Scorched caterpillars

653 56 7
                                    

There were more than twenty corrupted caterpillars. Already difficult to kill individually, in groups they were extremely hard to eradicate. In fact, they had been there for several months, being avoided by all the attack forces. They had asked for the help of a higher-ranking squad to get rid of them, something that was taking long, since it wasn't urgent. But, with the arrival of the visitor, they had discovered a new way.

He was almost without mana after creating ten Lightning Spears, and distributing them among the warriors, most of them elves, in addition to a dwarf and two demihumans, one with a mane similar to a lion, and another with larger and curved horns than those of a cow.

A group of archers attacked first, attracting their attention, and the warriors rushed shortly after, dodging the acid.

Those who had the skill to do so threw their spears at them, while the rest approached to pierce them. It was riskier, but they were skilled warriors, and the caterpillars aren't particularly fast. It is true that they can roll on themselves and grow thorns, but they are easy to avoid if you are careful, and none of those warriors were going to divert their attention from their target even for a moment.

Soon, ten caterpillars disappeared from the battlefield, a result that would have stunned them had they not seen the previous demonstrations. Without hesitation, they turned towards the rest, because they had to put an end to them before those weapons with the power of lightning vanished.

Eldi looked into the distance, recovering his mana and protecting the archers from what might come close. They concentrated their fire on the few beings that weren't caterpillars, and Eldi had to take care of anything that could approach, although he practically had nothing to do. There were more than ten of them firing their arrows, enough to kill their opponents one by one before they got too close.

Soon, the battlefield ran out of enemies, and Eldi was tossed in the air by the warriors. The group of caterpillars had been resisting for too long, so they were elated. Therefore, the visitor could barely touch the ground until they arrived triumphantly at the camp, where they celebrated the victory with a small banquet.

Although the food was practically the same as ever, some bottles of wine that they had been reserving for special moments were opened, and the atmosphere was euphoric. It is true that it had only been a small victory, but it was a good excuse for a celebration, and to raise morale.

In the cheerful conversations, Eldi learned that some generals had been defeated by a mysterious elf woman, who possessed a special blessing that allowed her to attack them. No one knew her identity, and the high human thought about asking his son-in-law, since he was curious, and it was possible that Melingor knew. But he decided not to, because he didn't have a real reason to investigate, and he didn't want to put him in trouble. Besides that, the elf had left the area the day before.



In these last days, he had been in many small skirmishes and battles, leveling up to level 64, both for his own contributions and those of the warriors who had his blessings. He knew that he would soon reach 65, the level at which he had the higher weapons and equipment he had crafted with the dwarfs, so he would soon have to start thinking about crafting the next ones.

Milengor had assured him that he would have no problem using the existing magic platforms in the capital, but he still needed to find the raw materials, or perhaps buy them in the capital. The elf had explained that it was an important commercial hub, where all kinds of merchandise could be found.

He planned to go there when he reached level 67, the level at which the Oracle had recommended that he approach a certain village, a village that didn't appear on his map, but it was in one of those he had acquired. He didn't know what he could find there, but he didn't hesitate to follow the advice of the mysterious Oracle.



The first three spells he had unlocked were the Burning, Frozen and Lightning Domes. They are similar to the Rings, but triple their mana consumption, and not only cover the surface, but the three dimensions, forcing to cross the wall of the element even if attacked from the sky. He had barely used them, and his affinity was 3 in the first and 2 in the others.

And at 64, was the overpowered spell Rock Fortress, which creates an impenetrable wall for half a minute at affinity 10, protecting all allies from physical and magical attacks. The counterpart is that it consumes all the mana, so it is necessary to have it to the fullest at the time of casting the spell, which makes it difficult to use without planning it in advance.

Individually, it can leave you completely defenseless, but, as a group, it can be a decisive resource to neutralize the enemy if he wants to overwhelm you using the best attacks of all his members at once. He had it at 6, mostly because Gjaki had insisted again and again to train it, which made its duration reach twenty seconds.

At 61, he had the spear skill Tearing Sting, a rather slow and easy-to-dodge blow, in addition to leaving the caster in a vulnerable position, but it is also the most powerful skill with the spear, being able to easily pierce almost any enemy. The body needs to bend, as if it were a kind of metal spring, in order to attack with full force, which means that it takes almost a second of time to execute it. He had it at 4, since it wasn't easy to make it hit.

At 62 and 63 were the equivalent for axe and hammer, Slicing and Crushing, also powerful, and also slow, and that he had at 5 and 3. The first can easily cut in two an enemy whose body isn't incredibly tough or huge. The second had in the game an effect similar to that in cartoons when something heavy falls on someone, the victim becoming like a carpet. He wasn't so sure what the effect on reality would be. Surely, quite bloodier.

And at 64 was Charge, a quick leap forward to hit your enemy with the shoulder, knocking him out if his size isn't big enough. He had it at 10, because he had abused its use against small enemies, like goblins.

Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mageWhere stories live. Discover now