Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Goltrak (III)

Most of the beings he found in the "Bestiary" were those he knew about in the game, or variations of them. There were some giant insects that he didn't remember, just as he didn't know about such a great variety of snakes, but very few novelties he managed to find, and none especially significant. It is also true that the book only described the most common animals in the kingdom, and he only read two others, about the elven kingdom and Engenak.

There were other more advanced books, but their access was restricted to adventurers with level higher than his, or to those who had gained access by other means, such as expert skinners. It was frustrating not being able to access them when he met the requirements, but he couldn't show up for now.

As for magic, he got descriptions of many spells that might be useful, but they would take years to master, and the same for skills. Anyway, what he was most interested in, as the scientist who was still inside him, was in the fundamentals of magic and skills, in why and how they work, what are the principles by which they are governed. But that information was only available to scholars of their respective branches, so it was impossible for him to access it, or know how far it went.

Frustrated, he returned to the library to return the books, the card and recover the deposit. And to say goodbye to the old librarian.

Days ago, when he was looking through books on the kingdom's history and the world in general, he had been worried about his continued stares. And his worry about his disguise being exposed had come true, although not as he had feared.

"You're Eldi Hnefa, aren't you?" the old man had asked.

He had approached him at a time when there was no one in that area of the library, surprising him with the question. It was evident that Eldi couldn't deny it. The old man couldn't have come to ask his name by chance, which meant that his identity had been exposed.

"What do you want from me?" Eldi had asked, suspicious.

But far from threatening him, setting him up or trying to blackmail him, the old man had exhibited his best smile, and showed an old ball, the surface of which had been worn out by the use and the passage of time. The dark brown eyes had become watery, while the long rabbit ears had become completely stiff due to the excitement in the librarian's heart.

"You... You are... the kid of that time," Eldi had finally recognized him, his eyes wide open in surprise.

"I've always wanted to thank you," the librarian had said, excited and holding his hands, tears running down his cheeks. "I thank our god, Hu Tianbao, for giving me the opportunity to see you again."

Still in the game, he had saved a child-rabbit from being crushed under a cart, which however had crushed the ball he was playing with. Eldi had given him another ball, the one he now had in front of him, and he would have forgotten the event if it weren't because it seemed strangely real. He had then searched for information to know if he continued in any way, but he hadn't found any clue. He supposed that no one had given it any importance, but now he understood that the reason was different: it hadn't happened to anyone else, it had been real.

The strange thing was that the librarian had discovered him despite the disguise, but his way of walking, moving, speaking and his gestures were characteristic, as was his voice. At least, they were for the boy who had been watching his savior, his hero, whenever he had the chance, attentive to his appearance in the city. And this had been Eldi's base of operations for a while.

Since then, it had been much easier to find the books he wanted, thanks to the help of the librarian, although even he couldn't give him access to advanced books. But he did provide information about the kingdom, he even told him about a curious festival in which women had to make up to look as ugly as possible, but concealing that they were doing it with that intention, while men should appear weak, but not disabled. It was a festival whose origin was in the visitor's reign,

He also got him a map, marking the places where magical platforms could be found. The old man had researched and collected that information for his savior.

They hugged and wished for the best, with Eldi's promise to visit him if he went to the city again. In addition, he gave the old man a dagger in which he put his mark, so that he could show off before his grandchildren, who weren't too convinced about their grandfather having met that visitor. He would say that he had found it searching through his old things, and that he had received it as a child as a souvenir. While it wasn't the whole truth, it wasn't a big lie either.

When Eldi left with the caravan he was escorting, along with other adventurers, he was surprised that the entry queues were longer than usual, as well as the larger presence of soldiers in the streets.

"What is going on?" He asked an elf archer, who was using the escort to return home.

"Apparently, some stranger slayed some bandits and rescued several prisoners. For some reason, there are suspicions that he could be a visitor, so they have reinforced security. The truth is that they overreact, he hasn't done anything wrong, quite the opposite. But if he really is a visitor, they don't want to let him in, and they'll kick him out if they find him. Sometimes they are too biased," he explained.

"Oh... I see," Eldi stammered.

He didn't expect that, but, thinking about it, it was somehow logical. As soon as the prisoners talked about the spells used to save them, it would raise suspicions. He hadn't asked them to keep it secret, he had believed that his disguise was enough, but it was obvious that he had been naive.

However, what worried him the most wasn't to be discovered by the soldiers of the kingdom, who would probably do nothing but expel him, but that the murderers sent by the Engenak's nobles could discover his track.

Therefore, he was glad to be leaving the capital, and soon the kingdom. He hoped they couldn't follow him further, but he would take as many precautions as he could. Once the escort's mission were over, he would disappear, heading towards its destination, and trying not to leave any trace.