15 Potion of Strength

A/N: sorry for the late upload, stuck for a bit.

The next day, Triss and Mikael were walking towards the Novigrad dock. Mikael's back was sore, and he looked a little pale, tired from last night.

"Fuck, my back hurts." Mikael groaned as the two kept walking.

"Hey, I warned you." Triss said, shrugging. "I offered you a place in the bed, yet you still insist on sleeping on the floor."

"Well, you're a woman… not going to sleep on the same bed with you." Mikael scoffed.

"Oh wow, what a gentleman." Triss rolled her eyes.

"But bloody hell, why are the neighbors so loud? Are they always like that?"

"Fighting? Of course." she said. "Sometimes it even got physical, screaming in pain."

"And you did nothing?"

"None of my business." Triss shrugged.

Mikael just sighed at Triss's response. Both of them then arrived at the dock, and they turned to an alley, into a quiet place.

"Where are we going?" questioned Mikael.

"A fight club or some sort."

"Why are we going there?"

"Someone ordered something for a high price," said Triss. "I couldn't refuse because of the money."

"Why do you need the money anyway? Travel expenses? Can't you just portal?"

Triss sighed. "I need it for something else."

"Which is?"

"To charter a ship." she answered. "To Kovir."

Mikael raised his eyebrow. "Like I said, can't you just—"

"Not just for me." She cut him off. "For the whole mages of the city."

Mikael was surprised. "Wow… I didn't know you're this… generous…"

"Just sick of seeing the burning mages." she murmured sadly. "I can't stand it anymore, I need everyone to escape."

Both of them then arrived at a warehouse. Mikael could hear the sounds of cheering from the inside. Triss knocked on the gate, and a window split open.

Miquella then appeared beside Mikael. "She has a noble cause in mind. Saving her kin from prosecution… just like my goal once…"

"Your goal?"

But then, a man from the window suddenly spoke.

"Password?" questioned the man.

"Your mum's arse." she said flatly.

The man just chuckled roughly, and opened the door for them. The two of them then entered the place, where they could see half naked men getting it on in the middle of a ring. They were bloodied, bruises all over their solid torso.

"Quite a… charming place…" Mikael commented, whistling at the state of the place.

"Come on, don't stare too much." she said, walking towards a corner of the warehouse.

There sat a buffed man, waiting nervously for something. He was tapping his feet, looking around the warehouse. As soon as he saw Triss and Mikael, he sighed in relief, and stood up.

"What took you so long?" questioned the man to Triss.

"It's on time." she said casually.

"I'll cut the pay out just for this…" he grumbled.

Triss frowned. "This isn't the deal."

"Just give me the potion." he scoffed. Triss pulled out a bottle with a green liquid in it, and gave it to the man.

"The pay." Triss pointed out.

"After I won." the man sneered.

Triss clenched her fists. "This isn't what we talked about."

"Well, I don't know if you're fooling me or not." the man snorted. "Now get out of the way."

Mikael then stepped in. "Pay first, buddy." he said, pushing the man back.

The man was mildly surprised at how Mikael could push him back, but he quickly recovered and spoke. "I said after the fight, cripple, or are you deaf too?"

"It's not the deal mate, give us the coin, and we'll get out of the way."

But the man stood his ground. He pushed Mikael back, and wanted to punch him. But, suddenly a man interrupted, it was the fight club guard.

"What's goin' on 'ere?!' he questioned loudly, making the others turned to them.

"Fuck…" the man that ordered the potion cursed. "Nothing man, this cripple was just bothering me."

"What's that on your hand?" questioned the guard, frowning deeply. The man forcefully took the bottle from the man, which made him pale.

The guard smelled the potion, and his face turned sour. "A potion? Yer' trying to cheat?"

"N-No… I-It was…"

"Are you the mage?" questioned the guard to Mikael. He looked at his missing arm, and shook his head, then, he turned to Triss. "You're the mage…"

"Shit." Triss frowned as she saw a lot of guards unsheathing their weapons. "Mikael…"

"I know," he said, pulling his sword from the scabbard. He saw the men that were fighting stopped what they were doing, and looked at Triss. They were cracking knuckles, preparing to fight.

"I know you." another man said to Triss. "You're Triss Merigold… your face is all over the notice boards."

"You're seeing things." Triss refuted.

"No, I'm sure of it." another man said. "The witch hunters'll pay a whole lot of coin for you…"

Triss gulped as he summoned fire from her hands, no point in trying to hide her identity anymore.

"Tie the witch!" shouted a man, and the rest of them rushed towards Mikael and Triss.

Mikael clicked his tongue, and brandished his sword. Triss quickly conjured a fire spell that almost burned two men in a straight line, while Mikael kicked a man that was trying to pounce Triss from the back.

"This isn't going to work Triss, we should run!" Mikael commented as he fought off the men while they were pushed to a corner.

Triss kept throwing fireballs at the fighters, and answered him. "Well?! Any idea how to?!"

Mikael didn't answer, instead, he just kept fighting, pushing, stabbing, he's trying his best not to injure the ones that aren't really attacking, but it's hard in the chaos. They were literally backed to a corner, if it wasn't for Triss's barriers and her fire, they would've been overwhelmed right now.

Miquella then suddenly appeared in the back of Triss, far away from Mikael, but he could hear the ghost's voice clearly in his head.

"Use the rot," he said calmly.

"Are you insane?!" Mikael shouted, making Triss confused. "We're in the middle of the city!"

"Then control the rot Mikael." Miquella continued. "You are capable of it."

Mikael cursed under his breath. "The whole warehouse?!"

"Do what you think is necessary." Miquella said, disappearing into golden dust once again.

"Who are you talking to?!" Triss questioned, conjuring a large fireball, making the fighters scared a little bit.

"I have an idiotic idea!" Mikael stated hesitantly. "But you need to protect yourself, and you only! Cover your barrier with fire!"

"Are you an idiot?! You'll die!"

"That's the whole point Merigold! It's idiotic!"

Triss frowned at his words. "Fine! It's your life anyway!"

Triss then quickly shrinks her barrier, while also covering it with fire. Mikael was instantly overwhelmed, as there was no wall that protected him from the fighters anymore.

As they rushed to him, Mikael breathed out something. It was a scarlet fog, the smell of rot was thick, and it quickly spread throughout the room.

Mikael then was beaten as the horde came to him. He was punched, kicked, probably broke a couple of bones, but the beaters didn't notice the fog right away.

It was when their skin started to decay that they noticed it. The fighters' buffed muscles first turned dull gold, then rotted slowly. Some of them writhe in pain as they felt their flesh wither away, while they were still alive.

"W-What is this!" a guard commented, stepping back, stammered at the sight of his rotting body. "M-Monster!"

The fighters quickly panicked, like a domino effect, they started to realize that their bodies were rotting, slowly. It was a painful death, people tried to escape the warehouse once they saw it, to no avail. Men's rotting bodies started to pile up around the entrance, and Mikael started to see the wood of the warehouse also starting to rot, and the ground turning scarlet, like dirt mixed with blood.

As soon as he saw the wood rotting, he quickly stopped spreading the scarlet fog, retracting it altogether. Even though it had vanished, the people were still dying, wailing in pain on the ground, begging to be saved.

"Kill them all." Miquella coldly said in his head. "Leave no witness, or you will be hunted by the witch hunters."

Mikael saw the devastation he had brought, and gulped in anxiety. He was pale, he had never done this before, at least consciously anyway. He saw as the men tried to escape the warehouse by crawling, but their flesh quickly rotted, making them breathe their last.

Meanwhile, behind Mikael, Triss, who was behind the comfort of her barrier was mortified at the scene… she had never seen this cruel type of 'magic' since… forever… she looked at Mikael's back, who was also a bit trembling. She had realized that he had never done this before, and as she saw it was safe, she retracted her barrier, and touched Mikael's shoulder.

Mikael flinched as he felt the touch. He turned around, and was met with Triss's green eyes.

"Let's get out of here." she said softly as she conjured a portal. "Quickly, before the guards come."

Mikael just nodded, and he ran straight through the portal, leaving Triss in the warehouse for a while.

She looked at the devastation Mikael had brought, and her curiosity nerves tingled. She entered the portal, erasing their presence in the area.