The Giant twitched its nose, although strictly speaking, its nose was more like two holes on its face, emitting a 'whoosh-whoosh' sound when it inhaled.
"No, I caught the bird, dance, let the wife not scream."
Gazing at the potion in front of it, the Giant hesitated, though its thinking was quite simple.
It wanted the bird more than the drink, so it refused the trade.
"Your bird will still scream, she'll scream all the way, your wife at home will scream too, I mean, do you really want to hear more screams?"
The white-haired man didn't give up, positioning himself between the Giant and the fishing net, bringing the glass bottle closer.
The Giant's green eyes looked at him, the creature's face was almost as large as a millstone.
However, shortly after, the creature stretched out its hand, took the bottle of potion and tossed the whole bottle into its mouth, chewing it up.
Fragments of glass and glowing liquid splattered from the corners of its mouth, the sound akin to iron shoes walking on a pile of stones.
"Vodka man is right, Stone Foot doesn't like screaming, the bird belongs to you, don't follow."
The Giant scratched its head, very credibly turned around and left, its grey silhouette soon vanished into the woods, leaving only a series of deep footprints.
"Release me quickly, let me out." The black-haired woman in the fishing net started struggling desperately upon seeing the creature depart.
Yet once tangled in a fishing net, the more one struggles, the harder it is to escape.
The white-haired man sighed with some resignation, it was late now, destined to be unable to leave the forest today: "Stand up and slowly crawl out."
The white-clothed woman hiding in the bushes also came over, more kindly assisting the woman in the net to escape.
The woman in the net looked at her with some gratitude, but her gaze rested more on the white-haired man.
"My god, you actually talked to that Giant, I thought we were all going to die! It would kill us!"
The man touched his beard, the badge on his chest still trembled, but the surroundings were safe.
"Actually, if you understand it, it's not so bad."
The white-clothed woman showed a playful smile, with one hand on her hip, the other making a toasting gesture: "That's because half of your friends are drunkards."
Seeing the woman in the net freed, the white-haired man turned and walked to one side: "Not quite accurate, they're nearly all drunkards."
The white-clothed woman rolled her eyes.
They retraced a portion of the way, arriving at a small pine grove in the forest where three horses were tied: brown, black, and white.
They quietly lowered their heads to graze, but the twilight had already penetrated the forest, the color of the light indicating it wasn't suitable for traveling.
The man untied camping tools from the horse's back, beginning to clear the ground; not far away was a small stream, an ideal camping spot.
After all, dangers of overnighting in parts of the forest are virtually the same, hence closer to the water source is better.
"I am Geralt of Livya, and this is Shirela of Sintrea, we are Demon Hunters."
"I could tell, thank you, you saved my life, my name is Jian." The rescued woman gratefully voiced, not displaying fear of Demon Hunters.
Judging by this, she seemed more like nobility, as among commoners, rumors that Demon Hunters are also monsters are still widespread.
Geralt merely nodded, looking everywhere for stones to build a hearth; without fire, night is unbearable: "I'll start the fire, while the sun hasn't yet set, Ciri, you go find food."
Ciri withdrew her Steel Sword from her back and headed into the forest.
Yet today's luck wasn't good, till dark, Ciri managed to catch only three mice.
A special forest mouse with all-white fur, resembling a miniature rabbit, only without long ears, appearing like a cloud in hand.
They're an Otherworld creature, reportedly introduced in the last Celestial Convergence, regardless of whether they're mice or squirrels, nobody knows.
This creature's meat is bland, like leather when consumed, yet she can only return to camp, clean them by the stream and thread them on small tree branches.
"That's all." She handed the meat skewers to Geralt, sitting helplessly by the fire, watching Geralt place them over the flame.
Flames licking the white meat, water dripping onto the wood, making crackling sounds.
"Not bad, quite a size, this forest seems relatively safe." Surroundings had already darkened, with Geralt's face reddened by firelight, and golden pupils brighter.
During the roasting time, Jian informed the two Demon Hunters that she was the daughter of affluent farmers, who had run away from home, now intending to go to the Free City in the north, Novigrad, said to be a bustling city, where one could always find a way in life.
Ciri was meanwhile watching the mice on the fire, observing them turn golden brown.
She told Jian they too were heading to Novigrad, and if Jian was willing, she could join them, safer with two Demon Hunters on the road.
Jian inquired if they were seeking job opportunities in the Northern Pearl.
Geralt informed her they were already on a task, needing to go to Novigrad to deal with a Bloodthirsty Beldam.
"Bloodthirsty Beldams are cursed women turned mutant, akin to Hybrid of Werewolves and War Dogs, except she's faster, stronger, and smells like a beggar's clothes."
Speaking, Geralt divided the mice among each, himself starting to eat using a Dagger.
"Oh my, it sounds terrifying." Jian took the meat skewer, though he seemed a bit unsure how to start eating.
"She might make things difficult for us," Geralt replied.
"Then why go?" Jian expressed his confusion.
Ciri used the same method as Geralt, shaving off the rat meat with a dagger and putting it into her mouth, smiling.
"Someone has to go. If not us, then some other demon hunter."
After dinner, Geralt laid out the bedding. With two demon hunters working together, they could take turns resting.
Meditation doesn't solve problems. If lying down for a sleep were an option, who would choose to kneel through the night?
Thinking about this, he started to miss Vesmir. The old man died for them, but Geralt had already avenged him.
Ciri chatted with Jian about the past, like when a giant peeped on her while she was bathing.
According to her, the giant was like a talking stone, but the dumbest stone.
The two chatted for quite a while. Jian fell asleep first, while Ciri moved closer to Geralt, asking about the upcoming journey.
"If the information is correct, we'll soon find the Bloodthirsty Beldam. But how do we kill her? I heard from Dandelion that you once killed one, but I want to hear it from a demon hunter, not a bard."
"From a demon hunter's perspective? That's to avoid the peasants, avoid the grass forks." Geralt touched his chest.
Ciri slapped the ground, causing the grass to sway left and right: "I'm talking seriously."
"That was a long time ago, involving Temeria and the deceased King Velteste, with his baby daughter Ada from his sister, born a stillborn, cursed by everyone, and turned into a Bloodthirsty Beldam in the tomb... I tried my best to turn her back into a human, but the power of the blood curse was too strong. Several years later, she eventually died by my hand."
Geralt placed the dual swords against a nearby tree, lying down with his hands under his head:
"You know the rest. Velteste lost his heir, and then the civil war of bastards broke out, Velteste was assassinated by Rezso, and then the Black-clothed Army of Niflgaard came..."
Ciri bared her teeth: "Well, Enshil is dead now, too, so Niflgaard's succession is none of my business. I still prefer being a demon hunter."
"But the Wild Hunt still exists, Ain Ael Elf Realm just lost its leader Airetin, so we must stay vigilant."
"Alright, let's sleep. I don't want to talk about those crazy elves anymore, at least I haven't heard of Bai Shuang appearing anywhere recently." Ciri stood up, patting her backside, intending to meditate in the darkness at a different direction from the camp.
She preferred camping near the spring rather than the river.
The spring is cleaner, with fewer 'impurities,' like water ghosts, swamp witches, water elves, and so on.
Geralt said nothing more, closing his eyes to rest. They traveled far today, even Carrot seemed to be asleep.
Time slowly passed, and the campfire gradually dimmed, the flickering light from the firewood scattering.
In the darkness, a furry large hand reached out from behind the trees, stealthily taking Geralt's two swords, then grabbing Jian from the other side of the campfire.
Jian awoke from his dream, realizing his hair was being pulled, and she screamed.
Geralt immediately jumped up, spotting a strong werewolf on the other side of the campfire.
It stood roughly three meters tall, with a lush coat and no blood stains on it. It seemed to be in a state of hunger.
Likewise, it was very strong and seemed knowledgeable about demon hunters, maintaining a part of its sanity, knowing to steal the silver and steel swords.
"Ah, a demon hunter, I can't believe my luck." The werewolf held Jian's neck with one hand, while taunting Geralt: "You shouldn't have put down your weapon, now I can taste demon hunter meat."
Geralt remained calm. When the werewolf approached, his badge on his chest almost jumped out from his collar, he had already noticed it.
But he wanted to see the werewolf's intent. He generally wouldn't kill indiscriminately. Unfortunately, this werewolf had succumbed to the hunger for human flesh and was beyond saving.
"Swords are just external objects, mere blinding techniques. The key is the man... or woman using the sword."
Ciri was in the grass behind the werewolf, ready to use her flash ability to stab the werewolf through with an oiled silver sword.
She indeed planned to do so.
However, as she appeared behind the werewolf, a broader, longer Black Giant Sword suddenly descended from the sky, nailing the werewolf to the ground.
Without silver or sword oil, this jab wasn't deadly for a werewolf, even though it dropped Jian, its limbs continued to claw at the ground, trying to get up.
Yet, the Giant Sword was deeply embedded in the ground, it was stuck.
"Igni!"
Geralt immediately used the Dharma Seal, launching a flame arc, the werewolf's fur began to burn, making it struggle more violently.
Ciri tried to circle to its front, intending to cut off the werewolf's head with the silver sword, but the smoke and smell from the burning fur made her squint.
Meanwhile, a black shadow seemed to leap down from the tree, landing straight on the humanoid bonfire, holding the sword hilt and stomping down with one foot.
The werewolf's entire head seemed to sink into the ground, becoming flat, silent.
"Sorry to disappoint, not a woman."
The unexpected figure pulled up the Great Sword, walking out from the flames, answering the demon hunter in a raspy voice.