Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Tangled rabbits (II)

It took her just over an hour to get to level 68, and it was just an hour before sunrise when she reached level 69. She decided to rest for the day, and send Brurol home.

However, he not only refused, but he offered to roast as many rabbits as she wanted. Seeing that the boy's mouth was watering just thinking about it, she was unable to refuse.

She searched for a more suitable site to place Shadow Protection, and made him promise that he would say nothing about her. She even made a blood pact with him, by making a small cut on him, and merging a drop of her blood with his. It didn't really have any effect, but the boy didn't know that.

She then took him into the tent, and wanted to bathe him, as she had done with the goblin children, while he was looking around in wonder. However, he insisted on bathing alone, because he "was already an adult". She just shrugged and let him do.

Later, she allowed him to roast a rabbit, without fear of it being spoiled, or that he could hurt himself. She could simply cure him, and there were hundreds of rabbits. In fact, she had to admit that he wasn't bad at it, although it was far from Diknsa's ability, and even more from the dishes that Goldmi had cooked in the past.

After that, Brurol tried to refuse to sleep next to the vampiress, and rebelled by refusing to close his eyes. However, he was being hugged for the first time in a long time, and in a quite comfortable bed, so he couldn't help but give in to exhaustion.

At 68, Gjaki had unlocked Advanced Telekinesis, which allows it to be applied to living beings. Caught by surprise, it can even make them float.

Shadow Corrosion is a spell a bit creepy. Imbues an enemy with dark mana, that slowly corrodes them. If they are unable to dispel it, they may die a slow and very painful death.

The first skill had been Lethal Rotation, whose name was more lethal than its execution, although it was still dangerous. It makes the whip spins on itself, which is very dangerous if it's covered in spikes. She had a few like that. In fact, she had bought one at level 68 to test that skill.

At 69, Lethal Thread had been retrieved. It makes the threads controlled by Live Thread much sharper, and deadlier.

The next day, she wiped out a few hundred more very quickly. Not only was her level higher, but while still using the same strategy, once Lethal Thread was added, it turned into a massacre. Without a doubt, the ability to defend in group, to attack their enemies all together, had turned against them this time. Still, there weren't enough to level her up again, especially now that her level was above most.

So, she returned with Brurol to his village, where she distributed some of the rabbits. Gjaki would have given them all, but they had no means to preserve them, not anymore. Besides, it could have ended up being counterproductive. If one of the vampire count's envoys discovered them, it would have put them in trouble.

Nonetheless, she won over the villagers with that. Her story was that some adventurers had hunted the vast majority of rabbits, and she had kept the leftovers. Since she couldn't take them all, Brurol, whom she had met by chance, had proposed to take them to the village.

That made the little orphan a kind of hero for a day. They even had a little party, because for once they had enough food. Added to that, there were some vegetables they had managed to salvage from the fields, now that there were hardly any rabbits.

It might only be a temporary relief, but for the villagers, who could only live hand to mouth, it was almost a miracle. In fact, Gjaki found strange that they could laugh, sing and party in their situation. The reason was simple, they just took what few opportunities they had to do so.

On the other hand, it was easy for her to get information about her target that the boy didn't know. Everyone wanted to talk to her, and not a few ranted about the tyrant, and vampires in general.

They were oppressed by them, so it was natural that they would hate them. Luckily, no one knew that she was a vampiress, as she was in disguise, and Brurol kept his word not to reveal it.

It hurt her to leave him there, but she couldn't take him with her, it was too dangerous. However, she promised to meet him again when she could, plus leaving some food rations hidden in various places. They weren't delicious, but they could last for years without spoiling.

Perhaps, what surprised the boy the most was that she was able to fix his cloak. It still looked old and threadbare, but it was working perfectly again. It was an easy task for a master tailor.

Although reluctant, he allowed her to bite him, so that the vampiress could leave a Blood Mark on him, and heal any wounds. He also accepted a dagger, although it was hidden with the rations. He couldn't explain it if they saw him with it.

He had to hold back his tears while watching her go. He just wanted her to come back soon. To him, the vampiress was the closest person to a family he had. Although they didn't treat him badly in the village, they couldn't take care of him either. There were others in a worse situation, since he, at least, could fend for himself, even though he was just nine year old.

Thus, the traveler who was actually a vampiress said goodbye to the grateful villagers. She would have wanted to do more, but it was too risky. They might discover that she wasn't who she claimed to be.

The most important thing was that now she had a plan. Her target also lived in a mansion, which he didn't usually leave. While it couldn't compare to Gjaki's, it did have respectable defensive measures. Since their levels were similar, with the disadvantage of the terrain, it would be more than dangerous to try to enter through the main gate.

She had found out that it wasn't easy to sneak in either. More than one spy had been caught trying. However, she wasn't a spy. She wasn't afraid of being found out, but that they would realize too soon.

Therefore, she had a method as risky as it was exciting to enter. She had used it in the past in the game, although back then, she wasn't putting her life in danger.

Perhaps, in other circumstances, Gjaki would have waited to level up a little more, to find another opportunity like the one with the rabbits. However, after seeing and hearing about the misery he had caused, she wanted to finish him off as soon as possible.