Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Dungeon fourth floor

Part of his armor had been completely broken after the explosion, specifically one of the boots, the front, and one of the shoulder pads, while the rest was damaged to a greater or lesser extent. He replaced those parts, while leaving the hammer apart, deciding to take the second one he had crafted in case he needed it. After the fight with the golem boss and after breaking the rock, its durability was at 5%.

The good news was that Steel Body had finally reached 9, and Frozen Wall 7. And, above all, his level was now 25, which allowed him to use the spear he had collected.

He had unlocked Frozen Aura and Bat's Hearing, before whose name he allowed himself to smile bitterly.

"Was it too hard to name it Radar?," he asked himself.

It is a switchable skill, which he had at 10, and allows detecting if there is any danger near, barely a few meters. At the highest level of compatibility, it detects exactly where the danger comes from, and consumes 1 energy per minute, which wasn't too much, since he could recover well over 200 every quarter of an hour at its current level.

He left the resting area, after having slept and had breakfast, although he had totally lost track of time and was unable to tell what time it was.

It didn't take long for his new skill to slightly detect a presence behind him. He didn't need the light of the lamp to see the figure of a kind of black dog wrapped in a dark aura, that was shining bright enough to be seen. It was a level 23 hellhound.

In the game, they stood out for their agility, but they were quite balanced monsters, with magical and physical resistance, attack, agility and some magic. They weren't easy to face but not too difficult, although you had to be careful with their Howl of Hell, which brings fear to your heart.

Wielding an axe imbued with fire, and carrying all the protections available, Eldi confronted that crimson-eyed dog, first testing with Shred. It isn't efficient for a single enemy, but he wanted to try it.

Although agile, it couldn't dodge the skill, but immediately counterattacked with Fireball. It is a powerful attack, but easy to stop with Magic against Me? And, since it didn't have quick attacks to overcome the man's magical defense, its magic was useless against him.

The dog used Hell's Howl, but it couldn't work while Lion's Heart was active. Of course, the latter had to be cast again every four minutes, which, added to having the ability to detect on, meant that the energy expenditure should be monitored.

The monster was able to dodge Boomerang, after which it tried to attack melee. But using Double Edge, Eldi not only restrained its attack but inflicted enough damage, in addition to that his Frozen Aura slowed it down, something critical for a being that relies on its agility.

The hellhound turned out not to be too dangerous adversaries individually, but in groups of up to four they were a challenge. It was usual to find them alone or in pairs, occasionally in groups of three and rarely four. But when this happened, he had to be very careful.

Four Fireballs could surpass his defense if they were thrown together and he couldn't dodge them. And although the damage was bearable, it didn't mean it was desirable. Also, unlike the golems, they didn't get in the way of each other. Their agility allowed them to attack from the four flanks, resulting in being Dancing Axe very useful to counteract them. However, he had to be very careful, because they could change tactics and attack with Fireballs, before which he was quite helpless while using the skill.

They weren't very intelligent monsters, but they did have good instincts despite not being exactly living beings. And that meant that he had to be especially careful.

Eldi also tried the spear, where Javelin wasn't always successful. Or the hammer, which was a bit slow even though the skills were useful. In the end, he decided that the axe was the best, partly because it was his favorite weapon.

It is also true that, as the confrontations accumulated, he was adapting to their way of fighting, while they started from the beginning every time. Only when facing several, he may not be able to dodge some Fireballs, and the melee skill Quick Claws was easily predictable by the darkening of the color of their eyes.

Thus, although it wasn't a walk as comfortable as the previous floor, he had no unbeatable problems, and Bat's Hearing avoided surprises. He continued to find magical veins of copper and tin, although in greater quantity. And he found a new type of fungus that is supposed to cause itching throughout the body. However, this wasn't something that was included in the game, so he didn't know how to process it, so he wondered if it would cost him to learn new recipes. From what the Oracle had told him, it would probably happen with spells and skills.

When, after long hours of exploration, he entered a larger cavern, he met the floor boss, as he had already done on the upper floors. This was a version of hellhound of double size, two heads and reddish aura. Had it been three heads, it would have been like the mythological beast Cerberus, which was what they called to one of the bosses of one of the highest level dungeons in the game.

He stayed at the exit of the tunnel, staring back at him, waiting for its first move, knowing that if he invoked an army he would be troubled. To get there, he had faced more than a hundred of those monsters, but not all at once. And although he thought he could face more than four at a time, he also believed that his limit was less than ten.

It didn't move, it remained watching from afar, which forced Eldi to make a decision. Little by little, and prepared to flee at any moment, he entered the cavern while being stared by four crimson eyes. He trusted that, like the rest of the bosses, it wouldn't move away from the next floor's passage, but he would soon realize his mistake.