for our new acquaintance.
"...don't pity me. If you really want to help, I ask for your hospitality for five days. And then..."
She gave a lopsided grin. Sadness and even a measure of fatalism could be clearly read behind that grin.
"...I will start my run again."
"David, we're going to help her, right?"
I looked at the girls.
"We'll help her... what else can I do when I see that all of you are happily ready to dive into a new adventure? Especially since our usual work has started to bore all of us a little..."
The girls nodded.
"And here... new enemies. We just need to think about weapons... I think sniper rifles would be a good fit for Panam, Kiwi, Judy, and Lucy. I'll make something like a six-barreled machine gun for Becca..."
I looked at the little girl thoughtfully. Her eyes were literally glowing with anticipation.
"Seriously?! Seriously?!"
"Yeah..."
"Don't bother..."
Ciri interrupted our planning.
"...you're not the first people who want to help me, but the result is always the same... such people die, and I move to a new world again."
"Well, life is a dangerous thing, especially for mercs..."
Kiwi shrugged.
"...but that doesn't mean we should just lie down in a coffin and die. And whether we fight these Wild Hunters or not doesn't depend on you anymore. They will most likely appear right where you did, at least that's the conclusion I drew from your story about your world-hopping... and I think I'm not the only one."
We all nodded at our blonde's words.
"Are you all completely crazy? This is an unnecessary risk! I won't even pay you! No jumping to sunken ships, no moon... even if it turns out that your 'scuba gear' really exists."
I shrugged.
"Well, I think we'll get something from the bodies of these enemies, even if they are dense illusions... maybe the metal from their armor, their weapons... something real has to be there, and that could help us in the future."
"I..."
Tears started to stream down Ciri's cheeks.
"...a big, big thank you."
We all smiled at her pronunciation. It sounded so natural coming from Ciri that it evoked nothing but smiles and affection.
"Alright, fine... Becca, you have a task."
"Yes?"
"We'll make a weapon for Ciri, too..."
I looked the girl over thoughtfully.
"What fighting style do you prefer?"
"Huh?"
"Super-close range..."
And I immediately shook my head, answering my own words.
"No, your sword isn't short. It looks more like a two-handed sword... or rather, a hand-and-a-half sword... it's a little short for a two-handed one. I don't know what such blades are really called, but judging by its scabbard, it's easier to wield it with one hand to set the direction, and the second hand to accelerate the blow or give it force, and it can also be used to change the direction of the blow..."
"Uh... well, generally... but a Witcher trained me, and that fighting style is mostly against monsters, and you often have to deliver powerful blows to cut through their hide. So I prefer to fight with strong blows, and I rarely block. It's because of that same training; I prefer to dodge, which is even more effective with my teleportation. And besides teleportation, I can also perform a 'dash'—a super-acceleration over short, straight distances..."
I nodded.
"So big, heavy guns are out..."
I scratched my cheek.
"Becca, you'll teach Ciri how to shoot an Uzi."
"Huh?"
"Well, she'll only master the basics of shooting a pistol in a week. But an Uzi... you don't really need to aim. You just point it at the person and pull the trigger... The main thing is to reload fast and to not point the weapon at allies, just based on reflexes."
"Alright, I'll take her."
"Perfect... Panam, you'll arrange extra sniper rifle training for the others."
"Alright, but you do realize..."
"We'll buy them... good rifles, Uzis, we'll buy everything. I won't have time to make them, but I will have time to upgrade them..."
I nodded.
"...I'll have time to upgrade the weapons, and Saul and a couple of other guys from the clan will make the grenades for us. I think we'll be done in five days, and then we'll have a couple more days to zero in on the area..."
"I think we'll manage."
"By the way..."
I looked at Ciri.
"If we zero out these dense illusions of theirs, how long will it take them to recover?"
"I don't know... probably a long time... No one has ever managed to kill even one of them during my travels."
I sighed.
"Then we'll assume they won't need to recover..."
"Huh?"
"No, I get it. In theory, magical energy, or whatever mages have, gets depleted, and there's the moral and psychological trauma of 'death,' but we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Although we shouldn't rule out the best-case one, either."
"The best case?"
"Yeah, that they need time to return to their body, even a short period of time, and that if we kill them, we'll get a corpse and the original Hunter right away."
"By the way..."
Judy decided to join the conversation more actively.
"...how do you know about the illusions if you've never killed any of them?"
"I... I traveled with an elf once... he was knowledgeable, and he told me that killing them is pointless."
I frowned.
"With an elf?"
"Yes."
"And how does he know that what he told you is the truth?"
Ciri sighed and looked away.
"He was one of them once... a long time ago. The Wild Hunt are elves. He used to support their views, but for about three hundred years now, he's..."
I shook my head in disappointment.
"And you believed him so easily?"
"But he could have just knocked me out and..."
"And what?"
"Well... taken me to the elves? Called his people, if they were his people..."
"More likely..."
I closed my eyes.
"...the elves need you for something. Did he mention anything like that?"
"Mmm..."
Ciri frowned thoughtfully. I could see that she really didn't want to believe my words. Then she shook her head.
"I don't think so... unless..."
"Unless what?"
Panam caught Ciri's eye.
"Well, he talked about some kind of prophecy... and also about the White Frost..."
I gave a sad laugh.
"What?"
"Well, you know, if we were characters in a book, I would guess that this prophecy is about you, and you are just obligated to defeat the White Frost! But considering we're in reality..."
I fell silent.
"So what can you tell me?"
Ciri was looking at me with a frown.
"I can guess..."
And I fell silent again.
"And?"
"You won't like my guess."
"I don't care! Tell me!"
This time, Ciri didn't wait for me to pause and immediately demanded that I tell her what I was thinking.
"First, let me ask a couple of questions?"
"But you're going to tell me everything, right?"
"He will tell you everything..."
All my girls nodded, promising that Lucy would influence me to tell them everything.
"Alright, ask your questions."
Ciri gave a dramatic nod of her head.
Honestly, I didn't understand why she was talking to us at all. No, I really didn't understand... maybe it was something like female intuition? With a correction for some kind of bloodline that was mentioned in the game? I remember she had special blood, which is why she could jump between worlds like that. It was most likely an overload of magic, and it affected her intuition?
I genuinely wanted to help, and she subconsciously trusted her intuition, apparently...
"How long do elves live?"
"Huh?"
Ciri blinked in confusion.
"Why do you need to know that?"
Although if I were in her place...
No, to hell with those thoughts! I'm in my place. I don't want to be in hers.
"Answer the question..."
"Well... a long time, a very long time, about three hundred years..."
I frowned slightly.
"I see... and now tell me why you trust us?"
Ciri blinked in surprise a couple of times.
"I don't understand..."
"You might not realize this—and you really don't, since you haven't gone through my training—but a Witcher trained me..."
She said her teacher's profession with a capital letter.
"...and Witchers consider their intuition to be very important. They can't know everything. Yes, they know the most common monsters, and they know the most dangerous ones, but only the oldest and most experienced of them can boast truly comprehensive knowledge of monsters and their habits. But you still have to live long enough to reach that stage. And their young ones were often too... overconfident after going through the mutations. So they were trained to rely on intuition."
Ciri took a short pause to take a sip of beer and burp up the gas that had built up inside her. The other girls blushed slightly at that behavior; they were used to acting a little differently. Not that burping was considered indecent in this time... but they had adopted some of my conservative views...
"So, I was trained with the Witcher method, and Uncle Vesemir strongly insisted that even though I didn't go through the mutations, I was just as overconfident, and my intuition would help me not only in combat but also help me understand who I could trust..."
"And your intuition was silent about that elf?"
"Well... it whispered, it warned me, but my interactions with him didn't promise any obvious dangers... so I don't quite understand your feelings toward him. But my sixth sense definitely tells me that I can trust you..."
I nodded.
"So, what's your guess? Will you explain what you were thinking?"
===
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 115 on my p4treon, go check it out
Gain access to exclusive 18+ character images, early chapters, and so much more. This is your chance to get a ton of exclusive content while supporting my work.
p4treon.com/echotales
if you want more updates == supports with power stones
Every 70 Power Stones == Bonus Chapter
every three 5-star reviews == Bonus Chapter