nyslfriends Chapter 30 The Swamp Witch
Chapter 30 The Swamp Witch
Easter Sunday, 1230.
Autumnal equinox day, noon.
On the banks of the White Stone River, a gentle breeze ripples the water's surface, and the reeds sway softly.
Not far from the shore, among the burdock and nettles, there is a relatively flat stone.
A boy wearing a black leather jacket was kneeling on it.
He lowered his head, his hands loosely clasped in front of his lower abdomen, motionless, like a stubborn rock.
"Gagaga..."
The ravens on the rocky cliff opened their beaks and made a sharp noise.
Alwin slowly opened his eyes, revealing gray vertical pupils.
My gaze was fixed on the reeds on the bank. The golden reeds bent over to both sides, making a soft rustling sound.
He braced himself with his palms and stood up.
He reached over his shoulder and drew his longsword.
The silver blade refracted a dazzling silver light under the sunlight.
The Wolf School Witcher Silver Sword
He stretched his neck, bent down slightly, and twirled his silver sword.
Several blue shadows emerged from it, their lifeless fish eyes revealing ferocious fangs.
"ha!"
The water ghost roared and launched the first attack.
Alwin showed no fear on his face, but rather remained calm, as if this scene was something he was already used to.
He lunged forward, using his right foot as the center, and forcefully slashed diagonally.
The sharp silver sword sliced the charging water ghost in half at the waist.
My gaze shifted, and there was a second one, then a third...
As he strolled leisurely, swords flashed and blood splattered.
Suddenly, a water ghost darted out from the reeds and attacked him from behind.
Arwen didn't even look at it directly, but simply raised his hand and made an Alder sign in the air.
A fan-shaped shockwave erupted from his palm.
"boom!"
The roar stirred up water stains on the ground, and the water ghost that had launched the sneak attack was thrown to the ground.
He then turned around and walked over to the water ghost.
The latter struggled to get up, but Alwin simply raised his sword and thrust and twisted it, slitting the water ghost's throat.
"Rustling..."
The reeds swayed, and all that could be heard was the sound of the autumn wind.
I glanced at the scattered corpses of the water ghosts; their blood had stained the water in the muddy pit.
The raven flew down from the stone wall and devoured the water ghost's corpse, its belly round and full, its black wings glossy.
[Kill the Water Ghost to obtain 25% Water Ghost Mutant] x5!
Alwin glanced at the panel and synthesized the scattered water ghost mutants.
[Mutants: Water Ghost Mutant (Green) x3, Water Ghost Mutant (White) x4...]
On the spring equinox this year, Vesemir hosted a hunt for water ghosts.
He won first place with 27 water ghost ears.
The reward was the Witcher's Silver Sword in his hand.
[Water Ghost Mutant (Green): Installing this mutant slightly increases body speed and grants the green talent, Underwater Breathing.]
[Underwater Breathing (Green): Your cheek muscles are strengthened, allowing you to filter lake water to obtain oxygen and move freely within a 250-meter underwater area for 30 minutes.]
The improvement from white to green is not significant.
Arwen took out an oilcloth from his pouch and wiped the blood off the sword.
After careful calculation, he realized that this was the 136th water ghost he had killed.
To be honest, he was getting tired of killing.
Suddenly, he caught the sound of a raven flapping its wings, and a strong tremor surged from his chest.
Danger is approaching.
A sharp whooshing sound came through the air.
Arwen reacted extremely quickly, forming the Quen hand seal with his left hand, and a light blue light shield protected his body.
"Snapped!"
Before the sound of the protective shield shattering had even faded, he had already lunged to the side, rolling away to avoid it.
"Buzz!"
I steadied myself and cast another Kun Seal on myself.
A peephole revealed a patch of shattered mud in the spot where it had been.
The blow was clearly aimed at his face; if he were hit, his vision would certainly be impaired.
If that's the case, even the most experienced Witcher wouldn't dare say they'd be completely unaffected by the White Stone River, which is teeming with water ghosts.
A hurried figure flashed past from the reeds.
Alwin quickly stood up, his brows furrowed slightly.
"It's not a water ghost; water ghosts don't have brains to throw mud."
"Hehe..."
A strange scream followed immediately.
"ha!"
The reeds were broken apart.
A hunched-over humanoid creature leaped out, extending its sharp claws.
Alwin turned aside, dodging the attack.
My nostrils flared as I smelled a foul stench from a sewer mixed with the fishy smell.
"Hehe!"
The hunched humanoid creature jumped up and down, tilting its head, seemingly surprised that the former could dodge.
Alwin gripped his sword in his right hand, pacing around his opponent while his cat-like eyes scrutinized him.
The monster in front of me had disheveled hair, which was as messy as a clump of seaweed.
It had a hunched back, bent legs, and was completely naked. Its skin was covered with wrinkles and warts, and long bony protrusions grew on its back.
Those hands hanging limply to the ground had ten scythe-sharp fingernails.
Swamp Witch!
According to the description in "Monster Chronicles", these claws are no less powerful than those of werewolves.
Alwin curled his lip.
"That's disgusting."
Especially those few jumps the other person just made, the soft, shriveled thing on their chest was shaking violently, it was simply an eyesore.
The swamp witch seemed to understand Alwin's meaning. She opened her mouth, revealing two rows of rotten teeth, from which green poisonous mist emerged. She roared and charged at Alwin like a madwoman.
Its speed is much slower than that of the water ghost.
Having tracked the opponent's attack trajectory, Alwin's cat-like eyes filled with disgust and impatience.
He would rather fight the water ghost for a whole day than be spiritually corrupted by this ugly thing.
"Get out of here!"
With his left hand, he pressed out the Igni sign, and magic surged, instantly expanding the orange-yellow spark.
"boom!"
Fan-shaped flames erupted, creating a scorching heat wave.
"what!"
The swamp witch roared, scratching her burned cheeks incessantly with her hands, her nails tearing through the folds of skin to reveal murky blood.
As the firelight faded, a pair of black spiked boots suddenly appeared on her ugly face.
"Bang!"
The swamp witch was kicked back several steps.
Alwin took two steps at a time, and in the blink of an eye, he caught up with it from behind.
With her right foot firmly planted on the ground, she used the momentum of her forward dash to spin around, unleashing a silver sword strike to meet the retreating swamp witch.
"laugh!"
A line of blood flew out as the sword severed the neck.
The ugly head, like a clump of waterweed, flew high into the air before crashing heavily onto the muddy riverbank, rolling around several times.
[Defeat the Swamp Witch to obtain 25% Swamp Witch Mutant]
[Wolf School Witcher Swordsmanship Experience +1!]
[Quen Sign Experience +1!]
[Igni Experience +1!]
Alwin took a deep breath and saw that he had gained three experience points, which was a pretty good result.
I glanced at the sky; the sun had already hidden behind the western cliff and would soon set.
It's time to go back.
Today is the Autumn Equinox, and my heart, which had just calmed down, is starting to stir again.
"Gagaga!"
Ravens were circling overhead, which was very unusual.
During his days hunting water ghosts, he had long since grown accustomed to the raven's presence, and could even be considered its companion.
The raven will caw to warn of approaching monsters.
He was responsible for dealing with the monsters, taking away the useful alchemical items, and leaving the corpses for the ravens to eat.
But the ravens show no sign of landing to feed.
"There are monsters too?"
His gaze was indifferent, his hand gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and he was wary of his surroundings.
"rustle……"
My gaze instantly locked onto a figure slowly emerging from the bushes not far ahead of the river.
The other person was tall and very strong, wearing a red leather jacket with black stripes and silver studs on the shoulder pads.
He looked up, revealing a pair of amber cat eyes beneath his short brown hair.
Alwin's pupils dilated, his wariness vanished, and a look of joy appeared on his face.
"Eskar!"