Water Ghost

After searching for herbs in the bushes all day, as dusk approached, the two men and a horse arrived near a river, ten feet (3 meters) wide, with an unseen end and murky water. Letho suddenly stopped, his amber pupils narrowing to slits. Roy looked at his back, thinking of a feline animal tensing its body when startled, just a much larger version.

"What's wrong? Is this place dangerous?"

Letho signaled him to be quiet, then tiptoed and glided like a phantom towards the riverbank. He picked up a blue scale from between the pebbles on the shore, sniffed it, and quickly retreated.

"It seems we need to find a place to camp further away. There's something nasty in the river."

"You mean..." Roy looked at the murky surface of the river, his whole body starting to get excited.

"There are Water Ghosts hiding in the river..." Letho dropped the scale into his palm. "Take a look. Water Ghost scales are different from ordinary fish scales; they're thicker, with a small protrusion in the center. You can also smell the stench of rotting corpses from it."

Perhaps his Perception wasn't high enough, or his sense of smell wasn't keen enough, but Roy couldn't smell anything.

He lowered his head and walked a distance away from the river with Letho, then suddenly patted the wall-like back of the other man and said hesitantly, "Master Letho, could you let me broaden my horizons and see the legendary Water Ghosts? Since I've chosen this path, I'll have to deal with them sooner or later. This is a good opportunity to understand this kind of monster. If we ignore them, how many more people will suffer?"

"Do you know what nickname Water Ghosts have among Witchers—" Letho said coldly, "—'Newbie Killer'! They specifically target brats like you who are full of curiosity and love to meddle."

Roy shrunk his neck.

Despite this, Letho still found a place to tether the horse. He scouted the riverbank again, found a few more scales, and after a moment of thought, began to organize his equipment, weapons, alchemical bombs, and potions.

Roy noticed the other man's grave demeanor and was slightly surprised. "Is that necessary? Water Ghosts don't seem to have much combat power?"

He had slaughtered plenty of these humanoid creatures in the game, with at least a hundred Water Ghost lives to his name. Their guttural cries, as if humming from their nasal cavities, still echoed in his mind...

He had learned about these Monsters through countless killings—their Strength was comparable to that of an ordinary person, their movement speed perhaps slightly faster, and besides their excellent swimming skills, they had no other impressive abilities.

"It seems your dreams aren't always accurate." Letho was smearing a pale green Ghoul Oil onto his short sword. "Didn't you hear a saying in your dreams, 'When monsters are really bad, they are happy in groups'? These things usually come with their 'families' when they appear."

"So, kid, watch your attitude. No matter how weak the Monster is, you must be fully alert."

"A Witcher has no second life. Dying due to underestimation is not worthy of sympathy. This is the second lesson I'm teaching you."

Letho took out a bloody wolf leg from his saddlebag and cut it into pieces with his short sword.

"Understood, I promise I won't make the same mistake again." Roy lowered his head in shame. The Witcher had reminded him that with his current strength, what right did he have to underestimate Water Ghosts? Such a dismissive attitude would sooner or later bury him in a grave.

Thinking back, he had developed this after-effect since his last adventure. It was time to wake up.

"Master Letho, what should I do? How can I help?" Roy took out his hand crossbow, the bolt already loaded.

"You just hide and watch the show." Letho paused, looking at him expressionlessly. "If you want to help, do you clearly know the Water Ghosts' weaknesses?"

Roy's lips moved a few times, then he closed his mouth, quietly assuming an attentive posture.

Letho nodded with satisfaction. The other man finally realized the importance of humble acceptance. "You must remember that poison and blood loss have no effect on Water Ghosts."

Roy felt a chill run down his spine. He had actually planned to use Butcher's Anesthetic Powder against the Water Ghosts. At that time, he might have become the first transmigrator to be eaten by a Water Ghost, a disgrace.

"Because Water Ghosts have poor intelligence, dumber than shoes, the Axii sign is also very ineffective. But their eyesight is poor; even in daylight, if they are more than forty feet (12 meters) away from their target, they are half blind. However, there's a prerequisite: you can outrun them. Furthermore, they fear fire elemental creatures the most, anything related to fire." Letho took a transparent glass jar, about half the size of a fist, from his alchemy pouch and tossed it to Roy.

Through the glass, one could vaguely see the gas inside flowing with dreamlike colors.

"Dragon's Dream, a type of alchemical bomb. It contains flammable and explosive gas," Letho said. "Your hand crossbow is good, your aim should be decent? When the Water Ghosts are lured out later, listen to my command and throw the Dragon's Dream where they are most gathered. Then I will detonate it, understand?"

"Understood."

Letho scattered the meat, which had been torn into dozens of pieces and was still bloody, on a flat area about twenty feet from the river. He quickly ran back and hid with Roy at a safe distance, his eyes fixed on the river surface.

After about five minutes of waiting, the calmly flowing river suddenly became turbulent, like a pot of boiling water, constantly bubbling, with large ripples spreading across the surface—

One, two, three... a total of five ugly humanoid creatures emerged from underwater, letting out guttural cries and rushing to the shore.

They looked like corpses pulled from the bottom of a pond, their skin color ranging from blue to green, with slime and mud seeping out of every pore. Their limbs were covered in dark, slippery scales, and webbed feet and hands could be seen between their toes and fingers. Fan-like gills and catfish whiskers grew on the sides of their faces.

Their chests and abdomens, as well as their gaunt, skeletal cheeks, were pale, revealing rows of uneven white teeth, and they stared with wide, white eyeballs, twitching nervously from side to side.

Their short noses twitched, and the family of five let out excited cries and pounced on the pile of minced meat. Their running posture was strange, with their hands behind their backs, like a flock of ostriches.

Roy glanced at Letho, but saw no signal. His gaze then shifted to one of the most mutated monsters, his eyes deepening.

Water Ghost

Gender: None Age: 12 Identity: None Health: 70 Strength: 5 Agility: 6 Constitution: 7 Perception: 3 Willpower: 2 Charisma: 0 Spirit: 0 Skills:

Mutated Body LV10: Some believe they are drowned corpses come to life, but their bodily structure is completely different from humans. They are likely magical constructs or species from other planes, immune to poison and blood loss.

Charisma 0, Spirit 0. Are these just corpses? Roy grumbled inwardly. No wonder the Axii Sign was ineffective.

He turned and saw Letho's gesture. Roy took a deep breath, and with a strong pull of his right hand, Dragon's Dream drew a perfect arc in the air, landing precisely in the middle of the five Water Ghosts.

Crack! Amidst the crisp sound of shattering glass, the dreamlike, colorful smoke instantly spread ten feet, completely engulfing the five Water Ghosts that were feasting.

Almost simultaneously, the Witcher darted forward like the wind, raising his hand to cast Igni Sign at the alchemical gas—then quickly retreated.

The cone of flame spread like igniting cotton, whoosh, all at once.

Roy, holding his crossbow, stared blankly into the distance. A grand "fireworks display" unfolded before his eyes. Orange flames flickered amidst the colorful alchemical gas, accompanied by bang bang explosions, dyeing half the sky with a rainbow halo.

"Ugh ugh..." Five battered figures, smoke billowing from their bodies, tenaciously charged out of the explosion. Three of them fled towards the riverbank, and the Witcher, wielding his short sword, pursued them like lightning. The other two charged towards Roy. Calmly, Roy shot an arrow, piercing one Water Ghost's eye socket. As his fingers danced to draw and nock another bolt, the other burning Water Ghost had already crossed the short distance of a few dozen feet and reached him.

Its pale, ugly face was devoid of any hair. Orange flames danced wildly across its features, and the strong smell of burning mingled with the stench from its fanged maw, assaulting Roy's nostrils.

Roy's breath hitched.

Death itself had greeted him, then turned and left with a flourish. The charging Water Ghost suddenly froze as if struck by a paralysis spell. Its immense inertia still carried the burning body within Roy's reach.

The situation was bizarre, but there was no time to ponder. Roy summoned his short knife and viciously slashed its forehead, sending it tumbling backward. He then plunged a crossbow bolt into its eye socket.

The Water Ghost shuddered and stopped struggling.

[Killed Water Ghost, Gained 20 Experience] [Killed Water Ghost, Gained 20 Experience] [Experience LV2 (143/1000)]

Roy let out a long sigh, feeling dizzy and drenched in cold sweat beneath his clothes.

So close. I almost capsized in a ditch. If not for the sudden trigger of "Deterrence," I can't imagine what would have happened to me. A death embrace from a smoking Water Ghost? If I survived, I'd likely lose half my life.

"Kid, now do you understand why these things are called 'newbie killers'?" The tall Witcher appeared beside him at some unknown time. Not a single one of the three Water Ghosts that had fled behind him escaped; all were beheaded. "Still dare to underestimate them?"

Roy remained silent. He hadn't expected this bald man, with his cold demeanor, to be so fond of lecturing.

"How should we deal with these half-cooked corpses? Toss them back in the river, or burn them again?"

"First, dig out their brains. I'll teach you how. Water Ghost brains are an important ingredient for brewing the potion 'Swallow,' and some mages also buy them." By the river under the setting sun, two figures, one tall and one small, walked side-by-side, dragging the five half-cooked Water Ghost corpses into a line. "It would be best if we could find a Red Mutagen. Otherwise, after deducting the cost of Dragon's Dream, we'll still be at a loss."