Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

A strange adventurer

He had leveled up to 28, unlocking Mana's Essence, a blessing that increases the power of the spells and whose compatibility was at 7. And now, he also had the Equilibrist skill. By spending one unit of energy per second, it allows to keep your own balance, using a spear as a circus professional would do, and which he had at 5. In addition, he had leveled up Dancing Axe, Javelin and Impregnable to 6.

"What is that?" Asked a girl, hanging on the rope.

"Looks like a fairy," said her brother.

"It's ... my assistant," replied the man, hesitantly.

He didn't expect the children to come down without him telling them, so he hadn't troubled about hiding his assistant, who was collecting the remains of the bears. He had gotten used to see it doing the job, and now it seemed even normal to him. But he wasn't sure what impact it would have on other people, although the children just looked curious.

They approached the assistant in wonder, and being ignored by it. They weren't disturbed by the bodies of the bears, since they were used to seeing hunted animals in the village, but they were surprised by how skilled the little fairy was.

"It's incredible! How do I get one?" Asked the boy.

"I want one too!" His sister joined.

"I don't know if they can be obtained anymore" Eldi answered, facing the disappointment of the children, that nevertheless didn't last long.

"You are very strong! Are you an adventurer? You do a lot of magic and use a lot of weapons!"

The man sighed. He could keep his distance from other people, but it was difficult in front of children who now idolized him.

"My name is Crahno. And you?" Eldi introduced himself, giving a false name, one of the identities he had used in the game for missions.

"I'm Ten," replied the boy, using his nickname, not his real name.

"I'm Tin," his sister introduced herself.

The man studied them in detail. They were quite similar. They even had the same dark blonde hair and light green eyes, although it was not difficult to differentiate them. Among other things, for their clothes, which were also quite dirty.

"Can you give me your clothes for a moment?" Asked the man.

The boy did it without hesitation, but his sister was more suspicious than Eldi expected for a seven-year-old girl. So, he took the boy's clothes and made them disappear for a moment, returning them completely clean, in front of the astonished look of the children.

"Don't look!" Demanded Tin, who soon found herself with the cleanest clothes she had had in a long time. They were somewhat torn but gleaming.

"Wow, it's amazing. How do you do it?" Asked the girl while circling on herself

"It is... a magic difficult to explain, and a secret," the man tried somehow to avoid the question.

He was not sure if showing it to them had been a good idea, mainly when he had so far decided to remain hidden. But it was difficult for him to keep his guard up in front of two children.

"And, tell me, how was it that the bears were chasing you?" Eldi asked, changing the subject, and somewhat worried that the children would have to relive a trauma. But he thought it was necessary to know what was happening, what situation he was in.

Far from being reluctant to explain it, the man had to be mediating between the two, who almost fought to be the ones who told him. In fact, the explanations went further, about the situation in the village. Or what they had heard that the elders said about the nobles.

Among the information he got was that he was probably stronger than any of the hunters in the village, as they didn't have prey whose level was high enough to level up. And that the money he had was perfectly valid, which was a relief.

He decided to escort them to the village, as it seemed a safe place to get more information. He also tried to make them promise that they wouldn't talk about his skills. Although he wasn't sure if two children would be able to keep their mouths shut, he had to try. The less was known about him, the better.

Another reason to escort them was the existence of a magical leather platform in the village, which now nobody could use. Maybe he could teach them, since he met the requirements to be a teacher. But he had never done it, so he wasn't sure if he was capable. He didn't know how it could affect his strange condition of not being a native of that world. That is why he hadn't told them anything, so as not to create false hopes.

And he also wanted to know more about that count who was taking children from the village to make them work as slaves, or that was what he had understood. It wasn't always easy to decipher the information from two children.

When they reached the carriage, the devoured corpses of animals and soldiers were everywhere. The children held tightly to the man's clothes, who was caressing their heads with affection, messing up their hair a little more. He wasn't used to a scene like that either, but he had to be strong in front of them, they needed someone to hold on to.

While trembling, they entered the carriage to regain their meager belongings, before leaving the place and heading towards the village. The assistants were in charge to recover what could be taken advantage of, including the weapons of the soldiers and what remained of their uniforms. They were no better than the ones he had, but perhaps they could be useful. However, he felt somehow guilty for doing so. While it was normal in the game, and he had done it almost without thinking, now it didn't feel good to steal from the dead.

Be that as it may, it was already done, and he couldn't go back to return what he had taken, especially without the children noticing. They hadn't been aware of the coming and going of the silent assistants behind them, as they were pointing towards their village and explaining how they live.

The main activity was hunting and the fur trade, along with some agriculture, although apparently taxes had risen in recent times. That had made their lives more difficult than in the past, when they also had artisans capable of magically treating the skins that now were being sold directly, and at a lower price.

However, all this was what he had understood from the perception of two children, so he hoped to confirm and detail that information in the village. He would have liked to have more discreet clothes, but posing as an adventurer didn't seem like a bad idea. In fact, he was. He even had two different adventurer's plates.