Witcher: Master Kiliman’s Grand Ambitions-Chapter 20: The Wealthy Pure-Blooded Elf and Pre-Battle Preparations

Hearing Kiriman's half-joking words, Valessa actually considered it seriously for a moment before responding:
"Currently aside from the wyvern, there don't seem to be any powerful monsters near our village."
"However, Witcher, the village has plans for expansion recently. If you want monster hunting contracts, you could help us clear the monsters from the forest."
As she said this, Valessa whistled toward a spot behind her. Soon, a male elf wearing leather armor and carrying a longbow, looking quite capable, jumped down from a tree and approached the two.
"This is a warrior from our village. He will accompany you but won't provide combat assistance—he'll only guide you."
"You can follow him to areas where monsters are active. Payment will be calculated based on the number of monsters you hunt."
This was probably a plan Valessa came up with on the spot. She thought for another moment before continuing:
"The most common monsters in the forest—nekkers, endrega insectoids, and such—will be exchanged at three orens each. For water wraiths in waterways and swamps, I believe your Witcher rate is two orens."
"That's settled then. For forging your weapons, you still owe me four hundred orens. If you want that advanced leather armor made later, aside from the main material—wyvern hide which you'll need to provide yourself—I'll charge you another four hundred orens for labor and other materials."
"These eight hundred orens will be the reward for this contract."
"If you can hunt that many monsters, that is."
Another eight hundred orens!
Even though it was just debt repayment.
After hearing Valessa's words, Kiriman was still somewhat shocked and deeply felt the wealth gap between ordinary people and the wealthy.
Although he hadn't been in this world for long and didn't have a concrete concept of wealth yet...
Madam Judith's contract—twenty orens, and she even offered her body. Herbalist Tomira's contract—thirty orens, pooled together by the villagers. The dwarf blacksmith's contract—also thirty orens, though the rare ore he collected could be considered good value.
These three missions took him three full days, not counting rest time and travel time in between.
Compared to these contracts, the monster hunting contract offered by this pure-blooded female elf was truly extravagant and extremely generous.
Of course, Kiriman understood in his heart that what she was actually providing was just some time and a few rare materials, not as much as it seemed.
Even so, such a low-level monster hunting contract mission made him feel quite excited and highly motivated.
He didn't want to waste time resting. Nodding to Valessa and promising to accept the contract, he followed the male elf and left.
For the next three days, Kiriman spent his days hunting low-level monsters throughout the forest, and his nights using the herbs and monster materials he collected to brew Witcher potions and alchemical items.
Unfortunately, brewing Witcher potions required high-purity strong alcohol—the higher the quality, the better the potion's effects.
For brewing blade oils, high-quality fats were needed, with bear fat being particularly effective.
Both were scarce items. The former was relatively easier to obtain—available in more prosperous cities or taverns known for their brewing.
The latter, unless you were willing to use low-quality fats like lard or dog fat, getting bear fat depended entirely on luck.
Converting at normal prices, even if you collected most herbs and monster materials yourself, the average cost per potion ranged between five to twenty orens.
The price for a bottle of high-quality blade oil was even higher, and the production process was quite troublesome.
What was more frustrating was that Witcher potions typically had a shelf life of only about one month from the time they were brewed. Beyond this time, the potions would begin to lose potency or even turn poisonous, producing only negative effects when consumed.
This was why even experienced Witchers like Geralt, Vesemir, and Reso didn't prepare too many potions for ordinary battles.
The Swallow potion that could heal injuries was their most commonly equipped choice.
………………
Time quickly reached the evening of the third day.
Kiriman sat alone under a large tree outside the blacksmith shop drinking, with a small campfire burning beside him for roasting meat to pass the time.
These past few days had truly exhausted him. Even with his system-created perfect Witcher body, he was thoroughly tired, but the results were quite impressive.
He had killed over two hundred low-level monsters, mostly social creatures like nekkers and endrega insectoids. He had absorbed over two hundred sixty points of soul power, bringing his total to nearly four hundred points.
Not only that, he had found time to brew five Swallow potions, three Cat potions, three Thunderbolt potions, and four Tawny Owl potions—fifteen potions in total.
Unfortunately, he didn't remember the formula for blade oil effective against wyverns, so he hadn't brewed any blade oils, meaning he would lack this advantage in tomorrow's battle.
However, what pleased Kiriman most was that he had succeeded in brewing the alchemical Beehive Bomb after only a few failures.
Ten earthen jars larger than fists—these were alchemical bombs with power comparable to small grenades.
Whether for blowing up monster nests or dealing with groups of monsters, they were excellent weapons, much more effective than in the games.
Preparing all these things had cost him about two hundred orens, and that was only because Chief Valessa didn't raise prices and provided many materials at low cost.
No wonder Witchers were all poor. The reward from a low-level contract only covered the cost of one potion and one bomb. If anything unexpected happened, they might even have to cover costs themselves.
If he hadn't looted the Vereris family tomb, just saving up for two Witcher swords and armor would have taken him several months or even half a year.
Just as Kiriman was considering how to deal with the wyvern tomorrow...
Valessa, the elf warrior wearing brown leather armor and revealing shorts that showed off her curvaceous figure, walked over from the blacksmith shop.
She held two gleaming longswords in her right hand and two sturdy, ancient scabbards wrapped in animal hide in her left. She approached the Witcher and handed him the precious swords, her expression somewhat apologetic:
"Sorry, Kiriman. Village matters delayed us. We only finished forging these two swords today."
"Here, these are your swords. You'd better test them tonight to avoid affecting tomorrow's battle."
Hearing this, Kiriman didn't ask unnecessary questions but took the Viper Silver Sword and Viper Steel Sword, examining them carefully while inviting the female elf to share his roasted meat.
It had to be said—Valessa's forging skills were exceptional. Holding the two Witcher longswords, one could easily feel the sharp aura emanating from the blades. Whether in terms of material or craftsmanship, they were several levels above the standard weapons he had used before.
Before he could comment on the swords, Valessa spoke again:
"I've heard about the contract from our warrior."
"You truly are a powerful Witcher."
"Your feat of killing over two hundred monsters in three days is now circulating throughout the village."
"Although it's still a bit short of the eight hundred oren reward, your perseverance and courage have earned our recognition."
"May your contract tomorrow proceed smoothly. I will prepare a feast in the village for you warriors, awaiting your triumphant return."