Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Clint tried to justify himself, but he still couldn't believe he had done it.

They found a larger rock, which was located by the roadside at the entrance to the village. Part of the rock was buried underground, while the part above ground was higher than Clint's waist.

Finding a place to grab onto, Clint gathered his strength and, little by little, managed to pull the entire stone out.

Just as Lin Daiyu uprooted a willow tree in ancient times, Clint pulled up a giant rock from the roadside. He stared incredulously at his hands, then at the rock beside him.

"When did I acquire such power?"

At this moment, Geralt came over from the side, put the stone back in its original place, and even stood on it and jumped around to make it even more secure.

Pointing to a pile of crab shells beside him, Geralt said, "What do you think you've been eating and drinking these past few days?"

"Is this crab really that powerful? This kind of enhancement effect might even be more powerful than Captain America's!"

Instead of answering Clint's question, Geralt tossed the Water of Life to Clint, gesturing for him to take a sip.

I tried taking a small sip, and the alcohol that was originally unbearable now tasted just like regular whiskey.

Clint then took another big gulp to calm the shock and excitement in his heart.

Geralt then spoke up: "The drink you usually have is made from green herbs, which helps your body recover its strength, while the crab provides you with a huge amount of energy. This subtle enhancement is the hunters' secret recipe."

Gripping his shortbow tightly, Clint said confidently, "It'll be soon. I'll soon be a hunter."

This confident statement drew Geralt's attention, who waved his hand in front of Clint's eyes and said, "Wake up, stop dreaming."

Is something wrong?

"You can't even draw the lowest-level bow right now, let alone those melee weapons. You can't even use the more powerful bows that come later. You can't even beat a crab right now."

This truly brought Clint to his senses. He'd been eating giant crabs every day, yet now he couldn't even beat one of them.

However, after comparing his own strength improvement over the past few days, Clint became even more confident.

"I will work hard and become a hunter as soon as possible. Where is the crab? I want to eat another one!"

This confident statement only earned him a bundle of arrows thrown at him by Geralt.

Clint, holding the bundle of arrows, listened as Geralt said, "Now you'll have to hunt on your own. Remember, from here onwards, everything that moves will be your enemy. The area guarded by the exiles is the road to Farron Keep. Before you officially become a hunter, never go near it; they will treat you as an intruder and kill you without hesitation."

Clint nodded seriously at the solemn warning, indicating that he had taken it to heart.

"Oh, right, there are also Black Knights in the Forest of Crucifixion. They are more powerful than the Exiles, and they are also more ruthless. Do not try to get close to them or try to communicate with them. These Black Knights are gods who have fought against demons. They are only here to check on the situation in the Abyss. As long as there is the slightest disturbance in the Abyss, they will come in droves."

This detailed explanation made Clint realize the difference. Geralt usually wouldn't even speak unless it was necessary, but today he had said everything he had said in the past week.

Clint couldn't help but ask, "Is there a problem? This exchange feels like parting words."

Geralt looked up at the sky and said in a nostalgic tone, "There is a great man being buried in the Ringed City today, and I must attend."

## Chapter 135: Heading Towards the Old Wolf of Fran (4k)

Ever since Clint learned that Geralt was going to the Ringed City, he had been pestering Geralt to take him along.

What are you doing there?

“I have a friend studying in Huanyin City. She’s always alone, so I need to go and see her.”

Geralt knew who Clint was talking about; Natasha was probably the only friend he had in the Ringed City at that moment.

"Alright, remember to keep up with me later."

With Geralt's permission, Clint excitedly slung the shortbow across his shoulder and began wrapping himself in more clothing.

Geralt asked, puzzled, "What are you doing?"

"Aren't we going back to Ringed City? I'll wear more layers so it won't get cold in the sky."

Geralt was speechless at Clint's treatment.

"You came here from Ringed City by porter, didn't you ever think that we hunters also have our own way of traveling?"

"Us? Do we?"

Clint thought about how he had spent the last few days eating, devouring two five-meter-tall crabs, and had not learned any further information.

"Alright, come with me. Although the Hunters are an outer organization guarding this place, it gives us more freedom. The various missions we take on allow us to make friends with all sorts of people."

As Geralt spoke, he stepped down from the roadside half-fortress and headed towards the Forest of Crucifixion.

Instead of following the downhill path, they jumped directly down from the side of the path, descending the steps one by one, and finally arrived at the Forest of Crucifixion.

Stopping Clint from jumping down the last step, Geralt drew his dagger, stealthily made his way down the steps, and then leaped.

With a downward strike and aided by gravity, the dagger pierced a dog's head, pinning it to the ground.

After finishing his business, Geralt beckoned Clint to come down and pointed at the dogs, saying, "This is a hunting ground for dogs. They gnaw on corpses here, so be careful every time you come here."

Looking at the 'dog' that was now just pale skin and sharp teeth, Klint nodded to indicate that he remembered it.

Geralt then proceeded along the winding path on the right, introducing Clint to the specialties of the Crucifixion Forest as he went.

I kicked a crab the size of a millstone, watching it fly out in an arc before crashing into a pond in the forest, splashing water everywhere.

Geralt said with a hint of malice, "These are the crabs you eat every day. There are many more here, and there's even a big one up ahead. Would you like me to introduce you to them?"

After thinking about how the crabs he had eaten were all over five meters long and their legs were thicker than his own thighs, Clint decided to refuse the meeting.

After walking for a short while, Geralt pointed to a swarm of insects gathered by the roadside and began to introduce them to Clint.

These insects had tentacle-like mouthparts, with six tentacles supporting their hemispherical, sulfurous bodies. At the very top of their bodies was a mushroom-shaped head-like structure.

"These are poisonous horned beetles. Although they don't have horns, they are indeed poisonous. If anyone gets close or irritates them, they will spray poisonous mist in all directions, like this..."

With that, Geralt picked up a stone and threw it into the swarm of horned beetles. Stimulated, the beetles began to frantically wave their tiny tentacles and then spray purple poisonous mist from the tumor-like growths on their bodies.

Seeing the poisonous fog instantly envelop the area around the venomous beetle, Clint reluctantly took a few steps further away, even though there was still some distance between them.

Seeing Clint's caution, Geralt became interested and said, "Don't stay so far away. You can extract excellent rotten resin from the poison horn beetle. It's a great aid, perfect for a novice like you. You'll be in charge of the extraction from now on. Young people need more practice."

Before Clint could refuse, Geralt started walking on his own. In order to keep up with Geralt and not be left behind in this dangerous forest, Clint had no choice but to follow closely behind.

Gradually, more wooden stakes appeared along the roadside. These stakes showed obvious signs of human intervention, with stakes tied in a cross shape and a ring in the middle, piled up and stuck into the ground.

Clint even saw a black, mummified corpse chained to a wooden stake.

Behind a large tree, Geralt made a shushing gesture and pointed ahead to Clint.

Amidst a pile of wooden stakes, sat a tall, hunchbacked figure, probably over four meters tall. His entire body was wrapped in rags, and he carried a broken cross-shaped wooden stake on his back.

The exposed hands and feet clearly showed red bloodstains, and the blood had not yet congealed.

This figure was just like the mummified corpse that had been chained to the wooden stake before, only it was much larger.

Geralt pressed Clint's head down, making him hide behind a tree, and said, "In the future, if you see a tall sinner like this, with your current strength, you'd better leave quietly. Don't think that just because you're an archer you can attack from a distance, you're finished once it spots you."

Signaling Clint not to come out, Geralt emerged from behind the tree and walked silently toward the sinner.

Geralt drew a longsword from his four-dimensional pocket at his waist and swung it to test its balance. However, the sound of the sword tip cutting through the air caught the sinner's attention.

The sinner, who had been slumped on the ground, suddenly raised his head and looked around.

Upon seeing Geralt approaching with his sword, the Sinner's eyes turned bloodshot. He roared at Geralt, then stood up, spread his arms, and charged at him like a strange creature.

The sinner's feet stomped on the ground, not only leaving thick footprints, but also sending tremors far away. Clint, who was observing closely behind the trees, felt the trees tremble as the sinner ran.

Facing the charging sinner, Geralt neither dodged nor defended, but instead held his sword level, the tip pointing towards the sinner in a thrusting stance.

Just a few steps away, the sinner leaped into the air, raising his hands and launching a downward attack at Geralt from mid-air.

Unexpectedly, Geralt did not change his thrusting stance at all, but instead attacked forward and used his swift movement to leave the spot.

Boom~~

The sinner's landing attack produced a sound and effect like a cannonball, blasting a deep crater in the muddy ground beside the pond, with splashes of dirt flying in all directions like bullets.

Clint had no choice but to hide behind a tree, using the tree to block the mud's attack. Listening to the dull sound of the mud hitting the tree trunk, and comparing it to the constantly shaking treetop, Clint believed that if an ordinary person faced such an attack, they would have been riddled with holes long ago.

Once the sounds stopped, Clint, who had been peeking out from behind the tree, continued to observe the battle.

Geralt had dodged the attack and was now back-to-back with the sinner.

Following his previous lunge and thrust stance, he shifted his footwork, turned around instantly, and delivered the thrusting attack to the sinner crouching on the ground.

The sword was embedded in the sinner's body. Instead of hastily withdrawing the sword, he held it with both hands and used his body strength to lift the entire sword up.

This was originally a parrying technique in swordsmanship, but Geralt used it to have an offensive effect.

With this parry, the sword tip carved a long, curved gash several feet long inside the sinner's body, and then pulled the sword out of the sinner's body.

The sinner, howling in pain, reached out and swung his hand at Geralt, trying to grab him.

However, Geralt still lunged forward, this time weaving to the side of the sinner and dodging his throwing attack.

He held the sword with both hands and swung it at the back of the sinner's legs.

The sword cut in from behind the knee joint and then slid out along the outside, the sharp blade damaging the oblique popliteal ligament and the fibular collateral ligament.

Using the momentum from the swing, he turned around and slashed the sinner's knee joint again, severing his patellar ligament.

Such an attack completely exposed the sinner's entire knee joint, except for the inner side, and the meniscus inside the joint could even be seen from the tear.

With his knee joint damaged, the sinner's leg could no longer bear the weight of his entire body, and he fell to the side of the injured leg.

Geralt moved in front of the sinner, grabbed its sparse hair with one hand, and plunged his longsword straight into its eye socket with the other, the tip of the sword protruding from the back of its head.

With his hands gripping the sword and one foot planted on the sinner's head, Geralt struggled to pull the sword from the sinner's skull.

Such a battle ended in the blink of an eye.

Geralt, looking at Clint who had emerged from behind the tree to examine the sinner's corpse, asked meaningfully, "How is it?"

Clint compared the sizes of the two and shook his head, saying, "I can't even react. The difference in size, strength, and agility is just too great."

Geralt tore a rag from the sinner's body and hastily wiped the blood and bits of tofu off his sword. Seeing that the sword was still not very clean, he had no choice but to squat down beside the puddle created by the sinner's downward slam and wash the blade.

After washing his longsword, Geralt comforted him, saying, "It's alright, you'll get the hang of it with practice. The worst that can happen is you die without a burial place, it's not a big deal."

Such words of comfort left Clint speechless. He could only smile wryly and follow Geralt as he left.

After dealing with the criminals, apart from the swarms of poisonous horned beetles, there were basically no more threats on this road.

Until Geralt led Clint to a continuous stretch of buildings.

The defensive structure, built of thick stone bricks, appears to be on the inner side of the building, but the scars on the walls suggest that it is not a peaceful place.