Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Underground attack (III)

The vampiress and the high human stared in horror at the huge approaching mouth. They looked at each other, and, without saying a word, pushed their feet against each other. Gjaki used Blood to the Feet for it, while Eldi relied on Kangaroo Power.

As they spread apart, they could feel the air pressure produced by their enemy's rapid ascent, which threw them further back. More threatening though was the sound of its jaws closing and engulfing a Burning Golem and a Darkness one.

It was a spell the vampiress rarely used, but in a moment of dubious inspiration, she had decided to use a spell to match the high human's. She knew that darkness wasn't very effective against corrupted beings, but in this case it wasn't that relevant. Perhaps, the damage the Golem would inflict wouldn't be great, but it would take time to dissipate. Just like darkness magic wasn't very effective against the losts, it couldn't be easily countered by them either.

Although not fatal, the fall could be extremely painful, with a good chance of breaking a leg, or both.

Gjaki could use Glide, though she would risk exposing her identity as a vampiress, since the membranes of her skill were too obvious a clue. She wasn't sure how much of a problem that would be.

Eldi could use Helicopter, though he wasn't sure if it would make it in time, as the skill was slow to initiate.

It wasn't necessary. Skillfully, the vampiress stepped onto a Wind Step provided by Goldmi. Another appeared a moment later just where she had expected it, and another, and another. She jumped down from step to step, to the surprise of some spectators. The spell was unusual, though not extremely exotic. However, the ease and elegance with which Gjaki jumped from one to the other was striking.

More ordinary was Eldi's performance. He needed Balance several times to stay upright on those strange Wind Steps, and it was evident that he had a hard time jumping from one to the other. To some extent, that relieved most of the adventurers, who were feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the vampiress' agility. Seeing someone a little clumsier, like them, was comforting.

Although they didn't have much time to admire the scene either. The flow of enemies was continuous, although the number of holes through which they emerged was limited. Perhaps, the most annoying was the worm that had attacked Eldi and Gjaki, as it could easily enter and exit the terrain. It had hidden after the attack, and everyone feared its next charge.

Therefore, they had reinforced the ground under their feet, thus preventing it from taking them by surprise.

What they didn't know was that a Burning Golem was burning inside, although it was also being corroded by the miasma. The Darkness Golem was pounding at its guts, seemingly immune to that very miasma.

It had all happened very quickly, and no one had realized that it had gobbled up two mana Golems, which were now attacking the soft tissue of the corrupted worm.

A snake was split in two, thanks to the fact that the continuous blows of the three adventurers had always hit at the same height. They stepped aside, as they knew that, before dying, it would expel its corrupted poison. A Mana Dome was cast by an attentive mage. It prevented the poison from spreading beyond the surroundings of the hole, thus avoiding possible damage.

As soon as the snake disappeared, a milliblades took its place. It was an evolution of a millipede, in which its legs had become dangerous bladed weapons.

Its greatest weakness was the joints that separated each of the segments of its body. These segments consisted of two legs and the body, and were protected by a kind of scales. Attacking the joints could restrict the insect's movement, although there were too many of them to make it a viable strategy, in general.

However, there were no less than a dozen archers there, whose aim was unerring. They looked at each other for a moment to divide the insect as they were placed, and began to shoot normal arrows. Afterward, they expanded to one side or the other of their initial shot, crippling more and more of those joints.

From time to time, they all glanced at the elf in admiration. She could shoot the arrows three at a time without losing aim, and they had seen her use other skills and spells. Furthermore, although slightly low level, her equipment was of high quality.

Soon, the milliblades lost the ability to turn, as its body became rigid from having lost the flexibility of its joints. That prevented it from fending off flanking attacks, and it could barely change direction. That way, it was very easy to restrict its movement with a simple rock that the insect was now unable to climb. It had become a sitting duck.

Eldi reinforced one of the exits that seemed to have more problems. The corrupted mole's skin was unexpectedly tough, which had allowed it to survive until now. Its long journey through the underground had allowed it to temporarily absorb some minerals to harden it.

That in itself wouldn't have been a big problem, since it was enough to weaken it little by little. Behind it, however, there were several corrosive slimes, capable of finding their way through the gaps left by the mammal. Therefore, now they had to face two slimes and a mole.

Scratches was usually not very efficient, as it only dealt superficial damage. Against the gelatinous body of a slime, it could penetrate much deeper, though the slashes weren't very effective against an enemy capable of splitting and coming together at will. Nonetheless, the axe was imbued with Purifying Touch, so each slash seemed to burn the slime and undo its essence.

He glanced at the elf, and she nodded. Therefore, the high human dropped his axe and drew the spear he was carrying on his back. He preferred not to take anything out of the inventory unless it was essential, so as not to attract even more attention.

He swung it against the slime to pierce a hole, and then, he removed it. Normally, a hole that wouldn't take more than a few seconds to disappear wouldn't be very effective, but a few seconds was enough for a Light Arrow to enter it. When it closed, the arrow's purifying power was trapped inside the corrupted slime, continually purifying it.

Eldi then dodged the mole with Feline Response, which landed on his previous position with Trample. He could have dodged it normally, but he had needed a bit of time to create a Burning Wall, onto which his enemy fell.

The other adventurers took the opportunity to expose the other slime. The mages' magical attacks pulverized it.