Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 587 Authority: Fraud LV1! Two Nuclear Bombs! Eiskar!

The sunset painted the sky red and also stained the earth a murky dark red.

The puddles on the ground, stained with oil, were trampled by the galloping hooves and mixed with the even dirtier mud.

This is the only road connecting Kel Village to the outside world, the nearest village being Dopu Village.

At this moment, however, several mutilated corpses would occasionally appear.

It's clear that someone had cleaned it up, because the corpses weren't blocking the middle of the narrow path, but had been moved to the sides.

But the scattered, half-buried, rough graves further away tell a story of an even more tragic situation—the corpses on the road are only a small fraction of the total.

The devastating effects of war have never been so clearly displayed to the Witcher.

The location where that war broke out was even hundreds of kilometers away from this small village.
"Commander, the next horde of ghouls attracted by the smell of blood is just ahead."

The sound in his ear made Erin turn his gaze away from the gruesome corpses lying by the roadside.

Elni, riding a galloping chestnut horse, pointed to the woodland ahead, hidden by sparse trees.

"Fred scouted the area yesterday and found more than a dozen ghouls and three carrion demons. There might be giant ghouls, but it's uncertain. It was too dark last night, so Fred didn't dare to go any deeper."

"Spencer was actually making a fuss about ending the fight as soon as possible, but for safety reasons, Klar and I kept him in check."

“You did the right thing,” Erin affirmed. “Unless absolutely necessary, don’t fight monsters at night. Cat’s Eye Potion has a time limit and isn’t a cure-all.”

Elni nodded:

"Our plan is to have Clay, Ajax, Hugh, and Silo, who are on rest, come down the mountain early tonight and go hunting together tomorrow."

"But since you're here, Commander, there's definitely no need for that."

Ernie followed Erin's gaze to the side of the path, where a corpse lay, half its face and abdomen missing. His eyes darkened.
"Spencer is actually much more mature than before, but when he was cleaning up the corpses by the roadside with the villagers, he couldn't help but see those poor people whose bodies had been desecrated by ghouls."

"Klar also wanted to get rid of the carnivorous creatures that were hunting behind the refugees as soon as possible."

“However, Master Vesemir and Master Danti specifically instructed us before they left yesterday, so we all restrained ourselves…”

"But this morning..."

Elnie bit her lower lip: "But when we got up this morning, we saw a boy crying all alone in a corner of the village... We saw him and his father yesterday... He was a man with a long beard... When we left the village at noon, we saw that man again not far from the village..."

Elni stammered and didn't continue, but Erin glanced at the mangled corpse beside him and sighed softly.

He gently patted Elney on the shoulder: "He was killed in the war. The outbreak of war was not the Witcher's fault..."

He paused almost imperceptibly: "At least it's not your fault."

Ernie didn't notice the odd tone in Erin's voice. She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, took a deep breath, and gave Erin a forced smile:
“We know that, but at noon Spencer was really almost blinded by anger and rushed over by himself.”

"Later, we promised him that we would send the boy to Kaer Morhen, and Spencer calmed down..."

While speaking, Ernie intentionally or unintentionally avoided Erin's gaze until she was almost finished speaking, at which point she stared directly into Erin's eyes.

Erin knew what he meant, and after a moment of silence, asked, "Did he agree to it himself?"

Elni's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Yes, yes! This morning when he saw us, he kept pestering us to become witchers, saying he wanted to kill all the monsters in the world."

Upon hearing this, Erin remained silent for a while.

“Explain the difficulty and mortality rate of the trials to him clearly, the version before the addition of the Water Ghost's Heart Essence,” Erin said. “While the Trials of Choice, Grass Trial, and Mountain Trial now rarely result in deaths, you should know how painful they are…”

Elni nodded as if to be serious, but Erin could tell he wasn't listening at all.

Elni and Klar were among the first Witchers after Erin, and they were only six months away from the Trials of the Grasses and the Trials of the High Mountains, where the death rate was nearly half.

The fear of the two trials was actually the deepest among all the subsequent apprentices.

However, because of this, when the trials were reformed and the mortality rate was reduced to zero, fear rebounded from its lowest point, and people felt that the excruciating grass trials and the equally torturous and longer "choices" were not worth mentioning.

But in reality, it's not that no apprentices have died during crucial choices or rigorous training...

“Besides the Witcher, there are other paths,” Erin sighed softly. “The Temple of Meriteli has an orphanage, and because of May Day, there are quite a few couples in Elland who want to raise another child…”

"If there are any more orphans like this in the future, you can take them in for now. I will talk to Vesemir and Dante and let them assess whether they should become witchers or be sent to Elland."

"I understand, Commander." Elni nodded vigorously.

Erin didn't say anything more, gesturing for him to continue leading the way, but he couldn't help thinking about the matter in his mind.

As a member of the Wolf School, and soon after, as its leader and grandmaster, he shouldn't have let these orphans go.

This war, which had already plunged Cordwin and Aden into a deep quagmire, not only stirred the wildness of speculators like Sunny and Philippa Ehrhardt, but also provided a good opportunity for the Wolf School, which lacked apprentices, to develop itself.

If we seize this opportunity, the number of apprentices in the school will soon explode, but...

Erin stopped his chaotic thoughts from flowing further into the river of thought.

"By the way, Elnie, what's that boy's name?"

"Uh... Ace... Acecar, I think that's his name..."

Aiskar… Ailin paused for a moment upon hearing this, then sighed.

……

"Hoohoho-"

Amidst the screams and terror that followed, the Witcher charged, spun, lunged forward, and spun again.

A chilling, silvery-white light shimmered brilliantly.

Elni, who had just smeared the ghoul oil on his sword at the edge of the battlefield, stood frozen in place, staring blankly as hordes of ghouls fell like wheat fields in autumn winds under Erin's sword.

The crimson blood spurting from the severed head of the ghoul is like fireworks, the explosion of the carrion demon in the firelight is like drumbeats, the screams are the background music, and he is dancing a dance of death.

Before Elni could even join in, dozens of his dance partners were already captivated by the Witcher's dance moves.

When he came to his senses and wanted the commander to leave him a few, there was only a large pile of corpses left on the battlefield. Apart from the commander, there was not a single living creature standing.

"Has the commander become even more powerful?" Elni muttered to himself.

The guild leader has always been incredibly powerful, which is not surprising; otherwise, they wouldn't call him guild leader with such sincerity.

But every time the leader makes a move, he is more powerful than the last, as if there is no limit.

However, everyone has their limits.

He had just learned the Wolf School's two-handed sword at the age of eight, and the improvement in his swordsmanship during that entire year was certainly greater than when he was nine.

Because of the knowledge required, physical abilities are limited, and witchers are not children of gods as legend suggests.

Masters Vesemir, Arestor, and Dante should be the pinnacle of Witcher; the ultimate goal for all Witchers is to emulate the most skilled masters within their respective schools.

That was the case, at least until Commander Erin appeared.

But things changed after the leader appeared.

Before Elni passed the Trial of the Grass, the trainer told them that an apprentice named Erin had already surpassed the average Witcher after passing the Trial of the Grass.

A month later, after passing the Grass Trial, Erin transformed into a Witcher Master, though his absolute strength was still inferior to that of an ordinary Witcher Master.

A few months later, in May, the month of blooming, Erin returned for the first time. In a duel of pure swordsmanship and signs, Master Arestor lost.

Then they followed the leader down the mountain, encountering giant ghouls, the demonic Vigfortz, the giant griffin, and later even an evil god and a stag-headed spirit...

Master Vesemir and Master Dante seemed to have been completely surpassed by the captain without them even realizing it. But the captain was still growing, growing at a faster pace than they were.

"Is there anyone stronger than the Grand Master in Kaer Morhen now?" Elni muttered to himself. "White, Valerius, Gregor, Dylan—can the remaining Witcher Masters of the Wolf School defeat the Grand Master?"

"Chief... is it possible?"

"What's wrong with Chief Soy?" A questioning voice suddenly came from beside her ear, startling Elnie so much that she jumped up from the ground and almost crashed into the trunk of the yew tree above her head.

"Be careful." Erin grabbed Elni by the back of his collar and slammed him down from mid-air.

Actually, it's fine if you don't press it. With Elni's current physique, the only thing that will be seriously injured is the trunk of the yew tree.

However, it was just a side job...

"N-nothing," Elnie glanced around, her gaze finally settling on the unprocessed monster corpses, before changing the subject, "Don't those materials need to be processed?"

Erin stepped on the saddle and mounted his horse: "I have something to do in a while, so I can't take it with me. You can bring a few people to handle it later, and that will count as your points."

The points system is a recent reform policy implemented within the Corps and among apprentices who have passed the Grass Trial, aimed at increasing the enthusiasm of members and improving the Corps' structure.

Patrolling Kaer Morhen and Karl Village, hunting monsters, handing in magical materials, brewing potions, and teaching apprentices swordsmanship and hand seals all earn points. These points can be exchanged for ready-made potions, sword oil, and essence.

After Erin proposed a concept, he handed over the specific details to Mary and Aristotle.

However, it worked well; Elnie, Clara, and even Mary's enthusiasm all increased significantly.

Of course, their enthusiasm for completing tasks was not weak to begin with, but by adjusting the number of points, some unpopular tasks, such as patrolling Kaer Morhen and brewing potions, can be shared by others.

“I’ll have Silo, Hugh, and Ajax come. They’re currently short of points to exchange for the Giant Ghoul’s Decoction and to learn swordsmanship from Master Aristotle…”

Elni mounted his horse as well: "Commander, are we going to Kaer Morhen now, or back to Kaer Morhen?"

“Kelmore…Kelmore Village,” Erin paused, “take me to see that Eskar…”

……

Vesemir, Geralt, Escalde, and Lambert are the four remaining Witchers of the "Future" Wolf School.

Unlike Lambert, who is loyal and cares about his friends but is short-tempered, often speaks rudely, is argumentative, and sarcastic, Escal is calm, rational, trustworthy, and very reliable—a quintessential wolf-style witcher.

It's also worth mentioning that Escal and Geralt grew up together in Kaer Morhen and were like brothers.

So, when Escalde appears in Kaer Morhen, will Geralt be far behind?

“By the way, Commander,” Elni said, turning back as he rode his chestnut horse into Kael Village, “did you come down the mountain this time just to clear out those carnivorous creatures?”

"What? You don't welcome me?"

"Of course not, it's just a bit strange. After all, you're always very busy, Captain. We can take our time with those ghouls and clean them up ourselves, not to mention Master Vesemir and Master Danti are here too."

"I've come to visit Kyle Village and, while I'm at it, to help you clear out some monsters..."

Erin gave a perfunctory reply, but on a whim, he opened the Demon Hunter's Notebook.

"Ding!"

[Slay the Lv27 "Carrion Devourer" Monster Horde!]

[Ding! Legion member detected. Legion skill "Loot Lock LV1" awaits activation!]

[Ding! New permission "Fraud LV1 (Next refresh time: Autumn Equinox)" detected and awaiting activation!]

[Ding! "Fraud Level 1" privilege activated!]

[Rewards Settlement: Victory over the Enemy, Base Rating D, Decapitation Intimidation +3 - C, Victory with Fewer Troops +3 - B...]

Final rating: B

【获得战利品：食尸鬼的心脏精粹液*17、腐食魔的心脏精粹液*3、小经验珠*9、食尸鬼的宝箱*4、腐蚀魔的宝箱*4】

……

Fraud

【Level: 1】

[Type: Permission]

[Effect: Can be erased once per Spirit Month, and can be evaluated once in any event during the subjugation event.]

This is after the Demon Hunter's Notebook fully absorbed the ancient power, unlocking new permissions.

However, the reason Erin went down the mountain to hunt ghouls before heading to the Free Elves' camp, and why he was confident in participating in the war between Ban Aard and the Free Elves as a Witcher, was because of another permanent passive privilege—

Once the conditions for task completion are met, the task will no longer be completed immediately; instead, the host will decide when to complete it.

To put it more intuitively...

[Ding! Hunting Quest: Ghoul II (Kill 250/250 Ghouls), Pending Completion!]

[Ding! Hunting Quest: Carrion Demon II (Kill 100/100 Carrion Demons), Pending Completion!]

……

“He is Eskar.” Elni’s voice interrupted Erin’s thoughts.

Elni did not dismount, but pointed from afar to the child sitting next to Klar, struggling to eat black bread with some refugees.

It was then that Erin realized he didn't know Eskar.

In the original story and the game, Escal is a witcher with a scar on his face, brown hair, and amber eyes.

Hair and eye color will change due to the Trial of the Grass, and the most noticeable scars will only appear after becoming a Witcher.

The boy sitting next to Klar now is just a dirty little kid.

At this time.

The child, perhaps sensing something, looked up.

Just as their eyes met, Erin suddenly heard the sound of flowing water.

In a daze, sitting next to Klar was not a dirty child, but a witcher wearing scarlet leather armor, with a burly physique and a hideous wound running across his right eye, cheek, lips and jaw.

He stared at him with his amber cat-like eyes, gave him a cold look, and then suddenly shattered, turning back into that dirty little child.

Another unstable prophetic power... Erin thought to himself as he looked at the child who, at some point, was once again engrossed in fighting the hard black bread.

"Shall we go take a look?" Elni asked tentatively.

“No,” Erin shook her head gently, “I’ve already seen what I wanted to see.”

He looked up at the sky.

The crimson sunset had filled the sky, but the sun was gradually sinking below the horizon, leaving only a hazy halo around it.

"It's getting late, I should get going..."

He nodded slightly to Elni, then rode away from the village of Kael.

After waving goodbye instinctively, Ernie suddenly thought of a question...

"Why is the commander saying we're setting off when we're just going back to Kaer Morhen?"

(End of this chapter)