Immovable Shield

"Da~ da~ da~"

The barely audible sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor.

A person with a masked face and a black headscarf walks out of the darkness and into the deeper darkness.

However, the Witcher was not frightened by the thick, deep darkness.

He was enveloped in a sea of chamomile and cedar, like a cat, moving with light steps toward his destination.

"Nighttime is indeed very useful."

Ailin murmured a sigh.

Francesca's estimate is still too low.

With Ailin's skill level, he could use "Nightfall" for far more than fifteen minutes.

He had been using the invisibility function ever since he left the illusion, and ten minutes had passed by now.

Ailin's stored magic power was not even a quarter of what it had been.

In other words...

He can remain invisible for at least forty minutes, and even with the addition of mute, he can still remain invisible for twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes!

Ailin can even fight while remaining invisible and silent, using sign magic simultaneously.

"The 'Nightfall' that Francesca gave me is simply an assassin's dream weapon!"

Ailin couldn't help but admire it in his heart.

As expected of the elves, even a casual item is so amazing.

At this moment.

Ailin suddenly sniffed and subconsciously glanced at the darkness in the distance.

A faint stench of decay was emanating from the end of the passageway ahead.

"This smells like rotting flesh."

Ailin thought to himself.

The Rock Troll's camp is not far away.

The witcher couldn't help but slow his pace.

After passing through the passage in front of us and turning several corners, we finally got through.

The stench grew stronger, occasionally mixed with a faint smell of blood.

"... Victory... meat... meat..."

"... Mountain Stone... flesh... humans... death..."

A series of cheerful cheers, accompanied by a foul stench, came from ahead.

Out of caution.

The Witcher slowed his pace, took a deep breath, and channeled his magic, his Divine Power binding the headband.

In an instant.

Ailin felt as if he had suddenly disappeared from the world.

Footsteps, breath, heartbeat...

Even the sound of fabric rubbing against the body.

Not a single sound could be heard.

"..."

He let out a long breath, without making a sound.

This disoriented the Witcher, who took several seconds to adjust before regaining his senses thanks to his powerful body control.

I underestimated this magical item... Ailin thought to himself.

He originally thought that with the School of the Cat Two-Handed Sword Lv5, he wouldn't need the "Color" magic item, which only had a sound-silencing effect, at all, but...

All I can say is that the two Ailin are vastly different in their effects.

"I reckon even if I swagger right through the Rock Troll's cave, no troll will notice me."

The Witcher thought to himself, feeling somewhat arrogant.

"... Meat... hmm... delicious... hmm..."

A faint light flickered at the entrance to the cave at the end of the passage.

The strong aroma was mixed with the satisfying and pleasant sounds of eating.

We've arrived at the Rock Troll's lair.

Peek out.

The Mountain Stone sat right next to the cave entrance, holding a large plate and distributing rotten flesh to the Rock Troll.

The strong, putrid smell originated from there.

Wrong!

It's not a plate!

Ailin's eyes widened suddenly.

Aren't those those magical artifacts shaped like tower shields?

The next second.

The Witcher instinctively looked toward another cave entrance.

At least ten human corpses, dressed in neat leather armor and helmets, lay not far from the cave entrance.

Take a closer look.

Every corpse whose face could be seen bore the marks of shock and terror.

It was as if they had witnessed something unbelievable.

Minced meat, crushing marks, and the direction of blood flow.

The Witcher uses his own methods to mentally simulate how these humans die.

He reached a conclusion in a short time.

Undoubtedly, the well-fed Rock Troll gave the soldiers and knights of Kedwen a great surprise.

The tower shields had a synergistic effect, and the casualties of dozens of elite soldiers...

The price was nothing more than a pile of rotting flesh.

Value!

It's such a great deal!

Ailin felt a surge of excitement.

At this moment, he felt no sorrow for his own kind.

Every person who survives here will contribute to the future defense of Kaer Morhen.

He might gain one more elite human enemy and lose one more familiar and close face.

Ailin's compassion was certainly not overflowing.

At least not a single bit could be given to his enemies.

"Clang!"

Ailin looked in the direction of the sound.

After distributing the rotten flesh, Mountain Stone casually tossed his shield to the ground.

The Witcher was somewhat tempted by the shield.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any spatial artifacts.

The Witcher's Handbook's Notes inventory can only store items and potions related to the system.

then.

After the Witcher and the Rock Troll had eaten and drunk their fill and gone back to sleep, the Witcher tiptoed into the cave, intending to go out and explore the situation inside the camp.

One step, two steps, three steps...

The witcher sensed the wind direction, trying to avoid letting the Rock Troll smell his scent.

that's all.

In just two minutes, he silently made his way to the center of the cave.

On several occasions...

To keep up with the wind, the witcher walked so close to a Rock Troll that he was only two meters away, practically touching its body.

But the Rock Troll remained fast asleep.

"Indeed, the night is a godsend when it comes to stealth!"

Looking at the journey that was less than halfway complete, the Demon Hunter, enveloped in the fragrance of chamomile, couldn't help but sigh once again.

Just then...

"... The Witcher!"

A deep roar suddenly sounded behind him, very close.

A stench of rotting flesh, carried away by a gust of wind from the cave, even dispelled the fresh scents of chamomile and cedar, instantly filling the area around the Witcher.

Ailin's body also suddenly froze at that moment.

A powerful aura of favor enveloped him, oppressed him, and imprisoned him...

The chill seeped directly from the Witcher's tailbone to his scalp.

Damn it!

when?

The Witcher cursed inwardly.

But in the next instant.

The intensity of the aura of favor has decreased slightly.

But Ailin dared not take this opportunity to escape.

He turned around stiffly.

Really!

Mountain Stone was standing on the open ground three meters away from him.

He bent over, head bowed, staring at Ailin with his blood-red eyes, which were even larger than the head of a witcher.

That gust of wind that just now smelled of rotting flesh was not a cave wind at all!

That's the tone of Mountain Stone!

At such close range, the Witcher had nowhere to escape.

but.

At this moment, Ailin calmed down.

Although it's hard to understand how the Mountain Stone sensed him, the fact that it didn't directly throw a stone at him means that things haven't reached the point of no return.

"Because of that rotten flesh?"

The Witcher speculated.

then.

He took a deep breath and removed the invisibility and silence-absorbing effects from his body.

"... Witcher... bad... troll... damaged the house..."

"... The Witcher... bad... Blue Stone... seriously injured..."

"... The Witcher... is bad..."

The familiar, boisterous noise suddenly rang out.

"... Shut up... The Mountain Stone are talking... Little troll, shut up..."

Its massive body turned around and roared.

All the Rock Troll fell silent.

"... The Witcher... is sending food to the trolls... why?"

The stench of rotting flesh, mixed with tiny specks of saliva, assaulted the senses.

Although Ailin felt a little more confident after hearing this, he didn't dare to move an inch, for fear of provoking the huge Rock Troll in front of him.

"Gift!"

"... What gift?" Mountain Stone roared.

On its huge, hard face, which looked like it was made of bluestone, no expression or emotion could be seen.

Ailin organized his thoughts and said cautiously:

"Apologies and friendship."

"I apologize for what my fellow Witcher did in the past."

Although he still doesn't know what Vesemir did to those Rock Troll.

"I am for..."

Before the words were finished, one of the Rock Troll suddenly roared:

"... Witcher... kill... damage... house..."

"...Shut up, little troll...or else... Mountain Stone's fists...are waiting for you." Mountain Stone turned around and roared again.

The Rock Troll immediately fell silent.

"...The Witcher continued."

Ailin took a deep breath to calm his wildly beating heart.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I think we can be friends, after all..."

"I already have three Rock Troll friends, so I'm here for friendship too."

The Witcher looked up and his gaze met that of the Mountain Stone.

Ailin's heart began to pound involuntarily again.

Mountain Stone stared at him for a long time, seemingly deep in thought, but his blank expression made it seem unlikely.

Much later.

As if suddenly waking from a dream, Mountain Stone asked:

"... What's the name of my witch hunter troll friend...?"

"Big Stone, Broken Stone, and Little Stone —they're all on the hills near the Witcher's castle, Kaer Morhen, and they've always been friendly with us, the School of the Wolf Witchers..."

Before he could finish speaking, the aura of favor surrounding the Witcher vanished instantly.

There's hope!

Big Stone and his group did indeed know these Rock Troll.

Ailin thought to himself.

"... Before leaving Kaer Morhen, I often brought food to visit them... um... this meat."

He gestured with his eyes towards the mountain of flesh not far away.

"Gurgle~"

A swallowing sound echoed from the empty cavern.

"... often... the Witcher says... often..."

Some Rock Troll started drooling.

Although Ailin left behind a lot of rotten flesh, it was all under the control of the Mountain Stone.

Mountain Stone naturally didn't understand what wartime rations were, but he certainly wouldn't let them eat their fill.

"Bang! Bang!"

"... Mountain Stone... Big Stone... family... witch hunters... friends..."

The second largest Rock Troll walked over and tapped the back of the Mountain Stone.

The massive body of the Mountain Stone turned its head to look at the other Rock Troll, stared at Ailin for a few seconds, and then "gently" shook its head:

"... The friend of the Big Stone... is the friend of the Mountain Stone... a friend returning a gift..."

A return gift?

In a daze, the Witcher suddenly remembered his first encounter with the Big Stone and their familiar surroundings.

The Big Stone back then was also strangely polite and courteous, giving him a piece of raw ruby.

That ore is still located on the south side of Kaer Morhen Castle.

As he spoke.

"Thump~ thump~ thump~"

Mountain Stone turned around and picked up the tower shield that was being used as a dining plate.

Seeing this, Ailin's heart pounded.

I never imagined that a pile of worthless rotten flesh could have such value. Ailin had seen the effect of these shields before.

The combined effect of the three tower shields is so strong that it can even block powerful attacks from Mountain Stone.

Clang! Clang!

Three heavy shields fell to the ground.

The Witcher immediately performed an appraisal, which landed on a dusty, ancient shield.

[Name: Immovable Shield]

[Type: Magical Item]

[Function:

1. Shield Wall: Consumes magic gems to create a magical shield wall that can absorb physical damage;

2. Unbreakable: When adjacent items of the same type resonate, the damage that can be blocked is multiplied!

[Note: The three-sided tower shield is essentially a thick city wall!]

The Witcher is thrilled about the powerful new item he's about to acquire.

The moment I saw its function, my interest in the shield instantly dropped by half.

Consume magic gems to create a shield wall?

Are you kidding me!

If it were fifty years ago...

No!

It must go back at least two or three hundred years to when monsters roamed the land, before the existence of witchers and when Conjunction of the Spheres still occurred from time to time.

Humans at that time relied on technology learned from the elves.

Using various magical gems, they wield Chaos Magic with mortal bodies to protect their homeland.

However, this technology has rarely appeared since the Conjunction of the Spheres stopped, the Witcher appeared, and the number of monsters decreased.

The biggest problem is that gems rich in magic are too rare.

It's important to know that the primary uses of these magical gems are in wizards' wands and witches' Magic Accessory...

Its main function is to help wizards guide magic and expand the range of magic perception, and it is used sustainably.

And the tower shield in front of us.

The Witcher glanced at the ancient shield; the gems on it had become somewhat dull.

This is an irreversible depletion of the gemstone.

"As expected of King Kedwen, he's really rich!"

The Witcher couldn't help but sigh.

However, he didn't have that many magic gems to use.

In fact.

He didn't even own a single gemstone.

"... My Witcher friend doesn't like it?"

Mountain Stone noticed Ailin's hesitation.

"No, I like it very much!"

Ailin, regaining her senses, nodded.

Although it was far from the magical items he had imagined.

but.

The strategic value of Immovable Shield is still undeniable, especially in siege warfare.

This is extremely useful for the School of the Wolf, which may face the defense of Kaer Morhen!

Moreover...

With his mastery of the Conjunction of the Spheres, is there no way he can obtain these magical gems in the future?

"... The Witcher... a friend... a gift from a friend... a return gift..."

The Mountain Stone nodded, its hard mouth opening and closing.

It was looking at the Witcher, but the Witcher felt that the Mountain Stone's gaze was penetrating him, as if it were looking at a completely different person... or a monster.

Among the Rock Troll known for their low intelligence, the politeness of Big Stone and Mountain Stone surprised Ailin.

The Witcher felt there might be some story behind this.

However, this is not a good time to listen to stories. Now, many problems are laid out before him, waiting for him to solve them.

One of the most eye-catching ones is:

"How is he going to bring these three Immovable Shield, which are even bigger than him, back to Kaer Morhen?"

The Witcher looked at the dusty shield on the ground and thought to himself.

But the next moment.

He wouldn't need to worry about that problem anymore.

because...

"... Humans are coming... Trolls... Kill!!!"