Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Corrupted area

"Oh, a two-tailed porcupine fox," Eldi observed.

"Ha, ha. Your sense of humor is as bad as always," Goldmi mocked.

"I think it's gotten worse," Gjaki assessed.

"Look who went to talk," Eldi protested.

The truth is that it was a normal fox, apart from the two tails and being corrupted. However, it had a multitude of arrows stuck in it, which gave it a somewhat strange appearance.

These did some damage, especially from Purifying Touch's effect, but it wasn't enough to be critical. The level difference between the lost and Goldmi had prevented it from succumbing halfway.

Maldoa watched them amused. She hadn't had a chance to see them fight together, but she had heard stories. They certainly trusted each other. Although, perhaps, they were a little too relaxed.

"The Wind Abyss doesn't inflict much damage," Goldmi appreciated.

"It's better than darkness traps. They aren't effective at all," Gjaki complained.

"It's smarter than the low level ones. The others wouldn't have dodged the Wall," Eldi commented.

"Uhh. Light traps are too effective! It's not fair!" the vampiress protested.

"They had to have some worth. Normally, they're useless," the elf defended her spells.

"Worst of all is that, in the end, a hole is the best," Gjaki looked enviously at Eldi.

Despite the difference in level, the successive traps had been depleting the vitality of the lost. The Light Abyss had been especially destructive. However, it had been Mole's Power the most decisive. With them as bait, the lost had run straight into the hole.

Gjaki quickly covered it in a blood Cobweb, thus restricting its movement, and making difficult for it to get out. There were also the Icicles in the bottom, against which it had hit. In addition, Goldmi's two sisters had reacted quickly.

The goshawk had Plummetted and Collided against the corrupted being. It had been a tremendous impact despite the bird's small size, that had pushed it back to the bottom. Luckily for her, the power of her skill precisely protected her.

The lynx had started to tear the corrupted fox right after. She was careful not to break the Cobweb that imprisoned it, and she also pushed it down.

It could barely defend itself. The lost had fallen in an uncomfortable position in which it couldn't see its enemies, something imprisoned it, it was in a hole, and some Icicles had pierced its body. As if that weren't enough, it was injured from before.

The feline didn't finish it off. She waited for Eldi to arrive with a few spears, and then, he pierced their enemy with each one, with the help of Perforating Impact.

"The result is as expected. Ice and electricity have some effect, but it's reduced by the difference in level. There is little use corroding them with darkness, fire does slightly more damage than wind, and purifying power is the best against them. The difference in level doesn't change the result," Eldi summarized.

"Well, we recover the mana, and we'll search for the next ones. How many do you think it'll take?" Gjaki asked.

"The experience bar has gone up a little. About a hundred?" Goldmi valued.

"Something like that. I guess it'll depend on how powerful they're, and how the experience is distributed," Eldi agreed.

"Well, nothing we can do, it'll take time," Gjaki sighed.

After powerleveling with ants and snails, she found it slow.

"Only a hundred!? And you're complaining!?" Maldoa almost cursed her.

Although the truth is that she wasn't the one who should be complaining. She could level up quickly just by absorbing the essence that had been reserved for her. It is true that she had combat experience, but she hadn't needed it to increase her power.

Maldoa had reached level 93 with it, although her limit had been quite a bit lower until her skating experience. She believed that she could continue leveling up if there were more essence available, but that was the limit they could provide. The rest had to be earned by herself. At such high levels, the amount of essence needed was too great to give away, even though her mother was a dryad.

What she didn't know was that her mother was taking advantage of her daughter's trip to the corrupted area to take a closer look at one of the drelf's lovers. Maldoa had lost her connection to nature, so she couldn't detect what Melia's sister was up to.

The dryad knew the other two, but her daughter had yet to introduce her to her latest acquisition, so she was curious. Unfortunately, it's quite hard to appease a dryad's curiosity. Maldoa's father could only sigh.

"So, do we hunt the group of three?" Gjaki proposed.

The goshawk had located several small relatively isolated groups. They wanted to go little by little, to get used to fighting against the higher level corrupted. Although it is also true that, in case of problems, Maldoa and Gjaki could reveal their true level. It could be said that they were jumping with a net.

Therefore, hunting only one or two, as had been Eldi and Goldmi's intention, had managed to be ruled out by the vampiress. She was impatient. She wanted her companions to recover all her power as soon as possible, no matter how much fun she had leveling up.

It is true that she wasn't the only impatient one. Both Goldmi and Eldi had powerful reasons for maxing out their level, like healing Elendnas or looking for Melia. However, they were a little more cautious.

"Okay, let's go for all three," Goldmi sighed.

"I suppose there should be no problem with three," Eldi also resigned.

So, they started walking, with Goldmi casting Life Detection continuously. They didn't want to find an unexpected ambush because of corrupted beings hiding underground. It was highly unlikely that there were any in that area, but it was better to be safe. If they entered the corrupted forest, the danger would be greater.

"A bad one. Quite far. Over there. I don't think it's felt me," Pikshbxgra suddenly warned. She had leaned out for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" Eldi asked when Goldmi stopped suddenly, looking into the distance.

"Pikgra has detected a general. It's in the forest, it seems quite far away. What do we do?" she doubted.

It was dangerous to go too deep, but also a chance to get rid of one of those beings.

"It's dangerous," the drelf was reticent.

"Come on. In case of problems, I can put a Gate to return," Gjaki proposed, somewhat excited.

"Won't it run away? You said that they can detect the fairy as she can detect them," Eldi asked.

"It's very far. It surely hasn't detected her yet, but it will if we get closer," the elf explained.

"Inside backpack, we not detect each other," the fairy clarified, and Goldmi transmitted it to the rest.

"How will we know where it is?" Maldoa pointed out.

It was definitely a problem. They had only a rough direction, and they didn't even know the distance for sure. If the fairy peeked out when they were closer, the general would spot her. It could run away or attack them.

"I'm going to take a look," the goshawk informed.

Goldmi wanted to tell her it was dangerous, but she knew she wouldn't convince her.

"Be careful. Come back if there is any danger," she asked her.