The Divine Hunter

razy plan.”

***

The meat was placed outside one of the tunnels, and they crawled into it.
It was narrow and shabby, made out of nothing but mud.
Letho had to curl up and move forward in an awkward pose that resembled how a nekker would move.
Since Roy was around five feet five, he could move freely in the tunnel, and from time to time, he’d touch the walls of the tunnel.
I wonder what’s on these walls.
It’s smooth, bouncy, and warm.

He mumbled, “I have a feeling we’re walking through a monster’s mouth, and deep down there is it’s stomach.
Can this really work?”

“Shut up.
I can’t keep you safe this time if we can’t fool those bastards.”

They moved ahead, and then they looked at each other.
It’s coming, they thought, and they hunkered down, holding their breath.
Quiet footsteps came from ahead, and a nekker appeared from the corner a moment later.
Its ears were pointy, its head bald, its teeth sharp, but it had something normal nekkers didn’t — red paint on its face.
It was crawling ahead using all its limbs, not unlike a spider, but Roy was reminded of Gollum.

‘Nekker warrior

Age: Eight

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 5

Constitution: 7

Perception: 4

Will: 4

Charisma: 2

Spirit: 3

Skills:

Leap Attack Level 2: Has great leaping ability, allowing to attack from ten feet away.
Can leap toward its target quickly, attacking it with its fangs and claws.
Gains +1 in strength when leaping.
Lasts thirty seconds.

Corpse Venom Level 4: Lives in places filled with corpses and decaying flesh.
Thanks to that, its claws and fangs are imbibed with venom.
Its attacks can weaken its target and cause bleeding.

Strength in Numbers (Passive): Whenever nekkers move in packs, they gain +1 in Dexterity and Will.

Evolve (Passive): Once a nekker warrior has consumed enough flesh over time, it will evolve into a nekker leader.

***

The nekker warrior noticed their movement, and it stared at them in uncanny confusion when it noticed the smell of its comrade on Letho and Roy.
They stared at each other for a few moments, and the nekker accepted Roy as one of its own and left.

Roy kept his crossbow and took a whiff of the flesh on him.
“I knew it.
It thinks we’re one of them.”

“We can talk about that later.
Let’s get out for now.
This is the right way; it showed up from there after all.
Its nest must be near, so we can set up bait there.”

“Okay.” They took out the meat from the package and backtracked, tossing the meat as they went.
The bag of meat was laid out on the floor when they came out, and Roy heaved a sigh.
“Will they take the bait? They should know it’s their brethren’s flesh, right?”

“Didn’t you notice it yesterday? Those nekkers were skin and bones.
Obviously, this place doesn’t have any food, and the nekkers have been starving for a long time.
They’re going to take the bait.
This is too much of a temptation for them.
Humans will kill their own when they’re dying from starvation, so why wouldn’t these monsters? Why do you think this place doesn’t have any beasts in it?”

Roy nodded.
“But I don’t understand.
How did we manage to fool them? Because of the flesh?”

“Drowners can’t see far, and the same goes for nekkers.
They rely on their sense and smell and hearing to see things, not their eyes.
All they can see is an outline.
Since we’re covered in the flesh and blood of its kind, it should think we’re one of them if we stay some distance away.”

Roy was impressed by the trick Letho came up with.
The witcher managed to turn the nekkers’ bodies into alchemy materials, camouflage, and poisonous bait.
Even though he was wounded, he could still go against the monsters using his experience.
I’m still too green.
Books can’t tell me about this, he reminded himself.

“I’m still wounded, so take Gwyhyr with you.
Don’t let even a single one escape.” They leaned against the cavern’s wall.
Letho was holding his steel sword, while Roy was holding Gwyhyr.
A short while later, they heard the rustle of footsteps coming from inside.
Then out came a couple of nekkers.
They approached the meat curiously, sniffing it for a moment before devouring it.

And then Roy heard the boom of footsteps as a group of pale nekkers darted out of the cave to pounce at their food.
The nekkers gurgled in ecstasy as they crawled on all fours toward the meat, their putrid drool dripping onto the ground.
The monsters licked the clumps of flesh and engorged on them greedily, oblivious to their bodies’ changes.

Thanks to the paralyzing poison, they were starting to become slower and slower, though they were still crawling out of the cave by instinct, for a bag of flesh was enticing them there.
They stuck their heads out and looked down, ignorant to the danger about to befall them.
Then they looked at their abnormally gigantic ‘brother’ in confusion.
At the same time, Letho gave Roy a look, and the boy tensed, his fingers turning white.

There’s an opening.
Roy took a deep breath and focused on the task ahead.
He raised Gwyhyr high in the air and sliced down with all his might, executing the nekker before him.
Blood spurted high into the air as the nekker’s head tumbled down to the heap of corpses, the last confusion still etched on its face.

At the same time, Roy kicked the headless body away to keep the entrance clear.
Roy started to sweat from his neck, and his face turned scarlet with excitement.
Never knew killing a monster could be that easy.