Can I Keep These Three Drowners?

"Ah!"

Another scream rang out.

The second apprentice, Bont, was also sent off the field by Leto.

This time, Ailin saw everything clearly.

Bont struck the drowner twice, but neither blow broke through its defenses.

In his panic, he attempted a simple spinning slash, yet his feet seemed to knot together.

He staggered crookedly and nearly tripped over himself.

Seizing the opportunity, the drowner swatted aside the steel sword coming at it with one claw, then lunged straight at Bont's sideways body.

Bang!

Bont was instantly knocked down by the drowner. His right arm hit the ground and fractured.

Next, Ailin saw Vesemir rush forward and kick the drowner away.

Leto immediately picked up the apprentice and carried him to the edge of the field.

"Phew..."

When Apprentice Bont fell, the witchers around them all let out a long breath.

"Now that's more like it. I nearly thought the White Gull Potion recipe had been changed." The witcher in a gray cloak leaned against the wooden railing and sighed.

"Didn't the School Head say something about... Witcher's Eye?" replied the blond witcher with his arms folded.

"Witcher's Eye. Are you planning to visit the library too?" The gray-cloaked witcher raised an eyebrow and said softly.

At that, the blond witcher quickly dropped his folded arms. He secretly glanced at the School Head watching from against the wall nearby, then shook his head.

"What witcher goes to the library for no reason?"

"With that time, I might as well give my sword a proper polish."

Then, seemingly curious about Ailin, the blond witcher secretly looked at Ailin's eyes and asked the cloaked witcher:

"Is Witcher's Eye really that impressive?"

"Have you ever heard of it before?"

"No matter how I look at it, this apprentice's eyes seem completely ordinary. They're just a normal pair of blue Cat Eyes."

The gray-cloaked witcher did not even turn his head. "So you think the School Head was lying?"

"How could I? I'm just curious, that's all..."

The blond witcher shook his head repeatedly and hurriedly shifted the topic to the next apprentice in the practical test.

Listening to the discussions around him, Ailin sighed in relief.

It was uncomfortable to become the center of discussion like some rare beast.

But compared to gaining a layer of disguise from the system, that discomfort was hardly worth mentioning.

Still, judging by the situation, Ailin needed to look through the library for records of Witcher's Eye, just in case it exposed a flaw in the future.

"The last one, Huus."

Vesemir's voice rang out.

Huus's head jerked sharply. After looking at the miserable states of the first and second apprentices, he stood up hesitantly.

He took the steel sword from Leto and walked toward Vesemir.

In the training ground, as Huus approached, Vesemir casually sidestepped the drowner's attack and headed toward the edge of the field without looking back.

Monsters like drowners had no brains. They only attacked the nearest enemy in sight.

As long as he timed it right and let it see the approaching apprentice, its hostility would naturally shift.

Drowners really are the best choice for practical lessons!

Vesemir sighed inwardly.

Suddenly,

Vesemir's sharp senses caught the sound of hurried footsteps behind him.

Just as he was about to turn around, a figure who absolutely should not have been there darted out from his left—witcher apprentice Huus.

Vesemir:?

A thought flashed through his mind.

The apprentice had run away. What about the drowner he was fighting?

Vesemir spun around at once.

The drowner was already close enough for Vesemir to smell the stench in its mouth.

In his urgency, Vesemir instinctively raised his right hand and swiftly made a gesture toward the drowner.

Alde Sign.

A violent shockwave kicked up a huge cloud of sand and dust across the training ground.

The drowner's strange blue skin rippled like a lake swept by gale-force winds.

Then, in the next instant, it smashed through the training ground's wooden fence and flew through dust and splintered wood toward the Chief of the School of the Wolf, who was resting against the wall with his eyes closed.

A moment later, the dust settled.

Ailin saw the drowner hanging on the wall, dead or alive unknown.

The School Head, meanwhile, was completely unharmed. Not even dust or debris seemed to have touched his red Cotton Armor.

"Huus!"

"What are you doing?"

Vesemir roared.

A pale yellow glow formed a spherical protective barrier around him.

Yes, after using the Alde Sign, Vesemir had followed it up with a Quen Sign in an instant.

This Sign could form a magical shield around a witcher and absorb physical damage.

Ailin saw it clearly. Less than a second had passed between Vesemir casting the two Signs.

An impressive application of Signs.

Yet Vesemir was not pleased by it. Instead, his face darkened.

The witchers outside the apprentice training ground also fell silent.

They had all seen it: the witcher apprentice named Huus had only thrust his sword once before fleeing in panic from a drowner still two or three steps away.

"I want to switch to a silver sword." Huus cowered behind Ailin.

Vesemir dismissed the Quen Shield with some speechlessness.

Why were all the apprentices in this class so strange?

If you wanted to switch to a silver sword, then say so!

What did it mean to just run away without saying a word?

With the drowner hanging from the wall, dead or alive unknown, Vesemir simply opened a new cage.

He sidestepped its attack, raised his hand, and formed the Alde Sign.

The drowner was smoothly pushed into the middle of the field by the telekinetic wave.

Following Ailin's example, Huus took advantage of the drowner's unsteady footing.

He charged forward, spun, and slashed.

It was just as underhanded as Ailin's move.

Splat!

Silver light flashed.

Then black-red blood, thick as muddy sludge, gushed from the drowner's back.

As expected of Ailin. His strike-first strategy really was incredibly effective.

Huus praised him inwardly.

Although Ailin had seemed distracted during the lesson, the ability to multitask that he had honed in meetings in his previous life meant he had not missed a single point of knowledge.

His familiarity with the drowner's attack patterns and ways to counter them was all reflected in battle.

That was also the main reason Vesemir had been willing to give him some leeway and let him switch swords midway, aside from his skilled swordsmanship.

But Huus had truly not listened to a thing. Hiding behind Ailin, he had slept through almost the entire lesson.

Therefore,

Even after switching to a silver sword, he still cautiously copied Ailin's successful demonstration.

After succeeding with one move, Huus did not retreat a single step. He raised his silver sword as Ailin had done, ready to behead the drowner.

Yet he had not expected that the badly wounded drowner would not weaken at all. Instead, it suddenly accelerated.

"Watch out!"

Ailin shouted.

Hearing him, Huus instinctively stepped back and dodged the drowner's sharp claw.

Then he slashed downward.

The blade swept past, and the drowner's head flew up.

"That was a decent strike," Leto commented sharply. "Too bad it wasn't worth 17,325 Oren."

Vesemir shot Leto a vicious glare.

Without even taking off his gear, Huus hurried over and looked at Ailin gratefully.

"Ailin, I really owe you for that!"

If Ailin had not warned him, Huus would have at least another scar on his face by now.

Ailin nodded. "Don't mention it. We're friends."

For the encouragement Huus had offered when no one else trusted him, Ailin had to look out for him.

Once Huus dealt with the drowner, today's practical lesson was considered over.

Vesemir directed the apprentices who could still move to clean up the training ground.

Leto patted the unused cages and asked, "Vesemir, what should we do with the remaining three drowners?"

"We won't need them for tomorrow's Signs lesson. Just dispose of them." Vesemir waved a hand casually.

There were plenty of drowners. They could always catch more when needed.

"Fine, then I..."

Leto shrugged and was about to move the cages away.

"Wait!"

"Can I keep these three drowners?"

New author, new book—please keep reading, recommend it, and add it to your collection! The internal submission has passed, so please feel free to invest!