The Strange Rise and Fall of Strength

The next day.

"Don't use your damn magical gadgets near the magical materials I bought!"

A loud-voiced dwarf roared at the sturdy stone gates of Fergen, forcing the gatekeepers, who were armed with magical badges, to retreat and urging a caravan to hurry into the city.

He is Horton Qui-Gon, the lord of Fergen, a dwarven master blacksmith who was tricked into coming to Ard by King Demavend II because of his blacksmithing skills.

Perhaps knowing that the Witcher did not want to get involved in the war between the two countries, the dwarf Horton did not disturb the knights of the King's Knights who had come specifically to ask the Witcher to deal with the Greater Griffin.

He arrived at the gates of Fugean early and saw that Vesemir and Ailin were both dressed as standard mercenaries with long swords at their waists. He then made an excuse to let the caravan into the city by having the heavily guarded gatekeepers let him in.

Otherwise, with all sorts of random magical items in the guards' hands, the witcher might not be able to get away with it.

"Master Horton, every caravan entering or leaving Ard must be inspected; it's a rule set by the authorities..."

"I don't care about any of those damn rules! Who knows if the little things a wizard makes will damage the structure and purity of the materials? I'm doing this all for that despicable and cunning little devil Demavend II..."

A tiny dwarf with a loud voice.

The outspoken Horton Quiggan forced the heavily armed captain of the guard to retreat step by step, and in the end, he had no choice but to let the caravan pass.

"Alright, alright, Master Horton. Stop talking, stop talking, we'll just put it in, we'll just put it in!"

"You guys know what's good for you..." The dwarf nodded with his arms crossed, then roared at a fat merchant, "Come in quickly and deliver this to the city lord's mansion... My child can't wait to be born..."

Charles, who was being yelled at by the dwarf, looked momentarily bewildered.

He had no idea what the hot-tempered, bearded dwarf had ordered from him.

However, his years of business experience and keen observation skills led him to notice that the dwarf's gaze was occasionally glancing behind him, which gave him some clues.

"Yes...yes, Master Horton ..." he said.

Then he called out to the servants and steward, whipping the rickety horse to pull the carriage into the vehicle.

"Horton is apologizing!"

Vesemir, leading his horse and hiding behind the caravan's wagons, subtly tapped his Black Wide-brimmed Hat as he passed an impatient-looking dwarf.

"He rarely participated in Phrygian politics, let alone interfered with the guards sent by the king to inspect spies and caravans at the city gates."

Horton Qui-Gon may sound like the lord of Fergen, but in reality, the title of lord is merely a courtesy bestowed by Demavend II; the actual work is done by humans sent by the king.

At this moment.

The captain of the guard, who had been rendered speechless by the rebuke, was clutching a badge-like magical artifact and cautiously observing the people in the caravan, before glancing at the dwarf who kept urging him on and looked guilty.

Obviously.

He was suspicious of Horton.

"That's how dwarves are. They never apologize, but when they do something wrong, they'll try their best to make amends." Vesemir smiled helplessly.

"Will Horton be alright?" Ailin glanced at the captain of the guard out of the corner of his eye.

The man summoned several of his men and whispered among himself, instructing them to deliver messages to the checkpoints ahead and to the king.

"Demavend II values him highly, so he should be fine," Vesemir said. "Besides, once we deal with the Greater Griffin, Demavend II will be even less likely to blame us."

After a pause, Vesemir looked away and whispered:

"Ailin, as long as the Greater Griffin disappears, even if no one sees it, someone in Ard will definitely guess that it was us. In that case... will we really be safe?"

"As long as we don't get discovered, that's enough." Ailin held the reins, his mouth slightly opening and closing. "Greater Griffin aren't common monsters. It's normal for them to appear and disappear suddenly."

"As long as we don't announce it ourselves, no one can be sure that the Greater Griffin was hunted by us."

Vesemir nodded, but a sense of unease still lingered in his eyes.

In response to this.

Ailin didn't try to persuade him any further. The fact that Vesemir could go against his principles that he had upheld for hundreds of years and listen to him to hunt the Greater Griffin had already far exceeded his expectations.

Of course, he did have a more convincing reason, but it wasn't appropriate to explain it to the Witcher Master.

As long as they are not discovered, and even if they are discovered, as long as they do not admit it, it is almost certain that they will not cause the trouble that Vesemir imagined.

after all...

Who could have imagined...? Who would have believed it...?

The School of the Wolf, which has always been upright and neutral, secretly risked its life to eliminate a Greater Griffin in order to prevent the bloody war from ending prematurely.

Since the caravan was already under suspicion, after unloading part of the Giant Ghoul's remains at Horton Qui-Gon's stone house, Charles consulted with Ailin and Vesemir before leaving Fergen.

Halfway there, the witchers separated from the caravan, which also allowed Charles and Ryan's men to draw the guards' attention away.

However, even if the people of Ard knew about the Witcher's whereabouts, it wouldn't be a big deal.

It's not like we're in Kedwen, where we have to be constantly on guard against wizards and nobles using war to eliminate them.

In Ard, the most extreme thing Demavend II could do was force them to hunt Greater Griffin.

certainly.

It's always better to be able to conceal one's identity.

After descending the mountain, they came to a three-way intersection, where Vesemir was trying to determine which way to go.

Vesemir raised his index finger to indicate the road ahead, displaying his Black Wide-brimmed Hat.

"There's a village not far ahead. Let's rest there for a day before setting off again."

What do you think?

Ailin, of course, had no objections.

Having already penetrated deep into Ard's territory, there was no need to continue traveling day and night as before.

Even if Ban Ade's male witches are insane, can they still track them down to enemy territory?

Tsk tsk...

If a sorcerer were foolish enough to chase after Ard, the roles of hunter and prey might actually be reversed.

"Okay, let's rest for a day and recharge."

As soon as Ailin finished speaking, the weary young witcher cheered.

"Great! Life down the mountain is no place for a witcher. I haven't had a shower in ten days."

"Yes, the blood blisters on my inner thighs keep coming back after I pop them. It's so painful."

"Me too, every day on horseback feels like an eternity..."

"I've been meditating every day, and I haven't slept well for days..."

Vesemir's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, and upon hearing the last complaint, he could no longer contain himself and rebuked:

"Even if I find a place to rest, I can't stop meditating. As long as I'm not in Kaer Morhen, I must replace sleep with meditation..."

"Forgot what I told you? Many of the School of the Wolf's demon hunters died because they let their guard down in the wild..."

"Eric was killed by the Swamp Hag at night in Goth Velen, Tranwell roared out the spirits of the night in Monta Carvo, Riedania, and Eramoth even had his throat bitten out by several wolves..."

Blah blah blah, Vesemir was going on and on.

The young witchers complained, casting disapproving glances at the young witcher who had mentioned meditation.

If you want to sleep, just go to sleep quietly when the time comes. Why tell everyone?

The town of Dole wasn't far away, and the group, laughing and joking, settled into a hotel in the town before noon.

After lunch, Ailin didn't rest immediately. Instead, he went to the herbalist in town and bought a few bottles of Dog Oil and a few white crape myrtle plants.

Mixed Beast Oil is not a commonly used type of Sword Oil. Although I made a few bottles when I first obtained the recipe, it was not enough for nine witchers.

certainly.

The Greater Griffin, after all, a large flying monster second only to the dragon among large monsters, and Ailin and Vesemir did not intend to bring other monster hunters along, as that would be too dangerous.

However, some preparations must be made to prevent them from being helpless if they unexpectedly encounter Greater Griffin.

Preparing everything before the hunt is a virtue that every witcher should keep in mind.

Unfortunately, he hasn't yet discovered the recipe for the Honeycomb Bomb, otherwise he could have gathered all three official weaknesses of the Greater Griffin in the game: the Honeycomb Bomb, Mixed Beast Oil, and the Alde Sign.

The refining of Mixed Beast Oil is very easy and requires very low skill.

To avoid trouble, Ailin spent a dozen copper coins to borrow a crucible and finished refining all the Sword Oil in the herbalist's hut before returning to the inn.

"Bang!"

The wooden door was gently closed.

The room's soundproofing was poor, and shouts could be heard coming from the walls.

"Aias, Hugh, Kray ...tsk tsk...looks like Aias is going to be in trouble again." After listening for a few seconds, Ailin's lips curled into a smile.

After a quick cleanse to wash away the fatigue of the past few days, the Witcher opened his Witcher's Handbook with a thought.

[Loot obtained: Giant Ghoul Heart Essence Fluid *1, Ghoul Heart Essence Fluid *37, Rotfiend Heart Essence Fluid *8, Experience Orbs *12, Giant Ghoul's Chest *5, Ghoul's Chest *5, Rotfiend's Chest *5]

Yesterday, after rescuing Charles's caravan from the ghouls in the old battlefield, I only glanced at the battle evaluation before spending 1,500 Combat Points upgrade the Quen Sign of the three young hunters, excluding Ernie and Klar, to LV3.

Other gains haven't been sorted out yet because there were outsiders around.

"The Heart Essence Fluid of the Rotfiend?"

After opening the system notification, Ailin glanced at it and his gaze immediately froze.

When he was reading the evaluation of the campaign, he hadn't noticed that the Rotfiend had also left behind Heart Essence Fluid.

"This is outrageous. The Rotfiend even self-destructed in the end, so how was the Heart Essence Fluid extracted?"

Ailin's words are utterly incomprehensible.

The Heart Essence Fluid and Purification Spirit are not generated from the void; they all originate from the slain monsters themselves.

He had tried it.

Purification Spirit are generated immediately and in an unknown way when a ghost-like monster is killed.

However, the Heart Essence Fluid is only extracted after the settlement process.

With Ailin's current permissions, he can also choose not to withdraw funds for a short period of time during settlement.

What is the deal with the Rotfiend?

The Witcher's Handbook pieced together the fragments left on the ground and the Rotfiend's body fluids.

The thought of this possibility made the Witcher feel nauseous, recalling the Rotfiend.

"Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. The Witcher's Handbook has more than just this one secret."

Ailin shook his head, suppressing his nausea, and with a thought, consumed all the Heart Essence Fluid the Rotfiend's heart.

really.

The Rotfiend such that even its Heart Essence Fluid is foul.

The moment the Essence Fluid entered his throat, the Witcher almost vomited, as if he had swallowed an old, stinky sock wrapped with a rotten egg.

After finding no problems with one Rotfiend's Heart Essence Fluid, Ailin gritted his teeth and used all seven doses of the remaining Rotfiend's Heart Essence Fluid.

moment.

It felt like hundreds of rotten eggs had been smashed in my stomach.

The Witcher was so startled that he immediately held his breath to resist the intense nausea rising up inside him.

"Grass!"

He kept his mouth tightly shut, holding his breath, and cursing inwardly.

Then, with a thought, I saw the attribute change the instant.

The Witcher's expression immediately became twisted and complicated.

Name: Ailin

[Level: 50]

[HP: 100%, Stamina: 610/610, MP: 780/780]

[Attributes: Strength 66, Agility 61, Constitution 61 (-4), Perception 75, Mysticism 78]

[Affinity: Water 15 (Magic Source - Water 5%), Earth 10 (Magic Source - Earth 0%), Wind 9, Fire 6 (+2), Space 2]

The attribute not only did not increase, but actually decreased by four points.

But!

But!

The Heart Essence Fluid the Rotfiend's heart can actually increase Elemental Affinity!

Although eight portions of Essence Fluid only increase it by two points, this is Elemental Affinity!

Apart from the One-Eyed Nekker's Purification Spirit and the Ghoul-Troll Spirit's Purification Spirit, which can increase all four elements on average, none of the other large monsters Ailin encountered could increase Elemental Affinity.

Besides, the Rotfiend isn't even a large monster.

For the first time this year, the Witcher has seen a glimmer of hope for a four- Elemental Affinity exceeding ten points.

I wonder if there will be any strange effects after all four magic elements exceed ten points...

Overall, it's worth trading four points of Constitution for two points of Elemental Affinity!

But the next problem is...

"Based on the maximum attribute boost from twenty portions of ordinary monsters, I'll need to find twelve more Rotfiend and eat another twelve portions..."

The Rotfiend is alright; although rare, it's still possible to find one. But the last one...

The lingering stench in his esophagus made Ailin's face turn slightly pale, and he quickly made a mental effort.

[Use Giant Ghoul Heart Essence Fluid *1?]

A cold liquid immediately rushed into my throat.

As it slides down the esophagus, it is continuously absorbed by the inner wall, which also washes away the faint, nauseating odor.

Before it could flow into the stomach, it had already turned into a warm current that spread throughout the body.

[HP: 100%, Stamina: 640/640, MP: 780/780]

[Attributes: Strength 69 (+3), Agility 61, Constitution 64 (+3), Perception 75, Mysticism 78]

[Affinity: Water 15 (Magic Source - Water 5%), Earth 11 (Magic Source - Earth 1%) (+1), Wind 9, Fire 6, Space 2]

"Phew~"

The stench from the Rotfiend's Essence Fluid was washed away, and the Witcher breathed a sigh of relief, turning his attention back to his loot.

"Twelve more Experience Orbs... I now have ninety-eight Experience Orbs, just two short, or..." He opened his inventory and glanced at the number of Lesser Experience Orbs, "Or I can gather another one hundred and twenty Lesser Experience Orbs to reach one hundred Experience Orbs and unlock the next roar in the Roar Path—[Beast Roar: Life Whisper]."

"Two experience points are easier to accumulate," he thought. "I wonder what kind of raid rating I'll get for capturing the Greater Griffin..."

As for the remaining chests of Giant Ghoul, Rotfiend, and Ghoul's Chest, let's collect them first and then fly directly to the Temple of Melitele to open them after we catch the Greater Griffin.

After taking stock of his gains, the Witcher, filled with anticipation for the next mastery of the Path of the Beast Roar, put away his Witcher's Handbook.

The room's window faces north.

The scorching summer sunlight slanted through the wooden window frames, illuminating every speck of dust in the air inside the room.

As the Witcher's gaze passed through the window and landed on the distant Blue Mountains, a question suddenly occurred to him.

Almost a week has passed, has Wild Hunt gone to Ban Ad yet?