Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

A helpless foal

In addition to plants, he cut and gathered branches for the wood of the weapons he needed, and even found a fallen tree that his assistant had to cut into sections of two meters that he could save, because storing the whole trunk was impossible.

It is true that he gathered wood for weapons level 5, but above all for 10. He hadn't found level 15 wood yet, and he feared that it would be in the depths of the forest, where he supposedly could also find beings of that level, so where he preferred not to go yet.

He had found almost no animals or beasts, and the few he had seen were level 7 or less, which had quickly hidden. They seemed to sense his level and preferred to keep their distance, except for a level 9 caterpillar, whose ability was to throw poisonous spines. But the protection of Projectiles against me?, that of a tree and four Javelin with Electric Touch had ended the resistance of the insect.

Of course, that didn't mean he could lower his guard, because any high-level creature could appear at any time.

And it was as he walked carefully next to a small flow of water, which couldn't be called a river, when he heard the nearby sound of what looked like heavy blows.

He approached the place with caution, and the first thing he found was a giant centipede of level 11. It was embedded in a huge tree with oval leaves and red fruits, some of which had fallen on the insect. But although badly injured, it reacted violently as soon as it noticed the presence of Eldi, whose Magic against me? mitigated the electric attack.

He cast Javelin three times with fire, because the insect was immune to electrical attacks and its condition prevented it from dodging the spears. And when he was close enough he finished it off with the two-handed axe, imbued with ice. He didn't need more because it was already seriously injured, and his assistant took care of the remains.

He went a little closer to the origin of the sound, from where the insect had shot out, finding a cliff from which was falling a small waterfall that created a pond of transparent waters, on the edge of which laid a small white colt whose legs were bent as they shouldn't. It was dirty and had several wounds, and an explosion seemed to have originated around it, because not only the vegetation had disappeared, but the earth itself had been expelled outward, except in its position. Beyond, four other centipedes moved with difficulty, injured, one of them approaching.

The deep blue eyes of the colt, which looked like sapphires fitted with delicacy, stared at him. Perhaps it was trying to find out if he was a new enemy or perhaps asking for help, but it awoke in him the desire to protect that helpless creature.

He used Javelin to skewer with a spear to the level 12 centipede that was getting closer its prey, spear that was dodged by the insect. Provoke caused the centipede to forget its initial objective and turn towards Eldi, who this time managed to dodge the electric attack, although not the skill Whip. This caused the body of the whole insect to spread and attack as its name suggests, and Eldi could only block partially with the axe, forcing him to cast the healing spell immediately.

But the second time he was ready, and he countered it with Dancing Axe, which also caused ice damage, and healed him thanks to Vampiric Touch.

The centipede retreated a couple of meters, surprised for the unexpected response, something that Eldi took advantage of to raise an Earthen Wall and jump on it with Kangaroo Power, surprising his enemy which, being so close, wasn't able to dodge any of the three Javelins.

And while the insect was trying to get rid of the spears and the fire was burning it, Eldi jumped wielding the level 9 spear, and using Perforating Impact. He received the blow of the centipede, but the spear also pierced it and nailed it to the ground, damaging the weapon in the process. Unable to move, the axe finished the insect, while regenerating the one who wielded it.

While his assistants recovered weapons and carcass, he approached the victim, who, to his surprise, turned out to be a level 20 unicorn foal. He could see that its mana was practically exhausted, despite being close to 1000, an extraordinary amount for a level 20 being.

Its health had been down to one-third, and the wounds made him think it had fallen from the cliff top, though it shouldn't have survived it. But there were also deep symmetrical cuts that seemed to come from a claw.

Due to the difference in level, he couldn't obtain more information than its mana and health. But still approached it, hoping that, as in the game and as it looked like, it was friendly creature.

He noticed that there was a bulge on its forehead, which he assumed would be the horn in the future, and that its eyes hadn't stop looking at him, an intelligent look without hostility. Not even when he came close to touching it did the foal try to bite him, something that could have been dangerous given its level.

He took out a level 15 potion and the young unicorn drank it obediently, with a visible improvement. It could even get up and licked his face, but it still had a lot to recover. He couldn't use his magic to heal it yet, so he decided to wait five minutes to give the foal another one.

Suddenly, the foal rushed towards some figures that were approaching. They were three more centipedes, level 12 and 13, that had come to the call of their kin, to the notice of an appetizing prey for its power and its vulnerable state. However, their prey had recovered enough to attack them agilely, knocking them out and throwing them towards Eldi, in order for him to finish them. And so he did, using the hammer to crash the annoying and aggressive insects, and raising his level to 10.

He immediately changed his equipment while the unicorn turned towards him, and again, friendly licked his cheek. But suddenly, its body tensed and, following its gaze, Eldi found a dark shadow that was coming threateningly.

The feline, a level 25 ebony panther, had gone down from the top of the cliff, looking for the exotic prey that had escaped it by jumping from there. And it had no intention of letting it go.