Chapter 1: The Witcher, Kiliman
In an orchard on the outskirts of White Orchard, the damp air was filled with the smell of decay and earth.
Kiliman’s golden cat eyes gleamed as he stared intently ahead; his Witcher’s keen sense of smell had long since detected the enemy’s position.
Suddenly, growls came from all directions—a pack of ghouls was closing in.
He took a deep breath, gripping the hilt of his Witcher’s silver sword. The blade shimmered with a cold light, and several runic inscriptions flickered faintly in the moonlight. He knew these monsters wouldn't give him much time.
The first ghoul lunged from the left, moving with astonishing speed.
Kiliman dodged, his blade arcing to precisely sever its throat. Black blood spurted out, and the ghoul let out a mournful shriek, thrashing on the ground for a few seconds before falling still.
Before he could catch his breath, the second and third ghouls attacked simultaneously from front and back, a putrid stench assailing him.
Kiliman quickly retreated, his sword tip pointing towards the ground, his body slightly crouched. Feeling the air pressure behind him, he spun around, sweeping his blade horizontally to cleave one ghoul in half at the waist.
Amidst splashing blood and decaying flesh, he used the momentum to spin, his blade striking the other ghoul’s head. The sword sank deep into its skull, bursting its eyeballs.
Seizing the moment, a fourth ghoul darted from the shadows, its claws aiming directly for his throat.
Kiliman had no time to withdraw his sword, so he slammed the hilt into its face, knocking it back. Then, gripping the sword with both hands, he thrust upwards, his blade slashing from the ghoul’s lower abdomen all the way to its chest, spilling entrails and black blood onto the ground.
The last ghoul seemed to sense the danger and began to hesitate, but Kiliman gave it no chance to escape.
He stepped forward quickly, thrusting his sword directly, bypassing the hard ribs, and piercing its heart through the chest. The ghoul let out a low whimper, collapsed to the ground, and moved no more.
Kiliman stood his ground, a few beads of sweat trickling down his handsome face. His silver sword was stained with dark red, foul blood, yet its blade remained as sharp as ever.
Finally, it’s done. Good thing I didn’t mess up.
He flicked the blood from his sword, sheathed it, and looked at the five ghoul corpses on the ground. With his right hand, he formed a magical sign somewhat similar to Igni, named the Soul Absorption Sign.
Instantly, five faint, multicolored specks of light floated out from within the ghoul corpses and swiftly vanished into his forehead.
At the same time, Kiliman heard an emotionless mechanical voice.
“Absorbed one weak soul, Soul Power +1.”
“Absorbed one weak soul, Soul Power +1…” A total of five Soul Power points gained.
Only five Soul Power points? Why are ghouls and drowners on the same level? That’s too stingy.
Kiliman spat disdainfully. Sure enough, low-level monsters are trash. To get rich, he still needed to find a way to hunt more powerful monsters.
He silently recited a phrase.
“Deep Blue, bring up my attribute panel.”
With a “ding,” a translucent light screen immediately appeared before Kiliman’s eyes.
Kiliman Gelman
Race: Perfect Witcher
Strength: 2.82 (Max: 4.00)
Agility: 2.54 (Max: 4.00)
Spirit: 1.85 (Max: 4.00)
Magic Power: 2.45 (Max: 4.00)
Poison Resistance: 15.52
(Normal adult human body attributes are between 0.8 and 1.2.)
Swordsmanship: 【Temerian Military Swordsmanship】: Proficient, Strength increased by 0.2, Agility increased by 0.2. Advancing to Master level requires one hundred Soul Power.
Magical Signs: None
Auxiliary Skills: Witcher Alchemy LV1, Monster Gathering LV1.
Soul Sequence LV1: Mortal (Although you possess the most perfect Witcher genes, your soul strength dictates that you are still just cannon fodder.)
(Improving the Soul Sequence can effectively increase the upper limits of physical attributes, magic power, spiritual power, and skill levels. For every Soul Sequence level increased, a new Soul Skill will be acquired, and the upper limit of existing Soul Skills will also increase by one level.)
Soul Ascension Progress: 5 / 100.
Soul Skill: Spatial Storage LV1 (One cubic meter space.)
Soul Power: 90 points
Having been in the Witcher world for over half a month, Kiliman had gradually adapted to this medieval environment lacking legal protection, filled with savage commoners, shameless nobles, and bloodthirsty monsters.
Rather, with his uninhibited, somewhat lawless personality, this world where the strongest fist ruled was his favorite place.
And the golden finger, which he named Deep Blue, also gave Kiliman the capital to dominate in this Another World .
A perfectly created body, the most perfect Witcher genes, and the super characteristic of being able to strengthen his physique and quickly learn various combat skills by consuming Soul Power.
As long as he continuously hunted monsters, absorbed their Soul Power, tempered his soul, and advanced his Soul Sequence, he could constantly grow stronger, ascend the ladder to godhood, and obtain everything he desired.
Such a thought flashed through his mind.
Kiliman composed himself, drew his gathering knife from his waist, and walked towards the remaining ghoul corpses in the orchard, preparing to gather materials.
Although ghoul oil was not valuable, only used to make sword oil against necrophages, as long as it was a monster, there was a certain chance it contained a mutagen, with stronger monsters having a higher chance.
Mutagens, however, were good stuff. Not only could they be used to make advanced decoctions, but also various alchemical items, magical items, and experimental supplies. Even selling them for money was more profitable than those smelly monster materials. He absolutely couldn't let them go.
Everything is difficult at the beginning. He came to this world with nothing, lacking even professional Witcher knowledge and skills, and had to figure out how to learn them himself. He had to value every resource before him.
If he hadn't learned 【Temerian Military Swordsmanship】 from a bandit who was once a Temerian deserter, he might not even be able to defeat a common drowner now.
Currently, Kiliman’s short-term goal was to meet a fellow Witcher as soon as possible to acquire Witcher-exclusive skills and knowledge from them. This was his top priority right now.
Other matters had to wait until he possessed sufficient self-preservation abilities… After half an hour, Kiliman finished gathering the monster materials, then moved the ghoul corpses to a more distant location for burning to avoid attracting more necrophages.
Unfortunately, his luck was still quite ordinary. Even though he had hunted nearly a hundred low-level monsters in the past half month, he hadn't dug up a single mutagen to date. All his money had been spent on Witcher gear, and now he had to rely on Witcher contracts to make a living.
Today's contract was similar: helping a young widow clear out monsters that had suddenly appeared in her orchard. The total reward was only twenty orens, barely enough for a week's travel expenses, or about half a month if he was frugal.
Times were tough now. Relations between the Northern Kingdoms and the Southern Nilfgaardian Empire were tense, having already fought two wars. The poor people of the North were utterly destitute, and even if there were monsters nearby, they couldn't afford to hire a Witcher.
It was rare to find an employer willing to pay, so he had to treat them well.
Kiliman had been a very professional person since his previous life; as the saying goes, 'love what you do.' He always completed what he promised others, unless there was some irresistible force.
After burning the ghoul corpses, Kiliman returned to the orchard, suddenly sniffed, and then a playful expression appeared on his face.
His keen Witcher senses told him that several places in the orchard contained buried decaying corpses, which was probably why the ghouls appeared here.
However, those monsters wouldn't bury corpses in the ground; they would only eat them and turn them into feces.
This matter was indeed man-made and not as simple as a regular Witcher contract. Ghouls wouldn't appear in an orchard for no reason.
Kiliman understood. He used his sword to mark the places where the decaying corpses were buried, then sheathed his sword and walked towards the young widow's house, the client of the contract.
It seemed necessary to have a good chat with that young widow.
Although he might not get more compensation, perhaps something pleasant to both body and mind might happen, who knows.
Heh heh~