Old Story 1

Mikael

The sky had turned dark, the moon was shining brightly at the sky, and the three men were now sitting in front of a bonfire, the redhead was now wearing clothes, and covered himself.

They stared at the crackling fire in front of them as they didn't speak at all. But then, Vesemir breaks the ice.

"So… you got a name?" questioned the old man.

The redhead stared at Vesemir for a while, before humming. "Mikael, that's my name."

"Redanian?" Geralt asked.

Mikael shook his head.

"Koviri?"

Mikael shook his head again.

"Then where are you from?"

"Not from this place." answered Mikael. "Far, far away."

"Like other worlds?" grunted Geralt.

"You could say that." said Mikael, a bit surprised at Geralt's question. "I forgot that you've dealt with otherworlders."

"You know about me?" questioned Geralt.

Mikael scoffed. "Of course. Geralt of Rivia, the Butcher of Blaviken, the White Wolf, Gwynbleidd, Ravix of Fourhorn, Geralt Roger Eric du Haute–"

"Okay, stop, stop, I get it." Geralt grumbled, earning a chuckle from Vesemir. "So, what's your deal?"

Mikael just stared at Geralt for a while, before saying. "I don't know just yet."

"You don't know?"

"My first memory of this world is your face," said Mikael. "So excuse me that I don't know what I'm doing yet."

"So no purpose?" Vesemir restated. "No 'Kidnapping Humans', or, 'Taking the Elder Blood'?"

"None of that." chuckled Mikael. "Last memory I have was that I died… killed by an… explosion…" he continued, frowning at the last words.

"What kind of explosion?"

"Let's not talk about that…" murmured Mikael. He then turned around, to the sight of the village that Geralt had burned just now, so that the 'Scarlet Rot', as Mikael called it, wouldn't spread.

"It's useless you know." spoke Mikael. "It won't be stopped by mere fire."

"Then how do we stop it from spreading?" questioned Vesemir. "There's a village near this village, they will suffer if we won't stop it."

"You got hit by the rot too, old man?" questioned Mikael. He stretched his remaining hand, and said. "Let me see."

Vesemir was confused, but he just gave his hand to him. He didn't know why, but he felt like he trusted him. Mikael took Vesemir's hand that was infested with rot, and slowly but surely, the rot was gone, absorbed by Mikael.

"You can control it?" questioned Vesemir.

Mikael just hummed, and he stood up. He walked to the edge of the village, where the scarlet rot was spreading. He knelt, and touched the grass.

Slowly, the dirt that was tainted with rot was gone, the fungus disappeared, and the fog dispersed. Now, the village looked like it was ransacked, rather than infested with scarlet rot.

Mikael turned around again, and walked to the baffled Witchers.

"What?" questioned Mikael as he sat down.

"What are you?" Geralt asked back, frowning.

"I don't know myself." answered Mikael. "When I woke up… I just… know that I could control it… along with a couple other boons…"

"Boons?"

"I know swordsmanship." continued Mikael. "As well as Compulsion."

"Compulsion?"

"Yes, otherwise, you will probably try to kill me hours ago." smiled Mikael.

Geralt frowned, but he felt like he was not a threat.

"It's useless to fight it." spoke Mikael calmly. "And I mean you no harm Witchers, this compulsion is not harmful, it is not mind control, it's just that people that got close to me will feel affection towards me."

"Sorry, but I'm not into guys." scoffed Geralt.

Mikael laughed. "Not that kind of affection, like a friendly affection I guess…"

"And how do you know that?" Vesemir spoke again curiously, gathering as much information as possible. "Your… talents…"

Mikael only pointed at his head with his left hand. "I just know apparently… imbued in my instincts… like how living beings don't 'learn' how to breathe, they just… know."

"If you can absorb the rot, how come you still have some rot in your… amputated arm?" questioned Vesemir.

"This?" said Mikael, pointing at the stump of his right arm. "It's the only place that I couldn't absorb… it's not spreading or anything, just a bit painful sometimes… but it is what it is,"

Vesemir looked at Geralt, as if thinking the same thing. "Are you human?" Geralt asked again.

Mikael just smiled. "I don't know."

Mikael then stood up and walked towards a cliff, he took a deep breath, and watched as the moon shines in the sky.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Mikael asked Geralt and Vesemir. "I promise I won't use my tricks on you anymore, it's just a precaution… no offense, you are witchers, you should know about this."

"None taken." Geralt answered. "I sense no ill will from you, but why do you want to tag along?"

"Like I said, I don't know what I'm doing here." said Mikael. "Perhaps I'll find something following you."

Geralt was about to refute, but then Vesemir interrupted. "Sure, if you like," he answered. "I want to study you as well if you don't mind… don't know if we'll encounter your 'Scarlet Rot' again, or one of your kind ever again…"

"That'll be weird… studying me…" murmured Mikael. "But I'll allow it."

"Then we'll continue traveling tomorrow morning." nodded Vesemir, making Geralt sigh.

Mikael hummed, and walked back towards the campfire. He looked at the sword that was resting against the tree, and asked. "You have a spare sword or something?"

One-Armed Swordsman

The sun shines as a new day arrives, the group were packing their minimal things to their horses, and mounted them. Mikael though didn't have any horses, so he rode with Geralt on the back of Roach, his steed.

Mikael now was wearing light leather armor, he covered his arm stump using cloth, and wore a glove on the other. On his scabbard a simple straight steel sword, alongside a silver knife which Vesemir gave him.

"You sure you're giving me this?" questioned Mikael. "Silver things must be expensive."

"We found it on a corpse earlier in our travels." shrugged Vesemir. "You can keep it."

"Whatever you say…" murmured Mikael. They then continued their journey on their steed, with the sun just barely showing itself, and people were just getting started on their days.

As they traveled, those three continued to talk, conversing with each other as their horses advanced.

"You said you can do swordsmanship." Geralt stated. "You sure you can back that up?"

"I'm sure." smirked Mikael. "I could probably kill you two easily right now."

Geralt just chuckled at the threat. "I very much doubt that."

"I don't know Geralt." added Vesemir in amusement. "We could have more surprises that came from him."

"Have you even killed a man?" questioned Geralt in curiosity to Mikael.

"Actually… no…" murmured Mikael. "But my point still stands."

"No, it isn't." refuted Geralt. "Fighting needs experience, if you only have techniques under your belt but no experience, it would just be a waste, you'll be a burden in a fight."

"Trust me, I know how to wield a sword." Mikael insisted. "But if you really insist, I will stay back when a fight breaks out."

Geralt just grumbled, and they continued north, towards White Orchard.

—

As they traveled, the sun was getting higher, then fell down, the sky was now orange, the wind blowing faintly, and the three could hear the sound of running water, possibly a river, and also, the sound of a screaming man.

"Help me! Help!" shouted someone desperately.

Vesemir and Geralt looked at each other, then Vesemir questioned. "We going?"

Geralt just nodded, and the two horses galloped towards the pleading sound.

As soon as they arrived, they saw a dried up river, with a cart in the middle of it. They saw a man, hiding below the cart, and a griffin, dangerously close to the cart, eating a dead horse.

The group then jumped from the house quickly, with Geralt and Vesemir smacking their horses' arse so they ran. All of them unsheathed their sword, even Mikael, clenching the steel sword he had tightly in his left hand.

"You stay!" commanded Geralt. The two witchers then rushed towards the Griffin, and it saw them. It quickly took off, but without damage, as Geralt slashed its stomach, but Griffin's hide is as tough as it can be, and it only made the griffin bleed a little.

The Griffin flew high, avoiding any more strikes, but then, it turned around, and targeted Vesemir, who was open. The Griffin pounced at the old witcher, making his shoulder bleed. Geralt was too slow to attack it again, and the Griffin flew high again, making Geralt's sword out of reach.

As the Griffin flew in the sky, it made one more leap towards the scene, it wanted to pounce on the horse's carcass. Geralt almost hit it, but he missed. The Griffin then grabbed the carcass, and tried to flee.

But then, out of nowhere, a man, Mikael, with his steel sword, jumped towards the Griffin, and his blade stabbed the Griffin's neck, making the Griffin shriek in pain.

The jump was so high, that even Geralt couldn't believe it. When Geralt saw him jump, he felt like the guy had wings, his form is so majestic… he moved his sword like flowing water, but there was roughness in it, He could see Mikael grinning towards him as the Griffin fell down to the shallow river beside them, its blood tainted the clear blue water, and the Griffin was dying in the water, trying to breath.

Then, Mikael, with his steel sword, powerfully twisted the sword, and the head was decapitated easily. Geralt and Vesemir were even more perplexed, Mikael could cut a Griffin's head, with a normal steel sword? Not a silver sword, but a steel sword?

Not only that, he did it with only one arm, no help whatsoever.

"You okay there old man?" questioned Mikael suddenly, he grabbed the head of the Griffin, and walked towards the two witchers.

"Yes, it's just a scratch." said Vesemir, looking at his shoulder wound. "But never mind my wound, how did you do that?"

"I told you, didn't I?" stated Mikael. "I'm special in my own ways…"

But then, Mikael examined his sword, and saw that it was broken. "Well, it looks like I need a more durable sword…"

Vesemir just examined the head of the Griffin, its head was cleanly cut…

Then, a voice spoke from the cart.

"H-Has it gone?" questioned a voice. The witchers and Mikael turned around, and saw a man with a bowl haircut, staring at them fearfully.

"Yeah, it's dead." answered Geralt, walking towards the man.

Mikael then massaged his left arm, as if trying to stretch it.

"Gods that was close! I was sure I'd end up like my mare…" he said, examining his dead horse nearby.

"Provided you got lucky." commented Vesemir, making the man confused.

The man then looked at Geralt, who gave him an explanation. "Your horse died quickly, but Griffins like to toy with their prey, eat it alive… piece by piece…"

"Ah– ha…" chuckled the man uncomfortably. Then, there was an awkward silence between them, before the man spoke again. "You'd… You'd like a reward, I suppose?"

Geralt shook his head. "You didn't owe us a thing, you were in need, we helped." he said, but then he looked at the corpse of the Griffin. "Although, we'll take the Griffin, there might be a bounty back in the village."

The man sighed in relief. "And they call witchers heartless… say that they won't lift a finger without pay."

Mikael just chuckled at the comment, and the man just nodded, before he went packing, trying to scavenge anything from his cart.

Geralt then turned to Vesemir. "Back to the trail?" he questioned.

"Like I said, the trail went cold from here." answered Vesemir. "Muddled."

The man perked at Vesemir's words. "You seek someone?"

"Yes," said Mikael suddenly, surprising the two witchers. "A woman, black hair, overall a bitch, but has class, seen anyone like that?"

"Ah, that sure will bring attention." nodded the man. "Sadly, no. but there's an Inn near here in White Orchard, perhaps you'll learn something there. Besides, the inkeep's my cousin, tell her Bram sent you, she'll treat you like family."

Vesemir turned to Geralt. "What do you say?"

"Might give it a try, pack up some supplies." Geralt spoke. "That wound needs cleaning as well."

"Alright then." spoke Mikael. "Let's go."

"Not so fast." said Geralt. "How'd you know that we're looking for a woman?"

"Seriously?" chuckled Mikael. "It's easy to guess who you're looking for, especially when I smell Lilac and Gooseberries from your pouch."

"You know her?"

"No, but your story with her is quite famous." answered Mikael as they got on their horses. "Yennefer of Vengerberg and Geralt of Rivia, an inseparable pair…"

"What has Dandelion written now…" said Geralt, rolling his eyes.

"Oh no, I didn't hear it from Dandelion." said Mikael. "I'm from another world, remember?"

Geralt frowned. "Then how'd you know?"

Mikael just smiled. "It's best if you don't know."

Nilfgaardians

As the group arrived at the inn, they unmounted their horses, the head of the griffin dangling from Roach's back, and the horses entered the stables.

Geralt looked at the guards that stood outside the village, they wore black, the banner of a yellow sun in a black field waved majestically as some northman spat quietly to the banner.

"Nilfgaardians." grunted Vesemir. "We should not attract attention here."

"Agreed." hummed Geralt. "Let's go."

The group then quickly entered the inn. Bunch of drunk men were drinking in the corner, the inkeep's busy serving them, they got handsy a bit, but nothing ever escalated. They heard the group enter, and stared at them. As soon as they saw Geralt's and Vesemir's cat eyes, they sneered, before coming back to their drinking.

A man then grabbed the inkeep roughly, and stared at her for a while.

"What?" questioned the inkeep.

The man pointed at the coat of arms beside the bar. "Take that down, or it'll bring trouble."

Another man then elbowed the man. "That is the coat of arms, the Temerian lilies! They've a right to hang there!"

"This ain't Temeria no more," said the man calmly. "It's Nilfgaard now."

The inkeep then walked back to the bar, she looked at the coat of arms sadly, and took it down. Geralt and the group walked to the bar, greeting the inkeep.

As they walked to the inkeep, men kept spitting at them, Geralt and Vesemir were used to it, but Mikael?

"Stop," said Vesemir. "Don't bring trouble."

"Bunch of racists…" cursed Mikael.

"Beg of Pardon for those thugs." said the inkeep. "Folks're jumpy around here, an army of black ones just passed, raiding villages around here."

"It's fine." said Geralt. "Part of a witcher's life."

The inkeep nodded. "That, and there's a Griffin prowlin' around 'ere… people are scared..."

"The Griffin's dead." added Mikael. "Killed it on the way here."

"Really?" said the inkeep, surprised at the news.

"Yeah, it attacked your kinsman, Bram." said Geralt. "But we took care of it."

"Bram? How is he?"

"Alive." answered Vesemir. "Albeit barely…"

"Master witchers, food and drinks in the house." smiled the inkeep. "What can I do for you?"

Geralt hummed, and sat on the bar. "Looking for someone. A woman, black hair, medium height, and… smelled like Lilac and Gooseberries…"

"Haven't seen a woman like that… or smelled…" chuckled the inkeep awkwardly. "If a woman like that entered my inn, trust me, I'll know."

"Yeah, this woman's not easy to forget." chuckled Vesemir.

"Plenty of travelers, about." continued the inkeep. "Might've seen the woman, worth your whole to ask around."

"Will do." nodded Geralt. "Oh, and bring a couple of rye to our table."

The inkeep smiled. "Coming right up."

The group then walked towards a table in the corner of the room. They sat down, away from the others' prying eyes.

"You should try to go to the Nilfgaardian camp in the north." spoke Mikael suddenly, making Geralt raise his eyebrow.

"What?"

"The black ones might have seen her," said Mikael. "Bring the Griffin's head as well, you probably can claim the bounty there."

"How do you know all this?" questioned Geralt in confusion.

"Just trust me." said Mikael, rolling his eyes.

"I don't trust you." grunted Geralt. "You only followed us for what? A day or two?"

"And I'm helping you find Yennefer." refuted Mikael. "Tell me Witcher, do you sense any lies in my heartbeat?"

"Not really, but that could be faked easily." Geralt said. The inkeep then brought them the rye they asked, and Geralt took a sip. "But fine, I'll check it out."

Geralt then stood up, and looked at Vesemir's wound. "You should clean that."

"I know, I know, I'm not decrepit yet." said Vesemir casually. Geralt just hummed. "I'll look around."

Geralt then walked away from the table, leaving Vesemir with Mikael.

"You need help with that?" questioned Mikael.

"You only have one arm, young man, I doubt you'll be helpful."

Mikael snorted. "Just trying to help…"

Mikael stood up. "I'll leave you alone then old man." Mikael then walked up to a table nearby. A man that was neatly dressed was playing cards with the locals. The local cursed the man for something, and bolted off.

"Got a minute?" questioned Mikael to the man.

The man looked at Mikael, and nodded. "Why not. Aldert Geert, assistant professor in contemporary history at Oxenfurt academy."

Mikael then sat opposite of Aldert. "Mikael, one-armed, A.. Vagabond… I guess."

"You… guess?"

"Still trying to figure out where I belong." hummed Mikael, he then looked at the cards that were scattered around the table. "Wanna play Gwent?"

Aldert smirked. "Thought you never asked."

—

As time passed by, night came by. Vesemir had cleaned his wounds, and began stocking up supplies, Geralt was nowhere to be seen, and Mikael was still playing Gwent with Aldert.

"How are you this good!" Protested Aldert.

"Just a natural, I guess." smirked Mikael.

"I'm done playing with you!" growled Aldert. "Out of my table!"

"So long then." laughed Mikael as he stood up, many cards gained from Aldert, including rare ones as well.

He then walked back to Vesemir, where he was just drinking.

"Any signs of Geralt?" questioned Mikael as he sat down again.

Vesemir shook his head. "Let him be, let him do his thing, he'll be back tomorrow morning."

Mikael hummed. He looked at his missing right arm, and saw that the bandage was now dirty with rot.

"Got anymore bandages?" asked Mikael.

"None, you can buy some, there's a herbalist nearby, it's night time though, but you should check it out."

"I don't have any crowns."

"Here." said Vesemir, giving a pouch of crowns. "Not much, enough to buy some bandages."

"Thanks old man." Mikael then stood up, exiting the inn to go to the Herbalist.

—

As he arrived at the herbalist cabin, he heard loud moans from the inside of the cabin. Mikael raised his eyebrows, and just knocked loudly on the door.

"Anyone there!?" shouted Mikael.

The moaning abruptly stopped, and sounds of ruffling can be heard from the inside. A minute later, a disheveled looking herbalist opened the door.

"What do you want?" grumbled the herbalist.

Mikael secretly sneered. "Do you have bandages?"

"You come in the middle of the night to find some bandages?" questioned the Herbalist.

"Yes."

The Herbalist sighed. "Wait a second."

The woman then closed the door again, and started searching for bandages. Then, Mikael saw a horse beside the shack… it's Roach.

"Geralt, you in there?!" shouted Mikael again, laughing a bit.

The door abruptly opened, and saw Geralt already wearing his armor. "It's you." grumbled Geralt. "Way to cockblock…"

"Hey, I just need some bandages." shrugged Mikael. "And you're searching for Yennefer, yet you're fucking another girl here?"

Geralt just snorted. "Whatever."

He then walked to his horse, and put some things to the roach's poach.

The herbalist soon came back with bandages. "Here." she said.

Mikael then gave her the crowns, and smirked. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Just fuck off." cursed the Herbalist, before slamming her door.

Mikael just chuckled, and walked to Geralt, before jumping to his horse. "You get anything?"

"You're right, they do know," said Geralt. "Yen's in Vizima. We'll travel there, you'll still follow us?"

Mikael shook his head. "Probably not, I'll head north after this. You guys have maps right?"

"We'll give you one later."

—

As the two entered the inn once more, they approached Vesemir, who was drinking silently in the corner, watching every move of the locals.

Geralt sat down, and said. "Yen's in Vizima, got a few friends there, so…"

He then noticed Vesemir's careful attitude. "Something wrong?"

"Look around," he said. "Trouble brewing."

Geralt turned around ,only to see locals staring at them rather hatefully.

"Typical northman," said Mikael. "Xenophobic arse."

"It's the way we are." Vesemir said. "Keeps us away from trouble."

Vesemir then stood up, "I'll buy some more things, then we'll go." he looked at Geralt and Mikael. "We should stay out of it. Just this once."

Both nodded, and Vesemir walked towards the bar, talking to the inkeep.

"So, what are you going to say to her?" said Mikael suddenly.

"What?"

"To Yennefer." continued Mikael. "Seeing that you were in bed with one of her friends for years…"

"How do you even know that?" scoffed Geralt.

"You didn't answer my question." shrugged Mikael.

"None of your business, that's for sure." snorted Geralt.

Mikael just chuckled in amusement. But then, a shouting match suddenly happened. The inkeep's head was suddenly slammed to the bar multiple times by a drunk woman, shouting that she should be grateful or something, but then, Vesemir interrupted, making the woman push him away.

Geralt and Mikael stood up, and the other locals stood up as well.

The locals approached them, and Vesemir stepped up. "Recognize this medallion? You know what this means, back off."

Geralt walked towards the inkeep, and asked. "You alright?"

The inkeep ignored him, and Geralt just shrugged.

"They say Witchers steal young'uns!" shouted a local. "What'd the emperor promise you freaks? Your own land? Like what he did to the elves once?!"

"Whoa, calm down friends." interrupted Mikael. "Let's not lose ourselves here."

"Why a cripple like you helping those mutants?" spat a local. "They promised you they could grow your pathetic arm back?"

"Well, if they could…"

"Get out of the way you armless mutt!" a local then shoved Mikael out of the way, and they faced the Witchers once again.

"Get out! All of you!" shouted Vesemir impatiently.

"We ain't going nowhere." sneered the locals, unsheathing their weapons. "And neither are you."

The Witchers then unsheathed their steel, and Vesemir whispered. "They won't back down now…"

"I can see that…" Geralt answered.

But then, before the others could strike, Mikael kicked a man from behind. The man was thrown out the windows, breaking a couple of bones along the way.

"Why'd you shove me!?" shouted Mikael. The locals soon turned to him, and started attacking him.

A man with a club was first. He tried to slam his club to Mikael's head, but the club was grabbed. Mikael then heatbutt the man, cracking the man's skull, making him groan in pain on the ground.

A man with a knife tried to stab him in the back. Mikael stepped to the side, before grabbing the man's head, and slamming it to the table, breaking the table to pieces.

Mikael then turned to the other guys. A man approached him, and he kicked his ankle, breaking it instantly. As the man groaned in pain, he knelt in front of him, and Mikael kicked the man's head, he was thrown to the side, the man's head was stuck to the wall, barely alive.

The last man was staring at Mikael, scared shitless at what he just saw. "You want to come at me too, cunt?! How does it feel to be beaten by an armless mutt?!"

"I- Have Mercy…" pleaded the man. He dropped his butcher's knife, and knelt in front of Mikael.

Mikael relaxed a bit as he sighed. He turned to the baffled witchers, and said. "Sheath your swords Withcers."

The witchers nodded, and they sheathed their steel. All the men were groaning in pain, they weren't dead, but they would rather be dead now.

Geralt turned to the woman who slammed the inkeep's head earlier, and offered his hand. "It's over now…"

"Y-Yeah…" murmured the lady, grabbing the Witcher's hand. She stood up, and walked away from the witchers.

They then heard sounds of galloping from outside, the ground shook a bit, as heavy armor walked. They were curious, and walked outside of the inn, and they saw that Black ones had surrounded the inn.

"We didn't start the brawl." said Geralt innocently to the soldiers in front of him.

A woman's voice then sounded from the back of the soldiers, bearing a proud voice.

"Excuses, excuses… you've not changed a bit."

The soldiers then moved away, revealing a woman, with raven hair, violet eyes, a heavenly body, and most important of all, smelled like Lilac and Gooseberries.

Geralt stood in shock as he saw the woman.

"Y-Yen?"

Yennefer of Vengerberg

"Y-Yen? How?" stuttered Geralt.

Yennefer approached him as she examined his body. "I received a report about a witcher who appeared in White Orchard. I knew it was you, looking for me."

Mikael didn't quite pay attention to the words. He walked towards the stable's water source, and washed his bloody hands in there.

"It's… good to see you, Geralt." smiled Yen awkwardly. She walked closer to Geralt, embracing him tightly. Although, it didn't last long, as it was again, quite awkward.

"I- It's good to see you too, Yen." spoke Geralt softly. "It's just, Did not expect to see you here… under these… circumstances…" he said, looking at the Nilfgaardian soldiers.

"What kind of circumstances are you talking about then?" smirked Yennefer.

"The one that doesn't involve Niflgaardians in it, Yennefer.' interrupted Vesemir. "Don't get me wrong, it's good to see you, but you need to give us an explanation about these Nilfgaardians."

Yennefer stared at Vesemir casually, didn't say anything, and turned to Geralt once again. "I shall provide you with an explanation, in Vizima. Ready your horses."

Geralt raised his eyebrow. "What's the rush? We can talk here, plenty of beautiful orchards…"

Yennefer hummed in amusement. "Tempting proposition… sadly, I must refuse. You see, someone awaits you back in Vizima, someone who doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Well, sounds interesting, who is it?"

"Emperor Emhyr var Emreis… or those who were more intimate with him. 'The white flame dancing on the grave of his foes.'"

Mikael chuckled at the nickname, making the black ones frowned, and the attention turned to him.

"Don't mind me, finish your reunion and go to Vizima quickly. As she said, the Emperor doesn't like to wait." shrugged Mikael.

"And… you are?" frowned Yennefer.

"Mikael, just a nobody." said the redhead. "Go on, continue your conversation."

Yennefer examined him, from top to bottom, his toned down body, broad shoulders, redhead, and Yennefer just hummed in satisfaction, making Geralt frown.

"Why is he waiting for me?" questioned Geralt. "Last time I saw him, he wanted to kill me."

"Well, now, he wishes to make you an offer." continued Yennefer, taking her eyes off Mikael.

"The kind one can't refuse?" questioned Vesemir sarcastically.

"I didn't. Though I could have." answered Yennefer calmly.

"Must've been a damn good offer then," said Geralt. "Not many things you'd give up your freedom for."

Yennefer sighed. "The sooner you set off, the sooner you'll find out." Yennefer walked away, walking towards her horse.

Geralt turned to Vesemir. "What about you?"

"I'm going in the opposite direction." said Vesemir. "I have things to do back at Kaer Morhen."

Geralt nodded. "Thanks for your help Vesemir." he said, hugging the old man. "I'll see you soon."

Geralt then turned to Mikael. "You?"

"Doubt the Emperor wants to see an armless man." chuckled Mikael. "I'll be going with Vesemir. We'll probably go our separate ways on the way."

Mikael then offered his left hand, asking for a handshake. "Well, Thanks for the journey White wolf, if you need help, just search for me, I'll probably be around Redania."

"We may only know each other for a few days, but you're good company." nodded Geralt, grabbing his left hand.

Mikael then pulled Geralt to a hug, but then he whispered in Geralt's ear. "Beware the wild hunt."

Geralt's eyes widened as he heard it, and he took a step back a little. Mikael just smiled innocently, and waved at him.

Geralt then walked away, towards Yennefer with a confused face.

Mikael then walked to Vesemir. "So, I'll be staying with you for a while, Old man."

Vesemir grunted. "Where are you going?"

"Probably Oxenfurt." answered Mikael. "Don't know yet."

"I'll take samples from your rot on the way, maybe your flesh too."

"Bloody hell, I'm not a science experiment…"

—

As Vesemir and Mikael were now far away from white orchard, towards Velen, they were camping in the middle of the night. Mikael's right arm bandage was open, and Vesemir was collecting flesh samples from it.

"Careful, the right arm's the most dangerous part." warned Mikael.

"I may be old Mikael." spoke Vesemir as he carefully took samples. "But I'm not senile yet."

Mikael sighed. "What are you going to do with it anyway?"

"Study it." answered Vesemir. "Who knows, maybe a plague similar to your rot will appear in the future."

"I doubt it." murmured Mikael. "Thank you… by the way."

"For what?"

"For not killing me," said Mikael.

"You compelled us." stated Vesemir.

"That was when I woke up." continued Mikael. "But you didn't kill me while I was asleep."

"True." nodded Vesemir. "For the first time since forever, we don't know what kind of monster you are, we were just being careful to not kill an innocent."

"And they say Witchers are heartless." chuckled Mikael.

Paths Diverge

As Mikael and Vesemir arrived at Tretogor, the capital of Redania, they walked to an inn, sitting at the corner of the room.

"I'll be going to Kaedwin next." said Vesemir calmly. "I suppose you're not going to follow me east."

Mikael shook his head as he drank his rye. "I'll go to Oxenfurt, maybe figure out who I am there."

"Redania's dangerous nowadays for folks like us…" commented Vesemir. "Nonhumans."

"So you consider me Nonhumans?" chuckled Mikael.

"Inhuman strength, more powerful than witchers, even vampires… Scarlet rot in your body, the ability to compel others… not to mention your healing capabilities… I'd say you're definitely not human." scoffed the old man, drinking some more.

Mikael hummed. "But, do you know what I am? Maybe your witcher books will know something."

"I didn't find anything in the bestiary." answered Vesemir. "But I'll look it up some more when I'm back at Kaer Morhen."

"Well, if you find anything be sure to send a letter to me."

"How will I even do that?" said Vesemir. "You're a Vagabond like us Mikael, I can't exactly send a letter to you."

"True…" murmured Mikael. "Eh, I'll figure something out."

Vesemir opened his bag, and retrieved some things from it.

"Here, a map for your travels." added Vesemir. "You still have the crowns that I give you right?"

"Yes, thanks for that." nodded Mikael. "If I ran out of food, I would probably just hunt in the wilds."

"Careful, Redania is a territory filled with dangerous beasts."

"I'll keep that in mind." hummed Mikael. "What will you do at your witcher fortress?"

"You know, just preparing for winter," said Vesemir. "Fixing the fortress a little, stocking up on supplies…"

"Why don't you just abandon it?" said Mikael. "It's old… only a few Witchers left."

"I'm old too, if you haven't forgotten." chuckled Vesemir. "I'll keep that fortess nice and clean until I die."

"That's some perseverance." murmured Mikael. "What about the other Witchers? Kept in contact?"

"Lambert is in Novigrad, close to where you headed." said Vesemir, spreading the map he just gave. "While Eskel… I don't know…"

"Only four witchers left then?"

"The school of the wolf? Yes." nodded Vesemir sadly. "The others, I have no idea."

"Why don't you create more Witchers?"

Vesemir turned grim. "The time of the Witchers is done… I have no interest in giving children those trials anymore…"

Vesemir drinks a big gulp from his mug, before asking Mikael. "What about you? Why Oxenfurt? How do you even know about Oxenfurt…"

"Probably because I'm familiar with the place." hummed Mikael. "But mostly because of the academy, maybe I'll find something there… or someone."

"Radovid's burning Mages and Nonhumans there, along in Novigrad." spoke Vesemir grimly. "You should be careful. Buy a cloak, hide yourself."

"Will do."

"If you ever need help, if Lambert's still around, just tell him I sent you, if not, I heard Geralt's 'friend' is in Novigrad, a sorceress by the name of Triss Merigold."

"Ah yes, the 'friend'." chuckled Mikael. "But I probably won't go to Novigrad anytime soon, like I said, I'm going to Oxenfurt."

"Just giving you options." shrugged Vesemir, drinking from his mug once more.

"Why are you telling all that?" questioned Mikael curiously. "I'm still an outsider to you."

"Well, if we ever need help, you'll just have to accept it." answered Vesemir

Mikael chuckled. "Alright, I'll help with your problems in the future… not like I have things to do anyway."

Mikael then flinched in pain a bit as his scarlet rot in his right arm stump acted.

"Time to change bandages." Vesemir pointed out.

"This eternal wound is expensive to take care of…" grumbled Mikael as he took off the bandage slowly.

Vesemir helped him apply spirit on the rotten area, it quite smells a bit, but the spirit covers it. As Vesemir cleaned his wound, he also wrapped the wound with a new bandage, changing it.

"There." said Vesemir.

"I don't know what I would do without you old man." Mikael chuckled awkwardly. "Thanks for cleaning my rot."

"Your 'condition' is quite interesting to me." said Vesemir, putting the old bandage to a bottle, to make as another sample for him to study. "I have nothing to do these days, so your rot would keep me busy for a while."

"Well, if you ever felt the need for more, just go to Oxenfurt to find me."

Vesemir hummed. He looked outside, the sun starting to shine once again. "Well, I guess it's time to part ways."

Mikael nodded, and gave Vesemir a handshake. "So long, Vesemir. I'll see you around."

"I doubt it, but if we ever meet again, let's get a drink." said Vesemir, patting Mikael's shoulder.

Vesemir then walked out of the inn, not forgetting to pay, and he left Mikael alone to himself.

In Need of Money

In the middle of the forest east of Oxenfurt, Mikael the one-armed was watching carefully. His surroundings moved, the trees whispered, stalking him closely.

He unsheathed his broken sword, he still hasn't found a replacement for it, but at least he still has his silver dagger.

"Come out Spirit." spoke Mikael. "Fuck, I should've ask Vesemir for a bestiary…"

The spirit just kept stalking him, but it made no move whatsoever. Mikael watched closely as the roots of the trees moved around him, as if waiting for an opportunity.

"Seriously, you'll rot if you don't come out." stated Mikael again. The lands below him started to change, scarlet rot was spreading quickly throughout the grounds, to the trees, to the grass, rotting everything it touched.

Then, Crows started to appear from on top of the trees, flying frantically as a spirit appeared, a Leshen. Its head was of a stag's skull, and its body was of a dead tree's trunk.

The Leshen shrieked as it saw the forest rotting in front of its eyes. Waves of Roots then launched towards Mikael, but, as soon as the roots touched the rotten grounds, it stopped, consumed by the scarlet rot, and the Leshen had no control over it anymore.

Mikael then dashed to the Leshen, his silver dagger in his left hand, and jumped as the Leshen summoned another wave of roots, avoiding it.

Mikael then stabbed Leshen's head, and smirked at the spirit. The bones of the stag started to be infected with scarlet rot, eating the Leshen from the inside as the Leshen got weaker and weaker. Mikael controlled the rot so it wouldn't consume the whole head, but enough to kill it.

The Leshen kept shrieking as it died from the rot. Now, only his head remains, as well as some parts of its body.

Mikael took a deep breath, he looked around, his scarlet rot everywhere, and he absorbed the rot back, leaving only dead trunks, unusable dirt, and a few shrapnels of bones.

Mikael then took its head by the antlers, and walked away from the scene.

—

Mikael was now at a nearby village. It was a bit deserted, people were starting to leave the village for a lot of reasons… war, shortage of food, and most importantly, the monsters.

He then walked to the village head's shack, and knocked on the door. The door opened, revealing a man in his thirties, looking pale as snow as he looked at Mikael.

"I've killed it." said Mikael, dropping the Leshen head. "Where's the promised reward?"

"M-Master Witcher… I'm sure you could spare us to pay… our village–"

"I'm not a witcher." grumbled Mikael. "Where's the money?"

"Y-Yes…" the man gulped loudly. "I-If you would just follow me to the barn…"

'Fuck, a trick.' sighed Mikael. 'Whatever, I'll just loot the money from these swindlers.'

"Lead the way." nodded Mikael.

Mikael then followed the village head to the barn nearby. He followed him to a horse stable, and said that the money was below the hay.

As the village head acted like he was finding the money, the barn's door closed abruptly, and around 3 men with hay forks and clubs entered the room.

"I-I'm sorry master, but we really have no money." sneered the village head.

The men behind me then shouted. "Just kill the cripple! He won't fight back much!"

"Are you dumb? If I'm really helpless, how could I kill a Leshen…" whispered Mikael as the club launched towards him. He grabbed it, and took it from the man's grasp.

He turned to the club, and slammed the club to the man's head, breaking the club, and the skull.

Mikael saw the other man almost throw up as he saw his friend's head explode, and he kicked him towards the barn's door, opening it up abruptly.

"Give me the money." threatened Mikael to the village head once more, who was pissing himself. "No one will have to die anymore."

"Y-You Thug!' spat the village head in fear. He took out a pouch of crowns, and threw it to Mikael. "Go away, you heartless monster!"

"Calling me thug, yet you're trying to swindle me." scoffed Mikael. "Hypocrites."

Mikael then walked away from the barn, all of the villagers looked at him with fear, scared that he would kill someone again.

He looked at the condition of the village, it really is a poor village, some parts of him felt a bit guilty about taking the money from them, but it was a deal, he'll kill the spirit, and they give him the money.

Mikael left the village, with a pouch of gold in his pocket.

He looked at his clothes, which were bloodied, dirty from his travels. He sighed tiredly. "I need to buy new clothes…"

Oxenfurt

Mikael arrived at the gates of Oxenfurt. Hundreds of people from all over Velen were waiting to enter the town, as most of them didn't have the permit to enter.

Mikael stood at the end of the line, a bit annoyed at himself.

"Is this line going to move or something?" he questioned the woman in front of him.

"We all don't have permits." spoke the woman, a bit annoyed at Mikael's attitude. "It's supposed to not move."

Mikael clicked his tongue, and just got out of the line, walking straight right up to the gate.

"Hey, you're passing the line!" shouted a man.

Mikael didn't care about it, and continued to walk to the gate. When he was walking there, he was spat upon, and cursed by the peasants that were trying to enter this established town.

Again, Mikael didn't care, he kept walking ,arriving at the guards in front of the gate.

"Step in the line, lad." said the guards roughly. "Unless you have a permit."

"Well, good sir, I don't." said Mikael, "But–"

"Then step in the line! Are you daft!?"

Mikael looked at the guards in annoyance, but he calmed himself, he smiled widely, and suddenly, the Guard's attitude changed.

"Calm down good sir, I was just asking if you could help me pass…" said Mikael calmly. "You see… my arm was amputated.. Surely you can do something?"

The guards gulped a bit as he saw the missing arm. "Y-Yes… poor bloke you are.." said the captain.

"Then can you help me?"

"I-I'm sure I could do something…"

As soon as the captain said that, the peasants behind Mikael shouted in protests.

"Shut up!" A guard roared. "You aren't missing an arm, are you? Give the man some pity…"

Mikael was a bit annoyed at the guard's words, but calmed down.

The captain then gave him a permit, signed by the captain himself. "Here, you could go through Oxenfurt and Novigrad with this…"

"Thank you, oh good ser…"

"And here…" continued the captain sadly, giving Mikael a pouch of crowns. "For your… losses…" he said, looking at the missing arm in pity.

"Oh thank you!" exclaimed Mikael once again as he saw the gold. "May the Eternal fire bless you ser, bless you!"

"That's alright, now move along lad." patted the Captain, pushing Mikael to Oxenfurt itself.

As soon as he stepped inside of Oxenfurt, Mikael just snickered a bit. "Well that was easy."

—

Mikael was just getting out of an armorer in Oxenfurt. He bought a couple sets of normal clothing, a simple white shirt and some trousers, and also, he bought new leather armor using the money he got from killing the Leshen.

After he went to the armorer, he went to the weaponsmith, where he bought the cheapest steel sword that exists in that shop. He bought a couple of them, in case one broke. He was admiring his newly bought sword, when he realized he was in the middle of the town, homeless, with no place to stay.

"Well, shit." he cursed. He looked at his pouch, and saw that it was almost empty, it was only enough for dinner, and a drink. He looked around, and saw no beggars whatsoever. He thought about it for a while, then he stood up.

"There must be a notice board near here right…" said Mikael to himself.

He looked around the square, wandering for a couple of hours, checking things that he couldn't buy, and finally, he found a notice board.

"Let's see here… Frying pan wanted… nope, Creature in Oxenfurt forest… I prefer not to get out of town anymore, clown wanted… definitely not, and… oh? What's this?"

He took a notice poster from the notice board, and read it. "Escort a medic through the sewer… reward, 1000 Crowns, assigned by the Redanian Army itself… what? They're starting to have a deficit of men now…"

Mikael just shrugged. "Whatever, I'll just go." he said, pocketing the notice poster, and walked to the Redanian Army office near him.

A Job

Mikael approached a captain that was sitting on a desk calmly outside, he showed the notice poster to the captain, and slammed it to the desk.

"I hear you're looking for an escort." said Mikael.

The captain raised his eyebrow as he saw that Mikael only had one arm. "We only accept people who have two arms."

"Trust me, I've hunted monsters before." insisted Mikael. "My one arm won't be a problem."

"And you've any proof of that?" laughed the captain. "This is no joke lad, there's a monster in that sewers, 20 men have died trying to kill it, so we gave up, instead, we just need a medic to retrieve its venom, so it won't bother us no longer."

"I've killed Leshen in the Oxenfurt forest." stated Mikael, showing a bone necklace made of Leshen bones.

The captain laughed even louder. "What's that, a bone necklace?"

Mikael clicked his tongue. "Fine, test me."

"I've no time to test you lad, go away."

"If I beat you, you'll give me the job, if you beat me, you'll take away all my belongings." continued Mikael.

The captain raised his eyebrow. He looked towards his bag, full of steel swords. "You digging graves?"

"No, I bought it just now." answered Mikael. "You can ask the weaponsmith."

"The hell you need those swords for? Collection?"

"None of your business." scoffed Mikael. "Will you test me or not?"

The captain looked at the stack of swords in his bag, and sighed. "Fine, follow me."

The captain then escorted Mikael to the back of the Redanian army office. It was a training ground, dummies everywhere, but there was an empty field in the middle.

The captain took two wooden swords from the rack, and he threw one to Mikael, which he grabbed gracefully.

"One who falls first loses." said the captain casually.

"Fine."

The captain then took a stance, his sword raised, but before he could remember anything, he's already laying on the ground, his legs were in pain, and his face bruised.

"What the hell!" he cursed, holding the pain.

"I win, give me the job." said Mikael casually.

"The hell was that!" shouted the captain. "No, you're lucky, do it again."

Mikael sighed. "Fine." he then threw away the wooden sword, and raised his only arm.

"What, you're giving up now?" questioned the Captain in confusion.

"Just do it." said Mikael.

The captain then ran towards Mikael, his sword above, and he made a slashing movement, but that movement was stopped, and he saw that Mikael grabbed his wooden sword easily. Mikael then kicked his face, making him slam to the ground, hardly.

"Can I get the job now?" questioned Mikael lazily.

"How'd you hit this hard!" complained the captain, he fixed his dislocated jaw, and stood. "Fine." he grumbled. "You can take the job, but we're not responsible for your death."

"Fine by me." shrugged Mikael.

The captain then approached the desk once again, and he gave Mikael a map. "Here's the location of the medic's clinic. Tomorrow morning, you pick her up, and bring her to the well circled in the map."

"What, only me?"

"No, there'll be a whole squad with you." answered the captain, still in pain. "You're just back up."

Mikael hummed. "What's the medic's name?"

"Shani." said the captain, surprising Mikael. "Beautiful lady she is, bring her in one piece would you?"

"Wait what?" questioned Mikael again. "What's her name?"

"Shani." grumbled Captain. "Now piss off."

Mikael then walked off from the Redanian army office, a bit pale in the face. "Shit."

—

The sky darkened as Mikael sat down on the corner of the square. "Hearts of Stone… really?" he cursed. "I do not want to deal with Gaunter O' Dimm…"

Mikael just stood up, and sighed. He walked towards the inn, and ordered some food and drink. He thought about what he'll do tomorrow.

"I suppose I'll try to finish it as soon as possible…" he said to himself. "Maybe stole a couple of Ofieri weapons… that must be high quality. Meeting Shani though… what am I gonna say…"

Mikael just sighed, and he ate to his heart's content, clearing his thoughts from all kinds of trouble.

Redhead Medic

Mikael stood in front of a clinic near Oxenfurt. It was a cozy place, there were many plant decorations scattered around the place, the smell of herbs was everywhere, well, it is a medic's clinic, so it's only natural… he was wearing a cloak, hiding his armless body, away from prying and judging eyes.

Mikael cleared his throat, and knocked on the door softly, not wanting to bother the others around the clinic, as it was barely morning.

He waited for a minute, but no one opened the door. He knocked again, this time, a little bit more louder.

"Coming!" shouted a woman from the inside. There were sounds of loud footsteps inside, and not a second later, the door opened, revealing a pretty young woman, red in hair, a medic symbol as her necklace.

"Hello miss." smiled Mikael. "I'm here to escort you to the well."

"You're not the usual soldier…" murmured the woman, she examined Mikael's face, and hummed in approval. "Mercenary?"

"Not really, no." said Mikael. "Just a man trying to make due for himself."

The woman hummed. "Well, I'm Shani, pleasure to meet you." she offered her right hand, a sign for a handshake.

Mikael just chuckled awkwardly. "Will a left hand do?" said Mikael, showing his arm, or rather, his lack of right arm…

He uncloaked himself a little, so that Shani could see it.

Shani was surprised, she retrieved her right hand back, and coughed in embarrassment. "Ahem… Pardon me, I didn't know…"

"That's alright, miss." shrugged Mikael. "Name's Mikael, pleasure to meet you as well."

"Right." nodded Shani. "Could you please wait a little longer? I need to take the vials…"

"Sure, take all the time you need, miss."

Shani then entered her clinic once again. Mikael had to wait for a couple of minutes, before Shani appeared again, this time, her hair more tidy and neat, and her pouch filled with empty vials.

She locked the door of her clinic, and walked with Mikael to the location.

"So, Mikael, where are you from?" questioned Shani curiously, walking side by side with him.

"Honestly, I don't know miss." shrugged Mikael. "Been wandering all my life here."

"Oh, stop that." groaned Shani, rolling her eyes.

"Stop what?"

"Stop calling me miss." she continued. "My name will do fine."

"Right… Shani…"

Shani nodded. "Feels weird to be called miss… especially by a guy my age."

"And how do you know I'm your age?" said Mikael, raising his eyebrows.

"I could tell." shrugged Shani. "Part of my job really, a medic."

"That's not how Medics work." chuckled Mikael.

"Well, true… most of them can't tell…" murmured Shani. "But I could."

"Really? Tell me my age then." said Mikael casually.

"Hmm.. smooth skin… almost no wrinkles whatsoever, just starting to grow a beard… you're around 20-25 years of age."

"That's a broad guess, anybody could do that," said Mikael, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, let's say… 23?"

"Damn, you really could huh…" said Mikael, amused.

"Ha! Told you!" giggled Shani. "I am a licensed medic for a reason."

"How about you? 23 too?" questioned Mikael curiously.

"A bit inappropriate asking a lady her age, don't you think?" teased Shani.

Mikael sighed. "Fine, I won't ask."

"I was joking." chuckled Shani. "Twenty two, almost twenty three this year."

"The same age after all…" Mikael murmured. "Well, you're lucky you guessed it right, if you met a sorcerer or sorceress, you probably won't be able to guess at all."

"True." hummed Shani."You ever met a sorcerer during your travels?"

"Sorceress. Once." answered Mikael, surprising Shani.

"Really? What's her name?"

"Yennefer of Vengerberg." said Mikael, surprising Shani even more. "Met her at White Orchard when I was traveling with a witcher."

"Really?" she said. "What's the Witcher's name?"

"Geralt of Rivia." said Mikael. "And… and old Witcher too, Vesemir."

"Huh…" murmured Shani.

"Know them?"

"Yes. I knew Geralt." Shani said. "It's been a while since I talked to him."

"Well, he's in Vizima now. With the sorceress."

"What for?"

"No idea." shrugged Mikael.

Shani hummed, and the two kept walking, passing through the almost empty streets of Oxenfurt.

They stayed silent for a while, before Mikael noticed that Shani kept looking at his missing right arm.

"Wanna see it?" questioned Mikael, making Shani blushed.

"No… it's just– how do you—"

"Lose it?" said Mikael, making Shani hummed. "It's been like that since forever, I honestly don't know how I lose it."

"Ever use prosthetics?"

"I have no money." shrugged Mikael. "Besides, I'm left handed, so no big deal."

"Wait… you said it's been like that since forever, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Why do I smell… rot?" questioned Shani, examining the missing right arm intently, making Mikael uncomfortable.

"Er… it's fine, really."

"No, no, take off your cloak."

Mikael sighed. "Can we do this later? The squad is waiting."

Mikael pointed in front, and a group of six men standing around a well, and they arrived.

"Oh, yeah… you're right." nodded Shani. "Let's meet the others."

They then walked towards the squad, where the squad finally noticed their presence.

"Finally miss! What took you so long?!" shouted a soldier, the commander looks like.

"Hello to you too, Vern." Shani said, rolling her eyes. "A lady has to prepare too, you know."

"Or is this bloke halting you?" questioned Vern, narrowing his eyes at Mikael.

"No, he picked me up," said Shani. "This is Mikael. Mikael, this is Vern, the commander."

Mikael just nodded at Vern, making Vern snort. "Dunno why the office sends a random mutt to us… telling me that 'your unit is not enough', bah! We could kill the beast easily, right boys?!"

The others then shouted in unison, protesting against the office decision.

"Save your rant for later Vern, we have a job to do." said Shani, walking towards the well that has been closed.

"Let's get this over with, I'm supposed to be on leave next week." commented a soldier.

"Really, well, congratulations Nols." said Shani.

"Well, let our boys enter first. Who knows what might lurk in that damned sewer." said Vern, commanding the rest of the boys to enter the sewers. As they entered one by one, only Shani and Mikael are left.

"You sure you could do this?" commented Mikael. "Entering sewers, I mean."

Shani scoffed. "I'm a big girl Mikael, I can do it." she said. "Besides, I've been to worse places."

"Whatever you say." shrugged Mikael. He then jumped to the well, not using the ladder at all, and landed, knee first on the ground of the sewers.

That earned a shout from Shani.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she roared. "Your bones could be broken!"

"I'm fine!" shouted Mikael.

"The hell you are!" Shani then quickly climbed down the ladder, intending to check up on Mikael, which made him amused.'

Toad

As they regrouped, Shani finished checking Mikael. She looked quite surprised that Mikael wasn't hurt, because it was a pretty long fall.

"Done checking on the bloke miss?" questioned Vern. "We should be quick in this sewer, drowners prowlin' around."

"Y-yes." stuttered Shani, looking at Mikael suspiciously. "Yes, I'm done, he's fine."

Vern nodded, and he commanded the boys to go forward, clearing the path for Shani. As soon as the soldiers disappeared, Shani questioned Mikael. "What are you? Your bones should be broken from that fall."

"You should worry about that later." said Mikael, pointing at the soldiers who are walking away from them. "For now, the job."

Shani just frowned at Mikael, and she walked, following the soldiers in front of them.

Mikael followed behind her, looking around the sewers, finding it interesting.

The sewers are filled with excrement, green liquid scattered about, the stench is unbearable for normal people. A thick green fog was covering the track in front, sounds of Drowners prowling echoed throughout the sewers, making the soldiers alert.

"Drowners ahead," said Vern, unsheathing his sword, along with the rest of the unit.

The gurgling sounds of drowners were in front of them, and they were ready to fight at any time.

"Miss, you should stay back, " continued Vern. he turned to Mikael. "You, protect the miss."

Mikael just shrugged, and stayed close to Shani.

Then, not a minute later, Drowners appeared. Their blue skin, bloated stomach, and foul smell could be seen and smelled. There were 8 drowners, too many for a monster's nest…

"Shit!" cursed Vern as the Drowners rushed towards the soldiers. Nols did the first strike, injuring a drowner, its foul blood spread everywhere.

The soldiers fought as they could, they made quick work of the Drowners as Miklas killed two of them with one swing of the ax, and Franz killed one, stabbing its head with a dagger.

But Franz was attacked by another drowner, it bit his leg, making it bleed profusely. He screamed painfully as the drowners bit him, his voice echoed through the sewers.

"Fuck! Bring Franz to the medic!" shouted Vern after killing the last of the drowners.

Nols then dragged Franz to Shani, who quickly cut his bitten area's trousers, and started to administer Spirit to it. "This is going to hurt Franz, but don't shout!" warned Shani.

Franz nodded weakly, and Shani then showered the wound with spirit, making Franz groan in pain.

"There! It should stop the infection." exclaimed Shani.

"Hey you!" shouted Vern suddenly, pointing at Mikael. "Replace Franze."

"Sure." said Mikael casually.

"Fucking peasants, don't have dicipline." scoffed Vern. They then continued walking, following Vern as he opened doors with a skeleton key.

"A bit strange don't you think?" said Mikael suddenly.

"What?" Vern grumbled.

"Drowners." continued Mikael. "In another beast's lair."

"You a witcher or somethin'?"

"No." scoffed Mikael. "It's common sense. Beasts aren't exactly friendly towards other beings."

"True," said Vern. "But we aren't here to kill the beast, we're here to take samples of the venom."

"Well… too late now…."

"What d'you mean?"

Mikael pointed at a corridor. "A big toad."

Vern turned to the corridor, and saw a big ass toad, blisters around its body, leaping quickly towards them. Its mouth split open, revealing its tongue, who quickly launched at them.

"Watch out!" shouted Vern to his other boys as the tongue targeted them.

The boys turned to the tongue, and their faces paled.

They didn't move, scared of the monster.

But then, Mikael moved. He unsheathed one of his many swords, and as the tongue launched towards the soldiers, he cut them from the side, and it bled profusely.

"Bloody hell!" Miklas cursed as the cut part of the tongue dropped in front of him.

"You okay mate?" questioned Mikael calmly, his sword covered in blood.

"A-Aye…" Miklas murmured.

Mikael turned to Vern, and shrugged. "He's okay."

Vern, meanwhile, was quite baffled at Mikael's ability. "R-Right." He turned towards the toad, and saw that it was groaning in pain, tongueless.

Then, the toad's eyes sharpened, and its stomach started to bloat. The toad then released a barrage of sticky substances from his mouth, and shot it to Mikael.

Meanwhile, Mikael just stood in front of everyone, twisted his sword so the blood got cleaned off, and sliced the liquid easily, splitting it, so it didn't hit the group.

Mikael then saw the toad run back to its nest, deep in the sewers.

"Wow, a coward." whistled Mikael. He then turned towards the soldiers, who looked at him with surprise and shock. "You guys alright?"

"Y-Yes…" stammered Vern.

Meanwhile, Shani was also watching Mikael with shock. "You're really skilled with a sword aren't you?"

"What? Surprising for an armless guy like me?" teased Mikael.

"W-Wait, that's not what I meant–"

"Relax, just kidding." said Mikael. "You got the samples?"

"Yes, but I need stronger venoms," said Shani. "We need to get to the lair."

"Are you mad, miss?!" questioned Vern. "We're almost killed! If not for this blok-"

"Look commander, if you want to go back, you can go," said Mikael. "I'll help her retrieve the venom."

"A-Ah…" Vern murmured. "Then we'll go too."

"Vern, you should go back." said Shani. "Franz's injured, and I think he's more than capable of defending me."

"A-Are you sure, miss?"

"I'm sure."

"T-Then alright…"

—

Mikael was now alone with Shani, walking through the nasty sewers of Oxenfurt. Mikael was holding a torch, lighting the way.

"Let me hold it." said Shani. "The torch."

"Why?"

"You only have one arm, Mikael," said Shani. "Use it for a sword."

"It's fine," said Mikael. "You don't have to hold anything."

Shani raised her eyebrow, she then blocked his way, before snatching the torch from his hand. She gives a challenging look at Mikael, making him raise his eyebrow.

"Whatever." said Mikael, rolling his eyes.

They both continued to walk through the sewers, there are no drowner noises anymore, which is a good sign.

"So, why did you kick them out?" asked Mikael.

"I thought they'll be a burden."

"Don't let those boys hear you." chuckled Mikael. "Or they'll be heartbroken."

Shani rolled her eyes. "They're just colleagues."

"I can see that."

As they arrived at another door, they saw a corpse, dangling from a strange green liquid above. Shani aimed the torch at it, revealing a dead woman.

"Poor girl." murmured Shani sadly.

"You know what happened?"

"There's a legend about the monster." Shani continued. "Whomever should kiss the beast, it would turn the beast into a handsome prince."

Mikael chuckled. "Ah… lonely women… should just come to me… if they don't mind that I only have one arm…"

Shani giggled as Mikael said that. "Lonely too?"

"Eh, it gets kinda stale traveling alone." shrugged Mikael. "Used to travel with an old man… that was interesting."

"You traveled with Vesemir?" asked Shani curiously, opening another door.

"Yeah, but we parted ways, I went here, and he went to Kaedwin."

"Must be an interesting man." commented Shani, lighting up a torch nearby.

"Have a lot of interesting stories." said Mikael, nodding. "A wise man."

They then arrived at an opening, it was a big hole, all of the sewers lead to it.

"Looks like this is it." commented Mikael. "You should gather those venoms now."

"What will you do?"

"Well, I'm going to try to kill the beast." answered Mikael, surprising Shani. "If I kill it, won't bring trouble no more right?"

"Well, yeah… but, are you sure?"

"I'm sure." nodded Mikael. "You should go now."

"No, I'll hide somewhere," said Shani. "What if you got knocked out or something?"

"You seem to not have confidence in me at all." snorted Mikael.

"I just met you this morning…"

"Alright, fair point." hummed Mikael. "Mind giving me some spirits?"

"What for?"

"Baiting the monster."

"Are you saying that toad liked alcohol?"

"Mixed with blood apparently." shrugged Mikael. "It was drawn to us when you administered spirits to Franz's wounds."

"Right…" Shani then took out a bottle of spirits, and gave it to him. "What about the blood? You're not going to cut yourself ar-"

Before she finished the sentence, Mikael cut himself in the palm, holding the sharp edge of the sword tightly.

"Idiot…" Shani sighed.

"What?" shrugged Mikael as he poured spirit to his palm. "Ooooh, that burns…"

"Well, you should hide now, Shani." said Mikael as he jumped into the hole.

As Mikael jumped to the lair, he could already hear the slurpy sounds of the toad. The toad jumped from one of the sewers, staring at Mikael menacingly.

"Hello toad." said Mikael as he held his sword tightly.

The toad made slurpy sounds again, and it quickly leaped towards Mikael. Mikael then dashed, cutting the toad's stomach easily. Entrails spread through Mikael's body as the venom also hit him, but thankfully, he's immune to disease.

"Fuck! That's gross…" cursed Mikael, getting rid of the entrails around his body. He spat the blood that entered his mouth, and checked the toad.

It's dead. It's trying to stay alive, twitching rapidly.

"Well… that was easy…" murmured Mikael. "Shani! Come out! It's done!"

"It is?!" Shani answered. Mikael then saw Shani jump into the hole. "That was quick." she said.

As she looked at Mikael's body, she panicked a bit. She took a cloth from her pocket, and ran to him. "Did you swallow the green liquid?" she questioned worriedly as she cleaned his face with her cloth.

Mikael blushed and coughed in embarrassment. "N-No… It's fine Shani, you can take the venom from the source now."

"A-Ah…" Shani blushed a bit, but quickly got rid of it. "Right…"

Shani walked towards the toad corpse, who doesn't move anymore, and took a couple of vials of venom from it.

But then, the toad's carcass changed in front of her.

"M-Mikael…" said Shani.

"Yeah?"

"T-The toad… turned to a man…"

Mikael then walked up to her, and saw a brown skinned man, laying on the ground, naked, his entrails everywhere.

"Well, it's probably fine…"

Ofieri

"Well, it's probably fine…"

"Fine?!" shrieked Shani. "I'm a medic Mikael! My job is to heal! Not to kill!"

"Well, technically, I was the one who killed him…"

Then, the man then moved, his head looked towards them, his hands trying to reach, as if begging.

"Mikael, he's still alive!" said Shani as she went to medic mode. "Help me here!"

"Shani, he's dead." sighed Mikael. "I cut his stomach open…"

"I- you're right…" she murmured, sitting beside the now dead man covering her head, massaging it. "Fuck…"

"You alright?"

"Not expecting the day to go like this…" chuckled Shani awkwardly.

Mikael smiled. "Well, you should stand up, the venom will enter your body if you're not careful…"

"Y-Yeah…" she then stood up, and cleaned her hands up using the cloth she used before. "We need to call someone to the sewers… retrieve the corpses… to give them proper burials…"

"I mean, most of the corpses come from lonely and stupid women…" shrugged Mikael, as he inspected the man. "Not worth it to be honest…"

Shani then looked around, ignoring Mikael's words. He looked above, where she dropped down. "How do we get out?"

"Jump?"

"You can jump that high?" she scoffed. "Are you sure you're human?"

"Well…"

Before they could continue their conversation, they could hear sounds of loud footsteps from the sewer they came in, and then, they saw a group of men, brown skinned, with clothing that definitely did not come from Oxenfurt.

"Ofieri?" murmured Shani.

"You know about them?"

"I took an elective about nations of the continent." shrugged Shani.

"I thought you studied medicine? Why study history?"

"Because it's interesting." she rolled her eyes. "Why else?"

"Right…"

The Ofieri people then shouted something towards them, profanities it seems. A man holding a staff, looked at the corpse beside them, and frowned, the men rushed towards the corpse, and checked the condition.

As soon as they saw that the man was dead, the man with the staff turned around, and looked at the two of them.

"W-We didn't mean it." said Shani nervously. "We thought he was a beast, we swear!" she continued, elbowing Mikael beside her, asking for support.

"Y-Yeah…" said Mikael casually.

The man with the staff frowned even more, and shouted towards his men. "Saar vass'ayah malliq!"

"Whoa, okay." said Mikael as he saw the men unsheathed their swords. Mikael readied himself, and pushed Shani to the back of him.

The man with the staff then raised his staff. The water below Mikael and Shani suddenly bubbled a bit, and it wanted to explode.

"Shit!" cursed Mikael as he ran towards Shani. He tackled her, avoiding the water explosion. They rolled around the dirty water, and once they stopped, Mikael checked on Shani.

"You alright?" he questioned.

"Yeah– watch out!" shouted Shani as she saw a magic bolt coming towards them.

Mikael then pushed Shani away, and dodged the bolt itself.

"Never fought a mage before." sighed Mikael.

The soldiers of the mage stood in front of him, raising their shields, and pointing their swords at thim.

"Well, you just made it much easier…" murmured Mikael.

Mikael ran towards them, making the soldiers alert, but then, he jumped. As he was in the air, he raised his sword above his head, crossing his only arm, hiding his face. Then, he launched at the soldiers.

Shani saw what he did, he swung his sword gracefully, making arcs around his body. Even before he landed, he's already swinging his sword.

When you look at it, it feels like he's dancing with his sword, Shani felt like she couldn't see him land, as Mikael kept spinning around, slashing majestically.

He then stopped, but then, he dashed again, doing the same thing all over again. Dome of slashes formed around him, the soldiers didn't even know what's going on, and when Mikael stopped, he stood in front of the mage, and finally, Shani could see the soldiers all cut to pieces, like a butcher cutting beef or pork into smaller portions, and she could see his sword, broken as he stopped dancing.

There was no scream, no groan, no shriek, nothing, only death. The smell of blood quickly spread throughout the room, even overlapping with the smell of excrement. It was a gruesome sight, even Shani, who was a licensed medic, couldn't help to get dizzy.

Mikael then raised his broken sword, pointing it at the mage in front of him. "Sorry mate, you attacked us first."

While it was broken, Mikael was able to pierce the mage's heart, who froze with fear as he saw what Mikael did.

The sword was stabbed deeply to the mage's heart, the mage's mouth gurgled as blood blocked the air's path towards the lungs.

Then, the mage dropped dead, in the nasty sewers, filled with venom of an unknown toad and excrement.

Mikael then looked at the corpses around him, and saw the swords that the soldiers used. He then took it one by one, before putting it in his bag.

"What are you doing?" questioned Shani.

"Looting, what else?" Mikael answered. "They attacked us first, so I'll take their swords."

"Do you need many swords?"

"Look at this." said Mikael, pointing at the broken sword that stabbed the mage's heart.

"Right…"

As he finished his looting, he looked at the sewers above him. "Right, let's get out of here."

"How?" Shani questioned, still a bit shocked at Mikael's ability.

Mikael hummed, thinking, he then gave Shani his bag. "Would you mind?"

Shani just grabbed his bag nonchalantly, and then, Mikael turned his back towards Shani.

"Hop on." he said.

"What?" stammered Shani.

"Hop to my back." he continued. "I'll get you out of here."

Shani just calmly hopped towards Mikael's back, hugging him tightly from the back.

"Right, hold on tight." Mikael then jumped towards the sewer's entrance. He did it in one jump, Shani closed her eyes as it was a bit frightening.

"Mikael… What are you?" questioned Shani curiously.

Mikael just smiled, and he dropped Shani off from his back, before the two of them exited the sewers together.

Clinic

In Shani's clinic, Mikael was sitting beside a window, the yellow sunset light kissed his skin gently as Shani was examining his right arm stump. The room was quiet, the decorations made the place look comfortable, it was a perfect retirement home if Mikael ever thought of that.

But then, Shani, who was beside him, clicked her tongue in annoyance as she saw his right arm wound.

"You said you lost your arm a long time ago." she grumbled, bringing more spirit to the table beside her.

"It's true Shani, it's my condition… my… curse."

"Curse?"

"You can't heal that wound." sighed Mikael. "Trust me, I tried cleaning it with the best witcher medicine there is."

"Well, you're not a witcher." murmured Shani. "I'll try something."

"No, don't touch the wound." flinched Mikael as Shani tried to touch the rot. "It's dangerous."

"What do you mean dangerous, it's just an unclean wound."

"No, it's not," said Mikael. "Give me your hand."

Shani raised her eyebrow, before giving her hand to Mikael.

Mikael held her hand, and sooner or later, her hand started to rot.

"Wait what?!" Shani panicked, stepping back from Mikael as she saw her hand slowly rot. It didn't stop when she stepped back however, making Shani look at Mikael in curiosity and fear.

"What's this? What did you do?"

"It's my ability, my curse, my gift, whatever you want to call it." he answered, he stretched his hand to Shani again, asking for her hand.

Shani slowly walked towards him, and held his hand once again, making the rot go away.

"You could do that?" questioned Shani. "If you can do that, why not do it to your wound?"

Mikael shook his head. "The only place that I can't heal it is in the wound," he said. "The rest however, I can…"

"Well… what's this… curse then?"

"Like I said, it'll rot everything that it touches." stated Mikael. "And I mean everything."

Shani gulped. "If there's an outbreak of it…"

"I doubt it."

"Well, could I?"

"Could I, what?"

"Study it." she continued. "Who knows, might be useful in the future…"

Mikael sighed. "Well I guess it's my fault for telling you that… fine, but I WILL watch you as you do your… experiment."

"Splendid, I'll take a couple of samples," said Shani. "In the meantime, let's try to clean the wound once again…"

"It's useless Shani, I told you-"

"But it's not healthy to keep it unclean like that." she insisted sternly, pushing him to sit once more, before dragging a stool to sit beside him.

Mikael clicked his tongue. "Fine, do whatever you want."

Shani hummed, and started to get to work. She brought a lot of cloth and Dwarven spirit to the table. She soaked the cloth to the spirit, and started cleaning.

"So, where will you go after this?" asked Shani curiously.

"Claim the money from the army." shrugged Mikael. "Then rent a room for a couple of nights…"

"You don't have a place to stay?" questioned Shani, surprised.

"Well, yeah, I just arrived in Oxenfurt two days ago," said Mikael casually.

"Where did you sleep yesterday then?"

"Oh, I slept on an alley near the square." answered Mikael, surprising Shani. "I slept at the tavern for a while, before the owner kicked me out."

"Well, you have a place to stay after this?" questioned Shani.

"Like I said, I'll claim the money, and rent a room for a couple of days."

"The Army office is closed during this time." informed Shani, making Mikael cursed in his breath.

"Well, back to sleeping on the streets then."

Shani looked at his icy blue eyes, and Mikael met her hazel eyes. She then said flatly. "Why don't you stay here, at my place?"

Mikael was surprised. "What? Are you sure? I mean… you just met me this morning…"

"It's alright, plenty of patients usually stay here for the night." shrugged Shani.

"Well, I'd rather not use the patient bed…"

"You can use the chair," said Shani, pointing at a long wooden chair.

"That looks uncomfortable…"

"Or you can sleep with me." teased Shani, making Mikael raise his eyebrows.

"You're joking… right?"

"I am." giggled Shani. "Anyway, it's fine if you don't want to, though I won't charge you anything if you decide to stay at my place. Besides, I could use the company."

"Okay… I feel quite uncomfortable if I stay without paying… how about I'll do something for you?"

Shani hummed. "I'll think of something…"

As time went on, they didn't talk for a while, the sun kept coming down, the sun rays starting to disappear, and Shani kept cleaning his wound over and over again until the cloth ran out, making Shani quite annoyed.

Mikael chuckled. "I told you, it's useless."

Shani sighed. "I'll find something to cover it up that'll last longer than bandages." she said.

Mikael hummed, and then thought of something, which made his neck snap to Shani instantly. "Wait, you're not going to charge this, are you?"

"Honestly Mikael, it's fine." shrugged Shani. "You saved my life, I should at least do something for you."

"No wait, I'll pay you later–"

"I insist," said Shani. "Like I said, you saved my life."

"I didn't." refuted Mikael. "It's my job."

"Still, I feel grateful." smiled Shani. "Anyway, you should wash yourself, you can drop your clothes in that basket, I'll clean it for you."

"Well…"

"What?"

"I… don't have any more clothing…"

—

As Mikael went out of the bathroom, his clothes changed to a patient garment, he looked around, and saw Shani writing something to her journal. Her hair looked wet, as she just got out of the bathroom too, and Mikael walked to his bag, putting his things that were in his pockets to his bag.

"What are you doing?" questioned Mikael to Shani.

Shani turned and smiled at him. "Just writing a journal. Today's quite something… long paragraphs."

Mikael hummed as he walked up to her, and he read the top of today's entry. "In the morning, I was greeted by this interesting and handsome man named Mikael–"

Before he could read the rest of the entry, Shani closed her journal abruptly, and shot a dirty look at Mikael. "That's quite rude don't you think?"

Mikael just chuckled and walked to the chair he would be sleeping on.

"What do you do for fun during your travels?" questioned Shani as she turned to him.

"Fun?" said Mikael, thinking about it a little. "I'm good at Gwent, I beat every single man I encountered during my travels."

"Really?" said Shani, interested in the topic. "Well, you ever beat a woman?"

Mikael shrugged. "Never encountered a woman who played Gwent," he said. "But I'll probably beat her too."

"Oh-ho~" chuckled Shani dangerously as she opened her desk, taking out her gwent deck. "Big words you got there, Mikael."

Mikael smirked as he saw Shani taking out her deck. "Then let's play."

Among us

Mikael had slept in Shani's clinic chair last night, which he was thankful for, because it was free, well kind of, Shani will give him a task in the future.

After he slept, he woke up late, as he and Shani played Gwent all night yesterday, which was quite fun, he never felt challenged by someone other than her again, 10/10, would play with her again. They both slept on the floor, tired from all the bickering when they played Gwent. Next morning, he woke up, seeing Shani fast asleep in front of him. He took a blanket near him, and placed it on her, after that, he wore his usual clothing, wrote a note on a paper for Shani that he was going away for a little, and walked away from the clinic, claiming his money from the army office.

Right now though, he was checking out the notice board, searching for jobs again.

"Frying pan wanted… this dude's still looking for his pan? Clown wanted… nope, Need a Beau to Accompany Me to a Friend's Wedding… interesting, but I'm not a date for hire, And… oh, vampires among us?"

Mikael took the notice poster, and read the information inside the poster.

"Need a hunter to kill a vampire that looms around my brothel, reward: 2000 Crowns, 10 free nights with the girls… This looks great."

Mikael nodded to himself, he looked around, and to see if there's any signs that lead to the brothel said in the poster, he saw one, and walked to the brothel instantly.

As the yellow sunset rays shone on the beautiful town of Oxenfurt, Mikael had arrived in the brothel. It was quite small, it's an academic town after all, not like those brothels in Novigrad.

He knocked on the door, still wearing his cloak, and it seems that it's not open yet, and they're still preparing.

"We're still closed!" shouted a woman inside.

"I'm here for the job?" shouted Mikael back. "I heard you're looking for vampire hunters?"

There was no answer at first, but then, the door opened, revealing a rather old woman, but she has this seductress aura around her.

The woman scanned Mikael, and whistled. "My girls would surely like you…"

"Thanks, but I'm here for the job."

"Sure." hummed the woman, as she let Mikael in. She told him to sit.

"So, what's this vampire you talked about in the poster." he asked, putting the poster on the table.

"Yea, My girls been attacked by vampires." she complained. "Two's dead, the best one at that."

"The best one?"

The woman hummed. "She collects the most out of all my girls, a crown making machine…"

"Where was she attacked?"

"She was found dead at the back." answered the woman. "Her throat was cut open, and her ears are bleeding."

"Ears bleeding?"

"Yeah, her drum's been destroyed for some reason."

"Interesting…" murmured Mikael. "Any more… details?"

"Not that I know of…" continued the woman. "That's all I know really."

"What about the army?"

"They refused to believe that it was vampires." snorted the woman. "But I'll tell you, it is vampires, Two's body was drained from blood."

Mikael hummed. He looked around, the girls weren't in the brothel yet.

"Does Two have any… rivalries with your other girls?"

"Not that I know of…" shrugged the woman. "But I heard some bickering a couple weeks earlier."

"Who?"

"Two, and a new girl of mine, Valma."

"What's Valma like?"

The woman frowned. "What's Valma got to do with this?"

"I'm just asking some questions…"

The woman looked at Mikael suspiciously, and sighed. "She's new, the men liked her as she was quite young, but Two's still more attractive than her."

"Where's Valma now?" questioned Mikael.

The woman frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"Just asking some questions to her, as well as your other girls too."

"They're upstairs." she said. "But no touching."

Mikael snorted as he stood up. "Not that desperate to r*pe a prostitute."

He then walked up to the stairs, guided by the woman. As they got up, he smelled the smell of sweat, mixed with incense.

"Incense?" questioned Mikael.

"It was Valma's idea. Quite a good smell innit?"

Mikael just hummed. And they both entered a room full of women.

The women looked at Mikael, and grinned. Some whistled, some stared at him hungrily, but some looked at him suspiciously.

"Mistress, who's this~" questioned a girl. "A customer?"

"Settle down, girls." the mistress commanded. "He's a hunter, he's going to ask questions for a while."

"Is this about Two?"

"Yes, it is Sylvie," said the Mistress. "So girls, behave."

""Yes, mistress.""

The woman nodded, and turned to Mikael. "Then I'll leave it to you, again, no touching."

"Sure."

The woman then exited the room, leaving Mikael alone with the horny girls. He looked around, and saw the one who didn't look at him angrily, instead, suspiciously.

Mikael pointed at the woman. "What's your name?" he asked.

The girl frowned. "I'm not going to bed with you, you smelled horrible."

"Name." repeated Mikael.

"Valma." she said. "Why do you ask?"

"You bickered with Two?"

Valma showed disgust in her expression, but hid it quickly. "It's just a normal fight."

"Why?"

"She stole my client." she answered. "It was a client that I really wanted."

Mikaele hummed. "Is that really worth the fight?" he questioned, not to Valma, but to the others.

"Sometimes," A girl said. "When a handsome man like you entered our brothel, which was rare, we often rushed to him, tried to get him to our bed."

"How's that relevant for Two's death?" Valma questioned.

"Not really, just curious." shrugged Mikael. "You two close?"

"Not at all." she scoffed. "Quite a stuck up bitch I might say."

Mikael just chuckled. "Alright, I guess that's enough."

"That's all, not gonna question us one by one?" a girl seductively said. "We could REALLY be talkative you now~ especially in bed~~"

"Sorry girls, I need to do my job right now." chuckled Mikael. "I'll get some coupons after this though, I might try to use it."

"Then we'll be waiting~"

Another girl said as Mikael exited the room. He walked downstairs, and he saw the mistress, sitting impatiently.

"Have you finished?" she questioned.

"Yes, just need to check where Two was found now."

"It's in the back." she said, asking Mikael to follow her. She opened the door to the back, and Mikael entered the back.

After that, she closed the door, letting Mikael do his job.

He looked around, blood everywhere. He saw the bloodstains from the slashing of Two's throat, and examined it.

"Quite a rough stain for a knife or sword slash…" murmured Mikael. "Definitely claws."

He then walked to the place where Two's body had been found, and saw minimal blood stains. "Drained of blood… as there's no blood pool, or has been cleaned…"

He looked towards the sky, the moon was now shining brightly, the stars sparkling dimly around it.

Suddenly, someone– something pounced on Mikael from above. The humanoid creature was glued to him from the bite, before it bit Mikael in the neck.

Mikael winced in pain a little, before slamming his back to the wall, effectively knocking the thing from his back.

He turned around, and saw a female, naked, her skin pale as snow, and her mouth full of blood.

"A bruxa, in a brothel?" said Mikael to himself as the bruxa hissed at him. But then, the bruxa froze, her eyes widened as she looked at Mikael, full of fear.

She then held her neck, and tried to breath. She gasped in pain on the ground, trying to stay alive.

"Nice try Valma," said Mikael. "But you sucked my blood, a mistake."

The woman from the inside suddenly rushed towards the back, seeing the scene.

"What just happened?! I felt shaki-" she looked at the vampire, and exclaimed. "I knew it!"

The bruxa just kept trying to breathe as her neck slowly rotted, she looked at Mikael in panic and fear, she wanted to talk, but couldn't.

"It's Valma." said Mikael, grabbing the bruxa's hair, showing it to the mistress.

"W-What?!" shrieked the woman. "H-How?!"

"Bruxa hunts attractive men," he said. "That's why when a handsome man came to your brothel, she would do anything to get him. After she fucked him, she'll drink his blood. Not sure why a bruxa would work in a brothel though."

As he looked at the bruxa,he saw that her neck was completely rotten, he pulled the hair a little bit, and the head was easily detached from the body.

"I've done my job." he said, showing the head.

"Y-Yes…" the woman stammered. "I suppose I'll give you the reward now, wait a second will you? A-and watch for the c-corpse… who knows… might resurrect…"

Mikael hummed as the woman entered the brothel once again. He touched his neck, it was bleeding a bit, he could feel the bite, and shrugged as he looked towards the full moon again, shining brightly on the night sky.

Redanians

Next morning, Mikael was now walking to Shani's clinic once again, intending to greet her. She stayed on the brothel a bit, 'releasing' some steam, one thing to worry about though, is that the vampire is quite clear, it's healing, but it probably won't heal as fast as Mikael wanted, and Shani would be able to see it. He knocked on the door, but no one answered, he knocked again, again, no answer, so he tried to push the door, and it turns out, it's open.

He then walked inside, where he could hear people speaking upstairs. He then climbed the stairs, and he could hear Shani speaking.

"I've tested the venom samples, I believe I'll be able to brew an antidote."

"Good," said another voice. "A pox in the army can prove more ravagin' than even the fiercest foe. Your service will be recognized."

"How? Will I get a toad-shaped medal?" Shani refuted sarcastically.

"Er… The army's not got any medal like that…"

Mikael finally arrived upstairs, he chuckled at Shani's words as he leaned on the pillar beside the stairs.

Shani turned to Mikael, and frowned at his condition. "Mikael? Where've you been? What happened to your neck?"

"Just a bruxa downtown, no big deal." shrugged Mikael.

"A bruxa?" frowned Shani even more. "You've been bitten?"

"Like I said, no big deal."

"Ahem.." the soldier cleared his throat. "We're conductin' important business. Youse can catch up later."

"Uh… yes, I'll get to work on the antidote, shouldn't take long." Shani said, but then turned to Mikael. "Don't go running around again, I'll check up on that bite after this."

Shani then entered her lab, leaving Mikael with the soldiers.

The captain of the group sat down on the chair that Mikael used to sleep, and looked at Mikael.

"Tasty number, that medic," he said. "Not like a scholar at all."

Mikaael chuckled as he relaxed himself, leaning against the pillar again. "What do you think a female scholar looked like?"

"Well, usually, they only have brains, 'cause they've not got beauty." shrugged the captain. "Ain't that right lads?"

"Aye." chuckled a soldier. "Mutts, all of 'em."

"But this lass is different." said another soldier. "Exceptional."

"Yer a lucky bastard. We've seen her makin' eyes at ye. Not like she looks at us, ain't that right? Admit it… you fancy her too, eh?"

Mikael shook his head in amusement. "It's not like a woman like her is interested in an armless man like me." said Mikael, taking off his cloak, hanging it at the corner, showing his armless state, surprising the soldiers. "But, she's a beautiful lass, that's for sure…"

"Err… my condolences…" said the captain. "How'd you lose it?"

"War." he lied. "What else?"

"What army?"

"The north," he said vaguely. "Brenna."

"Ah… glorious battle that was." said the captain. "Didn't fight in it, but glorious nonetheless. Redania thank you for your service."

Mikael just chuckled. "Sure, whatever."

Shani then got out of her lab, with a bunch of filled vials in a pouch. "Here's the medicine. It's a strong solution, so careful with the dosage. Each patient gets exactly two drops after meals, three times a day. At the most in three, four days, the infection should recede."

The captain stood up. He saluted Shani, and said. "I thank you - in Redania's glorious name."

The soldiers then one by one left, leaving Shani and Mikael alone.

"Looks like they admire you Shani." said Mikael in amusement as he sat down on the chair.

Shani scoffed, she ignored his words, and sat down beside him. "Where've you been last night? show me your neck."

Shani then took a bottle of spirit and some cloth. She dipped the cloth to the spirit, and started to clean the bite wound.

"I didn't want to bother you by sleeping here anymore… so I slept somewhere else."

"Where?"

"A brothel." he said, as she heard that, Shani pushed the cloth roughly to the wound, making Mikael winched in pain.

"Didn't take you for a brothel-visiting man." she said calmly.

Mikael gulped. "Well, I got 10 free nights… might as well use it…"

"So 9 nights left?" she questioned.

"Nah, I think I'm done." he chuckled nervously.

"Good answer." she smiled as she finished cleaning. She put the cloth on a bowl, and walked away from Mikael to clean up. "So, mind telling me what this wound is all about?"

"Like I said, a Bruxa downtown," he explained. "A prostitute was killed, so her mistress issued a request in the board. The beast jumped to me from the rooftop, and she bit me in the neck, big mistake though, as you know…"

"The rot kills her." Shani hummed, as she walked back to him with two glasses of water. "So, if you don't want to bother me anymore, why are you here?"

"Well, I just want to ask if you have a job for me, you know… for paying the night."

Shani raised her eyebrow. "Well, I don't–" but before she could say anything, she froze, making Mikael confused.

"You alright?"

"Actually." Shani suddenly smiled. "I do have a job for you."

"And that is?"

"Well, coincidentally, I have a wedding to attend." she said casually. "And I want you to go with me."

"A wedding… that's nice, whose?"

"A dear friend's." she answered. "But first, I need to stop by a flower field, I haven't made a garland yet."

Mikael shrugged. "Alright, got no qualms with it."

"Wonderful…" she blushed. "So… it's a date."

Flower Field

In a vast flower field in Velen, two people were sitting on a checkered tablecloth, beside them, a basket, full of food and drink.

Those two were of course Shani and Mikael.

They were wearing casual dresses, well, as casual as Mikael could dress, as he had limited clothing on his name…

Shani was calmly knitting a flower garland, making it into a crown for someone to wear later, while Mikael just watched her as the wind blew, the nice smell of the flowers hitting their noses, making them comfortable.

"So, this friend of yours, when did you meet her?" asked Mikael casually.

"At the academy." she answered, humming a song that Mikael didn't know. "We stood for each other there, as we are the two students that are actually poor… me and her used to steal rare ingredients from the warehouse of the academy so we could pay our tuition."

"But?"

"She… dropped out, after a year." she said sadly. "Their parents couldn't handle it anymore, even when she used the money that we got from selling those ingredients, it's still not enough."

Mikael hummed. "You've come from humble beginnings?"

"Yes." Shani chuckled softly. "My father died when I was little, and me and my mother went through tough times… but… My mother met my stepfather, who is a nice man. A simple farmer. He offered to try to fund my education… It's quite a burden however, so like I said, I sold some supplies from the school to the outside."

Mikael looked at Shani rather fondly after she said that, she noticed that, and she questioned it. "What?" she asked, a bit amused at his expression.

"You're quite a hard worker." stated Mikael. "I probably would've just given up if I ever put in your position."

"Thanks." she smiled softly at him. "But, I certainly have it easier than you… being one-armed your whole life must be… tiring."

"Honestly, it's hard to explain." said Mikael. "I lied about being one-armed my whole life, well, kind of."

"Meaning?" she said, frowning as he said that.

"Well, I'm one-armed my whole life, my whole life in this world at least." stated Mikael.

"This world?" Shani raised her eyebrow.

"It's fine if you don't believe me, you'd be better to just assume that I'm lying to be honest."

"No, no, no, tell me." she insisted. "I've heard crazier things in my life."

Mikael sighed. "Well… I've come from another world."

"As in… not of this continent?"

"No, as in, not of this reality," said Mikael. "In my previous world… There was a war… and I was a soldier, a bloody good one at that. But… I was hit by a bombardment, and the next thing I know, I woke up in the arms of a certain someone…"

"Bombardment?" questioned Shani. "What's that?"

"Like a bunch of gunpowder exploding at the same time." added Mikael. "You have gunpowder in this world right?"

Shani just stared at him in confusion, which made him sighed. "Anyway, not important, the important thing is that I died…"

"Okay… and who is this 'certain someone'?" questioned Shani, ever curious.

"Oh you know him, Geralt of Rivia, your old 'fling'." chuckled Mikael, making Shani scowl.

"What? Still haven't moved on?" teased Mikael.

"No." scoffed Shani. "I've moved on, just a bit annoyed that I haven't heard of him in a long time."

"Well, he's a witcher, he's in the path, always has, and always will be." commented Mikael softly.

"True…" murmured Shani. She then stared at him, her hazel eyes shining as the sun rays kissed her skin. "But let's not talk about him, I have you here, we're on a date, let's talk more about you."

"Alright." chuckled Mikael. "What do you want to know?"

"Ever been in a… relationship?" questioned Shani. "In this world, I mean, I don't quite care about your other world or whatever that is…"

"Wow, you've taken this rather lightly huh." whistled Mikael. "But no, ever since I got here, I haven't gotten into a relationship at all, I am maidenless through and through."

"A funny word." giggled Shani. "Maidenless."

"Well, it's true, I haven't gotten any maidens at all."

"What about those girls at the brothel huh?" Shani said, amusement in her tone.

Mikael coughed in embarrassment. "Well, they aren't maidens."

"Well, what counts as maidens to you?"

"You." Mikael said. "A woman who is beautiful, quite charming, I would love to know you more."

Shani's cheeks turned red as she smiled at him softly. "Look at you, got a sweet tongue…"

"Hey, I speak facts." shrugged Mikael, taking a deep breath, smelling the nice smell of the flowers around them. He then looked at the flower garland that had been finished. "Wear it."

"Oh no, it's for tomorrow." she refused, maybe embarrassed to wear it.

"Come on, I want to see you wearing it." insisted Mikael.

Shani sighed, "Fine."

She then wore the garland she made, a crown made of colorful flowers. It looked really good when she wore it.

"So, how do I look?" she questioned.

"Beautiful." Mikael answered, smiling warmly at her. "It matches your eyes… and your hair."

"Thanks." she smiled back, her cheeks flushed a bit.

Mikael then turned to the flower field once more, admiring the beautiful landscape. As the wind blew through the field, the flower was blown as well. Petals were all over the place, following the wind as the sun shines brightly at them.

"Listen Shani," said Mikael suddenly. "You sure you want to take me to your friend's wedding?"

Shani frowned as she heard that. "What? Stepping down now?"

"No… it's just… I'm not really an ideal date to show your best friend and her family, am I." he said, pointing at his missing right arm.

Shani groaned as she heard that. "Honestly Mikael, I don't care if you don't have an arm or not, you're a great guy, and I enjoy your company, that's the most important point, not if you have a missing arm or not…"

Mikael smiled. "Alright, if you insist."

Shani nodded, and she turned her body to him, facing Mikael completely. She grabbed the basket beside her, and took something, a deck of Gwent cards. "Now, let's play Gwent, I want to have revenge on last time."

She then slammed the deck of cards in front of Mikael, and she gave her a challenging look.

Mikael rolled his eyes. "Whatever amuses you, my lady."