Chapter 51: The Mysterious Monster
"I'm truly foolish, truly. I only knew that people in the big cities could use the teleportation towers for long-distance travel, but I never thought small settlements could also use magic to transmit messages…"
Three days after parting with Triss, Arthur and his companions found themselves blocked at a crossroads on an obscure path.
It wasn't that the mastermind had launched another attack. Rather, the villagers from Grey Dog Village and Big Black Tree Village were fiercely arguing over which village the Witcher should visit first.
Arthur sat astride his horse, rubbing his forehead in frustration. He couldn't figure out why things had escalated to this point.
Just two days prior, Arthur had slain a nest of drowners that had built a nest under a bridge, declaring them the first target of his free monster-slaying campaign.
In just two days, the news had spread across dozens of square miles. Every village they passed, even those not bothered by monsters, had curious villagers standing by the roadside, wanting to see what the 'big idiot who kills monsters for free' actually looked like.
And those who genuinely felt they had a monster problem were bold enough to block the road—just like the two groups currently on the verge of fighting.
In this critical moment, Kolgrim stepped forward:
"Good people! Before you start fighting, I must announce in advance that the following circumstances are NOT included in the monster-slaying plan:
"One: Investigating whether a partner is cheating. "Two: Problems like cattle, sheep, pigs, or any other livestock refusing to eat feed, failing to produce offspring, curdled milk, or similar issues. "Three: Finding missing goats, donkeys, horses, or any other livestock. Even if they have names, we won't look for them! "Four…"
The Viper School Witcher was a far cry from his previously taciturn, withdrawn self. Standing atop the caravan wagon, he rattled off a list of over ten issues that did not fall under the monster-slaying plan, his voice loud enough to drown out the clamoring villagers.
These points were mostly trivial matters, largely drawn from observations made during their two days of travel. And it was highly foreseeable that, as their journey continued, the list would only grow longer.
"Our village really has a monster! You should come to our village!" the villagers of Grey Dog Village shouted loudly, and the Big Black Tree villagers immediately drowned them out with double the volume:
"Someone in our village has already been dragged away by a monster! We need the Witcher most!"
"Quiet down! Quiet down! Send out a representative who can speak clearly, and tell me what the monster in your village looks like!" Seeing the villagers about to come to blows again, Arthur reluctantly stood beside Kolgrim.
Upon seeing the Temerian silver blade on his back, the villagers immediately quieted down, murmuring as they pushed forward representatives from each village.
"Phew, hopefully, this time we'll find some truly formidable monsters…" Arthur finally breathed a sigh of relief as the villagers started showing some order.
The reason he asked so many questions before accepting a contract was two-fold: firstly, to avoid a wasted trip, and secondly, to find powerful monsters.
Since advancing to the Ancient Nord bloodline, Arthur had finally unlocked the ability to use Dragon Shouts.
Unlike true Ancient Nords, Arthur's method of mastering Shouts was not through learning words of power, nor was it through absorbing Dragon Souls like the Dragonborn. Instead, it was through slaying monsters to activate them…
Yes, the glowing storm he absorbed after slaying monsters could be used to advance the progress of a Dragon Shout. The more powerful the monster, the greater the advancement provided.
For example, a Griffin, a Vampire Witch, and a Foglet were all monsters that even a Witcher needed to approach with caution, and they collectively provided 50 advancement points. After slaying over a dozen Drowners the day before, Arthur's prompt showed this:
[Current Shouts Available for Study: Unrelenting Force 51/100, decimals not displayed]
Arthur estimated that if he had to rely on farming Drowners to activate the Shout, he might as well rename his Temerian Silver Blade the 'Temerian Silver Stick'...
"You should come to our village first! We've got loads of monsters! Er, their skin is white like a corpse, and they like to burrow in holes. Half their face is sharp fangs, and their claws are long like scythes!" The Grey Dog representative spoke first, leaning in so close that his spittle landed on Arthur's boots.
Kolgrim murmured: "Sounds like nekkers."
Arthur was immediately disappointed. Kolgrim had explained that these were worthless brutes, only marginally tougher than drowners. They might have fangs and claws, but their bodies were incredibly fragile; a lone one couldn't even defeat a sufficiently brave villager.
Still, he forced himself to ask: "Well, do you know approximately how many there are?"
The Grey Dog villagers erupted into another bout of shouting. Their representative pondered for a moment, then opened his hand:
"Fifty!"
Arthur almost choked with a laugh. Though nekkers were omnivorous, they still needed to eat. Fifty nekkers would have devoured every living thing for miles around. These villagers wouldn't be standing here to hire a Witcher!
Kolgrim remained calm, reminding Arthur: "Peasants love to exaggerate their troubles. In my experience, if you divide that number by three, you'll get closer to the actual count."
A dozen more, then… Arthur rubbed his chin, accepting the result with slight disappointment. Even if nekkers provided the same progress as drowners, at least it would grind the Shout progress up to 53.
Seeing that the Witcher seemed ready to leave, the Big Black Tree villagers immediately took offense, shouting loudly that their monster was far more dangerous and needed priority treatment. However, when Arthur asked for a description of the creature, they all shook their heads in unison:
"No one's seen the monster, but it's fierce. Not long ago, Niren's wife, Hanna, went to the forest to pick mushrooms, and she never came back. When we found her, the poor girl's bones were all shattered, and her insides were completely scooped out."
"Where is Niren?" Arthur wanted to question the victim's relative, hoping for more information.
But the villagers all shook their heads: "Niren's sister said Hanna was killed by a pack of wolves, so he's been out hunting wolves with his bow and knife for the last few days."
Sounds like a big creature… Arthur's eyes flickered. He decided he wanted to go to Big Black Tree Village first, but Kolgrim suddenly interjected:
"Besides Niren's wife, are there any other victims?"
"Of course! My family's piglet died two days ago, and Rokay's goat died inexplicably last month…" The villagers chimed in, babbling over each other. But after all that, the so-called victims were all plagued livestock. Hanna was the only human casualty confirmed to have been killed by a monster.
Kolgrim contemplated for a moment, then spoke loudly: "Big Black Tree Village has provided too little information. We will deal with Grey Dog Village's monsters first, and then we'll circle back to see what creature is truly bothering your village."
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