Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Lurking in the night (I)

As soon as the Darkness was released, a small snake lunged towards her, and she barely had enough time to react. It had been hiding in the leaves, and attacked relying on its powerful paralyzing poison.

She didn't have time to pull her leg away from it, to keep it from biting her. Though it was enough to use Harden.

While the snake was unable to understand why its fangs hadn't penetrated deep enough to insert her venom, Gjaki used Scratch to grow her nails and pierce the reptile's body.

"They're very sharp," she was impressed.

It is true that the body of her enemy was rather soft, and that it was only level 7, but it was still extraordinary.

A fairy recovered the corpse before it fell after retracting her nails. She got some poison, fangs, skin, and some meat.

"I should have learned to cook," she regretted, while carefully inspecting the leaves and branches.

She used Darkness again to approach one of those branches, and stab a dagger with Backstab into another similar snake. Her assistant was left to take care of the remains.

She didn't find more, but that didn't mean there weren't. Furthermore, she had made quite a bit of noise, so she feared having attracted unwanted attention. Therefore, after taking a look around, Gjaki again used Darkness to get down from the tree and away from it.

Unfortunately, she couldn't use the spell forever, since the same spell prevented mana regeneration, due to its fluctuation could give her away. She also had to slow down while using it if she didn't want to be discovered, and there was still a long way until reaching her destination.

So, she cast it occasionally when getting closer to denser areas, where it was easier for other creatures of the night to hide. It had saved her a couple of times without her knowing.

A huge owl had been watching her as she approached. It was preparing to fall on her as soon as she was within reach, but suddenly she was gone. It could perceive something strange, like a shadow moving, but it was too unusual, too strange. Since the owl was neither desperate nor hungry, it decided to wait for less unusual prey.

A snake about four meters in length descended to ambush her, but it found that the figure and aura of its prey had disappeared. However, it soon found the trail, and began to follow her, as it aided by its keen sense of smell.

However, she wasn't protected by Darkness when a level 11 spotted panther jumped on her.

She was attentive to any movement, to any shadow, and had the accumulated experience of many hours of solo play, often hunting at night. So, she reacted quickly, while wielding both nicked daggers.

By using Slippery Dagger, the vampire managed to slightly deflect one of the claws heading toward her. More importantly, she slid along it and narrowly dodged the attack. Almost.

"My hair!" she complained when a lock of hair was cut off.

The panther was confused. Not only had her prey managed to escape its attack, but she had disappeared. Nonetheless, it isn't easy for Darkness to have the desired effect when they know you are there. Soon, the predator discovered the strange shadow, and jumped on its prey two levels lower.

What it didn't expect was that said prey hadn't used the spell to hide herself or flee, but to hide her actions.

The feline saw its run slowed by some almost invisible Tentacles in the darkness of the night, which corroded its skin. However, the oppressive force wasn't enough to hold back for long a panther that wouldn't stop stirring.

Instead of keep staring, Gjaki took advantage of the fact that her enemy was distracted to attack it with Backstab. The predator's skin was tough, its level was two above hers, and her daggers had lost some of their edge. So, even with the help of the skill, the wound wasn't as deep as she would have liked.

Perhaps, it would have been more dangerous if she had hit it in the neck, but it was moving too much to aim there. Therefore, she had had no choice but to stab it in the body, to try to pierce its heart.

The vampire was unsuccessful, but she had hurt it, it hadn't yet escaped her trap, and she had managed to poison it. She had impregnated the daggers with the venom of one of the snakes that had attacked her earlier, the only low level one that she had. She didn't even consider the possibility of using a high-level one, because in that sense, everything she had tried was like in the game.

Although several levels below the feline's, it had the effect of numbing its muscles and its mind. Despite this, it managed to get out of the trap and ran towards the vampire, who had stopped covering herself in Darkness. It was enraged and unable to think clearly.

It was no surprise that it fell into a new trap, that its run was again stopped. However, this time Gjaki didn't attack, but took a couple of steps back.

As she was quite attentive to her surroundings, she had discovered a snake approaching. It was the same one that had been following her trail for a while, and changed its target after spotting a seemingly weakened and troubled competitor.

It didn't hesitate to attack it, to wrap itself around it, while ignoring the Tentacles. The trap weren't so effective against the slippery reptile, which was also at level 11.

The panther wanted to turn over and counterattack, but the serpent's body constricted it tight and ruthless. While the Tentacles were only trying to hold it back, the serpent was completely immobilizing and strangling it.

Caught by surprise, wounded, affected by the paralyzing poison and the trap, the panther was unable to resist the reptile's powerful deadly embrace.

The vampire thought about taking the opportunity to attack the snake, but finally she turned around and continued on her way.

She didn't know nor the place or the world very well, her weapons were damaged, and she wanted to arrive as soon as possible to the beginner's village. Gjaki hoped that the inhabitants could resolve her doubts, and provide her with supplies of her level. At least, she wasn't lacking money.

It didn't take long for her to feel that she had gained a bit of experience from the panther's death, though less than would have been normal at other times. After all, she had only hurt it.

While being vigilant, and now also on the lookout for panthers and giant snakes, she continued on her way during the night.