Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Competition

Skullsmash and Bonescrusher looked at each other defiantly, baring their teeth.

"3, 2, 1, go!" a red-haired barbarian girl gave the start signal.

She watched excitedly as her great-grandfather and her great-great-aunt each opened a Gate and disappeared. Unfortunately, she didn't get to see what happened after that, but she did get to see the fighting between several of her grandparents, great uncles, uncles, and even her parents and some of her cousins.

Taking advantage of the fact that they had to wait, what better than to entertain themselves with blows? Whenever they met, they took the opportunity to measure their forces, in a rivalry that never allowed things go the wrong direction. Although aggressive and fond of hitting each other, none of them wanted to face the wrath of the two visitors.

"This time, the victory will be mine," a robust barbarian man who was wielding a huge mace challenged.

"We'll see about that," a muscular barbarian woman, who was brandishing a no-smaller club, accepted the challenge.

They all looked at the two contenders with interest, even though they had seen them fight dozens of times. Both children and adults began to shout excitedly, encouraging one or the other.

Smashy crossed the Gate and appeared in the room of an inn. Without a second thought, she jumped out of the window, landed two floors below, and shot into the dungeon. None of the guards tried to stop her, they were already warned.

Some kind of blackish wasp tried to attack her, but she slapped it away without slowing down. She didn't even care that it might sting her. She couldn't stop.

The floor boss was a giant wasp which barely had time to try to sting her. The barbarian didn't even bother to dodge it. Instead, she split it in two with her huge axe, along with the rest of its body.

She then cut it horizontally, and into small pieces later, until it disappeared completely. She didn't care if it split in two when phasing. It had barely taken twenty seconds, but still she clicked her tongue. It seemed too long to her.

Without pausing, she crossed the passage to the next floor.

Crushy appeared in his own room of his respective inn. Like her sister, he jumped out of the window and went into the dungeon. In his case, in the first floor there were worms. He simply stepped on them and left them behind. Sometimes, they were even killed.

A group of rookie adventurers were facing a pair of those mana worms, when a figure crossed between them, pushed them away, and destroyed their enemies.

"I'm sorry!" Crushy exclaimed.

The adventurers didn't have time to complain, as each received a potion of their own level, although of high quality. He had launched them. If he gave them another potion, they were willing to be pushed again.

The boss worm was squashed over and over again, until it disappeared. It didn't even have the chance to shoot its goo through its mouth. No doubt, it would have been even faster using some of his powerful skills, but they were forbidden in the race.

Wasting no time, he rushed to the next floor.

Floor by floor, they flashed past, thus astonishing the adventurers they passed. There was no danger for them in those dungeons, at most tripping and hitting a wall. Nonetheless, their heads were quite hard.

Around the same time, after beating the final boss and finding the tunnel, they smeared themselves with an oily substance and went through it. They were quite muscular, so the tunnel was narrow for them. It was the greatest challenge of the dungeons.

Thanks to the fact that their body was now quite slippery, they were able to propel themselves through the tunnels with some ease. Sharp edges that could cut their skin were simply ignored. They could always heal themselves later.

They each came to a puddle, collected the liquid, and teleported out of the dungeon. Immediately, they summoned a Gate and passed through it. They ran out, toward a platform, and jumped to grab one of the handles of a leather bag filled with the material of their bet. Whoever got there first got it all.

"I'm the first!" Smashy exclaimed, as she grabbed the handle and pulled it.

"I'm the first!" Crushy exclaimed, as he grabbed the other handle and pulled.

They looked at each other somewhat surprised.

"Ha, ha, ha," they burst out laughing.

"They've done it again. It seems impossible, but they've arrived again at the same time," Skullsplitter, one of Smashy's sons, refused to believe.

"We'll have to think about how to break the tie again," Shredbones, one of Crushy's daughters, despaired.

However, everyone burst out laughing. It was as hilarious as it was inconceivable.

Kan Golge watched the blood sample with fear, greed, and excitement. He had commissioned it many years ago, but without giving it excessive priority, which he now regretted. He would have wanted to know long before.

"She's an ancestral vampiress..." he murmured to himself with clear excitement in his eyes.

There were just a few drops of the Blood Queen's blood, from a cut in a fight. He wanted to test if he could control her, or at least get an advantage over her if needed. What the vampire hadn't expected was that result. She was the only other ancestral vampire besides himself. At least, the only one who wasn't hidden and protected.

"If I absorb her blood, it could heal me. I have to capture her," he told himself, unable to contain the desire in his voice.

Immediately, he called the guards, who hurried back. As soon as they were summoned, they knelt in respect and fear before their great-grandfather. Their parents, the ones who had turned them into vampires, had been turned by Kan Golge's children.

He didn't show any disappointment with the results, since he already expected them. Not even the children who had faced her in the Blood Wars knew much. Though he now understood how they had failed so miserably.

He had never understood how one of them had died, how she had been so reckless, but now he had a plausible theory. Probably, believing herself to be superior in lineage, she had wanted to subjugate her using her own lineage. Since it was just the opposite, the result couldn't be less obvious.

He ruled out attacking the mansion, as he couldn't afford to draw too much attention. In addition to the fact that the vampire wasn't sure if he could conquer it. He also knew that her prey had means of teleportation.

Although it wasn't easy for him to contain himself, he decided not to take drastic measures such as kidnappings, for now. He didn't know much about her yet, but she had certain contacts that he couldn't afford to alert to.

For the moment, many more troops and experts were sent to investigate her, to follow her. He needed a chance to get hold of that blood. At last, he had a viable alternative, but also a threat.