Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Determination

When he opened his eyes and looked at the tent's ceiling, he felt ashamed. Having lived ninety years, he reproached himself for his attitude the day before. Hard as they were, Eldi knew he had to face the problems instead of getting depressed and going to bed. The only excuse was fatigue, but it didn't satisfy him.

So he started with what he should have done the day before and, without getting up, went over the increase in his stats and what he had unlocked, lamenting, once again, the names chosen.

The unlocked skill was Dancing Axe, which damage and block for half a second at level 1 and five at 10, and can only be activated while wielding a two-handed axe. As he would later test, one move the axe around oneself while also turning around, something similar to the game but surprising to experience. The damage isn't greater than a normal blow, but it can give two per second if the target doesn't move away. The disadvantage is that the range is low, not being able to change position while it is active and being vulnerable to magic attacks. By now, it was it only at level 3 compatibility.

At level 10, the Vampiric Touch spell absorbs half of the damage done with the spellbound weapon, which in the game caused the healing one to have a marginal use, although he wasn't so sure that it would be like that in this reality. It allows recovering continuously from damage, making it easier to tank if damage can be dealt to enemies. In fact, in the game the skill was considered to be unbalanced, and Gjaki often complained that, by name, it should be hers.

"Good Morning."

"Good Morning," the Oracle returned the greeting without, once again, expressing any emotion.

He picked up the tent and went to the well, drawing water to wash himself, something he did behind an earthen wall. Then, he went to breakfast with the only other villager, who again rejected food, but didn't refuse to answer his questions.

"What kind of fairies are those that help me to pick up or harvest?"

"Ah! That's a good question. We suspect that they are the vestiges of developers' power, and that, somehow, they were always with you even if they weren't visible. And what is better, if they are destroyed, they reappear after a few minutes!"

Eldi didn't know what to think, especially because the impassive Oracle was clearly enjoying that subject.

"What about languages? Does everyone speak this one? How is it that I can speak it? Can I talk to other people?"

"The languages of the natives of this world with whom you spoke in the game have been printed on your soul, including this one, which is the most common. Therefore, you shouldn't have problems with most of the beings that inhabit these lands."

It was a relief for Eldi to know that at least the language wouldn't be a barrier, although the process of printing on the soul was confusing.

"Why can't mana or energy potions be made as in the game, while does the Sacred Spring work like that?"

"The body not only absorbs the mana, but filters and adapts it for itself. Mana can't be created from scratch or adapted as is, unless it was the most basic, the mana that has been purified through the earth for centuries and that returns to the cycle through its fissures, such as there are in each of the wellsprings. However, it has an impact on each organism absorbing that pure energy that also revitalizes the body, and therefore it takes some time to be able to assimilate it again."

Once again, Eldi looked at him confused. In a way he understood what the Oracle was saying, in another, he found it incomprehensible. In fact, for a scientist like him, the existence of mana, magic or skills was a fantasy. And yet, also as a scientist, he had to acknowledge the incontestable evidence. He might not understand it, but he had no choice but to assume it was real. If he had the opportunity, Eldi would investigate further.

"The beings I kill to level up, don't they suffer? Doesn't their death cause problems? Is it justified to kill them to have more power?"

"Some suffer, others don't. The undead don't suffer. Neither the inhabitants of what you call dungeons, because they are nothing but the physical manifestation of negative feelings and large concentrations of mana, which accumulates in those areas. For that reason they respawn again after some time, because these feelings don't disappear easily and the mana hardly disperses, except for the one that is absorbed by the mana stones that those who enter usually carry with them.

"The balance of the ecosystem can be altered if many die, as has happened in the past. If that comes to pass, a new balance will be reached, favorable for some, harmful for others, but difficult to predict.

"The opinions about justice or injustice of that action are as many as beings inhabit the world. There are those who believe that everything is justified to gain power. Others, that beings who don't speak with a comprehensible language don't have the right to be considered. There are those who believe that no living thing should be killed, unless it is in self-defense or in defense of your kin. Few care about those who aren't alive, whether they are undead or inhabitants of dungeons. There are those who differentiate according to intelligence. Those who contemplate the right to hunt to feed on the prey. In your case, what matters is what you believe. You must decide what your goals and what your limits are."

Eldi was silent for a long time. His goal was clear, find Melia. But to carry it out, he needed power, because the place where he could look for clues, where he had always found her, was level 100.

What were the limits? He didn't feel guilty for those he had killed, because he had done it defending himself, although it is true that this last time he had gone to the area with the intention of leveling up. However, causing excessive suffering didn't seem justifiable, unless there was no other way. Just as he didn't want to attack those who were not his enemies.

"Is there any dungeon I can go to? Or some area with undead?"

"None for a level lower than 20, which is beyond the blue circle. And there is no undead of your level but very far, crossing places with dangers beyond what is now within your reach."

It took time for him to make a decision. The one to explore the green forest, the one to defend himself, the one of not beginning the battles but not fearing to face them. He had the feeling that there was some hypocrisy in his position, but it was the best he had achieved to be at peace with himself, knowing that he couldn't give up his main objective.

He promised to be faithful to that determination, even if it was unpleasant or painful. And, at mid-morning, he went back to the green circle.