Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Corrupt forest

Gradually, the sensation of feeling watched was reappearing and gaining strength, as if dozens of small eyes were joining his invisible stalkers. He was increasingly certain that it was a product of his imagination, for it made no sense. He convinced himself that it was due to the mixture between Bat's Hearing and the many beings of that forest that may be watching him as he passed.

He decided to go directly north and not venture further east. His goal was to arrive as soon as possible, there was no point in worrying about leveling up on the road. Of course, if a huge two-headed snake attacks you, you have no choice but to defend yourself.

It was similar to the also huge snake that had attacked him days ago, but, at the height of three quarters its body, it was divided into two, forming a head at the end of each fork, heads that acted independently one of the other.

Eldi wondered if it was some kind of evolution of that first snake, since he couldn't know that it was actually one of its methods of reproduction. They could mate and lay eggs, or split into two, although it isn't known when that division happens, or what is the trigger, being still a mystery today.

Although it seems the opposite, two heads don't make the snake a more formidable predator, and, knowing its weak point, he didn't hesitate to attack it with Burning Spears. The mana cost might be high, but so was the effectiveness against that two-headed reptile. This time, the attacks were concentrated on the heads, so he could obtain a greater amount of unburned snake skin and uncooked meat.

He didn't meet many more forest dwellers who dared to attack him. Most beings are very clear that it is dangerous to face an unknown enemy, because everyone who lives there has some ace in their sleeve, be it poison, magic or brute force. And since that two-legged being didn't hide, and had the smell of snake blood on his clothes, they assumed he was dangerous. Unless they were desperate, they preferred to be satisfied with their usual preys.

It took a few days to reach his destination. The first thing he noticed was that the feeling of being watched was disappearing again, just as the forest was becoming quieter. But it wasn't until he climbed a small hill and a tree, that he finally began to understand the magnitude of the problem.

Lidia had already tried to explain it to him, although she had insisted he had to see it with his own eyes. And so it was. Just a couple of kilometers from his position, there was a small creek that separated the forest into two. The problem was on the other side.

It looked partly the same forest, and at the same time completely different. The color was darker, and a vicious aura could be perceived, unnatural. Or, as his daughter had defined it, it was as if life had been corrupted. He hadn't seen it in the game, because, apparently, it had begun to happen a few years after the visitors left.

It wasn't known how it had begun, which had been the first corrupted, but it did behave like an epidemic, attacking living beings and corrupting them, making them one of them if they were unable to defend themselves.

The forest and its inhabitants, including the elves, had reacted in time to control that plague, to not to let it advance, but they hadn't been able to destroy it, to destroy the ultimate cause of that corruption, whatever it was.

All those who wanted to go into that place to reduce the amount of beings that had been corrupted were welcome, provided they met the minimum requirements. What the forest guardians didn't want under any circumstances was that they become one of them. It was, therefore, an ideal place to level up and, at the same time, lend a hand, since there were enemies to spare.

As he approached, the sense of danger provided by Bat's Hearing was increasing, although never reaching that of imminent danger. Given the distance he was, it was clear what the hostility of what had once been a splendid jungle was.

Suddenly, a couple of elves met him. He was surprised, although he expected it sooner or later. He knew that these guarded the entire perimeter, making sure to rise an alert if something strange happened.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

There was firmness, although no hostility. They were accustomed to meeting new adventurers, although he had come from an unusual path. They had detected him a couple of days ago, and they had been watching him, having discovered nothing strange about him, apart from his appearance. Although their knowledge about humans wasn't enough to ensure if it was strange or not.

"They told me to ask about Melingor," Eldi replied, just as his daughter had suggested.

The elves looked somewhat nervous, not caring that he hadn't answered their question. Melingor was an important and powerful elf, and, coincidentally, he had been in that area for a few days, with the order to be informed of any arrival.

It was unusual for someone like him to be for so long in a relatively low level area. And while he hadn't been idle, having been actively helping, watching and training other elves, everyone was sure that there was some other reason for him to be there. When the newcomer asked about him, the first thing they thought was that he was the reason, so they treated him with extreme care, afraid of making a bad impression to their superior.

He was escorted to the checkpoint, a fortified camp with a capacity of a hundred inhabitants, and taken to a small room, where he was served a refreshing fruity drink and asked to wait.

It took some time for another elf to appear. His long dark blond hair was tied in a ponytail, long enough to get to half his back, and he wasn't as clean and spotless as would be expected of an elf in a fantasy novel. Nor was his constitution, quite muscular. He had several small recent wounds already closed, and some older scars, and his outfit was austere and worn. It gave the impression of a veteran warrior.