Chapter 30

"Yup, its manticore alright." I commented as I looked over the ground of the ruined finished line of Luc's horse races, partly from the manticore but mostly from scared watchers fleeing when the beast came out of nowhere to nab the poor rider and mount.

Judging from the amount of displaced dirt and blood everywhere it was not the quickest death as both had attempted to escape while the monster worked to kill both. Other than the area of the initial struggle I saw drag marks that headed east, stopping and starting in gaps in what I assume was the manticore's efforts to take off with it's prey but finding the load too heavy to easily carry.

As to how I could be sure this was truly a manticore and not a case of mistaken identity for some other monster it was the large paw prints that reminded me of a big cat, or in this case a lion's. Thank you Witcher knowledge and me watching tons of Animal Planet as a kid growing up. I mean, it could belong to a mountain lion or something, but I doubt they had wings.

"Yes, it was terrible! Poor Sam was a fine rider and there were a lot of bets on him to win, quite the upset for those involved." Juc said sadly. I stared at him and he had decency to continue. "And of course his death is a tragedy! These races are meant to be for fun, gold and glory. Not getting eaten by monsters flying out of the skies."

"Well on the plus side I think I can say with near certainty that this manticore is a juvenile. Most adult manticores live in mountains far away from most human settlements and the paw prints are not as big as they could be. This one likely just left the nest and is seeking to establish territory for itself, along with hunting for nourishment. It hasn't learned to properly fear humans yet and move on someplace quieter, and by the time it does it might kill several more people since humans can be easy prey when not prepared." I explained and stood up from my kneeling position.

"Then you must hunt it down quickly. Not just to ease the minds of my racers and myself but for the good of everyone living nearby, my family included… although I won't be awfully upset if Aunt Ingrid finds herself snatched up by it. Considering how poisonous the woman is it might just kill the beast in the process. Two birds, one stone." Luc finished a little vindictively.

Yeah, I wasn't getting into the middle of that family drama. I'm just glad the lady in question is apparently off visiting Tretogor and not here.

"Unfortunately we have to do this the hard way."

"'We'?" Luc asked in confusion.

"Yup, we. Dogmeat! Come!" I called out and watched as Dogmeat quickly ran over to me from her position by the cart, Ivar not far behind as he began to open his mouth to speak.

I didn't let him.

"You stay here with the cart and horses. I promise to bring back the corpse for you to look over later. Manticores can be terribly aggressive so the last thing I want is to worry about you getting mauled or poisoned." I stated.

Ivar only huffed and crossed his arms before relenting. "Very well. I can only hope there will be a time when you will let me accompany you when pursuing monsters. There is only so much I can learn from a corpse, after all."

"Switch out those robes for some actual armor and then we can talk." I said, and I meant it too. Ivar was pretty good with a sling but since he wasn't a Witcher that meant he was a normal human physically. Some actual protection would go a long way for him to at least provide ranged support if he truly wanted to.

"But leather chafes!" Ivar complained like a child as I just rolled me eyes at him before turning back to Luc.

"Now, before we go any further how much are you willing to pay? Witcher code and all."

"500 crowns for proof that the beast is slain." Lux states.

"Hrmmm, getting there. Make it 600 and it's as good as dead." I countered.

"Very well. I will count it as an investment so that the races can proceed as soon as possible. In fact, I'll have my workers begin work at once to make this place presentable again. Blood stains do not make people excited for horse races." Luc said and then turned off to speak with said workers and servants.

Hope the man invests in some guards in the future as well, if not for monsters then for patrons who are sore losers.

"Lets go Dogmeat, we got a monster to hunt." I said as I stared down at the couple month old pup.

"Bark!"

"That's the spirit. And don't worry, you'll get your cut."

"Woof!"

---

"Dammit, trail has gone cold… and that's not the only thing that's cold." I muttered as I looked down at the very dead man in riding leathers Dogmeat and I came upon being picked at by vultures before we drove them off. I kneeled down to get a better look at him as Dogmeat sniffed the former Sam.

We had followed the trail from the estate for a good bit, following the pattern of disrupted earth and pools of blood in gaps of dozens of feet or so before finally coming upon the corpse. From there the trail stopped and there were no further signs of where the manticore could have gone.

"Hmm, the rider must have finally fallen off the horse and the weight lessened enough that the manticore was able to fly off with the rest of it without issue. That makes our job harder." I muttered as I examined the body. "Vultures did a number but I can still see lots of claw marks and what looks like a bite mark on the neck that crushed it. Sam didn't have a clean death sadly, could have been alive even as he was carried off for a bit. No stinger marks, manticore must have used most of that on horse. Seems like Sam was just an unfortunate tagalong to the main prey the manticore wanted." I deduced to myself.

Huh, talking aloud did help put thoughts together. I can see why Geralt does it a lot.

"Bark! Bark!" Dogmeat suddenly called out to my right.

"What is it girl? Did little Timmy fall down the well?" I joked to myself before noticing what Dogmeat was barking at.

I got up and walked over to a nearby bush to see that there was something sticking to it. Namely, a tuft of hair that wasn't human or horse, but I was willing to bet was Manticore.

"Good girl, this is a good find." I praised Dogmeat with head pats as I grabbed the tuft and took a sniff. Oh, that was bad. Like a wet cat but worse! The tang of blood didn't help it either.

I then took a deep sniff of the air around me and scowled a bit. I could certainly smell whiffs of the manticore, but the damn thing flew away so I was only getting trace amounts of it and couldn't pin down a direction. If my nose wasn't up for the task…

I kneeled down to Dogmeat and stuck the tuft in front of her, which as a dog she naturally sniffed a lot. I then made the Xill Sign and projected my thoughts to Dogmeat to ease communication.

"Can you track this?" I asked, and I swear Dogmeat got a determined look on her face.

"I find stinky cat!" Dogmeat declared and no sooner had she thought that she ran off further east, with me in hot pursuit.

"Slow down! We can't catch anything if you leave me in the dust!" I yelled out.

Clearly Dogmeat still needed training, but this was a good start towards being a valued Witcher companion.

---

"Stinky cat in hole!" Dogmeat declared mentally as she barked at the cave not far from us and which was very familiar in my mind.

Namely this is the same cave where Roche, Ves, and other Temerian loyalists hid out during their fight against Nilfgaard's occupation during the third game. Will use I suppose, assuming events still happen the same.

"Good girl, you did a great job. Now, stay here and don't make a sound." I said while using Xiil.

"I help pack hunt stinky cat!" Dogmeat argued.

"You help the pack more by staying here and staying alive. When you are bigger we can see about sinking your teeth into some monsters. Till then, stay." I ordered firmly.

Dogmeat actually chuffed at that! If this wasn't serious I would cuddle her.

"I stay and guard spot. I pee and let all know belong to us."

"I'll take it." I said as I began creeping towards the cave, Dogmeat thankfully staying back as told.

As I made my way over to the cave entrance I had a mental overview of what I knew about manticores, both from removed content of the game and from Witcher knowledge. First, they were weirdly one of the few monster species where silver did nothing against them, meaning I would have to rely on my steel sword for this. Second, it was a hybrid, meaning my Hybrid Oil would be best to do additional damage to it when I hit it with my sword. Third, its poison was no joke and would get by even a Witcher's strong constitution. Thankfully I had the highest level of Golden Oriole with me so even if the stinger does land a blow it will actually heal me instead of do damage. Finally, most Signs were ineffective against it other than Yrden so I was totally going to exploit it for all it was worth so it couldn't make effective use of its wings.

With all this in mind all that was required was to potion and oil up, go into the cave, and kill me a deadly monster, ideally without getting terribly hurt in the process since I had no doubt that thing hit like a truck.

… Maybe having some having some White Raffard's Decoction ready would be in my best interest rather than the typical Swallow.

With that in mind I brought out my oil to coat my now drawn steel blade and began downing potions, the most amount I have taken for a single fight now that I think about it. I drank Tawny Oil, Thunderbolt, Petri's Philter, Blizzard, Full Moon, Golden Oriole and even some Cat for the cave. It was likely only possible due to my high level in alchemy reducing the overall toxicity while keeping the upgraded gains. Still, I could tell I was pushing my limit as my veins were noticeably black against my now very pale skin. I certainly felt pretty crappy but also more than I was before as well.

I feel like it was going to be the edge I needed to get through this.