Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Encirclement (II)

When the encirclement was tight enough, Eldi and the lynx moved towards the herd. Goldmi attacked them all at once with Arrows Rain before her companions arrived. Gjaki stayed behind. She just made sure that they didn't escape. The Golems had already stopped as there was no longer enough space between them.

The hellhorses were unusual dungeon creatures. They were very skilled at escaping, but, when it was impossible for them to do so, they didn't react. They didn't act like a cornered animal at all. It seemed that only one type of behavior had been instilled in them, and they were unable to do otherwise. The real ones were much more dangerous.

For that reason, Eldi cut them down with ease, by swinging his axe with Slicing. The slow and powerful skill was very effective against those beings that no longer moved, as they had nowhere to run. At the same, he was training it.

The lynx relied on her usual method. She attacked the necks of the hellhorses, while the goshawk was too lazy to go down.

Goldmi approached once there was no need for her arrows anymore, as the encirclement had been completed with some Earthen Walls. She cast Skewer for training, a sword and dagger blow that was also slow and not easy to use in combat. In fact, both she and Eldi raised their skills to 6.

It didn't take long for them to annihilate the herd of mana beings. A slight increase in the brightness of their mana stones was the silent testimony of what had happened.

Thanks to the goshawk, it was easy for them to spot groups of prey much faster than most adventurers. Thus, they were able to repeat the tactic of encircling them, or of creating holes against the hellish wildebeests.

There were other beings, but they didn't form large herds, so they were less appealing to them. Only if they were within arrow shot would they attack them, although only a few predators came that close. Unfortunately for these beings, they couldn't simultaneously overcome the vigilance of the goshawk, that of the rest of the group, and the Alarms.

Therefore, at the end of the day, they had reached level 91. They decided to stay there until 92, as it was a very comfortable floor. It cost them six more days.

Not only did they need more experience, and the difference in level was smaller, but they had to travel longer distances to find large groups. This caused them to interfere with other adventurers, which meant that they were unable to move freely. Therefore, after reaching level 92, they decided to move on to the next floor.

At 91, Eldi had re-obtained Lightning Golem. It's fast, and its offensive power isn't bad, plus it can stun enemies. Its main flaw is that it lasts half as long as the others, or even less if it unleashes attacks. In the game, it was the most useful to him, so it was at 8.

The last Golem was the Rock one. It is extremely tough and slow. Its smash attacks are powerful if the enemy doesn't dodge them. Due to their slowness, he hadn't used them much in the game, so it was at 4.

The Bounce hammer skill was curious to say the least. After hitting one enemy, it can bounce off another, and another, hitting up to a maximum of ten if it is at that level. The main inconvenience lies in recovering the hammer, although it can be solved by having several. The skill was at 7, as it was very useful as a first attack. Therefore, it could hit seven enemies.

Lastly, at 92, there was the axe skill Chop. It can be used to Chop down trees, but also in combat. It can break through enemy defenses, especially if they are made of wood. Strangely, he had had to use it often in a few missions, where there were strong wooden defenses. So, he had raised it up to 10.

Goldmi had recovered the Wind and Light Dragon spells. They are powerful shots that don't require a physical arrow but a large mana drain. Said great consumption is rewarded by its destruction power in the form of wind or light magic. It is clear that the light spell is only effective against those vulnerable to this type of magic, thus being able to annihilate a corrupted being with one shot. They were at 7 and 2 respectively, as the Wind Dragon had been used it often, but only a few times each occasion due to its mana requirement.

Nature's Fury is a double-edged skill. It causes the plants to go into a rage, and attack all living beings non-plants, including the summoner. For this reason, it is important to take advantage of the time it takes for the plants to start moving in order to quickly leave the area of influence. Goldmi had tested it on that dungeon floor against a group of hellish wildebeests that were approaching, and had caused them no small amount of trouble.

Finally, at 92, there was Radar. It relies on the power of the wind to locate obstacles or enemies, although not with great precision. Since Life Detection is much more useful for detecting enemies, it only had occasional use. Besides, in the open field her winged sister was more than enough. Nonetheless, it was at 10, as she could easily level it up anywhere, as long as she had nothing better to do.

In order to proceed to the next floor of the dungeon, one had to defeat a powerful Hellish Tiger that was guarding the path. At least, that's how it should have been. Instead, there were many adventurers waiting for it to appear again.

It was a very popular challenge among adventurers, so they queued up to fight it. For one thing, the danger was minimal. If a group failed and was in danger, there were too many spectators for nobody to come to their aid. It was a humiliation in front of so many professional colleagues, although many would make fun of them only out of tradition. Most had failed more than once.

On the other hand, it was a kind of test, a ritual. Proving that a group was capable of surpassing it increased their reputation. It was something similar to a medal. So much so, that there was even a Guild envoy to record the feat.

None of the three companions was really interested, and the reputation of their group didn't matter to them. Among other things, their identities were fake.

The lynx was the only one with a real interest in facing the huge feline that guarded the pass, in testing her strength against such an enemy. Although her interest wasn't enough to stand in line for hours.

In fact, if they hadn't had to wait, all of them would have some interest in testing if it was like in-game. Since that wasn't the case, they simply advanced to the next floor. They left behind those who were waiting for the regeneration of the boss.