Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Next to the spring (I)

There were more than twenty enemies. Only a couple of them were at level 9, four more at 8, and the rest at a lower level than hers. She could go in and out of the barrier, and even, unexpectedly, had the help of the spring.

She just lacked having a larger supply of blood, but that was something the sacred water wasn't able to help with. For now, she had it full, but there wasn't barely any left in her inventory to replenish it if it ran out. It is true that she had higher level supplies, but she couldn't consume it yet.

She had also a lot of level 100 blood, as it was the one she used in the game after reaching the maximum level, so she had accumulated large amounts through numerous missions, training or farming. Therefore, back then, she could use blood abilities freely, but now she needed to be much more careful.

Gjaki looked outside once more, and left the protection of the barrier through a different place than where she had entered. Immediately, she applied Dark Touch to the whip and brandished it against a level 7 skeleton.

All the undead turned to her and began to advance in her direction. The skeleton she was attacking was the closest, but it fell before reaching her.

The vampire continued attacking the skeletons, as she slowly walked back. When it finally looked like they could reach her, she simply stepped through the barrier again.

"A bit boring, but an easy way to grind experience."

The truth was that she hadn't won much. She'd just finished off three of them and wounded a few more. It was done sometimes directly with the whip, and sometimes by using Grab to throw one of them at the others. Nonetheless, it is also true that there hadn't been any danger either, and she hadn't expended too much mana or energy.

She watched the undead for a few seconds, as they advanced towards where she had been. Then, she went to another point of the barrier. Although they could see her, they couldn't feel her presence while she was inside, so she was able to repeat the same operation again and again. She just needed to attack the skeletons with the whip, and re-enter when they began to approach. The whip gave her some range, and was effective against them, so she decided to save the zombies for later.

Gjaki even verified that she could actually use the spring water to fully recover, so she cursed once more in her mind.

She had finished off almost twenty skeletons, which was far from enough to level up. They didn't provide much experience given that her level was above them. Because a few more enemies had arrived, there were still five skeletons and eight zombies left.

Nimbly and with the help of the whip and Grab, she climbed the ancient tree that grew next to the spring, and from whose waters it fed. Therefore, its branches were stronger than usual, and its fruits were exceptionally tasty and magical. Unfortunately, that was something that she didn't know, and couldn't find out for now, since these fruits only grew once every hundred years. There was still a long time for them to bloom again.

She leapt off the branch, passed through the barrier, and landed on one of the remaining skeletons.

"Flying kick!" she exclaimed, while feeling for a moment like the star of a martial arts movie.

An instant before impact, she activated Harden on her feet, thus shielding them from the blow, and making them more deadly. The level 6 skeleton was knocked over, and its bones were splattered in all directions.

Her speed forced Gjaki to somersault on the ground, after which she got up next to another skeleton. She elbowed hard in its skull, after having once again used Harden, this time on her elbow.

At the same time, she kicked against the shinbone. She wasn't wearing her mighty level 100 boots, but Harden was enough to break its bone. The lack of a leg unbalanced her enemy, that couldn't do anything against the hammer blows that it received. She had taken out one of the special hammers that adapted to her level, so it was now at 8. She finished off the level 7 skeleton with it.

She stored the hammer and lunged towards a zombie that was somewhat isolated. Although it meant moving a bit away from the barrier, she didn't find it dangerous. There weren't that many, and she was much faster than them.

The vampire used Harden on her forearm to block the zombie's attack and plunged a dagger into its stomach, while ducking to dodge the other hand of her nasty foe. The smell of putrefaction from it was extremely nauseating.

She moved around her enemy, while dragging the nailed dagger to inflicting a massive slash.

She also tried to make it fall, to break its leg, but the level 8 zombie was surprisingly tough. Therefore, she just continued with the slash, and stabbed the other dagger into its neck.

A blackish liquid, which originally must have been blood, spurted from its wound. Gjaki didn't even think about tasting it. Not only had she seen too many zombie movies to risk becoming one, but she found it disgusting.

It was wounded and unable to fight back, and not even the arrival of a skeleton could save it. The vampire continued to slash it as she threw the newcomer away with a kick to the chest. After that, she went for it, while wielding a hammer.

In the game, Gjaki would have used her fists and legs, but she couldn't use her level 100 gear, nor could she use Harden continuously. However, the hammer, despite having no skills, was enough to crush it, along with some previous kicks to throw it off balance.

She still had enough mana and stamina, so she lunged at the next zombie, ducked under her attack, and used Darkness. Under it, the vampire could Backstab it.

She caught a glimpse of a zombie approaching from the forest, a new enemy, but didn't pay much attention to it. It was still far away, and would take some time before arriving. However, she soon realized her mistake.

She felt a sharp blow and terrible pain in her leg. Gjaki clenched her teeth, and kicked with Harden at whatever had hit her. It was a head of a level 10 zombie, which its owner had thrown with Head Launch. It had bitten her.