The Void Pathfinder from the Demon Hunter World

(Note: The source of the recommended background music "Commanding the Fury" in this chapter: The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Original Music.)

Maribo, underground cave.

Marvin, who was following Katakane, turned to face the wooden door, kicked it open, ducked and hid by the door, and waited...

No movement, don't worry, wait a while...

Click, click, creak~, the sound of stones rubbing against each other came from inside...

He turned sideways and threw a flash spell into the door.

Ga~~~, the monster let out an unpleasant scream.

He ducked in and saw a huge stone house that had sunk into the ground for some unknown reason.

Two torches stuck on the wall of the stone house brought little light, and four sarcophagi were placed side by side on the ground opposite the door. The lid of the sarcophagus closest to the door has been removed.

Katakaan should have crawled out of the sarcophagus with one foot still in the sarcophagus.

Blinded by the flash spell, it tripped over the coffin while retreating and fell on the second and third coffins, screaming in agony.

Marvin took two big steps forward and reached between the first and second coffins. One of the monster's legs was standing there, kicking around. It was very easy to chop...

Raising his hands high, he pulled out ancient patterns from the void, and the ice blue runes lit up.

Cleave!

Click~, it’s not broken, but judging from the feel, the bone must be almost broken.

His current strength is still a bit weak.

The monster turned over and swung its claws on instinct.

Hey~, Marvin pulled out the long knife from the monster's calf and jumped back.

Dodge the sharp claws, move sideways, and slash the monster's neck with a knife. Unfortunately, it missed and hit it on the shoulder instead.

Katakane stood up, and Marvin, who jumped sideways to get out of the way, happened to be behind him.

Step forward and slash!

A huge wound was opened on the monster's back, and Katakane screamed and fell forward.

Marvin looked at the open door and ran a few steps to block it.

But we can't let it run away, it runs too fast.

Staring at the monster slowly standing up, Marvin took a deep breath and prepared for the next stage of the battle.

Katakaen stooped and took a few breaths, then suddenly spoke: "Can you let me go?"

ah? Both sides have fought to this point. Is this asking for mercy? Or is this monster actually a coward?

"Why do you have to kill me? Just because I killed a few drunkards?" Katakahn's voice was sharp and harsh after his transformation.

"Not really."

"What's that for?"

"Because of love and peace!"

"ah?"

Who has time to talk nonsense with you? Marvin raised his hand to cast a spell.

Katakahn was so frightened that he raised his hands to cover his face.

Marvin rolled forward, and the purple magic circle enveloped one person and one monster...

Stand up and lift with the long knife...

The monster had a long wound from its crotch to its abdomen.

Katakaan counterattacked with a claw.

Marvin jumped sideways, but didn't completely avoid it.

Quen's shield suddenly shattered, his armor shoulder was torn, and two deep wounds were made on his left shoulder by sharp claws.

After being rolled onto his side, Marvin stood up again.

Katakahn dragged his left leg, and was suppressed by Arden's seal. He didn't have time to strike again, allowing Marvin to escape.

The monster's left foot was seriously injured, affecting its balance and movement.

Katakaan lay down on all fours, trying to avoid the flaw of his disabled left foot.

The monster pounced on the enemy, very quickly, but at least it could see clearly.

Marvin jumped sideways to avoid the attack, frost ray, and blue light chased the monster's left leg wound and continued to cast it.

The monster exerted force on its three limbs, turned on the spot, waved its claws to drive away the enemy, and hid its left foot behind its back.

This thing is so sensitive that it can't hit its weak point, and it's so strong that it can't trap it.

fire? Forget it, Marvin's fire magic is actually average. It's okay to burn a water ghost, but I'm afraid he can't burn a vampire...

Marvin tightened his grip on the knife, then... chop him to death!

Katakane lunged forward again, grabbing the enemy with his claws.

Marvin jumped back to dodge, and at the same time raised his hand to perform the "Scorching Eye Technique".

Staring at the enemy's attack, Katakahn's eyes were hurt again, and he howled and retreated while protecting his head.

Marvin chased after him and dealt a blow, and the monster's head-protecting arm was chopped to pieces.

Taking advantage of the fact that the monster had not put down its head-protecting claws and was even more inconvenient to move, Marvin slid close to its left foot.

Cut horizontally!

The injured leg was injured again, Katakaan howled and turned around to drive away the enemy with his claws.

Marvin rolled to avoid Alder's Seal, and the telekinetic impact was not directed towards Katakaan, but towards the ground.

The upper body of the monster, which was on all fours, was lifted up by the air waves. It opened its teeth and claws in an attempt to balance its body.

Marvin took the opportunity to duck forward and rush forward.

Cut horizontally.

Click!

The monster's left foot was finally severed.

Katakane couldn't stand still at all and fell to the left.

Marvin turned around and stabbed, the long knife penetrated the monster's back and came out from the chest, piercing the heart.

Even when transformed into Katakaan, the vampire's body structure is extremely human-like, with the heart on the left side of the chest.

Lower vampires like Katakaan can be killed, but higher vampires cannot. It is said that higher vampires can kill their own kind. I don’t know if it is true or not.

Marvin twisted the handle of the knife to widen the wound, then drew the knife and retreated to avoid being injured by the claws waving randomly.

He watched the monster lying on the ground wail and writhe, and approached with a knife. While avoiding the monster's random attacks, he slashed with a cold blow.

Help Katakane continue to bleed while preventing him from getting up.

The monster gradually became silent...and finally stopped moving...

Marvin did not relax his vigilance and began to throw ice arrows one after another, shooting holes all over its upper body...

Carefully approach the monster, aim at its huge eyeballs, stab it with a knife, and then dodge back.

"Ah!..." The monster covered its eyes and wailed, and began to struggle again.

It was indeed pretending to be dead...

Seeing Katakan rolling and wailing again, Marvin would not move forward this time, just standing between the monster and the door, and even added an Aden magic circle.

Ten minutes later, the hole in Katakan's chest and the broken left leg stopped bleeding, and Marvin approached from the top of its head and poked it with the tip of the knife. This thing was indeed dead, and its neck was soft.

It took a lot of effort to remove Katakan's head, and he was relieved. The head had to be used to show the client to prove that the commission was completed.

After everything was done, Marvin sat on the lid of the coffin and panted...

I didn't feel anything during the battle, but once I relaxed, I had no strength in my body, and the wound on my left shoulder began to hurt.

This is the sequelae of the adrenaline burst.

However, it is really enjoyable...

Marvin took out a bottle of healing potion (Temeria Royal Special Edition), poured a little on the wound, and took two sips.

This thing is rare, so you should use it sparingly.

...

After resting enough, he replenished his dim vision and began to explore this strange stone house.

There are indeed murals on the walls, but they are of little value. They are all famous wars in human history, such as the capture of Toussaint, the Dagger War, and the War of the Seven Kingdoms.

Oh, forget it, let's talk about it tomorrow, he is very tired now.

...

When he returned to the tavern along the original route with the monster head, there were few awake customers in the tavern.

Knocked on the counter and asked the bartender to notify the boss to come for inspection tomorrow afternoon. He also asked the bartender to look at the monster head, and the bartender was no longer sleepy.

Ignoring the bartender's subsequent reaction, Marvin carried the monster head upstairs. He just wanted to sleep now.

...

The next day at noon, Marvin, who was in a daze, lay on the bed...

He sat up suddenly.

"No, there is something wrong with that room."

The stone house where Katakan was killed last night has a problem. As for what the problem is, I don't know now...

After a lot of haste, he went downstairs to eat.

When he got downstairs, he found that the owner of the Iris Tavern was already waiting, so he went back upstairs and carried Katakan's head down again.

Marvin put the huge monster head on the counter,

"The job is done."

"Oh! It's a big guy!" The man in fancy clothes who looked more like a noble than a tavern owner raised his hands and exclaimed: "How did you deal with him?"

"It's a long story, but I'm a little busy at the moment." Marvin patted the monster's head and said, "So, you have to hurry."

"Okay, okay. Can I ask what this thing is? It's convenient to brag to my friends, hahaha."

Marvin glanced at the boss. This man has a high EQ. No wonder he has a big business.

"Katakan, a kind of vampire, is very difficult to deal with."

"Is that so? Great. This is yours, Marvin from Vizima."

Marvin put away his purse: "Thank you. I hope you won't need me in the future. Bartender, get me something to eat, apple juice."

"Haha, no problem, it's on me." The tavern owner raised his hand to the bartender.

[Hint: The mission "Killer in the Dark" has been completed. Do you want to collect the reward book "Germas Fighting Art"? 】【Yes】【No】

Choose yes.

Introduction: The hand-to-hand combat skills of the Gemasya race. Due to the special environment and way of survival, the Gemas people generally have extremely strong hand-to-hand combat abilities. This set of knowledge includes the fighting skills and training methods of various schools of the Gemas people.

I flipped through it roughly, and they are all various hand-to-hand combat skills, both against humans and beasts. There is no super-god ability to break stars with bare hands, and even dismantling mechas with bare hands seems to be difficult enough.

I'll look at it later, I'm busy now.

…

Leaving the tavern, Marvin submitted Katakan’s head when passing through an empty alley.

[Hint: Submission successful, reward strength attribute +1, agility attribute +2, constitution attribute +1. ]

…

Maribo’s most expensive blacksmith shop, Marvin sat on a bench at the door of the blacksmith shop with only a cotton shirt on his body, basking in the sun, thinking about the modification of the ice arrow.

This was introduced by the tavern owner, as for whether this blacksmith shop is the best, that’s unknown.

After seeing the exhibits, Marvin thought it was okay. Besides, he just repaired the damaged shoulder armor, which did not require any superb craftsmanship.

…

Not far from the big shaft last night, Marvin was waiting for no one around to pay attention, and then went down to search.

The armor has been repaired, the craftsmanship is good, and he can modify the left shoulder armor after coming out.

This place is remote and deserted at night, but there are many pedestrians passing by during the day. He has been waiting for a while.

Impatient Marvin threw a mind spell at the only remaining passerby, asking him to go home by himself. As for his family, if they were not in Maribor, he might have to walk a long way, which was none of his business.

He cast a levitation spell on himself, turned over and jumped into the well.

He arrived at the stone house smoothly, and the remains and blood of Katakan had disappeared. Marvin recalled the process of submitting Katakan's head to the panel, thinking...

In order to find the possible problems in the stone house more clearly, Marvin eliminated his dim vision and lit up the illumination light ball.

I’ve seen the murals inch by inch, so there’s no problem. Torches, no problem. The floor is no problem either.

Then there is only one method, "The Eye of True Seeing".

Marvin's eyes lit up with white fluorescence and he scanned the surroundings.

Counting from left to right, there seems to be something wrong with the third coffin, which is dark under the true sight.

He originally didn't want to lift the lid of the coffin. He was still a little reluctant to digging graves, and he was not short of money.

The first coffin, the one where Katakane slept, was empty.

The second coffin, open the coffin lid, is empty.

The fourth coffin was empty when the lid was pushed open, but this coffin looked like a mason who was lazy and hadn't finished his work. It was messy and the space was very small, so it couldn't hold anyone at all.

This is interesting. After all the effort to build such a place, the coffin is empty. What kind of hobby is this?

The third coffin was pushed and it was a little heavy. Push hard and push it away.

It is indeed different from others. Although it is empty inside, no matter the coffin lid or the coffin, the stone is just skin, and under the stone skin is thick magic-blocking gold. This is obviously to protect against mages.

Marvin tried to move the coffin, but couldn't.

So I started looking around and thinking.

Is it an agency? If it cannot be unlocked by magic, then it is mechanical.

According to the current development status of the world, pure machinery that eliminates magic is very backward, and the transmission device should not be very complicated, so if there is a mechanism, it must not be far from this coffin.

Marvin began to lie on the ground and search around the coffin inch by inch.

When he found it for the third time, he discovered that the bottom of the fourth coffin seemed to be movable. After pressing down for a distance, a click came from the ground. The third coffin began to sink slowly.

After sinking for more than a meter, it stopped, revealing a staircase leading deeper.

After waiting for a while, Marvin found that there was no danger.

After jumping down, Marvin didn't hurry to walk in. He saw a metal winch and a metal pole on the wall next to the stairs.

Marvin studied for a few minutes to figure out how to do it.

When the magic gold coffin is not locked at its highest level, you can use a winch or a mechanism on the ground to float up and down. When the coffin is at its highest point, the metal rod can be pulled to lock it.

Marvin returned to the ground, restored all but the fourth coffin to their original state, extinguished the torches and lighting spells, and turned on dim vision.

Jump into the passage below, turn the winch to raise the magic-resistant gold coffin to the highest position, push the metal rod to lock it, and carefully walk down the stairs...

…

At the end of the stairs is a stone corridor, and outside is a huge underground space.

A pile of stones not far away suddenly stood up and lit up with regular magic lines. Golem.

Golems are magical puppets created by mages and are often used to guard treasure houses and laboratories.

Marvin is very familiar with golems, and Teacher Tisaya has two of them, right in the academy.

This thing only has a very simple action logic, and the key is not in the head, it is just a fake.

If you can find the magic core of the golem, it will not be difficult to turn it off.

Marvin did not draw his sword. The whole body of the golem was made of magic-solidified stone and could not be cut.

He put a Quen shield on himself and quickly approached the golem, took down the Arden circle before the golem waved its arms, and then rolled back to avoid the attack.

The lure golem kept spinning in the purple magic circle, and he began to circle around the slow-moving golem to check his magic lines.

The golem suddenly raised its arms and smashed them down.

Marvin rolled backwards to avoid the large protruding thorns. When the thorns disappeared, he continued to circle...

He already had a rough judgment that the magic core should be under the right armpit.

With a clear goal in mind, he began to create ice on the ground.

During this period, the golem used ground spikes and charges several times, and the ground and ice were repeatedly destroyed.

Marvin was not in a hurry.

Finally, the golem's charge slipped on the ice and pierced the stone wall next to it, unable to pull itself out for a while.

Approaching the golem from behind, he reached under its immobile right arm. Sure enough, there was a magic core, closed.

The magic lines on the golem were extinguished and it stopped moving.

[Tip: I found a low-level magic puppet, do you want to submit it? 】【whether】

Select Yes.

[Tip: A low-level magic puppet has been submitted. Analyze the magic puppet's magic energy circuit. The bonus ability point is +1. 】

And there are rewards! Really nice.

After solving the golem, he could finally take a closer look at this huge underground space.

There are a lot of luminous fungi in the corners here, so I can barely see clearly. It is a semi-destroyed palace from the Elf Empire era, with a radius of dozens of meters by visual inspection.

A small fireball was thrown and it was not until high in the sky that I could see it clearly. The vault above was more than ten meters high, and part of the roof was damaged, leaking mud, stones and tree roots.

There is a stalagmite as tall as a person in the center of the hall. The upper part is illuminated by a white ball of light, making a buzzing sound. It is a place of magic.

Who knows why this thing sank into the ground with the hall and still has energy.

[Tip: If you find a low-level magical energy source, do you want to absorb it? 】【whether】

Select Yes.

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

After walking around the hall, I found another demon statue, but it had no energy and was seriously damaged.

In addition to the entrance, there are three stone corridors around the hall.

Entering along the first stone corridor, you come to a stone room, which seems to be a mage's bedroom. You can see the somewhat expensive bed, standing cabinet, dressing mirror... and an exquisite bust of a woman.

Marvin didn't know what kind of emotions the sculptor had, but this statue was carved with great detail.

Judging from the hairstyle and clothing, this should be a statue of a sorceress. There is also a silver lily pendant on the statue's neck. On the back of the pendant is engraved the small cursive words "for Liliana". Note ①

The second stone chamber is a typical magic laboratory, which contains an alchemical test bench, extraction and purification equipment, a biological dissection table, and a cabinet of books.

The third stone chamber is a warehouse, including alchemical materials, finished potions, experimental equipment, etc. Unfortunately, most of the materials have dried up and become ineffective.

It can be seen that the last owner of this place left calmly.

Ignoring the thin layer of dust, whether it is the bed, wardrobe, bookcase, test bench or warehouse, everything is arranged in order, there is no experimental residue, and there are no open books everywhere.

On the alchemical table in the laboratory, there is a letter left by the owner when he left.

…