The Divine Hunter

Night had descended upon the land, and the moon bathed the earth in a silvery light. Not a soul stirred in the temple, save for a few in the lab. The temple was dark, illuminated only by a few candles and magical lamps in the hall and the lab. The priestesses had gone to sleep after a day of hard work, while Letho discussed the trial with Coral and Nenneke, leaving Roy alone.

Roy started going through his character sheet.

‘Roy

Age: Fourteen years and one month old

Status: Civilian, witcher disciple

HP: 66

Strength: 5 → 5.3

Dexterity: 6.1 → 6.3

Constitution: 6.5 → 6.6

Perception: 7

Will: 6.5

Charisma: 6

Spirit: 6.5

Skills:

Massacre Level 4

Observe Level 2

Meditation Level 2

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Crossbow Mastery Level 1

Sword Mastery Level 1: Thanks to your mentor’s teachings over the past month, you have now mastered the basics of swordplay. Whenever you use any kind of sword, your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution will be increased by 5%. You can block, dodge, and attack easier. You may cast this spell to double its effects, but stamina consumption is also doubled. This buff lasts for at least thirty seconds.

Alchemy Level 1

Elegance of the Wind (Passive)

Job:

Level 4 Witcher (1305/2000)

Rank: Disciple (Conditions for next rank: Pass the Trial of the Grasses and kill ten types of magical creatures (10/10). Next rank: Rookie witcher.)

School: School of the Viper

Job perks:

Main stat…

Bound weapons: You have bound: Gabriel (crossbow), Gwyhyr (steel sword), N/A (silver sword).

Full Recovery…

Loot package: Two cubic meters square.

You have 1 skill point(s) remaining.’

After the intensive training and hormone injection, Roy had finally mastered the basics of swordplay, and his stats showed some improvement as well, but it wasn’t enough for him. Roy allocated the remaining skill point to Meditation, then a few messages popped up in his head.

‘Meditation Level 2 → Level 3

Constitution: 6.6 → 7.1

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HP: 66 → 71

Spirit: 6.5 → 7’

A surge of warmth coursed through his body, and Roy lay on the bed, enjoying the comfortable sensation his skill’s level up brought him. Five minutes later, he opened his eyes. Time to get some EXP.

Roy left the temple quietly and followed the usual path that winded toward the hill behind the temple. The trees were rustling as the night breeze blew through them, and Gwyhyr gleamed under the moonlight.

Roy was thinking about setting a trap to make his hunt more efficient when he noticed someone appear before him. Letho was crouching on the ground, his head reflecting the moonlight, his gaze locked onto Roy. “Nice timing. I was going to come see you.”

“I thought you went to Nenneke’s place. Why are you here?” Roy sniffed the air and noticed the stench of blood permeating his surroundings. He also realized that Letho’s armor was splattered with it. Could he be…?

Letho beckoned Roy before going into the dark forest behind him. A few minutes later, they arrived at a clearing, where Roy was in for a surprise. There were five rabid dogs lying on the ground, seemingly out cold. Their chests were heaving, and their breaths were visible. Half of them had their legs broken, their bones jutting out of their limbs, while the remaining had bloody gashes on them, and their wounds had the stench of paralyzing poison.

Roy knew Letho did this because of the conversation they’d had that day. “Did you do this for me, Letho?” He looked at the witcher with gratitude and confusion. Killing a bunch of dogs was easy, but capturing them alive was not. In fact, it was a hassle. I wonder how long it took him to do this.

Roy was about to say something, but Letho interrupted him. “Save the sentimentality, boy.” He wiped his sword and the blood off his armor with that blue handkerchief again. “Kill them, and make it snappy. All you need to do right now is train. I’ll do the menial tasks for you. I’ll capture your prey every night until the conditions to recreate that miracle are fulfilled.” Letho looked at Roy solemnly. “My only demand is that you pass the trial. Do not put our efforts to waste.”

He sighed. “I’ll make an exception this time. The goal of this slaughter is for survival, not a prevention of death.”

“I understand.” Roy abhorred the idea of enlisting someone’s help in his path of leveling up. He’d always seen the adventure as his own, and nobody else’s. However, there was no time to be stubborn about principles. Roy raised his sword, and he killed the prey Letho captured for him.

‘You killed a rabid dog. EXP +10.’

‘You killed a rabid dog. EXP +10…’

***

Everything was proceeding as Roy had wanted. He trained his archery skills and swordplay, went through the trial, and gained EXP every day. Letho had honed his hunting skills over his long years of adventuring. He always came back with different types of prey. Sometimes, it would be a pack of dogs, while others, it would be a few bunnies, mice, vipers, or boars. Roy could easily gain twenty to a hundred EXP, averaging around fifty per day. The EXP bar will be filled up after half a month.

***

It was a peaceful life, though sometimes a pebble would be thrown into it, causing a ripple. After a month in the temple, Mother Nenneke made a new request. She wanted Roy to take part in the temple’s prayers. Roy managed to escape the morning prayers so far, but Nenneke wouldn’t let him sit out of the evening ones.

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“Forget it, Mother Nenneke. You know we witchers only believe in fate,” Roy answered. He respected the priestesses for their all-encompassing kindness, but he valued his freedom more. Roy didn’t believe in gods, so he wouldn’t tie himself to a religion. Most witchers didn’t like gods either. They’d stay away from them, but there were some who became converts too.

Roy remembered someone called Merten who converted to the religion of Lebioda. After his pilgrimage, Merten tossed his weapons, armor, and his school’s blueprints into the fountain, severing his ties with his past and becoming Lebioda’s believer.

Roy would take the blueprints for himself. It wasn’t his style to let a treasure go unnoticed.

Nenneke didn’t compromise. “You’re living in the goddess’ temple. It is customary to show respect to her, especially when you have so much blood on your hands. You should feel the goddess’ kindness so you can wash the violence away from your heart.

They walked down the quiet corridor before arriving at the spacious hall, where hundreds of priestesses, believers, and disciples were kneeling on the ground, their hands put together in a quiet prayer. They were all wearing gray, and their attention was directed at the statue in the hall.

The golden gleam of the setting sun covered them in a layer of holy light. It looked as if the statue before them were their master and their creator. Even young children were showing their devotion to it.

An idea struck Roy. What they call ‘gods’ are just dimensional monsters, just like what demons are. They just possess supernatural powers. Priestesses shepherd the believers, and in exchange, they bless the priestesses with power or divine providence. But it’s been decades since there’s been a divine miracle in this world. Even so, this place is the center of the religion. There must be something special about it.

Goaded by that idea, Roy stared at the statue of a trinity of a young lady, a pregnant woman, and an elderly woman, the one which everyone was worshipping. He activated Observe.

‘The Statue of Melitele

The Vessel of Faith, Avatar of Melitele

???

???

???’

Alarm bells started ringing in Roy’s head, then he noticed the statue opening its eyes and throwing him a glance. The statue’s eyes were golden. They were solemn, grand, and infinite. For an instant, Roy felt his soul being dragged out by an invisible hand. He saw himself leaving the temple, flying toward the sea, and then ending up in the void of space.

All he could feel was a boundless fear of the unknown. The glance lasted for an instant, then the statue closed its eyes, but still, Roy felt like an eternity had passed. Roy snorted, and he clutched his chest, breathing heavily. He was drenched in sweat, and every inch of his body trembled uncontrollably as a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

A drop of crimson liquid fell to the ground. Roy touched his face and realized he was bleeding profusely from the nose. He quickly covered it before looking at the crowd. Luckily, the believers were still deep in their prayer, so nobody noticed anything wrong with him. Roy quickly went back to his room.

A long while later, Roy finally managed to stop his nosebleed and calmed himself down with meditation. Then he looked at his character sheet.

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‘HP: 30/71 (Fear).’

That glance shaved off more than half of my HP? “What are those eyes? Could they be…?” He quashed that thought the moment it popped up. “I cannot Observe anything divine,” he warned himself. “Not until I’m powerful enough.”