Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Through the forest

He woke up early, fading the fragility of his dreams away with the dawn. He wanted as much sunlight as possible for his trip to the village, and after a frugal breakfast, he made sure, before leaving, to spend all his mana and energy to raise his skills a bit more, recovering with the sacred water. Eldi had been doing it since he went back, every five minutes, and Earthen Wall was at 8.

He looked at his refuge without knowing if he would return there, with a strange feeling of abandonment to what had been his first home in that world, if only for a couple of days. Maybe he would come back later or maybe he would stay in the village, that's something he didn't know yet. But he knew that the forest before him was as beautiful as treacherous.

He walked along the same route that was clear on the map for having traveled the previous day, and then went further, blindly. He ran from time to time, when his energy was at maximum, both to go faster and to train Rabbit Spirit, and only until dropping to 75% stamina.

Eldi found a couple of snakes that were watching him from some branches, and he preferred not to stop in the trees to try to attract and kill them, before the danger of being poisoned. Only one was found within reach of his axe, and this weapon was highly effective against them, when at the same level.

He also had problems when thousands of ant-like insects, from which emanated magic that made him fear that they could be even more dangerous, surrounded him. But the use of the Earthen Wall to lift up and jump from one to the other allowed him to escape them.

Later, he found a black deer, abyssal as shown in its sheet, level 15 and that represented a threat well above his abilities. Luckily, it didn't seem interested in him and just kept nibbling on some plants while looking at him out of the corner of its eye. But when it suddenly raised its head and fled, Eldi was certain that something dangerous was near.

He ran in the deer's direction, heading to the village and leaving behind the Sacred Spring and the threat which may be approaching. Although he hadn't seen or heard anything, the attitude of the abyssal deer and his own instincts told him not to stop.

It was not until a few minutes later that he stopped to rest and eat something, because he could not keep that pace for long without risking his stamina reserves. He was looking in the direction from which he had come, but couldn't hear or see anything. And that was precisely what bothered him, because until now the forest hadn't been so silent.

He got up again, trying to get away from that silence and the strange feeling of oppression that he didn't understand but was pushing him. But it was worse when the sound of footsteps became louder, trotting towards him. And after a while, a black animal, two meters tall and three meters long, appeared behind him: a level 15 abyssal bear.

The huge beast, black and with a horn on its head, gave off the unmistakable fragrance of magic. It had detected that strange being in its domain and had followed his trail, perceiving that he wasn't a troublesome prey.

Even being slower than the wolves, it was faster than the high human trying to flee from him, so he raised a wall that surprised the hunter. But after verifying that it was only compacted earth in the shape of a wall, it destroyed it with Rapid Claws, ramming the next wall without hesitation, crossing it and not allowing him to gain time again.

He tried the ice, but it creaked and broke under the weight of its powerful legs, with hardly any effect, and while the beast was getting dangerously close.

Then he cast another wall to lift up to the branch of a huge tree, to almost four meters high. A strong pain arose in his back when the claws of the bear went through it and the wall collapsed. Clenching his teeth and using his healing spell, he managed to keep his balance and not fall prey to the jaws that were awaiting him below.

He managed to get on the branch and climb up to the next one, to make sure he was out of reach. He finished healing before seeing how the bear, without the slightest hesitation, approached the trunk and began climbing up easily.

Eldi climbed up another branch, and another, while the bear continued its relentless pursuit, climbing skillfully and cornering him on a branch.

The bear advanced on the branch to the point that it could not support its weight, so the beast began to shake it, trying to break the branch and forcing Eldi to hold on tightly to not to fall. Before, he had tried to shoot arrows with fire from above, but the armored skin of the beast was immune to a difference of ten levels.

Eldi managed to reach a lower branch, but the bear followed him and attacked the branch again, forcing him to make a decision. Finally, he created a new wall and jump on it, expecting for the earth to cushion the blow. And, although it was, the six meters that separated him from the wall caused a painful fall.

With no time to regret, he got up and lost a few precious seconds to get out from the sand he was buried, using the hammer to pull it apart, and while he healed. Then he continued his race towards the village, close to despair, since the bear soon reached the ground and pursued him.

The beast crossed a new wall to find that its prey had changed direction, using the wall as a smoke screen. As soon as the bear stopped, a new wall grew under it, trying to gain a little more time, but it only gave him a few seconds.

He used the wall a couple of times in this way, exhausting his reserves and praying that those hunters and adventurers he had feared to meet would now come to his aid. And it was when, once again, the bear approached dangerously, that it stopped before the barrier that Eldi had crossed, the one that covered the beginner's village.

He collapsed on the ground while seeing that everything was as he remembered except for a couple of details: there was a black bear looking at him from outside, and it was like a ghost village.