Chapter 9: The Nekk
POV: Adam
The System's blue interface materialized through Ad
er Nest
POV: Adam
The System's blue interface materialized through Adam's hangover like a knife through fog, each glowing letter stabbing directly into his already abused brain. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the notification burned through his eyelids with relentless urgency.
[URGENT MISSION - Choose One:]
Option A (BLUE): "Clear Nekker Nest"
Village of Rykan under attack
Rewards: 300 XP, 60 crowns, +20 Village Reputation
WARNING: Level 8+ recommended. Current Level: 3. Severe underlevelment detected.
Option B (YELLOW): "Assist Village Militia"
Help defend
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but avoid solo engagement
Rewards: 150 XP, 30 crowns, shared credit
Option C (RED): "Exploit the Crisis"
Demand higher payment from desperate villagers
Rewards: 400 XP, 120 crowns, -30 Good Faction Reputation
Three hundred experience points. That's nearly half a level in one mission.
Adam stared at the options while his skull continued its rebellion against consciousness. Option A was suicide disguised as heroism. Option B was sensible. Option C was monstrous.
People are dying. Right now. While I'm lying here feeling sorry for myself.
He selected Option A.
[MISSION ACCEPTED: "Clear Nekker Nest"]
[WARNING: High probability of mission failure due to level disparity]
[System Note: Heroic stupidity acknowledged]
"Heroic stupidity," Adam muttered, forcing himself upright despite his body's protests. "Story of my life."
Adam was halfway through packing his supplies when Ciri appeared in his doorway like a storm given human form. Her green eyes tracked his preparations with the intensity of someone who'd already reached conclusions he wasn't going to like.
"I'm coming with you."
The words hit the room with finality that made argument seem pointless. Almost.
"Absolutely not."
"You're going to fight monsters alone again." Ciri stepped into the room, closing the door behind her with deliberate care. "I can help."
"It's a nekker nest, Ciri. Pack hunters. Could be twenty of them." Adam continued stuffing supplies into his pack, trying to project confidence he didn't feel. "Too dangerous."
"For you, maybe. Not for both of us."
The logic is sound. Two fighters against a pack have better odds than one. But if she gets hurt—if she dies—
"Your grandmother will have me executed if you get so much as a scratch," Adam said, shouldering his pack. "Slowly. Creatively. While making me watch her do it."
Ciri's expression shifted to royal determination, the look of someone who'd never been successfully told 'no' in her entire life. "I'm a princess. I can do what I want."
And there it is. The argument I can't win because it's technically true.
Adam sighed, feeling the last of his resistance crumble under the weight of royal privilege and thirteen-year-old stubbornness. "Fine. But you follow my lead. Deal?"
"Deal."
[Mission Updated: Companion Added (Ciri)]
[Combat Effectiveness +10% (Linked Combat bonus)]
[Warning: Companion safety now mission-critical parameter]
Great. Now I have to keep myself alive AND make sure a princess doesn't get eaten by monsters. What could go wrong?
The road to Rykan cut through farmland that spoke of prosperity built on hard work and optimism. Fields of grain swayed in the morning breeze, and the scattered farmhouses looked peaceful in the way that only places far from cities could manage.
In twenty-two days, Nilfgaardian soldiers will march through here. These fields will burn. These people will die or flee or both.
"So you can control air," Ciri said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them during the first hour of walking. "That's amazing."
Adam glanced at her, noting the genuine curiosity in her voice. "It's useful. Still learning."
"How does it work? The magic?"
How do I explain a System that grants powers based on video game logic to someone who's never seen electricity?
"It's... complicated," Adam said finally. "Like convincing the air to do what you want instead of what it wants to do. Takes practice and focus."
"Could you teach me?"
The question hit him like a physical blow. Could he teach her? The System had never mentioned anything about sharing abilities, and he'd never tried to explain the techniques to someone else.
More importantly, should I? Air magic might save her life when everything goes to hell. But it might also change her in ways I don't understand.
"Maybe," he said. "After we survive the next few hours."
They spent the rest of the journey discussing nekker tactics—small, fast pack hunters that lived in underground burrows and attacked with coordinated swarm tactics. Individually weak, but dangerous in numbers and nearly impossible to fight in their tunnels.
Key is forcing them to fight on our terms. Open ground, where we can use range and mobility.
Rykan proved to be exactly what Adam had expected—a small farming village built around a central well, its wooden buildings clustered together like sheep seeking safety in numbers. But the safety was an illusion. Broken doors and shattered windows spoke of violence recent and brutal.
Hanna, the village elder, met them at the settlement's edge with the desperate relief of someone who'd been expecting to die and suddenly found hope in unexpected forms.
"Princess!" Her weathered face cycled through surprise, gratitude, and terror in rapid succession. "We're honored, but—this is dangerous."
"Then it's good we're here," Ciri replied with the casual confidence of someone who'd never met a problem that couldn't be solved with sufficient determination.
She has no idea how bad this could get. And maybe that's for the best.
The village's story unfolded in broken sentences and fearful whispers. Nekkers had emerged from the forest three days ago, killing livestock and injuring three villagers who'd tried to defend their homes. The attacks came at night, swift and brutal, then vanished back into darkness before organized resistance could form.
"They're smart," Hanna said, wrapping her shawl tighter against the morning chill. "Smarter than animals should be. They know when we're watching."
Pack intelligence. Wonderful.
The nekker nest crouched at the forest's edge like a wound in the earth, multiple tunnel entrances speaking of an underground complex that might extend for hundreds of meters. Fresh dirt around the openings suggested recent expansion, and the scattered bones of small animals painted a clear picture of what happened to things that wandered too close.
[System Update: Estimated 12-15 nekkers present]
[Threat Assessment: Extreme for current level]
[Recommendation: Immediate retreat]
Retreat's not an option. People are depending on us.
"Okay, new plan," Adam said, studying the tunnel mouths with tactical calculation. "We lure them out, fight in the open. Never go in the tunnels."
"Agreed," Ciri said, her hand resting on her sword's hilt. "How do we get them to come to us?"
Adam grinned, feeling the familiar warmth of air magic building in his chest. "Loud noises. Nekkers are territorial. They'll come to investigate anything that sounds like a threat."
He triggered Air Gust at maximum power, sending a thunderclap echoing through the forest that made birds explode from nearby trees in panicked clouds. The sound rolled away into silence, leaving them standing in sudden quiet that felt pregnant with danger.
Come on. Take the bait.
The first nekker emerged from the central tunnel like a nightmare given form—gray-green skin, oversized claws, and intelligent eyes that spoke of malice refined by successful hunting. Four more followed, spreading out with pack coordination that made Adam's blood run cold.
Here we go.
The battle erupted with the sudden violence of predators who'd decided their prey was worth the risk. Two nekkers charged Ciri with claw-first attacks that would have opened her throat if she hadn't been exactly as skilled as her training suggested. Her sword work was textbook perfect—controlled, efficient, deadly.
Adam engaged the other three with Air Blade attacks that kept them at range while Ciri handled close combat. The combination worked better than he'd dared hope, their different fighting styles complementing each other with natural synergy.
[Linked Combat Bonus: +10% effectiveness]
[Nekkers Eliminated: 3/12]
[Remaining nekkers retreating to tunnels]
Round one to us. But they'll be back.
The brief respite gave them time to catch their breath and assess damage. Adam's MP had dropped to 110 out of 150, and Ciri sported a shallow cut on her sword arm that painted her sleeve with red.
She's handling this better than I expected. Better than I did during my first real fight.
"Second wave incoming," Adam warned, hearing the scrabbling sounds that meant more nekkers were emerging from the deeper tunnels.
Seven this time. More than half their remaining numbers, thrown into a desperate assault that spoke of pack intelligence recognizing existential threat.
The fight that followed was chaos barely contained by skill and luck in equal measure. A nekker's claws opened a line across Ciri's thigh, sending her stumbling backward with blood streaming down her leg.
No. Not her. Anyone but her.
Protective fury flooded through Adam like liquid fire. He grabbed the nekker that had hurt her and triggered a technique he'd never attempted before—Air Sphere, a defensive barrier that surrounded them both in invisible force.
[New Technique Discovered: Air Sphere]
[MP Cost: 40]
[Effect: 360-degree protection for 10 seconds]
[Current MP: 70/150]
The sphere held long enough for Ciri to bandage her wound and regain her footing. Together, they systematically eliminated the remaining nekkers with combination attacks that turned Adam's air magic into setup for Ciri's sword work.
Air Suffocation to stun, then blade work to finish. We're actually doing this.
[Final Nekker Count: 12 eliminated]
[Combat Status: Victory achieved]
[Current Status: Adam 80/120 HP, Ciri 65/85 HP]
[Current MP: 40/150 - Exhausted]
One more technique to try. Need to make sure they can't come back.
Adam approached the largest tunnel entrance and channeled his remaining MP into something he'd been thinking about since the wolf fight—Air Pressure, focused and sustained until the tunnel walls couldn't support their own weight.
[New Technique: Focused Air Pressure]
[MP Cost: 40 (all remaining)]
[Effect: Structural collapse of underground passages]
The tunnels caved in with rumbling finality, sealing the nekker nest permanently and ensuring no future attacks on Rykan's population.
Problem solved. Village saved. And we're both still breathing.
The harvest yielded more nekker parts than Adam had seen in one place—claws and hides and organs that alchemists would pay premium prices for, enough material wealth to fund equipment upgrades and extended operations.
[Materials Harvested: 40+ crowns in nekker parts]
[Quest Rewards: 60 crowns + 300 XP + village reputation]
[Ciri's Contribution: +100 XP split]
[Total XP Gained: 400 XP]
But the real reward came as they walked back toward Cintra, sunset painting the sky in shades of gold and red.
[LEVEL UP! Level 3 → 4]
[XP Required: 648 - Threshold Reached]
[Free Stat Points: +5]
[Allocation: +1 STR, +2 STA, +2 AGI]
[New Stats: STR 14, STA 19, AGI 17, HP 140, MP 190]
[LEVEL UP! Level 4 → 5]
[XP Required: 1,166 - Threshold Reached]
[Free Stat Points: +5]
[Allocation: +1 STR, +2 STA, +2 AGI]
[New Stats: STR 15, STA 21, AGI 19, HP 150, MP 210]
[Airbending Progress: 475/500 to Level 2]
Power flooded through Adam's body like lightning made liquid, transforming exhaustion into strength and possibility into certainty. Level 5. Still pathetically weak by the standards of this world's true monsters, but progress measured in blood and determination.
Twenty-two days until invasion. Getting stronger.
"Thank you," Ciri said quietly, her voice carrying emotions too complex for easy naming. "For letting me come. For trusting me."
Adam looked at her—really looked—seeing past the royal bearing to the thirteen-year-old girl who'd just proven herself in combat against odds that should have killed them both.
"You were great," he said, meaning every word. "Seriously."
Ciri's smile was pure satisfaction, the expression of someone who'd found exactly what they'd been looking for. She touched his arm briefly, contact that lasted barely a heartbeat but sent warmth racing through his chest.
"We make a good team."
Heart skipping. Pulse racing. Focus, you idiot.
"Yeah," Adam managed. "We do."
[Relationship +10]
Current Points: 55/75
Status: Close Friend
[Bond Ability Unlocked: "Linked Combat" - +10% combat effectiveness when fighting together]
The castle appeared ahead, its stone walls promising safety and rest and questions he wasn't sure he was ready to answer. Word traveled fast in places where everyone knew everyone else's business.
By the time we reach the gates, the whole city will know we fought nekkers together. And word will reach the Queen.
"We're going to be in so much trouble," Adam said, but he was smiling.
"Probably," Ciri agreed, and she was smiling too.
Some trouble is worth it. Some people are worth fighting for.
Twenty-two days until the world burned. But today, they'd saved a village and discovered they were stronger together than apart.
Progress.
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