Witcher's Atelier

“There’s a reason why some people are afraid of their own shadow.”

──Swagmit, Druid of the Great Skellige Island

…

"Xim" is a creature that comes from the intersection of the celestial spheres. It is a very rare and dangerous monster. People who are entangled by it will occasionally see huge human-shaped black shadows with sharp long claws, but others other than the victim will There was no sight of Shim at all.

It entangles those who do bad things, seizes on the weaknesses of human nature, and by whispering to the victim, evokes negative emotions such as fear, regret, and guilt, and encourages the victim to engage in violent, vicious, and self-harming behaviors.

Those afflicted by Him are unable to obtain a peaceful sleep, as they are plagued by frequent and vivid nightmares. Sometimes the victim becomes very nervous and threatens or pleads with invisible evil spirits, or confesses the crime out loud in the hope of ending the pain.

But there is no use in doing so. Shim will wait until the victim goes completely insane or commits suicide before leaving.

──"Behind the Mystery Veil"

…

Spekruger Island, the ancestral home of the Brokval family, closes "Behind the Veil".

Keris glared at her good sister fiercely. After reading the book, she felt deeply humiliated. Angouleme knew the answer long ago, but kept silent and allowed her to run around these days. , snooping around for information, running all the way in the wrong direction!

What's even more disgusting is that just after she confidently stated the reasoning results of the first edition, she immediately took out the book and slapped him in the face.

The intellectual dignity of the three sisters has been trampled upon!

The dignified princess of the Kuite family is shameless! ?

Touching his earlobe, Ye Yutou naturally felt a little guilty. He felt the biting chill, not only from the cold wind leaking through the crack in the door, but also from the threatening eyes of the little sparrowhawk.

But what can she do? She is helpless!

The tips and tricks given by Wick were clearly written on it. If you don't fully meet the conditions, you are not allowed to take out the book, otherwise it may mislead your judgment.

So she smiled innocently and moved slowly in the direction of Swaani, seeking cover.

The next second, Keris yelled and threw herself at Angoulin, and the two rolled into a ball on the ground.

…

On Udvik Island, in the abandoned town "Dov", the last thirty or so warriors of the Giant Crusade Group rested here, while their four recognized opinion leaders gathered around the fire for a meeting.

They are the red-haired Lev who was not discouraged even though he was scratched several times by the female siren; the traitor's face was slashed with a knife, but his eyes were still sharp; the Tulsi Qu family's Fo Lun; and the almost Aveiro was beaten flat by the ice troll and never gave up.

And the determination of the three of them is all because of the fourth person──Halma. install. Quite, this burly man with red hair and a beard, could inspire people to have courage as long as he was by his side. As long as he was alive, there was still hope for the crusade.

However, after yesterday's rebellion, the remaining soldiers here no longer have the high morale they had when they first arrived.

It's true that families have broken up with each other in the past, but there has never been a precedent for harming each other at a moment like this when they should work together to defeat monsters, so everyone present looked ugly.

They also had different considerations about the next course of action, but first, Halma asked Folan to tell the others the warning the Dragonborn gave him the night before his departure.

"...That's what happened. The subsequent development was completely predicted by Duwaken. I'm very worried about Mr. Victor now. I'm afraid that he has been murdered by Wolfgang at the rear!" Tulsiqu said.

"Don't be such a fool!" Aveiro said, "Have you forgotten the story of the Dragonborn killing a hundred people with his sword? No matter how good Wolfgang is, he doesn't have a hundred pirates under his command, but I think we can persist for a while. Yes, Victor will come to support!”

Red-haired Lev patted his knees and said, "What are you talking about? Do you want to give up trying to win glory with your own hands and place your hopes on others?"

Aveiro shook his head, "I didn't mean that, but there are only a few dozen of us left out of more than 200 people..."

"You shouldn't think that. On the contrary, I think we are more cohesive than we are now." Lev retorted. "Everyone knows what happened to such a large-scale betrayal this time. Some people want to be kings crazy! But because of this, the rest of us are truly united warriors. I believe that as long as we seize the opportunity, we Able to defeat the Ice Giant."

Folan shook his head and sighed, "Please, you still want to defeat the ice giant. In Uskal, we can't sustain the ice giant and the female siren alone."

"But at that time we were disrupted by the traitors. If we could assemble into a formation, I don't think we would lose." Lev insisted.

Stuffing the wood into the fire, Aveiro spat: "Then can you guarantee that the people on our side will not stab us in the back again? Let's count the betrayers. There is no trace of Wolfgang in the rear. Without a trace, the despicable Magee brothers drew their swords against each other, and the damn thief Aigner broke the horn of the horned beast... There are so many traitors in one team, I really suggest that we go back to the seaside, and we can abandon the ship if necessary. On the Marlin Coast, at least the Dragonborn ship will arrive in seven days at most. Let’s retreat and prepare ourselves. We won’t be in such a mess next time!”

Red-haired Lev was silent, obviously Aveiro's words moved him.

Follen touched his nose and turned to the commander who had remained silent since the beginning of the discussion, "Halma, I think Aveiro is right. You know me. I am not afraid, but it is not worth it if we fail like this! These shameful acts of betrayal should be made public!"

The discussion came to an end, and everyone looked at the eldest son of the Quet family, waiting for his decision.

There was a long scar on his face, which was left by the skating competition with Ciri when he was young. He had broad shoulders and was good at swordsmanship. He had all the conditions of an excellent warrior, and his natural charm and almost crazy self-confidence did not diminish at all even at this moment.

There was a fire burning in his eyes, "Don't cry for the dead, toast them! I have heard your voices, but I want to move on.

The lair of the ice giant should be nearby. I believe that as long as we seize the opportunity to sneak attack, we can still succeed. As long as we defeat the giant, the remaining female sea monsters or ice trolls can be defeated in formation."

His decision made the other three look at each other in surprise.

Then Aveiro put his hand on his forehead and leaned back, "Okay, I'll listen to you!"

Kicking over the empty wine jug, Red-haired Lev said fiercely, "I'll give you this life, and I swear I will die before you."

"We have to find the giant's nest as soon as possible." said Foren.

The few people who made up their minds got up from the fire and called their partners, but at this moment, a black shadow flew across the sky and made a sharp whistle, which was the precursor of the attack by the female mermaids.

Halma took a deep breath, and the battle cry resounded through Dov: "Rena-Luger!!!"

The warriors shouted in unison: "For Skellige!"

...

At the same time, in the cave on the mountain wall-the Todaroqu family foundry, the remains nailed on the iron hooks were not so easy to remove after a long period of air drying and dehydration. Even if they were to be cremated later, the boy still hoped to keep them as intact as possible, as the last respect for "people", so his movements were focused and careful.

After putting down another body, Victor suddenly stopped moving, because the sound of footsteps was clearly audible, from small to large, from far to near.

"Bang!" The door panel was knocked away, and they stared at each other with their eyes wide open, and the world was in chaos.

The giant's rage was hard to contain. He didn't expect someone to dare to steal his food; the boy's blood froze into ice. He never expected to see a monster here. Half an hour ago, he was still planning how to sneak attack it, but he didn't expect to meet it here unexpectedly.

The giant bared his teeth and stared at him fiercely, gradually approaching with one step and one shock; the boy reached into the herbal bag and took out one can of potion after another and poured it into his stomach.

He didn't turn around and run away, nor did he roar loudly, but stared at the monster to deter him. Now any radical action would start a war immediately, and every second he delayed might make him drink an extra bottle of potion.

The plan was changed at the last minute. Originally, everyone was supposed to fight together, but since they met here by chance──

"Tiger!" A black shadow suddenly flew towards Victor's head. He crouched down and the rock wall behind him was smashed into pieces. It was the giant who threw the wooden stick in his hand.

This powerful and ancient monster, the Ice Giant, may be the last of its kind. It looks like a human being enlarged, but its skin is as blue as frost and its body is taller than a tree.

It obviously has the ability to think, as we can see from its ability to command the Siren and the Ice Troll, but the alchemist gave up trying to communicate with him. There must be many negotiation experts among the people hanging on the hook, and the boy took their endings as a lesson.

The "armor" worn by the giant is made of ropes, bones and shipboard debris. Seeing that the thrown wooden stick did not hit it, it took out a more terrifying weapon from its back──chain anchor.

Victor drew out the Flame Strike and tapped the hilt of the sword with his thumb. The blazing flames covering the blade immediately made the giant's eyes look a little more solemn. Obviously, in his memory, enemies who could hold a flaming sword would not be weak.

However, this only delayed it for a few seconds. When Victor drank the three-piece set of Blizzard, Thunder, and Tawny Owl and the Dragon Roar Potion, the Chain Anchor hit the ground with an overwhelming blow, making the ground dusty.

When the battle started, in the mouth of the bard, many epics would tell you how the hero used a sword or a shield to block the giant's attack, and then fought with the monster.

But in a less romantic occasion, such as now, the poet Victor told you frankly that the most practical way to deal with giants is to dodge - the unique skill called lazy donkey rolling in the ancient martial arts of the East Country. Only this move is true, and the others are nonsense.

The monster swung the chain anchor in its hand to attack the boy, just like using a meteor hammer to hit a mole, one blow after another, roaring and smashing the foundry into even more ruin.

And in the continuous rolling, Victor seized the opportunity, approached the front and roared "Vos-Lo-Da!" to slightly fix the giant, and then used the wolf school's ultimate move - the explosive sword, a roaring attack like a honeycomb hitting the face! The chain anchor "clang!" fell to the ground.

Then the dust cleared, and the boy's eyes widened. The monster was almost unscathed, and the iron filings embedded in that ugly face sparkled?

...It turns out that the light blue of its skin is not only the skin color, but also the frost armor condensed by magic! ?

Realizing that he was distracted, he quickly rolled over again and shrank behind the rock shelter. There was a cabinet behind the place where he was standing originally, which was smashed to pieces by the anchor on the spot.

With his back against the rock wall, Victor told himself that although it was troublesome, it was not hopeless. He could try again to use the Dancing Star to melt the ice armor, or the stench of the Devil's Dust. After all, it couldn't stop breathing.

Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you are big!

In the next few minutes, the boy did his best to launch a crazy bombardment on the giant, consuming a large amount of reserve equivalent, and then he retreated behind the rock wall again, letting the giant go crazy and smash.

Madfak! Ice armor can really do whatever you want!

The magic frost armor is very resistant to the burning of the dancing star, and the demon dust that is too strong for the human body, the giant smells it as pepper, and it will be gone after two sneezes. As for the anti-magic dagger as a trump card, although it can interfere with the hardness of the ice armor and even hurt the epidermis, it cannot cause more damage.

After thinking for a moment, Victor shook his head and needed a stronger, more powerful, and more effective explosion... or a honeycomb integrated anti-magic bomb. At present, wise people will choose to retreat, go back and prepare before coming back, after all, there is no need to take risks with a body worth thousands of gold!

Wait, what is Viji doing over there! ?

From the side angle, the boy noticed that the rogue quietly climbed up the high platform next to him at some point, still holding the Sword of Dawn tightly in his hand.

Damn it, he was not going to... No!

As the leader silently stopped him, he watched helplessly as the team member jumped from the wooden frame, combined with the acceleration of gravity and the increased sharpness of the Sword of Dawn, and stabbed the steel sword into the shoulder of the ice giant. Then he was punched back by the monster, and fell into the ruins with blood spurting out of his mouth, and his life or death was unknown.

Victor didn't know whether to be angry or admire him. Although he injured the giant and made it roar in pain, this behavior could be said to be a hindrance. If he fell there, he couldn't follow his heart without any burden...

-Wait, the boy suddenly found that the giant's reaction at this time was very strange. It seemed that he couldn't see anything. He waved and smashed with one hand and kept wiping his face with the other hand.

Inspiration burst out in an instant! It was blood-the spurted blood froze and blocked the giant's vision! ?

After figuring it out in an instant, Victor stood out from behind the rock.

The winter sun shines through the window and onto him. The boy's eyes are clear and his voice is magnificent:

"You rogue Viji, you did a great job!

At this moment, your light is brighter and more dazzling than the sun, not only illuminating the road to victory, but also illuminating the road I should take next.

You are determined to die, and you have the courage to not give up even in desperate situations. Your adventure to defeat the giant shows me what "determination to die" means.

The so-called "determination to die" is not the intention to sacrifice. It is to open up a way forward in the dark mine!"

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