The Void Pathfinder from the Demon Hunter World

(Recommended background music for this chapter: "Ladies of the Woods" Source: The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Original Soundtrack.)

After leaving the woods, Marvin mounted the black horse, shook the reins, and ran southward.

The next stop, Dorndale, is southeast of Hofburg, but there is a large virgin forest in the middle, so we can only run around the forest.

After turning south to east, Marvin saw a merchant pushing a wheelbarrow coming this way?

He was a little curious about what the merchants were selling, so he slowed down his horse and when he approached the merchants, he raised his hand and said hello: "Good day, merchant?"

The man in a turban and wooden-rimmed glasses greeted back: "Good day. Yes, sir."

"Can I take a look at your goods? Maybe I can buy something."

"Of course." The businessman smiled so hard that his molars were visible. He pushed the wheelbarrow to the side of the road and stopped, then lifted the tarpaulin covering it.

Marvin dismounted and came over to inspect the goods. Needles, threads, herbs, fruits, honey, underneath these goods were a pile of furs, like wolf skins and other animal skins.

"Here from Kaedwen?" Marvin raised his head and asked the merchant, stroking the fur.

"Yes, sir."

Thinking of the Pontar Valley that was about to be sealed, Marvin said: "That's really far away. How do you feel about Temeria?"

"I traveled for a month to get to Elland. The May Festival I celebrated in Elland, I have to say, your May Festival is more lively than ours."

This businessman has already entered Temeria, so he won't know anything.

After buying some fruit and honey, Marvin left.

He didn't rush to get on his horse and fed Ned an apple. Marvin sat on a stone by the roadside and watched the traveling merchants eating dry food in the distance.

…

In the afternoon, Marvin arrived at Dorndale, a small town or large village near the forest. Most people probably make a living by logging, as you can guess from the several wood piles in the north of the town and the lumberjacks you can see everywhere.

I found a tavern along the road, and cheerful music came from the tavern.

Pushing open the door and walking in, the decoration inside the pub is very nice, a bit like a pub in the city. There was also a small stage. In addition to the bards singing, there were also two young ladies in cool clothes twerking. There were several drinkers around the stage who stood up and twisted around instead of sitting down. It seems that the lumber business in the town is doing quite well.

Marvin ordered dinner and apple juice, and found a table away from the stage to sit down and wait. He didn't plan to eat in the room today, but it would be nice to watch the young lady dance occasionally.

During dinner, the voices at the next table got louder.

"That's a white pine tree! It's hard and beautiful. You can sell it for a lot of money when you transport it to Vizima. Those noble ladies like it the most... Yes, what a good business... Yes, I found a few dwarves to cut the wood. Workers...they said there were demons in the woods, shit...man, no, we found the truck, and there was blood..."

He looked up and saw that the speaker was a halfling wearing a red pointed felt hat, drinking and chatting with a human. It seems like work has come.

Pushing the plate away and taking two sips of apple juice, Marvin reached under the table, took out the couscous and scabbard, inserted the knife and placed it on the table. He shouted to the halfling, "Man, it looks like you're in trouble. Do you need a professional?"

The halfling didn't drink much and was still very conscious. He turned around and saw that he was a well-armored young man. The halfling said, "Can you handle it?"

"I have to get enough information first, halfling. You can sit here and tell me."

The halfling rubbed his butt and got off the stool, walked over and took a closer look at Marvin, then looked at the sword on the table and said, "You look like a capable person."

The halfling sat on a stool opposite Marvin and said, "Who are you? You don't seem to be a witcher."

"Marvin of Vizima, I am indeed not a demon hunter. I know a few demon hunters, but they are not as good as me." Marvin told the truth.

"I hope you're telling the truth, Marvin. I'm Brian Horse. I'm in trouble."

"No problem, let's talk about your troubles."

"I found a dozen white pine trees in the forest, which are very valuable. I hired a few dwarf lumberjacks to work. Everything went smoothly the past few days. Three days ago, a lumberjack found one with blood on his hands. I said everyone was dead and he was the only one left. He said there was a demon in the woods. I went back with him and saw that the truck was lying on the road and there was blood everywhere. "

"Where's the dwarf woodcutter?"

"Well, he's been drinking there for three days. He said he wanted to commemorate his friend." The halfling pointed at the dwarf sitting alone in the corner next to the door of the tavern.

"Okay, I'll take the job. Let's talk about the price."

"30 orens."

"50 orens."

"No, I don't have that much money anymore."

"45 Oren."

"The most I can offer is 40."

"Okay. I'll go talk to him." Marvin stood up and walked towards the dwarf who was alone, muttering in a low voice: "Farke, I hate bargaining."

"bite!"

[Task tip: Demon in the forest. The dwarf lumberjack was attacked and killed by a demon in the forest, and the halfling Brien Horse has commissioned you to kill the demon. Do you want to accept this task? 】【whether】

Select [Yes].

The dwarf was wearing a short-sleeved undershirt stained with sweat. He had a huge red nose and a messy beard. Judging from the color of his beard and the few wrinkles on his face, he is still very young. The dwarf was sitting on a wooden pillar in the corner, holding a wine glass and dozing off.

"Lumberjack, wake up." Marvin patted the dwarf's shoulder.

"Huh? Well, the damn demon killed my friend, let's have a drink, for my friend." The dwarf raised his head and exhaled a breath of alcohol.

Marvin waved his hand, bringing a gust of cold wind.

"Hiss, why is it a little cold. Hi, good night, who are you?"

"Marvin from Vizima, your boss hired me to solve the problem. I came to you to understand the situation."

"Oh, that miser is not so bad, no, I mean Brian is a good person..."

Drunkards are really annoying, Marvin put his right hand on the dwarf's shoulder.

The dwarf shuddered and finally woke up.

"Fuck, what did you do?"

"I came to solve the problem, I hope you are not the problem."

"Of course, I am certainly not. Damn it."

"Give me some information about the demon. Start from the time you were attacked."

"It was in the afternoon, we finished work... carrying wood to our cabin. When we were about to leave the woods, we heard wolves howling around us, it should be wolves, and other scary noises. We pushed the cart and tried to run, but the wheel got stuck. Richit yelled at me to run back to the house to get the crossbow, so I ran back to get it. When I came back, wow, wow, everyone was dead, I couldn't tell their bodies apart, one piece after another, wow~."

"Did you see what attacked you?"

"Suck, no, I ran when I heard the wolf howling, and when I came back, there were only corpses. I don't know what it was, wow"

"Okay, that's it."

"Please kill that son of a bitch demon and avenge my friend. Fuck."

"Okay."

Marvin returned to his seat, and the halfling looked at him eagerly. Marvin said, "I understand the situation. I will start working tomorrow morning. I will be back tomorrow afternoon at the latest. But first, tell me where the woodcutter's hut is. The dwarf drank too much."

...

The next morning, after breakfast, Marvin rode out of the town and headed east. He found a small yard along the road. The water tank inside was still full, and there were still a few logging tools left in the yard. This should be the place. Looking in from the window, the size of the bed and stool should be used by the dwarves. This is it.

Let Ned stay in the yard, and Marvin began to look for clues.

It was easy to find clues. There were two deep ruts outside the door on the other side of the yard, which were obviously caused by transporting heavy objects.

Following the ruts all the way forward, we successfully found the tilted truck and wood. There were several pools of blood around, and the amount of bleeding was not small. The dwarves should have received their lunch boxes on the spot.

After searching around the scene, we found several bones that were gnawed clean by wild beasts and several crow feathers.

Cast a tracking spell on the crow's feathers to see if there is any clue. The magic thread extends deep into the woods. Let's go and have a look.

Climbing up a hill, the woods ahead are dense, the light inside is very poor, it's dark, the magic fluctuations around become obscure, and the ambient temperature has obviously dropped. The magic thread points to the dense woods.

When approaching the dark woods, there is a sound of flapping wings, and several crows separate from the woods, cawing and flying towards Marvin.

"Fire Breath"

"Well, crows, wolves, forests, they all look like deer-headed spirits." Marvin muttered while pushing the crow's corpse with his feet.

Concentrating on feeling the magic fluctuations around him, Marvin walked in one direction.

A strange totem made of animal skulls, branches, stones, and moss stood under a tree. Deer-headed spirit totem. It is definitely a deer-headed spirit. Marvin lit up a small light ball and carefully examined the totem.

The bones were still white and not yellow, and there was no accumulated dust or spider webs. The totem had been erected not long ago, and there were not many crows in its service, so this deer-headed spirit should be very young. Monsters like deer-headed spirits really get more and more evil as they get older.

Use fireball to burn the totem, and concentrate again to sense the magic fluctuations. There may be more than one deer-headed spirit totem, so I'll look for it again to be safe.

Sure enough, there is one, and following the magic fluctuations, Marvin turned to another direction.

Crossing the raised tree roots and cutting off the vines blocking the way, a familiar buzzing sound came from the front, which was the "magic place". The magic fluctuations indicated that another totem was on the opposite side.

Marvin guessed here that the deer-headed spirit found this magic enrichment point and settled here, and planned to use his totem to surround this enrichment point in the middle to better accumulate the magic in this area.

'The deer-headed spirit is in this area, and I don't know when it will appear and fight me. I have to burn that totem quickly, otherwise it will be resurrected, which is very troublesome. ' Marvin thought of this and quickened his pace and increased his vigilance.

When he found the totem, he heard a rustling sound mixed with a warning growl. It was a wolf.

Marvin cast a Quen sign on himself, ran two steps closer to the totem, closed his eyes and cast a powerful flash spell behind his head.

A dazzling white light burst out from the dark woods, reflecting the branches around him.

Two beasts howled behind Marvin. Marvin turned around and saw a wolf rolling on the ground 5 meters away from him. He stepped forward and chopped off the wolf's head. Following the screams, he found another wolf. There were tangled vines in the middle, so it was a bit troublesome to get there.

He was too lazy to get entangled with these vines, and an ice arrow emitting cold air shot out, nailing the wolf that had not yet stood up to the ground. Then another ice arrow, a total of 5 ice arrows, and the wolf not far away was silent.

Returning to the totem, a fireball spell burned the totem.

A long roar came from the depths of the forest, like the cry of a deer or the howl of a wolf, with endless anger.

The next moment, there was a bang not far from Marvin, and a cloud of gray smoke rose up. After the smoke dissipated, a monster appeared. Its head was a pale deer head skeleton, or it could be a horse skull, and symmetrical dry branches extended upward from its head like huge deer antlers.

The trunk and limbs made of twisted wood were light green, and the upper limbs had huge and sharp claws, which almost touched the ground. This thing was 2 meters tall without the branches and horns, with simple leather armor on the shoulders and a leather battle skirt around the waist. Note ①

Judging from the color of the skull and trunk, this deer-headed spirit was indeed very young.

Marvin was not in a hurry to engage in battle. There were too many trees at the current location, and there were many fragments on the ground. The terrain was unfavorable, so he shifted his strategy.

The deer-headed spirit was not in a hurry to chase, and walked slowly with a very B-style, staring at Marvin who was running with his empty eye sockets.

Marvin stopped at an open space. There were no trees within 5 meters around. That was enough. He looked at the deer-headed spirit that appeared and disappeared in the woods, feeling helpless.

The totem was destroyed, and the deer-headed spirit would not let him go. He was not in such a hurry, so he just waited.

The deer-headed spirit played the forest version of instant teleportation for a while and found that the enemy was not panicked. It seemed different from what the adults said. He didn't know what to do.

Marvin was a little impatient, put away the Gus pattern and clapped his hands at the deer-headed spirit, replenished himself with the dissipated Quen shield, and shouted in the tree spirit language: "Little friend, your tricks are useless. Come, BABA will teach you how to chop wood."

The ancient deer-headed spirits were worshipped as land gods by the fools, so their wisdom was naturally not low. It was enraged.

The deer-headed spirit howled and disappeared with a bang.

Feeling the vibration of the ground behind him, Marvin rolled forward to avoid the sweeping claws and slapped the ground with the Yarden seal. Compared to when he was 17, the range of the Arden magic circle that Marvin cast now was larger, almost filling the empty space of 5 meters in radius.

The movement speed of the deer-headed spirit, suppressed by the Arden magic circle, slowed down slightly, and Marvin easily dodged its sharp claws that swung again. The long knife brought an ice-blue light band, and continuously chopped the elbows, shoulders, knees, waist, abdomen, and back of the deer-headed spirit, leaving deep knife marks.

The injuries that were enough to cause disability to humans had basically no effect on this monster, and those knife marks were healing visibly. In the forest, it had almost unlimited magical energy.

Marvin rolled back to avoid a heavy blow from the deer-headed spirit, and took the opportunity to distance himself from the deer-headed spirit, took a breath, and prepared for the next attack.

The deer-headed spirit found that there was really not much it could do to this human in this purple circle.

It plunged its claws into the ground fiercely, and the ground around it for nearly ten meters exploded with a crackling sound, and countless hard and thorny tree roots emerged from the ground. Marvin was accidentally knocked over, and the Quen shield on his body shattered. The deer-headed spirit took the opportunity to walk out of the Arden magic circle, and then disappeared with a bang.

When Marvin regained his footing and returned to the open space, the tree roots disappeared. It seems that these highly damaging tree roots cannot exist forever. The deer-headed spirit has returned to the lush forest, appearing and disappearing from time to time.

The man and the monster confronted each other in the forest. As time passed, the purple Arden magic circle collapsed into a light spot and then dissipated.

The deer-headed spirit saw that the purple circle disappeared, took a step towards Marvin and stopped. He felt very uncomfortable when he was suppressed by the Arden magic circle.

Marvin added a Quen shield and waited for a while, but found that the deer-headed spirit still did not come. He turned away from the deer-headed spirit, and a torrent of flames spurted out of his palm to set a tree on fire.

The deer-headed spirit not far away howled angrily and disappeared again with a bang. Feeling the vibration of the ground behind him again, Marvin rolled forward again and slapped the Yaden magic circle to suppress the deer-headed spirit. After standing up, he sprayed a torrent of flames with his hands, wrapping the deer-headed spirit.

The monster burst into a terrifying howl and struggled in the flames.

After a few seconds, Marvin stopped casting spells and looked at the deer-headed spirit struggling in the flames. He always knew that this thing was extremely weak to fire, but he still wanted to try to kill it. As a result, it was possible, but it might take a long time to chop it, and it might be easy for it to run away, so it was better to burn it.

Fearing that the iconic skull would be burned and it would be difficult to report, Marvin went around behind the deer-headed spirit, kicked it over, pulled out the Gus pattern from the void with both hands, and chopped it down with a long sword with a blue light band. The pale skull with branch horns fell off, and the deer-headed spirit stopped struggling.

Marvin has always been curious about how the skull of the deer-headed spirit is connected to the torso. After putting out the fire with ice magic, the wicked Marvin lit a light ball and held the skull and gestured on the corpse for a long time until the body of the deer-headed spirit melted into the soil.

He figured it out. The torso of the deer-headed spirit and the branch horns on its head are connected. The skull that looks like a deer or a horse is just a shell. He doesn't want to see what's inside. It might lose SAN points, so forget it.

Carry the skull of the deer-headed spirit to find the place of magic.

[Hint: Found a low-level magic energy source, do you want to absorb it? ] [Yes] [No]

Choose [Yes].

[Hint: The low-level magic energy source has been absorbed, and the bonus ability point +1]

……