Ailin, Dead?

The instant the Drowners King's gaze locked onto him, its intense killing intent made the Witcher Apprentice feel as though he stood amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

A chill seeped straight from his tailbone to his scalp.

Yet to the astonishment of the tense and wary Ailin, this hulking monstrosity did not charge directly at Vesemir or Ailin.

Instead, it tilted its head strangely, as if surveying the environment around it.

"Ailin, there's something wrong with this monster!" Vesemir silently moved closer to Ailin. "Be careful in a moment. If anything seems off, find a chance to run..."

"Gwaa!"

Before Vesemir could finish, the Drowners King roared again.

A blue film of light suddenly appeared over the monster's powerful, developed muscles.

"Buzz!"

The Witcher Master's School Emblem let out a hum loud enough for even Ailin to hear.

"Is that magic... a shield?" Ailin asked uncertainly.

Aside from the color, the blue film looked remarkably similar to a Quen Shield.

But how was that possible?

Vesemir's expression turned grave. He did not immediately answer his apprentice's question, instead focusing intently on every movement of the Drowners King.

"Gwaa~ Gwaaa~ Gwaa..."

The Drowners King's blood-filled maw opened and closed slightly.

Deep, distinct roars emerged from it, as though it were chanting some kind of spell.

Gradually, glowing Pale Blue Light Dots appeared from the void and swiftly gathered around the colossal creature.

Its blood-red fins seemed to breathe in the light dots, flickering in a steady rhythm.

Ailin stared blankly for a moment.

That regular rhythm, that chant drawing upon the magic in the environment...

What was it doing?

Chanting magic?

The Witcher Apprentice stared dumbly at the Drowners King's humanoid, massive build and its powerful, developed muscles...

On any creature, that was the textbook physique of a melee fighter.

And now he was being told it was actually a mage too?

Besides.

Weren't drowners supposed to be mindless?

Even the Axii mind sign was ineffective against such monsters.

How could such a purely chaotic creature master magic with such strong patterns?

Could it be that the Drowners King and ordinary drowners were not of the same species, but that the Drowners King was simply an entirely new species?

In an instant, countless questions flooded his mind.

"Ailin, protect yourself!"

Seeing the Drowners King's abnormal behavior, Vesemir's expression changed drastically. After leaving that warning, he rushed toward the monster that was poised to strike.

Whether it was magic or not, the most crucial thing in a battle was to interrupt the enemy's intentions.

Since the monster appeared to be gathering magic, he absolutely could not let it succeed.

Ailin did not remain where he was either. One step behind Vesemir, he charged at the Drowners King as well.

"No!"

After rushing forward a few steps, Ailin abruptly stopped and began moving around the monster in an irregular pattern.

But no matter how erratic his movements were, the Drowners King's gaze remained firmly fixed on him.

Ailin had been locked on.

"Ailin, watch out!"

Vesemir noticed it too, but he had already reached the Drowners King and had no time to turn back and save him.

Instead, he stimulated the Mutated Organs inside the body to their limit, squeezing out as much magic as possible.

Alde Sign!

A violent telekinetic wave burst from the Witcher Master's palm. Even the air twisted in the direction of his outstretched right hand.

He intended to use the Sign to interrupt the monster's next attack.

It was an excellent reaction in the heat of battle.

Unfortunately, the massive monster did not budge. It ignored the surging shockwave and continued gathering energy.

Sure enough, the telekinetic wave powerful enough to distort the air only made the blue film flicker once.

Vesemir's expression changed sharply. He suddenly turned his head and shouted at the Witcher Apprentice:

"Ailin, run!"

Every hair on Ailin's body stood on end as he sprinted desperately toward the cave entrance.

The flames lit by the Witcher Master had not yet gone out, but the Witcher Apprentice could no longer care about that.

His intense sense of danger told him that if he failed to evade the Drowners King's attack, death was his only outcome.

Without slowing down, Ailin summoned the Witcher's Handbook with a thought. Ignoring the fact that Quen could only absorb physical damage and could not withstand magic, he frantically poured points into the Quen Sign.

Ding! Your skill: Quen Sign LV1 has been upgraded to Quen Sign LV3 (0/2500)

Ding! Your level has increased to level 10. You have gained 1 Special Skill Point

Before the threat of life and death, Ailin could no longer afford to save his Lesser Experience Orbs.

If the Witcher's Handbook had not informed him that upgrading from LV3 to LV4 required his mystery value to exceed 10 points, Ailin would have spent every Lesser Experience Orb he had.

Magic instantly flowed through his body. He curled his thumb and index finger slightly, tracing a triangle in the air before him.

Quen Sign.

"Buzz!"

A clear chime rang out.

Pale golden light flashed across the brown leather armor.

After reaching Lv3, Ailin felt that Quen's casting time had been reduced by at least half.

It had originally taken around ten seconds to successfully form the Sign, but now it took at least five seconds less.

The shield's structure had also undergone extensive optimization.

It was not merely the shield's color that had changed, from nearly transparent pale yellow to translucent pale gold.

Its protective effect had increased by at least twofold. The physical shield that had originally been able to absorb only two heavy blows from a drowner could now withstand at least six.

And it had gained a new structure as well.

This structure made the shield burst outward when it shattered, creating a powerful shockwave in an instant.

However, the Witcher Apprentice's mystery value was still too low.

At present, the shockwave could at most shove away a monster with the weight of a drowner.

The cave entrance was already close. Ailin could even see the bright sunlight streaming into the cave.

Hope was right in front of him.

Ailin encouraged himself, yet a thick, heavy gloom lay hidden in his heart.

A Drowners King capable of chanting magic definitely possessed intelligence. Would it truly watch Ailin escape the cave entrance so easily?

"Less than ten meters!"

Ailin could already clearly see the cracks at the edge of the cave entrance caused by the earthquake.

"Buzz!"

A crisp sound came from behind him.

Like a frozen lake suddenly cracking in the depths of winter.

"Whoosh!"

Before Ailin could shift his gaze from the stone wall to the Drowners King—

An unknown gust of wind carrying bone-piercing cold swept over him, making him shudder instantly.

The Witcher Apprentice whipped around.

What entered his vision was not the Drowners King's massive body, but a huge blue-glowing Ice Spike.

Before he could react—

Boom!

The enormous Ice Spike pierced straight through the Witcher Apprentice's chest without resistance and slammed heavily into the ground.

The hard slate floor was instantly blasted into a massive crater.

The rock shattered into powder, while the Ice Spike exploded in an instant into countless blue-glowing Ice Crystals that filled the entire cave in the blink of an eye.

For a moment, it seemed as though luminous snow was falling inside the cave.

New author, new book. Please keep reading, comment, bookmark, and vote with monthly tickets!

Thanks to readers "Pastoral Scenery," "Nonexistent Reader," "Caries Bing," and "Take a Look Then Add It" for their monthly tickets.