Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Unexpected discovery

They looked at him with curiosity, fear and expectation. Eldi nodded and began with Sanctuary, a spell that takes about five seconds to be cast, during which time he was being watched with suspicion by the warrior-moles who had made that place their refuge.

As soon as they began to notice the effects, from suspicion they went onto astonishment, which would increase after checking the effects of the other human's magic, both Regenerating and Basic Healing.

The healers-mole's healing magic has different characteristics to those of the high human. Its biggest advantages are that it can work at a much greater range, and that it is more efficient for minor injuries.

However, it begins to find problems if the wounds are more serious, needing to use a large amount of mana to treat them. For his part, to heal, Eldi needs to be very close and it is a deeper magic, which manages to heal the body little by little, no matter the severity of the wounds. Although, it can't regenerate limbs that have been severed. This requires a higher level magic that hadn't been unlocked yet.

Therefore, he was carefully observed by the healers-mole when he was casting it, and each of them was trying to learn one of them. The mole in charge of Sanctuary had managed, after much effort, to achieve a similar effect, with the exception that it only lasted ten seconds and its area of effect was a square centimeter. It had no use at present, but having gotten there gave him hope of being able to get it, although he may need several years.

Those in charge of Basic Healing and Regeneration had made more progress, since they were also simpler spells, but they were still far from being able to use them effectively. It should be said that Eldi had also observed and tried to imitate theirs, but he was far from mastering them. Among other things, because he was more interested in offensive skills, and because he had too many to test and remember. The Ceiling-fall was the one he had practiced most, and he had only obtained small improvements.

"What happened? Are you all right? Who...? Ah!" exclaimed the healer when she woke up from her long sleep, not yet fully recovered. She had been surprised to see unknown mole-people, and scared after seeing Eldi.

"Don't worry Hila, they are friends. He too. I thought I wouldn't see you again..." Guto hugged her.

She hugged back her elder brother, looking sideways at the others, and especially at that strange being who was with them. In fact, the ten of them were looking at him with distrust, but also with gratitude and some hope.

"They look fine, so they don't need you anymore. Come, let's see if you know what it is," Tica dragged Eldi.

Those who had just met him were surprised at the young woman's familiarity with the human, but the others weren't. They had seen how the teacher had gained the favor of his students, and the gratitude and admiration of their people. In fact, if he weren't so ugly, he would have had more than one admirer among the young women-mole.

Eldi let her carry him away, he was used to the energetic young woman. He was also curious about the magical device that was in the highest level, and that they didn't know what it was for. They were accompanied by other warriors-mole, including two of the new ones. They were curious and didn't want to leave him alone.

The group went up to the fourth floor and then to the fifth, both as empty as the previous ones, and both surrounded by dangerous toads whose silhouettes and shadows could be seen sometimes. They had to be careful, because although the toads couldn't enter, their tongues could do, so they didn't approach the entrances and were always alert.

"It can't be..." Eldi was surprised.

On the tube containing the magic that was feeding the gate's defenses, he found a familiar metallic object.

"Do you know what it is?" Tica asked, her eyes bright with excitement.

"I think so. Lend me your hammer."

She gave it to him, thinking he was going to hit it with the weapon. But, to her surprise, he just put it on top and placed his hand on the object. The hammer shone softly, after which he handed it back to the young woman, who examined it in surprise.

"It's completely repaired!" She admired. All the notches and small cracks had disappeared. It looked new. "Can I try it?"

"Sure."

She tried, and she wasn't the only one, but none of them got it, nor did Eldi know how to teach them how to use it. They had a strange feeling when trying, hard to explain, as if their magic was incompatible, not aligned, as if they were alien to it. The feeling that this wasn't created for them.

So Eldi had to do all the work of fixing the armor pieces and weapons, one by one, leaving the arrows until last, if there was time. It was an advanced version of the anvil in the Beginner's Village, one that could repair objects up to level 75, but always consuming twice the mana. He had a lot to repair, but also his mana was much higher than when he had been there.

In the game, there were anvils in all the capitals, but this city had been abandoned long before the game, which meant that they were magical objects from well before the game, and at least as old as the time that the Great Brotherhood had been evacuated.

But it wasn't all good news.

"We would have escaped, but they set us up. We couldn't believe that those toads had the intelligence to do it, but they did. We were lucky to escape here," explained a woman-mole of level 46, the strongest in the group, and who had been convalescent until recently.

"Then, we saw a toad bigger than the others, with black stripes. It seemed to be the boss, and was much stronger than the others. We guess it is an awakened," added Guto.

Everyone frowned. An awakened was a beast that had ceased to be a beast, by acquiring an intelligence superior to that of its kin. They were anomalies in that area, but more common as their level rose. At level 100, all beings have a certain level of intelligence, while, at 50, it is unusual. In 60, it is unusual, but not extraordinary.