Otolan's True Colors! A Shortcut to Group Battle Cries!

An unnamed mountain valley in Mahakam.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Below the slope, swords flashed and shadows danced, seven figures weaving nimbly among the demons, blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Ghoul and Rotfiend were beheaded amidst the silver blades and crimson sparks.

Vesemir and Ailin stood side by side on the steep slope, watching the young witchers fighting below.

After several days of hunting, as long as they don't encounter Giant Ghoul or Spiked Fiend, Ernie and his companions are now fully capable of hunting large groups of ghouls on their own.

Fighting alone, each person can easily take down three Ghoul.

Working together, the seven of them can even handle a horde of more than fifty carnivorous creatures.

If they occasionally encounter a lone Giant Ghoul, the seven of them can look after each other and divide the tasks to try.

Although there are no kills yet, this improvement should not be underestimated.

According to Vesemir, if it weren't for their lack of common sense and their proficiency only in dealing with these few carnivorous creatures, Ernie and his companions would be more than capable of venturing into the Northern Continent on their own.

However, on the other hand, hunting monsters is not much different from doing exercises.

With just a few monsters fed to him every day, and two Witcher Master watching over him, it was like doing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division every day, with a highly qualified teacher correcting his mistakes. Naturally, his improvement was rapid.

Not to mention, they also have Ailin as a cheat code to quickly improve their skill level.

If it were another monster, it might not be able to handle it so easily.

Of course, this cannot negate the improvement of Ernie and the others. After all, most of the monsters on the Northern Continent are actually ghouls, and they don't have many strange methods such as biting and scratching.

Once you understand one thing, you understand everything.

In addition, the courage and aura when facing large groups of monsters always increase with familiarity. Witchers originally relied on monsters one by one to hone their strength.

Once this wave of ghouls created by the Summoning Ritual and the Monster's Nest is dealt with, Ailin will be more willing to bring them along in high-intensity, large-scale battles to alleviate the pressure.

"Those brats are really lucky!" Vesemir said with a mixture of relief and envy.

If he had a commander like that back then, he would have...

Instinctively, I interrupted the slight envy I felt for the lack of respectability from my elders.

These past few days, watching his young witchers improve rapidly and carefree has involuntarily reminded Vesemir of his youth, many times.

But this is really hard to avoid.

Ailin had given him the same feeling before, but Ailin was a monster, and he knew he couldn't compare.

Moreover, Ailin was all alone, and she always had a furrowed brow, looking preoccupied and unhappy.

But there were seven of them, including Ernie, who were always hanging around in front of him, acting carefree, happy, and playful, which always reminded him of the past.

After all, most of the witchers who have just passed through several hellish trials and are now able to descend the mountain are like this.

He was no exception.

In the profession of witcher, income, lifestyle, and reputation are always related to strength.

He estimated that, given the rate at which Ernie and the others were improving their skills, they might be able to hunt a large monster on their own in less than ten years and become a Witcher Master.

Vesemir's current achievements far surpass those of these young witchers, but achievements gained in youth due to strength are always different from those gained later in life.

Ten years!

These young witchers, no more than twenty-three or twenty-four, have already reached the pinnacle of the witcher profession...

What does this even mean?!

He was almost fifty when he received the title of the youngest Witcher Master.

For an ordinary human being, with the lifespan of a commoner, they would be almost dead by now.

Vesemir didn't know how to describe this feeling, but if he were a time traveler like Ailin, he might say, "One should become famous as early as possible; if it comes too late, the joy is not so great."

Well, everyone has their own destiny, and we can't force things.

Vesemir shook his head.

When he first came down the mountain, although he improved more slowly under Soyer's tutelage, the monsters he faced were also weaker. He only had three or four commissions a month, and killing ten or so water ghosts was already considered too much work.

Unlike now, in the last two or three days, Spencer, who has hunted the fewest Ghoul, has killed at least twenty.

Besides, who doesn't know why the Chief agreed to Ailin forming the Witcher Company?

With a deep sigh, Vesemir noticed that Ailin hadn't responded to him, and turned his head to look at him.

The boy carrying two swords had clearly forgotten to shave in the morning; his jawline was sharp, his brows furrowed, and his blue eyes, clearer than Killer Lake, were fixed on the battle below the slope.

But his eyes were clearly empty, showing no interest in anything in sight.

"Ailin..."

"Ailin!"

Vesemir called out softly twice more before Ailin came to his senses.

The Cat Eyes narrowed, and it first stared intently down the slope. Seeing that Ernie and the others were not in any danger, it turned its head and looked at Vesemir with a puzzled expression.

"Still thinking about Ban Ad?" Vesemir asked.

Ailin nodded slightly.

The morning session at Tissaia de Veris was very fruitful, but the details of the collaboration between Senne, Otolan, and the Riesberg Group Civil Cooperative remain to be explored.

in addition.

After leaving Tissaia de Veres's residence, Otolan's unusual attention to him made him feel more and more as if a venomous snake was lurking in the grass, sending chills down his spine.

He did not suspect that Tissaia de Veres was covering up the truth for Otolan.

Tissaia de Veres is considered quite reliable, both in the original novel and in real life.

Moreover, Ailin asked the question hastily, and she had no need to cover up or embellish Otolan.

However, Ailin also didn't think that Otolan was really as harmless as she claimed.

He didn't think much of what "just like an older, playful kid" meant at the time, but the more he thought about it, the more horrified he became.

The terrifying power of a cunning and treacherous villain has its limits, but the evil deeds of a spoiled child have no boundaries...

Especially when this brat holds the world's top power, money, and strength.

You know what?

In the original novel, Otolan was indeed described as a bratty kid who couldn't distinguish between good and evil.

Moreover, although Tissaia de Veres is a good person, has she really seen through Otolan's true colors?

It's important to know that in the original story, throughout the entire Thanedd Coup, despite possessing immense magical power and spellcasting skills, she was kept completely in the dark by Vilgefortz and Philippa Ehrhardt.

Shortly thereafter, he was stabbed in the back by Vilgefortz, whom he had just rescued.

After escaping from Thanedd Island and living in seclusion, he was betrayed by his servants and ultimately committed suicide, dying in despair.

Therefore, Tissaia de Veres was an honest and law-abiding Sorceress, but lacked the ability to judge character.

Her words can only be taken as a reference, as a reference for the image that Otolan deliberately creates to the outside world.

certainly.

Besides his concern about the unusual focus on Otolan, Ailin was also pondering how the temple should respond to the Ban Ade incident.

Although Tissaia de Veres answered all her questions in the morning, there were still some crucial questions that Ailin and Vesemir could not ask due to Tissaia de Veres's status.

For example, could Otolan be eyeing Ben Ade's assets, which is why he's helping Senne at this crucial moment?

For example, did Otolan have some unknown grudge against Henry Gedimidis?

But these issues are extremely crucial, pointing to the core.

Ailin tried to piece together some answers from Tissaia de Veres's responses that morning.

"If only Lady Vesemir were here," he sighed inwardly. "She would probably know quite a lot, and unlike Tissaia de Veris, she wouldn't have to hold back when asking questions, and could even offer some valuable advice."

"It's a pity she just went to Toussaint, and whatever happens, she probably won't be back in Kaer Morhen for another month or two."

After a moment of silence, a thought inexplicably popped into Ailin's mind.

"The lovebird's other half should actually be Vesemir..."

"Ailin," Vesemir interrupted him.

The Witcher Master looked at the man before him with pity, his face etched with worry, so unlike any other young Witcher. He ruffled the man's hair and sighed, "Why are you, a Witcher Master just came down from the mountain, worrying so much about the school?"

"Senne is threatening to leave, so what if we let him go?"

"Although Chieftain Soyer is unwilling to relocate the school, it doesn't mean that the wizards of Ban Ade have fled. We must all hold fast to Kaer Morhen."

"The School of the Wolf only has about seventy or eighty people. At worst, they can go to the School of the Griffin's Kaer Seren for a few years, or even not stay together for the winter..."

Vesemir paused, then forced out two words through his teeth:

"Alright..."

Well...

That is indeed one approach...

but...

Is that possible?

Ailin nodded and said, "I know. Ernie have improved their strength, so we don't need to keep a close eye on them. We can just think about them occasionally; it won't take much effort."

"Yes," Vesemir nodded. "You've only just recovered from your weakness, don't overexert yourself."

"Otherwise, Nannick will start nagging me again. You have no idea what that girl's mouth was like yesterday..."

Ailin looked up at Vesemir, who was grumbling like a little old man, and felt a warmth in his heart. He was about to say something.

"Bite!"

[Slay the monster horde "Ghoul" LV8 and "Rotfiend" LV27!]

[Reward Settlement:...]

Final rating: D (Loot Lock)

[Loot obtained: 29 Ghoul Heart Essence Fluid, 8 Rotfiend Heart Essence Fluid, 3 Lesser Experience Orbs, 2 Ghoul's Chest, 2 Rotfiend's Chest]

[Gained 610 Combat Points]

A barrage of System Notification interrupted him.

Ailin subconsciously looked into the ravine.

Heads rolled across the dark green grass, splattering foul-smelling blood everywhere.

For some reason, young demon hunters all preferred to emulate his method of beheading monsters, rather than severing tendons, cutting limbs, and bleeding them out like Vesemir did, gradually eliminating the monster threat.

He beheaded monsters partly because he was used to using the [Demon Hunter] skill frequently, and partly to improve his "decapitation deterrence" score at the end of the battle, which had practical significance.

But to be honest.

Vesemir's method for dealing with monsters is the right way, and it's also the most efficient.

Unfortunately, Ailin and Vesemir had told Ernie and the others many times, but they just wouldn't listen.

People are more cautious when encountering unfamiliar monsters, but when it comes to familiar monsters like Ghoul, they compete with each other in terms of the proportion and number of decapitations.

Otherwise, the battle could have ended at least ten minutes earlier.

However, after saying it a few times, Ailin got tired of it.

In Vesemir's words, "They'll change when they really suffer losses."

Ailin trusted Vesemir because at the time he had said, "Don't worry, I'm experienced."

I don't know if Vesemir's "experience" refers to having suffered a lot of losses or having taught many stubborn witchers like him.

"Ernie, how many are you this time?"

"Seven were killed, seven were beheaded, and what about you, Spencer?"

"Four were killed, and two were beheaded..."

"Aias, you... how come there are only two, and they are both..." Kray looked at the mutilated limbs on the ground with an incredulous expression, and approached Aias.

Aias blushed, but instead of answering, he looked up and glared at Klar.

Klar ignored Aias, humming a tune she'd somehow heard or made up herself, with lyrics like "Avenge is a must" and "Big mouths die," and shouted towards Ailin:

"Captain, where shall we hunt next?"

"Should we search for the ghouls ourselves?"

After speaking.

The young witchers stopped their playful banter and looked nervously at Ailin.

Following the method Vesemir taught for finding traces of monsters, he diligently followed the chaotic, indistinguishable marks of monsters or animals, step by step, without being interrupted by the sudden appearance of depressions or waterways...

Use your keen sense of smell to search for the stench, bodily fluids, and food scraps of carnivorous creatures...

But that's nowhere near as satisfying as the guild leader closing his eyes, humming a couple of times, pointing in a direction, and then charging straight in to start the killing spree.

Upon hearing this, Ailin ignored the grudges and affections between the young witchers, and even the anticipation written all over their faces, and looked up at the sky.

The blazing sun, its rays like melting gold, hung high in the sky; dusk was still a while away.

Ailin made a mental assessment and shook his head. "Neither. Today's hunt is over. Process the materials and come over quickly."

"Huh?" The young witchers looked up at the sun almost simultaneously and exclaimed in unison.

They usually hunt until almost sunset, and sometimes even after sunset, to train their ability to fight at night using the Cat Eye Potion.

Why did you finish work so early today?

However, after a moment of surprise, no young demon hunter dared to ask any further questions, fearing that if they did, the leader might suddenly retract the order.

Who would want to work if they could steal a day off from their busy schedule?

But if they don't ask, someone else will.

Vesemir glanced at the sky, then leaned closer to Ailin and asked in confusion, "Is this the end of the day?"

"The hunt for ghouls is over." Ailin nodded, then paused for a moment before adding uncertainly:

"I may have found a way to teach you battle cries quickly."

Vesemir:

"?"

".

"!!!"