Vizima's sewers. A dark, damp place filled with a rancid stench. What stood before every explorer was an abyss that stretched infinitely, with untold dangers lying within. Suddenly, the light of a torch appeared at the corner, shining on a cracked wall filled with moss and wastewater. Shadows were cast on the ground, getting longer and longer with every passing moment.
Someone had entered the passage. They were a group of four that was made up of three knights in silver armor and a witcher with a viper pendant hanging before his chest. They walked in two groups of two, holding a torch in their hands. The group stood on both sides of the passage, going forward as quietly as possible, their steps as silent as a cat's.
A dark brown stream flowed in the middle of the path. It was made up of wasted food, excrements, and bizarre items, such as women's clothes, torn dolls, and the leg of a table. It looked like a stream of brown mucus, and the stream filled the air with a disgusting stench.
The witcher held the torch up near the right wall and light shone on a number painted on it. The number was getting muddied, and it was proof that it had existed for ages. He unfurled the map with his other hand and compared the number on the wall with its location on the map.
The knight beside him suddenly stopped in his tracks after stepping in something. It was yellowish-brown, gooey, and felt warm. It also smelled as bad as fermented excrements.
"Congratulations, Agorn!" Zerrin from the other side laughed, and it broke the silence.
Agorn's face turned red. He looked at the pile of excrements and held his throat as he retched. The poor guy almost puked his breakfast out. It had only been ten minutes since they came into the sewers, but the knights had already stepped in excrements. "Gods, please let me die on a battlefield. Anywhere but the sewers!"
"Silence!" Roy gesticulated, and the knights shut up.
Roy left a deep impression on them. He might not have a great physique, but he was as agile as a speed demon. They still had not forgotten how he killed a group of their fellow knights as easily as if they were children. The previous leader, Rudolf, lost to him in a fair battle as well. Knights would only submit to the powerful, and they respected the witcher.
Roy crouched and stirred the excrements with a stick he got out of nowhere. The stench of the sewers messed his sense of smell up, so he could not discern what kind of excrement this was. Not a human's, that's for sure.
He leaned against the wall and walked on tiptoes, his steps as silent as a cat's. The knights who were holding the torches remained in the same spot, waiting for the witcher to return.
About two minutes later, Roy could vaguely see something ahead. It was a humanoid creature, but its skin was green, as if it were a corpse that was fished out from the bottom of a pond. Slime and soil oozed out of its skin, and it smelled like rotten food. It was not a sewer, but it sure did smell like one. The creature was crouched in the sewage, its back turned to the witcher. There was a fin protruding from its back, and its shoulders bobbed up and down. The creature was crunching and chewing on the thing it was holding in its hands.
"A drowner." Roy realized what it was right away. Drowners were timid, but they were stronger and faster than most humans. They were scavengers who fed on leftover vegetables and carcasses from trash piles. The sewers would be a food heaven for them. Sometimes they would ambush lone travelers and women who washed their clothes by lakes. They were cruel to those weaker than they were.
Roy did not attack right away. The Almanac of Creatures had said something along the lines of, 'Weak creatures always come in groups.' Drowners were that kind of monster. Roy took a deep breath and looked into the distance. He waited in silence for a while and confirmed that there were no other drowners around before he carefully took Gabriel out.
He counted in silence and activated Guided Arrows. The young witcher aimed at the back of the drowner's hairless head, and a feeling of excitement bubbled within him. A silhouette arced through the dim sewers, and the back of the drowner's head exploded. Blood rained down behind it, and it fell ahead. Before it could hit the ground, the bolt pierced its head and flew out of its eye.
'Drowner killed. EXP +20. Level 6 Witcher (1500/3500)'
Roy looked at the bloodstone he had on him. As expected, he gained no souls from it. It also proved that the drowner's soul had been turned into EXP. He approached the corpse and saw the thing the drowner was feeding on—a dead chicken with half of its body devoured. The chicken's skin was corroded. I wonder who threw this away. "Nice life he had. Mice and chickens." No wonder the sewers are infested with monsters. The city's wealthy wastes too much food and caused this infestation.
He tucked Gabriel away and observed the drowner's body for a moment. He was planning on using it as bait to draw out more drowners, but then he might also attract something he could not handle alone. A moment of hesitation later, he gave up on that plan.
The knights came to him a while later. They looked at the dead drowner and gulped, and then the four of them went deeper into the sewers. It was a damp, dark, and squalid place, but there was also an ecosystem in place. Aside from mice, pests, and the monsters hiding in the dark, the sewers had special plants and herbs growing in them as well.
"Cortinarius…" Roy noticed those in the sewage. They had red caps and had a black skull-shaped pattern on the tip. It was as big as his palm and thicker than other mushrooms. Its stem was slender and long. "They grow in damp, cold places. Beautiful mushrooms, but slightly poisonous. It can be turned into a potion that cures whooping cough. Oh, moleyarrow. Can be used to cure bruises."
The witcher was foraging like he was in a garden, but the knights were looking scared and uneasy. The smell was one thing, but more importantly, they had never undergone any training in a dangerous place . All they had were torches to illuminate a limited area around them, and they had to explore the darkness without knowing what was in store for them. The unknown was always the most scary for them. They were hoping a monster would appear so they could get into battle, but there was nothing.
Aside from the flowing stream, the howls of the winds, the chirps of animals, and strange noises that appeared on occasion, there was nothing they could see. It was driving them mad.
Agorn took a step forward and stood beside Roy. "Aren't you scared, Mr. Roy?"
"I've prepared myself for this," Roy whispered, still looking around in high alert. "I know all the creatures that might take up residence in the sewers. I know how they attack and where their weak points are. It's what witchers must do."
Agorn pleaded, "Can you tell us what we might run into next?"
Roy nodded and whispered, "The residents of the sewers are similar to the animals living in the woods and the wilderness. They're all territorial. Monsters who are on par with one another will split the territory up and pick their own turf. Remember that drowner? It was just left behind. We're in drowner territory now. We might run into its brethren next."
A weird growl was heard coming from ahead of them. Roy slowed down and raised his crossbow. The knights had no time to process their shock. A dozen naked humanoid monsters with green skin, gills, and fins suddenly showed up before them.
They were wandering around aimlessly, but the light of the torches attracted some of them. They turned around and glared at the group.
"Raise your crossbows!" Roy took aim. "Drowners are dead bodies to an extent. They're immune to bleeding and most poisons. Pain won't stop them, so you'll have to take them out in one blow!" Roy shot one of the drowners in the head, and it triggered the other drowners' anger. They bellowed and charged toward the group.
The knights shot at the drowners, but their aim was poorer than the witcher's. They only managed to shoot the monsters in their thighs and chests. The drowners would pause for a moment, but it did not stop their advance. Roy would kill them off the very next moment, however.
He cast Quen and raised his blade. The young witcher flicked his wrist around, and the blade spun. He charged into the group of drowners, and his first attack swiped through the air, cutting the drowners who approached him in half. He then curled up and thrusted his sword ahead, piercing the drowner's chin and destroying its brain. The young witcher sent his target flying with Aard and thrusted his sword up into its throat. He then cast Fear on every drowner and swung Gwyhyr through the air. Just like that, two more drowners lost their heads.
He was only fighting for a few moments, but the young witcher was already bathing in drowner blood. His movements were simple, but they were as elegant as a dance. A deadly dance.
The knights were in a trance for a long time. Eventually, they unsheathed their blades and charged into the group of monsters, battling alongside the witcher.