Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 14 Troll Tribe (Seeking recommendations, monthly tickets, and favorites)

A dozen minutes later, Geralt smiled, holding two fist-sized nuggets of gold in his hand, his heart filled with joy.

Although the nest of the human-faced demon bird was filled with rotting flesh, bird droppings, and bones, and smelled worse than a sewer, the white wolf skillfully searched it and found two natural gemstones in addition to the two nuggets of gold and some coins.

Instead of choosing the two more valuable nuggets of gold covered in unknown excrement, Wayne took the two glittering gems.

This made Geralt like him even more. As a seasoned gambler who indulged in all sorts of vices, he earned much more than the average person, but his spending habits were also far beyond those of ordinary farmers.

Witchers engage in dirty and dangerous work every day, suffer discrimination from many unruly people, and are themselves mutants, so they generally experience immense psychological stress. To relieve this stress, almost every Witcher is a regular at taverns, brothels, and casinos.

It's not surprising that most of the money earned by risking their lives is spent in just a few days, leaving them destitute.

As a modern man, Wayne doesn't really care about these small sums of money. He has a flexible moral bottom line, and in the future, as long as he wants, whether he robs the rich to help the poor, double-crosses others, or invests in businesses, the money he earns will definitely be incomparable to what he earns as a Witcher commission.

On the contrary, it was his brothers in the Wolf School, and other highly skilled witchers, who were the ones he cared about.

In this dog-eat-dog world of medieval magic, only by mastering power and uniting with those who possess it can one resist danger and take control of one's own destiny.

After crossing the lake, the two followed a mountain path winding towards the back of the mountain. After walking for another ten minutes or so, until a huge cave came into view, Geralt slowed his pace and said to Wayne behind him:

"Wayne, there's a Cyclops in the cave ahead. Many Witcher apprentices died at the hands of this monster called Old Spearhead."

Seeing Wayne's surprise, Geralt added:

"This is part of the final trial."

"The apprentices participating in the trial must find a way to pass through this cave guarded by the Cyclops."

"Actually, Cyclops are even dumber than trolls, and they are also very clumsy. They are very strong and spend most of their time sleeping in caves."

"As long as the apprentices are quiet enough and don't make a sound, they can pass through the cave safely."

Wayne nodded, thought for a moment, and asked:

"So, this time, should we take down this Cyclops?"

Geralt paused, looked up at Wayne, hesitated for a few seconds, and said:

"Wayne, since we'll be teaming up to complete missions in the future, we should get to know each other better."

"I have always believed that intelligent monsters, just like humans, are intelligent beings, and there is no distinction between high and low, noble and lowly."

"As long as he does not endanger the safety of others, I will not intentionally harm him."

"In this regard, I hope you can agree with my thinking."

Seeing the white wolf's frank and open conversation, Wayne also gave a genuine smile and said:

"You know, Geralt, I am a half-elf, a non-human race, and now I am seen as an outcast, a witcher."

"Don't worry, I'm more accepting of other intelligent beings than you think."

Upon hearing this, Geralt gave Wayne a deep look, nodded slightly, then took two vials of white Witcher potion from his pouch, placed one in Wayne's hand, and said:

"This is a cat potion that enhances our dark vision, allowing us to see things in the dark."

"Just follow behind me, be careful, and don't make a sound. We'll sneak out of the cave quietly without waking Old Spearhead."

Wayne nodded. His agility was already higher than that of the average witcher, so this kind of stealth mission was not difficult for him.

Soon, after drinking the cat potion, the two entered the cave one after the other.

Even after all these years, Geralt still seemed quite familiar with the routes in the cave. He led Wayne slowly forward along the wall, sneaking through the darkness for five or six minutes before finally climbing onto another high ground via a platform.

As they moved forward, a loud snoring sound kept lingering in their ears, growing louder and louder as they traveled further.

However, Geralt ignored the source of the snoring and quickly led Wayne along the wall for another five minutes until they finally found the cave exit.

Before leaving the cave, out of curiosity, Wayne turned his head to look at the source of the shouting.

There lay a hideous giant, four or five meters long, on a flat ground, carrying a huge wooden stick on his back. He was wearing only a simple animal skin, one hand covering his navel and the other tucked into his pocket. He was snoring contentedly and sleeping soundly.

Seeing this, Wayne felt a surge of amusement. Perhaps in the Cyclops's mind, those Witcher apprentices were the monsters who had broken into his house and tried to harm him.

For decades now, no new witcher apprentices have come here, which has allowed this guy to live a peaceful life.

After watching for a few seconds, Wayne followed Geralt out of the cave, and when his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, a strange scene appeared before him.

On a flat area a few dozen meters away from them, five tall, strange creatures made of giant stones were gathered around a large pot, eating, playing, and frolicking. They could even hear some strange singing, as if they were holding a celebration.

They were ugly and moved slowly, each one resembling a drunken, obese man. Although their speech was stuttering and difficult to understand, it was definitely human language.

Geralt, who was walking ahead, turned to him and made a shushing gesture, whispering:

"This is a troll tribe. They are monsters who can barely communicate, and can be considered an intelligent race."

"Don't say anything out of line later. I'll handle the negotiations with them."

"These guys have lived here for over a hundred years and are quite familiar with us witchers. Let's try to avoid any conflict."

"There are a lot of them, and if a fight breaks out, we might get hurt."

(End of this chapter)