The Witcher: Grinding Proficiency Starting with the Witcher

"Whoosh!"

The lake surface was splashed with water, and specks of scarlet appeared in the white foam.

Black hair suddenly emerged from the shore. Li Wei, sword in hand, used [Body Coordination] to quickly overcome the gravity upon emerging from the water and staggered slightly onto the shore.

"Hehehe!"

Blue water ghosts emerged from behind, their sharp claws gleaming coldly in the pale light.

"ha!"

The water ghost at the front let out a shriek and lunged forward.

Li Wei's eyes blazed with fury. As he dodged to the side, he used the momentum to slash down with his longsword.

Once out of the water, the water ghost's body was no longer as agile as it was in the water.

With just one sword strike, it was disemboweled.

The water ghost retreated, curled up, and clutched its stomach to prevent its intestines from spilling out, its blood staining the lake water red.

More water ghosts emerged from the water, sniffing the bloody smell in the water. Their eyes were immediately drawn to their ripped-out companions. They clenched their teeth and reached out to pull out the spilled intestines.

Without hesitation, Li Wei quickly retreated amidst the chaos.

"Hehehe!"

A head, larger than a water ghost, emerged from the water, its bright red fins gleaming.

Its gaze swept over the chaotic scene, and anger gleamed in the dead fish's eyes.

"ha!"

A sharp shriek stopped the water ghosts who were scrambling for the entrails in their tracks, causing them to cower and retreat away from the dying creature.

Li Wei gasped when he saw this.

Water ghosts have no mind; they only follow their instincts to eat.

That large water ghost clearly possessed considerable intelligence and could even command the surrounding water ghosts.

Drowned spirits!

Four words suddenly appeared in my mind.

Only one monster will mutate out of tens of thousands of water ghosts; the leader of the water ghosts.

Li Wei sensed something was wrong. He reached into his shirt with his left hand and grasped the hot, prickly red crystal, forcing himself to calm down.

Catch the thief first to catch the king.

As soon as the drowning undead emerges from the water and comes ashore, he throws out the [Great Fireball] spell that Mavis gave him.

Even if he couldn't kill the enemy, it would be enough to create chaos, allowing him to venture deeper into land and escape the encirclement of the water ghosts.

The drowning ghost turned its gaze to Li Wei, who was retreating, and slowly stood up from the water. It was about 1.7 meters tall, two heads taller than an ordinary water ghost. It had a strong body and bulging muscles on its shoulders, full of powerful explosive force.

Li Wei took a deep breath and prepared himself.

"good."

"Come a little closer."

"I'll give you a big one in a bit."

My nerves were taut like a string.

Suddenly, the drowning spirit stiffened, as if it had seen something dangerous. Its body, which had surfaced, submerged again, leaving only its head sticking out, watching him warily.

Li Wei was astonished.

"No way, is this beast really that intelligent? It can detect the magical fluctuations within the red crystal?"

A cold wind swept down his back, making him shiver.

He glanced behind him and saw that on Eagle Stream Mountain, thick fog was spreading rapidly towards the foot of the mountain like an avalanche.

It's getting foggy.

"ha!"

The drowning undead let out a shriek, a look of fear appearing in its eyes, before diving into the water.

As if summoned, the water ghosts dived into the water one by one.

Upon seeing this scene, Li Wei felt no relief; instead, a sense of fear welled up within him.

Something that even drowning ghosts fear must be even more terrifying in strength.

We need to find a place to hide first.

"hiss!"

Li Wei gasped.

A sharp pain shot through my calf.

Li Wei quickly stepped out of the lake and glanced around the foot of the mountain.

Not far from the shore, he saw a dark shadow on the rocky beach.

"It's a cave."

The distance is approximately one hundred meters.

"Thankfully, the stinging pain is still within a manageable range. I need to speed things up."

Li Wei took a few deep breaths and walked quickly toward the cave.

Before long, the thick fog had fallen from the ridge to the foot of the mountain, exploding in layers like a sea of ​​clouds.

The fog was thick, reducing visibility to only three or four meters, and the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped several degrees.

Before long, their clothes, which were wet from walking, were already covered in frost.

Fortunately, we had already determined the location, and after walking for a while, we found the entrance to the cave.

The cave was pitch black, and the scene inside was impossible to see.

Li Wei crossed his arms over his chest, trembling all over.

"We can't worry about that now, let's go inside and talk about it first."

Entering the cave, you find yourself in a narrow passage that becomes increasingly cramped the further you go, until you squeeze into a narrow crevice in the rock that is only wide enough for one person, where the space suddenly opens up.

The walls on all four sides are made of piled rocks, and the stalactites overhead are covered with glowing moss, making the cave environment bright and mysterious.

Li Wei looked around, but the [Vigilance] spell on the red crystal pendant showed no unusual activity.

There is no danger.

The teeth kept clapping together.

cold!

Although they underwent their first mutation and became stronger, they were still mortals and couldn't withstand sub-zero temperatures. Otherwise, the Witchers wouldn't have returned to the castle to spend the winter and huddle together for warmth.

Li Wei's gaze quickly settled on a corner of the cave.

There was a pile of dry firewood there.

Not far away, there was even a bonfire surrounded by stones.

Li Wei's eyes lit up. He strode over, his hands trembling as he set up the firewood, arranged the wood fluff underneath, and took out a flint from his oilcloth backpack, striking it repeatedly.

"Order it!"

"Damn it!"

"Bang!"

The appearance of the spark ignited the tinder, and the warm light finally calmed Li Wei down, allowing him to breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

Once the chill had dissipated a bit, he immediately took off his upper garment and placed it by the fire to dry.

They then began to examine the injury on the right calf.

The leather boots had been torn into three pieces, with the middle part hanging limply, and the cotton trousers inside had been ripped into wadding.

Li Wei carefully pulled up his trouser leg and saw two bright red and purplish bloodstains.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thankfully, there's no bleeding, just superficial wounds!"

Even so, it is evident how sharp the water ghost's claws were; with just a scratch, they pierced through the cotton cloth and animal skin boots.

If you're wearing thinner clothes, it could definitely cut your skin.

Look at the system panel.

[Defeat the water ghost, Spinning Cross Slash proficiency +5! General martial arts proficiency +5!] x5!

【Whirling Cross Slash: 55/500】

[General Physical Skill Proficiency: 130]

[Acquire Water Ghost Mutation: 350%]

[HP: 1.1/1.5]

Endurance: 0.9/1.6

[Status: Scratched right calf with bruising; seven small scratches on arm...]

This time, Li Wei truly felt death knocking at his door, but thankfully he escaped unharmed.

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"A drowned spirit."

"I'll remember this grudge!"

Li Wei gritted his teeth inwardly.

I took out the recovery medicine, poured some on the wound, and rubbed it in with my hand.

Green spots appeared on the bluish-purple bruises, accompanied by intermittent itching.

He poured most of the remaining recovery potion into his mouth, and his lower abdomen felt warm, which also dispelled a lot of the chill.

[Status: Used a low-level recovery potion, slowly recovering health at a rate of 0.1 per hour, for a total of 0.3]

Li Wei took out the remaining dry rations and placed them beside the fire, his pupils reflecting the flickering flames.

Although the cave was not large, it contained a fire and firewood, as well as surrounding stone walls, clearly the work of Turka and his men.

It is a place for apprentices who have crossed the Eagle Stream River to come here to rest.

"Um?"

Li Wei's gaze fell on the pile of firewood, which he hadn't noticed earlier due to his obstructed view.

There sat a headless corpse slumped there, covered in tattered Witcher apprentice clothes.

Li Wei picked up the knight's sword beside him, got up, and slowly walked over.

The corpse had been dead for a long time; the flesh had long since decomposed. A wooden tag hung around its neck, with words still faintly visible.

Li Wei murmured to himself.

"Jesse...?"

The image of a blond, smiling boy vaguely appeared in my mind.

He was a Witcher apprentice from the previous year.

Having crossed the Eagle Stream River, I never imagined I would die here.

My gaze fell upon the skull lying to the side, with a noticeable hole in the top of its head.

Li Wei's expression turned extremely serious.

"Someone smashed his head? No! More than that!"

"This skull has several crisscrossing fine scratches; it's been eating!"

"Fog, eating our heads?"

Li Wei had already imagined a terrifying creature.

"Thump..."

A slight noise came from the stone wall on the side.

Li Wei's alarm blared.

"who!"