10. Opening the Chest
Allen didn't know that in just the time it took for a meal, he had already become famous in Kaer Morhen. Calming down from the joy brought by the essence potion, he turned his attention to the treasure chest.
After silently praying for the protection of the souls of the deceased apprentices, Allen opened the chest.
**Ding! Drowner Treasure Chest *4 opened**
As the system prompt sounded, four white lights flashed.
Rotten Flesh *1.
Rotten Flesh *1.
Small Experience Pearl *1.
Although he had long expected that a treasure chest with a name as unimpressive as "Drowner Treasure Chest" wouldn't contain anything good, the two pieces of rotten flesh still broke through Allen's lowest expectations.
Looking further down.
*On the Culinary Methods of Drowners* *1
Allen: ???
"A drowner chest contains a recipe for cooking drowners? Is this some kind of hellish joke?" Allen grumbled to himself.
And can drowner meat even taste good?
No, why would anyone eat drowners in the first place?
Setting aside the discomfort of their humanoid shape, drowners, as typical corpse-eating creatures, often haunt the sewers of human cities. How heavy would someone's taste have to be to not only eat them but also research twenty-three different cooking methods?
This is insane!
Purely out of curiosity, Allen opened the item description.
**Name:** On the Culinary Methods of Drowners
**Type:** Miscellaneous
**Function:** None
**Description:** The second book in the "Delicious Little Creatures" series
**Notes:** Written by the legendary chef troll Longu, a bestseller for over three hundred years
Alright, since it's written by a troll, that explains it. Even though it has many ridiculous points, since it's not a human recipe, it's trash.
Allen continued to open the remaining chests. Given that three items had already turned out to be trash, Allen didn't hold any expectations.
**Ding! Drowner Treasure Chest *4 opened**
After three white lights, a brilliant golden light shone.
Did something good come out?
Allen quickly focused. In the dazzling golden light, a whale swam over from beyond his vision, transforming into a blueprint amidst the whale's cry.
[Obtained: Rotten Flesh, Small Experience Pearl *2, Recipe for Killer Whale Potion]
Killer Whale!
With a thought, Allen opened the recipe.
[Name: Killer Whale]
[Type: Potion Recipe]
[Requirements: Alchemy Level 2 (Not met)]
[Ingredients: Dwarven Spirit *1, Berbercane Fruit *5, Bear Fat *6, Drowner Tongue *5]
[Effect: Increases breath-holding capacity underwater and enhances underwater vision.]
[Notes: Did the drowner escape into the water again? Quickly down a bottle of Killer Whale!]
The recipe and effects were just as he remembered from the game. Indeed, it's the potion from the game!
"With this, I'm set for the Mountain Trial in a month!" Allen clenched his fist in excitement.
The Mountain Trial.
The final phase of the Witcher trials.
Participants need to swim across a lake near Kaer Morhen, then pass through a cave inhabited by a one-eyed giant named Old Speartip without waking him, and finally cross a troll's territory to reach the Circle of Elements.
There, the Wolf School medallion will be activated, which will warn the Witcher of the presence of monsters and magic throughout their career.
Although Vesemir would definitely remind them of the key points to pass the Mountain Trial beforehand, for the sake of his own life, Allen had specifically asked for many details over the past two days.
From the description of the Mountain Trial, Although powerful monsters like the one-eyed giant and the troll seemed to be the main causes of the high mortality rate, in reality, over ninety percent of the deaths were due to the very beginning of the trial.
The seemingly calm lake was teeming with countless drowners. Drowners, which are relatively weak and have simple attack patterns on land, are extremely difficult to deal with in water.They move quickly and in packs. To pass this part, participants can only rely on their Witcher senses to avoid being detected by the drowners as much as possible.
Although the trial is conducted during the day, and the eyes of Witcher apprentices have been modified with potions. However, the dark and complex underwater environment still makes it difficult for them to detect potential dangers.
Moreover, swimming across the lake takes at least three hours. With physical exhaustion and mental tension, it is impossible to maintain focus for long periods. If an apprentice lets their guard down and attracts the monsters' attention, the entire group might be wiped out.
After all, the trial's 50% mortality rate doesn't mean only half will die each time, and the rest will surely pass. The Trial of the Grasses has a death rate even 10% lower than the Mountain Trial. But out of over forty apprentices in Allen's batch, only four remained in the end. So, Even with a cheat-like advantage, before obtaining the Killer Whale potion recipe, Allen still felt uncertain.
However, now things were different. As long as he drinks the Killer Whale potion before the Mountain Trial, With increased breath-holding capacity and enhanced underwater vision, Allen's detection range underwater might even surpass that of the drowners.
As long as he doesn't have the bad luck of locking eyes with Old Speartip the moment he enters the cave, Allen believed he had a 100% chance of passing the Mountain Trial. Strong confidence surged in his heart. Riding the wave of good luck, Allen hurriedly opened the common chest.
A white light flashed.
[Ding! Obtained: Small Experience Pearl *10]
Well, that's better than rotten flesh, at least.
Allen consoled himself with disappointment, then opened his character panel to see if there were any changes.
[Name: Allen]
[Age: 13]
[Title: Child of Miracles]
[Witcher Level: 2]
[Health: 100% Stamina: 62/62]
[Attributes: Strength 5.5 (+0.2), Agility 5.6 (+0.2), Constitution 6.2 (+0.6), Perception 7.9 (+0.7), Mysticism 3.5 (+0.2)]
[Special Skills: Monster Hunting LV1, Appraisal LV1]
[Skills: Wolf School Two-Handed Sword LV2 (0/500)]
[Recipe: Killer Whale (Unavailable)]
[Items: Drowner Heart Essence *2, Rotten Flesh *3, Small Experience Pearl *31, *On the Culinary Methods of Drowners*]
[Evaluation: Weak!!]
The evaluation had one less exclamation mark.
From a third-rate weakling to a second-rate one?
Allen sighed and closed the panel, then glanced out the window. The golden rays of the late autumn sun slanted onto the tower opposite. There was still a long time until the evening "dinner." The time saved by the essence potion couldn't be wasted. But leaving just like that might seem too special, too noticeable?
Allen was a bit conflicted internally.
Low profile?
Or high profile?
That was the question. After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Allen made up his mind.
"Time waits for no one."
"Every extra bit of time before the Mountain Trial increases my chances of survival."
"Besides, my performance this morning was already special enough."
Decision made, Allen stood up, changed clothes, and after strapping on Elsa, headed out of the dormitory.
"Allen? Where are you going?"
Hughes, looking pale, heard the commotion.
Allen paused and replied, "I have something to do."
"Oh, okay."
Hughes wasn't fully awake yet. It wasn't until Allen's sword-bearing figure disappeared through the door that he realized.
Huh?
Did Allen skip lunch?
How could he move so freely?
Hughes wanted to catch up to Allen and ask. But the next wave of pain hit suddenly, and the distraction made it even worse than before.
"Creak~ Creak~"
With the violent shaking of the bed, Hughes curled up tightly, gritting his teeth, unable to spare any energy to think about anything else.
.....
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