Chapter 288: The Forktail is the Target
Lynn stood up from the ground and looked at the large trees beside the mine. Before he left, he didn't forget to set fire to the two bodies.
Although they hadn't attracted any ghouls yet, that didn't mean the corpses could be left unattended. Besides, even if no scavengers ever came, leaving the bodies there would eventually lead to plagues and disease.
Lynn used the Igni sign to set the bodies on fire. He then searched the area around the mine and eventually found a considerable amount of blood scattered on the ground near the edge of the forest. He looked up and with his keen eyes, he spotted traces of blood on one of the large trees.
In particular, a branch at the top of the tree seemed to have been snapped after piercing something. There were also clear marks of something having crashed into the tree.
At this point, he had a pretty good idea of what had happened.
"I think I've got it all figured out. Here's what happened:"
"A young Forktail killed and caught a sheep. But the sheep was too heavy, so it couldn't fly very high and was flying low to the ground. As a result, it crashed into one of the big trees in this forest and got its eye pierced by a branch. The roar the mine owner and the other workers heard must have been from the Forktail."
"The injured Forktail instinctively threw the sheep away, and by pure chance, it landed on the head of the unfortunate miner, Rakhi. That's the whole story. It wasn't the wrath of the gods or an act of divine punishment; it was just an accident. But before I go back to report, I have to take care of that Forktail, or an accident like this will happen again. The young Forktail is injured, and there's a lot of blood on the ground, so it shouldn't be too hard to find."
Lynn followed the trail of blood. After about ten meters, he saw a few faint traces of blood on the grass.
"That's the young Forktail's blood. It's barely visible, but I'm on the right track."
Fifty meters later, the bloodstains on the grass became more and more numerous and distinct.
"It's bleeding heavily. Quite a lot of it, actually. Looks like its injuries are more severe than I thought."
Lynn drew the Grandmaster silver sword from his back. He knew better than to be careless just because the monster was injured. When monsters smell blood—even their own—they can go into a frenzy. Their movements won't necessarily slow down.
As he continued to track the Forktail, the sky began to darken. A witcher's night vision was already better than a human's, but to be safe, he took out a bottle of Superior Cat potion from his runed leather pouch and drank it. As the potion took effect, the world became as bright as day.
He followed the blood trail for another twenty minutes or so. He noticed that in addition to the bloodstains, there were also many claw prints on the ground. Evidently, it could no longer fly.
As he continued to track, the claw prints became more and more obvious. Not far ahead, he saw more dragging and scraping marks on the ground.
"Its injuries are very serious. It doesn't even have the strength to crawl anymore." A faint smile appeared on Lynn's lips. This meant he might be able to save some effort.
But his joy was short-lived. Not far away, he found more fresh footprints on the grass. The new footprints were clearly different from the previous ones, belonging to another dragon.
"A second dragon landed here, a much larger one. It brought food to the younger one. When the younger one's injuries get a little better, they'll fly away together, probably back to their nest."
That's how monsters were. Their vitality was far stronger than a human's. In particular, draconic creatures, as long as they weren't killed on the spot, could recover with food, clean water, and a safe environment. But Lynn didn't get discouraged. Although the footprints were gone, there were still faint traces of blood. And the smaller one was still bleeding. All he had to do was follow the blood to find the nest.
Half an hour later.
"The blood trail is gone."
Lynn looked down at the last pool of blood on the ground. He looked around and finally fixed his gaze on a nearby hilltop. The hill wasn't very high, only a dozen meters from the ground, but standing below, Lynn could smell a familiar scent carried by the wind. It was the scent of a monster. Without a doubt, the Forktail's nest was on top of that hill.
Now that he had confirmed the location of the monster's lair, Lynn didn't rush to go up. He first took out several potions from his runed leather pouch: Superior Thunderbolt, Superior Petri's Philter, and Superior Tawny Owl.
After downing several potions on top of the Cat potion he had already consumed, Lynn felt that the toxicity in his body was still nowhere near its limit. He could even drink a few more bottles.
This was the benefit of "Mutation Synergy" and "Lead Gut." "Mutation Synergy" reduced the toxicity of all potions by 30%, and "Lead Gut" increased his toxicity resistance by 100%. This allowed him to use more potions. For a witcher, potions represented combat power.
But for now, these potions were enough.
Lynn climbed the hill and smelled a foul mixture of the monster's body odor and the stench of the rotting animals it had thrown into the nest as food. In the nest, there were two Forktails, one large and one small. He noticed the younger one had a wound on its eye, which confirmed his earlier suspicion.
At first glance, Forktails bore a slight resemblance to raptors, but they lacked a pair of forelimbs and had a pair of wings instead. They had sharp, thorn-like horns on their heads and backs. But the most terrifying part was their tail.
The name "Forktail" came from the long, sharp protrusions on the end of their tails. If you were hit by their tail, even a shield would be shattered to pieces, and a hit would be fatal or cause serious injury even in full plate armor.
This was exactly why people needed witchers—because sending in an army to hunt monsters was too costly.
Lynn quietly drew the Grandmaster silver sword from his back, crouched low, and slowly moved forward. When the large Forktail seemed to sense something, Lynn didn't hesitate. He pulled out a Superior Aerondight bomb and threw it with all his might.
BOOM!
The massive explosion caused both Forktails, large and small, to cry out in pain and fall to the ground. Seeing this, Lynn pushed off the ground with his right foot. The sole of his boot scraped against the grass with a shhh, and he shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring. He covered the twenty-meter distance in a mere instant with his current speed. The two Forktails were still dazed from the explosion.
A Forktail's neck skin was both thick and tough; it would normally take several slashes to sever its head. But Lynn didn't use his sword. Instead, he shot his left hand out, palm flat, and struck the Forktail's skull.
"Aard!"
A white ripple exploded. With the added power of "Magic Outburst," Superior Petri's Philter, and "Mutation Synergy," the Aard sign was incredibly potent, amplified to an astonishing degree. The overwhelming blast of air, at point-blank range, was like a sledgehammer slamming into the Forktail's skull. The creature's head burst open like a watermelon, and its body toppled over.
But it wasn't over yet. The witcher medallion on Lynn's chest trembled slightly. But even without the medallion's warning, he had already noticed.
He bent backward, his body forming a "back arch." At the same time, he thrust his Grandmaster silver sword upward with his right hand. The young Forktail pounced, passing just over Lynn's head. The Grandmaster silver sword sliced a huge gash in its belly.
The young Forktail cried out, its head hitting the ground. It slid forward for several meters, leaving a trail in the dirt.
"Igni."
A terrifying torrent of crimson flame shot from his palm, striking the young Forktail. The creature was engulfed in the flames and was roasted into a cinder before it could even let out a final cry.
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