4. The Drowner's Chest

Allen avoided Vesemir's complicated gaze. Pretending not to notice anything, he lowered his head and studied the patterns on Elsa's scabbard. He looked as if the patterns contained the secrets of the universe.

Turning his gaze back, Vesemir looked at the future of the Wolf School with a headache.Platinum, dark red, emerald green. Three pairs of round cat eyes were glued to Vesemir's face.

"The school never said I had to teach the apprentices out of my own pocket," Vesemir thought.

The probability of a second apprentice being able to kill a drowner with a steel sword was nearly zero.

But what if?

He didn't have a second "Elsa".

As for breaking the oath?

Even the witchers of the Cat School wouldn't be that dishonorable. Before he could come up with a solution, the Chief spoke: "Of course!"

"As long as you kill a drowner with a steel sword, my silver sword will be yours."

"But there's only one," Hughes asked innocently, "and there are three of us."

The Chief smiled and said, "Naturally, whoever kills it first will get it."

Hughes wanted to ask more. The other apprentices were already scrambling to stand before Vesemir. Vesemir breathed a sigh of relief and nodded gratefully at the Chief, then arranged the order.

If it weren't for the Chief's intervention, he might have pulled out Letho's silver sword. The farce ended, and the practical lesson resumed its course. Seeing everyone's attention back on the training ground, Allen let out a sigh of relief and silently muttered: "Panel."

The translucent panel unfolded, and a whole row of system messages appeared. Looking at the reward settlement details, Allen felt a sense of deja vu, as if he were back in his past life, playing a game and seeing the dungeon settlement screen.

Materials, experience beads, and chests—this felt like a third-rate game. Recalling things from Earth, Allen sighed.

The life of a corporate drone was exhausting, but at least it was safe. Living in the world of a witcher, who knew what awaited tomorrow?

Monsters?

Sorceresses?

Or a pitchfork stabbed from behind?

Shivering, Allen focused his mind and returned his attention to the panel. Although he didn't know how the "Monster Hunting" system determined the drowner's level, the reward settlement content gave him some clues.

Allen could roughly judge that a "monster hunt" evaluation started with a basic assessment of whether the monster was killed. Then, additional points were awarded based on the level difference between the monster and Allen, the method of killing, and the completion of the quest. The final amount of loot was related to the overall evaluation.

However, The drowner's heart essence?

What was it for?

[Do you want to use "Drowner's Heart Essence"?]

A prompt box popped up with Allen's thoughts.

Allen: ?

Can it be used directly?

With some hesitation, Allen thought for a few seconds and chose to use it. Instantly, a cold liquid flowed down his throat and into his esophagus. A warm current surged from his stomach, spreading throughout his body through his blood vessels. The fatigue from fighting the drowner vanished in an instant. His physical state felt as if he had returned to before the battle.

No.

It was even better than before the battle. With a thought, he opened his character panel.

[Name: Allen]

[Age: 13]

[Title: Child of Miracles]

[Level: 1]

[HP: 94%, Stamina: 54/54]

[Attributes: Strength 5.2 (+0.1), Agility 5.3, Constitution 5.4 (+0.2), Perception 6.9, Mystery 3.1]

[Special Skills: Monster Hunting LV1, Identification LV1]

[Skills: Wolf School Two-Handed Sword LV1 (0/100)]

[Evaluation: Weak!!!]

Yes!!!

Both strength and constitution had increased. Allen looked closely again, confirming that the increase in strength and constitution was not an illusion.

Although it was only a 0.3 increase, drowners were the most common monsters in this world. For witchers of any school, the first commission they received was ninety percent likely to be these ugly creatures.

A single drowner increased 0.3 points in attributes, ten would increase three points. And there were thousands upon thousands of drowners in this world.

Killing twenty or thirty drowners—would the Trial of the Mountains still be a challenge?

Thinking of the Trial of the Mountains, Allen felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, quickly calming him down. An apprentice who couldn't leave Kaer Morhen—what use were thousands of drowners in the world?

However, The tangible increase in attributes still made Allen see a glimmer of hope in the face of the death threat posed by the Trial of the Mountains.

Continuing to look further, Allen noticed that his experience in the Wolf School Two-Handed Sword had not increased at all.

Was it because the skill use time was too short, or could it only be improved using small experience beads?

The Monster Hunting system did not respond. Thinking about it, Allen thought:"Of course, after all, the original body practiced the two-handed sword for nearly ten years to reach LV1."

"In just a moment, how could there be any change?"

After thinking for a moment, Allen did not dwell on it and continued to sort through his gains. Using ten small experience beads consecutively, the Wolf School Two-Handed Sword leveled up directly. All the muscles in his body twitched slightly, and new knowledge appeared in his mind.

In a trance. Allen felt as if he had been trained by a master witcher for two years and had undergone a year of practical combat. His overall coordination and efficiency in using strength improved significantly. At the same time, the character level on the panel also increased by one.

"Ah!"

A scream interrupted Allen's reflection. He looked up. Not far away, a steel sword lay quietly on the ground. The first apprentice had failed.

Letho, with a blank expression, carried him towards Allen.

The apprentice's face, dirtied by dust, was full of unwillingness and disbelief. His right arm hung limply, likely dislocated.

"Allen," Hughes nervously picked at the small stones on the ground, asking somewhat hesitantly, "How did you do it earlier?"

Allen was about to brush it off when Vesemir called out: "Next, Bond."

Looking in the direction of the voice, Allen saw Vesemir toying with the drowner.

Yes, toying.

The steel sword remained sheathed; Vesemir used only his footwork to dodge the drowner's attacks, steadily holding its aggro. A true master witcher.

Allen thought. Then, an idea struck him, and he used his identification skill on Vesemir.

[Name: Vesemir]

[Attributes: Strength 46, Agility 57, Constitution 65, Perception 70, Mystery 41]

What kind of monster was this, to be so terrifying? Allen couldn't help but gasp. The lowest attribute, strength, was 46—nine times Allen's.

Remember, "Allen," though only 13, had undergone the Trial of the Grasses, making his physical attributes comparable to, if not surpassing, those of a regular adult in his previous life, even stronger than his overworked, often-drinking past self. Amazed, Allen scanned a few more witchers.

[Name: Letho]

[Attributes: Strength 28, Agility 34, Constitution 57, Perception 61, Mystery 15]

The attributes of adult witchers were similar to Letho's. The lowest attribute among them was strength, which was above twenty.

"Are witchers in the game this strong?" Allen pondered.

With such strong attributes, how could any witcher be killed by a farmer's pitchfork?

...