Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Next to the spring (III)

The first thing she did was look for her weapons. It didn't take long for her to find them, nor for a fairy to appear and collect them one by one, to the indifference of the undead.

She also looked at her clothing, which were torn in a lot of places. However, they were the best she had, at level 5, since her initiation tunic would protect her less. She stored them in inventory and wore it back on. Gjaki had discovered that the daggers were cleaned after putting them away, so she had assumed it would work for her clothing as well. She wasn't wrong.

She watched her enemies for a while. The level 10 zombie was dangerous, but it only had one special attack. After that, it needed to recover its head. The others were easier, no matter how many more had arrived.

Therefore, she went out through a point in the barrier away from every enemy. Then, she stood in the zombie's firing line to wait for it to throw her its head. Perhaps, had it been an intelligent enemy, she would have needed to plan it thoroughly, but the zombie was not. At level 10, it had gained a skill, it was slightly faster than level 8 or 9 ones, and maybe slightly less stupid, but its instincts still dominated it. So, it threw its head at the vampire to try to bite her again.

She had been hesitating before coming out. The skill in the game was simple. It threw the head in a straight line, but some things were different from then, and there were skills that followed their target. Fearing that it might be so, she took out a shield to block the launch instead of dodging.

The head slammed into it, damaging it slightly, but it was impossible for the teeth to bite the shield. It just bounced to the side.

She put the shield away and quickly approached the head, while still keeping an eye on the surroundings to avoid any further mishap. In the game, the head couldn't be attacked after using Head Launch, but it was different now. It didn't take long for the hammer to be covered in brains and putrid blood. Some traces of the crushed head were left on the ground in a most unpleasant scene.

The level 10 zombie didn't die instantly, but it had lost the ability to bite or see its victim, so it could only feel her aura. Soon, it became an easy prey for the vampire, who were quite cruel to this one.

Without lowering her guard at any time, she took care, one by one, of the rest of the skeletons and zombies. Gjaki didn't stray too far from the barrier, as she may need to take refuge again.

A new level 10 zombie even appeared. This time, next to the barrier, she decided to test what happened if dodging, as she could always take refuge inside if something went wrong. As in the game, the head simply continued in a straight line, and bounced off the barrier.

She used her whip to push it away from its body over and over, as she was cutting it with the dagger that was wielded in her other hand. It was only concerned with recovering what was missing, so it ignored the attacks. Therefore, she easily eliminated it in what seemed more like a comic scene than a fight.

She didn't take long to retreat back to the spring. The sky was beginning to light up, thus indicating that the sunrise was close. She pulled out the tent shaped as a dark castle, and stepped inside. There, she would be protected from the light, and could enjoy a well-deserved rest after a hard night, during which she had reached level 9.

Tentacles is a trap in which tentacles of darkness adhere to whoever enters, thus immobilizing and corroding them. Its main flaw is that it is easy to discover, as a black circle can be seen where it has been set. However, that is only during the day, because at night it is almost invisible. Of course, it can always be covered with leaves or soil if needed.

The skill recovered had been Slippery Dagger. It uses a dagger to block the enemy attack, but instead of completely stopping it, the blade slides along the enemy weapon, whose trajectory has been slightly altered. The body itself also get close to the enemy, to attack them from closer.

She woke up before dark, but didn't come out until the strange clock in her castle-tent showed a moon instead of a sun. Since it was a vampire equipment, it had that useful functionality.

In the game, if a player logged out inside the store, they were still there when logging in. Therefore, they could check if it was safe to leave. Although she didn't usually need it, since, before entering, she visited a website where she could check if it was night in the game.

She decided to try some food from the game. Just as she expected, it didn't give her any buffs, as it was level 100. At least, she could eat it. All the food of lower levels had been consumed in the past.

When leveling up, she usually bought the new level food, but first she finished the low level one before eating the new one. Although slightly less powerful, the difference in the buffs was hardly noticeable. She would rather make the most out of it than threw it away or store it. Had she known, she would have kept it.

"It's a bit bland. Does the one that Goldmi made taste better? Let's see..."

She had stored some of the meals that her partner had made for her in the game. She took out a chocolate cake and dipped in a finger. Then, she put that finger in her mouth.

"MMMMMmmmmh!!! It's amazing!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Soon after, Gjaki sighed. She wondered if she would ever see her again, and not just because of that chocolate cake. Goldmi had been her first true friend. As much as she knew there was an age difference of about ten years, she had felt very close to her.

The vampire looked at the cake again, indecisive. She only had that one. Finally, she decided to cut a piece and store the rest, although, for quite a while, she was more than tempted to devour it.

After that, Gjaki took off her panda pajamas, and stayed in a relaxing hot bath until dark. Then, she dressed, left her shelter, and was greeted by the rays of the first moon.

She decided to create a portal mark there, which took a lot longer than in the game. When finished, she took a sip of water to recover the mana invested.

"It's a shame I can't store it," she regretted, while looking at the water and cursing the developers once more.

After that, she crossed the barrier and went in the direction of the beginner's village. During the day, the undead had dispersed as her trace vanished, so there was no more than one skeleton in the distance.

She tore it apart before continuing on her way. She barely gained any experience, but she knew it would follow her, so it was best to get rid of it and earn some bone dust. While walking through the forest, she kept staring at a chocolate cake with two pieces missing.