Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Bee slaughter

She approached the hive while shrouded in Darkness. Now that they weren't looking for her, it was safe enough, though she had to be careful not to bump into any of them. There were quite a few around, though not as many as when they had gone into a killing frenzy.

She was confident that she could run from them if necessary. The vampiress not only knew now how far she had to go, but she had a full mana pool. When they had appeared earlier, she had already spent a considerable portion, plus she had been caught off guard.

The hive was definitely huge. It was holding between several of the thick branches of the also immense tree. It formed a structure that could well rival a tourist complex of hanging houses.

She Climbed slowly while shrouded in Darkness, until reaching the nearest branch she could, a few feet below. Closer, the transit of the bees made it impossible for her to approach without being discovered.

She walked up the branch until being under a significant part of the hive, took a deep breath, and summoned a Darkness Pillar. While it was still active, and the branch below her was disappearing, she shrouded in Darkness again, and Glided to another branch, slightly lower. There, she again summoned another pillar.

Gjaki hid and Glided again, this time to get away, as the hive bustled with activity. Something had attacked and killed many of them, so they were frantically searching the surroundings. Specifically, the tree was inspected inch by inch.

She was moving away from it, but the number left flying around wasn't small. By dropping a bit and going back to Glide, she managed to dodge one of them. Another felt something step on it, but after turning around, it couldn't figure out what. However, it called several of it siblings, which inspected that portion of space.

This forced the vampiress to drop, which increasing her speed too much for Darkness to conceal her anymore. However, she managed to distract them by shooting several arrows into the air and holding them up with Telekinesis. Then, she went back to Glide, and activated Darkness again.

Unfortunately, a couple of them had seen her hiding, and called the others back. Luckily for her, by disabling Telekinesis, the arrows landed on some bees, thus causing a bit of chaos and a few minor scratches. Even better, it gave her enough time to land on another tree branch.

With Climb, she went around the trunk, and then down it, while the winged insects were still searching for her a little higher up.

When she hit the ground, she decided to drop the Darkness protection and run at full speed, so Gjaki activated Blood Overload. She needed to save mana, and considered that she was far enough away.

Only a pair followed her beyond the limit. Those two bees wouldn't return to their companions. They were ambushed by the vampiress, who severed their wings, and soon finished them off.

After the bee slaughter, she had reached level 48, and achieved the desired Disguise spell. It was the missing complement to Costume, on which she wanted to rely to Disguise her level and pass through the barrier.

Gjaki had also recovered Boxing, which she was eager to try in reality. She wondered who could be provoked into it. Although perhaps, it was better to wait for the next skill.

Immediately, she set off for the Crimson Savannah. She might not have much mana, but there wasn't much difference between getting it back there or down the road. Besides, she was heading towards lower areas, where the danger would be diminished.

She met several animals during the trip, but they hardly paid any attention to her, and she didn't want to waste too much time either, or draw attention to herself. She had always felt somewhat anxious to return to the mansion, and now that it was at hand, her impatience was increasing.

"It seems that the stampede is going to start soon," she said to herself, after seeing how determined the beings of the forest were.

However, here and there, it could be found some which didn't go anywhere. Perhaps, it was because they had been lucky enough to find some food. Maybe, it was because of their own personality. They would be the ones which would stay in the forest and, little by little, they would increase their numbers again so that the cycle would repeat.

There were also some which wanted to attack her, like an angry turtle that she just left behind. There was also a robust reindeer, which she left fighting two hounds with the order to Hunt. Although, as she progressed and the level decreased, her problems also disappeared.

In all, it took her another three days to make her way back, and reach the barrier. It was supposed to prevent high-level intruders from entering the savannah.

Gjaki hesitated for a moment, while staring at the thin mana membrane, before activating Disguise, and lowering the apparent level to 30. She then gulped and slowly crossed it, ready to run and hide if it fired. She couldn't know if her spell could fool that alarm.

Nothing seemed to change after crossing. Everything seemed to remain the same, it seemed that she had achieved it, although at that moment she was assailed by doubt.

"How do I know I haven't triggered the alarm? What if it's silent? I should've asked..." she lamented.

The vampiress had no way of knowing. She could cross back and wait outside, hidden, watching if anyone showed up. Of course, if the alarm fired every time, they would know she was out. She sighed.

"Let it be what it has to be," she finally assumed.

She didn't know if it only detected when crossing or if it had more range. Therefore, she kept Disguise for a little over an hour, when a level 34 snake wanted to attack her. It was obviously not the lucky day for the reptile, which was simply annihilated by someone more than ten levels higher.

She didn't stop more than to hide during the day, crossed the savannah at full speed in just three days, and reached the cave.

"Luck of this virtual map. If not, I'd be lost," she acknowledged.

She didn't hesitate to enter and cross the red circle, which led her to the beginners village. As always, there was no one there except the Oracle.

"Is he always here, or does he show up when I come?" she wondered.

Nonetheless, Gjaki didn't ask them the question, for she knew she wouldn't get an answer. However, there were some questions that they might be able to get some information on.