Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Leveling up in group (I)

The other two groups, who had been about to come to his aid when he had been attacked by four enemies simultaneously, had been dumbfounded by the battle.

Meanwhile, the high human observed the damage in the thick tree. Once the effect of the spear had expired and disappeared, the hole that it had been able to burn remained. From that hole, he estimated that he would need six of them to bring down the tree, so, he created another four, throwing them one after another with Javelin, then waiting for the mana just spent to recover.

Only a kind of giant earthworm attacked him while he was waiting, trying to surprise him from underground, and coming into collision with some spears instead of him, which pierced and held it.

Its body is weak, and its greatest threat is in its attacks by surprise, especially if it manages to spray its victims with the potent acid it produces. Or if it manages to make them fall through the hole dug under their feet.

Unfortunately for the worm, Bat's Hearing had been decisive, so it had been helpless, totally exposed to its enemy. He didn't cut it, because he knew that it could regrowth from its fragments, so he used the hammer to crush those two meters until it disintegrated.

Shortly after, the tree trunk fell on its own weight, collapsing on the burned part, and disintegrating while falling. Without a doubt, it was a method of high consumption of mana, but also safe. He had avoided approaching those trees, that could become very treacherous, and behind which some enemies could be hidden.

He spent a few more hours testing different spells and strategies, even approaching a tree that had been isolated to check its danger. Several roots tried to trap his feet and, although it was easy to get rid of them with the axe, immobilized moments can be deadly if other beings attack you, in addition to easily tearing the skin if it isn't properly protected. Even the branches tried to attack him, but they were slow. He ended up destroying it using big axe blows, which was faster and more efficient than with the Burning Spears, but much more dangerous.

Finally, he returned to the camp with the other groups, determined to change his strategy. Once he had checked the situation, there were much more efficient ways to level up, as long as he got the right help.

During the lunch break, the looks and conversations had focused on the visitor, as many were listening to those who had been close to him. Eldi took the opportunity to speak with Melingor, who frowned at his father-in-law's proposal, not too much in favor of him going to higher-level areas. In the end, he accepted, as long as the interested parties agreed.

Unexpectedly, it was much easier than the elf had expected, as there was curiosity to see him in action, so it wasn't difficult to find those who agreed to form a group with him. In addition, the proposal wasn't especially dangerous or disadvantageous, rather the opposite. In the worst case, something inefficient, although that still remained to be seen.

Thus, Eldi went with a group of four archers, and a warrior. Although the archers can also fight hand-to-hand, they aren't so skilled, and the enemies can arrive fast, so they are usually only two, at most three, since the rest need to hold the line. Despite this, they accepted the formation of four archers and two warriors, always being prepared to flee if necessary.

They were even willing for one of the warriors to be Eldi, who was up to 4 levels less than the area they were going to, between 60 and 62. But that was what he precisely wanted, to face higher level beings to level up faster. And that the support groups to which he had given blessings also did, while he was leeching experience from them.

It was hard to convince them to remain static, waiting the warriors to attract the enemies, but after checking the effect of the Area of Attack on which they were waiting, they were excited to test how effective their arrows would be with all the blessings.

Eldi tried to get close enough to attack one of the trees, but two reptiles stepped out. Their appearance was similar to crocodiles, with garnet red skin, very fast on solid ground, and which could throw a kind of spikes with their tails, spikes that contained a dangerous poison.

He backed away, using Mill to defend himself from ranged attacks, and reaching the other warrior, who was behind a huge shield. He was an elf with somewhat darker skin than most he had seen there, and almost two meters tall. He was wielding the shield only to defend himself from those ranged attacks, a shield he would discard when it were time to attack, in favor of a powerful two-handed sword of a claymore-like design.

Since their ranged projectiles weren't effective, both reptiles had no choice but to approach to attack the high human and the elf, going through the two newly invoked Burning Walls. What they didn't expect was that, after doing so, they would enter within the range of the other four elves, receiving the attacks of their powerful arrows, which pierced through their skin more deeply than usual.

Seeing the arrows reinforced and accelerated with wind magic, Eldi felt some nostalgia, reminding Goldmi. However, he was unable to appreciate whether they were more powerful than her or less, since it was impossible to compare reality with the memories from the game.

Confused, badly hurt and enraged, the reptiles decided to ignore both warriors, ramming against the archers, but fell into the traps created around them with the help of Mole's Power.

"You're mine!" Omny, the elf warrior, exclaimed.

He left the shield on the ground and wielded his sword, piercing the reptile's skull with Brutal Stab, a somewhat slow and easy-to-avoid skill, but ideal for piercing the hard skin of the lost while it was trapped.

The high human took care of the other, crushing it with a hammer and several Devastating Blows. It is true that it had the negative effect of destroying the Icicles at the bottom of the trap, but he only had to invest a little more mana to renew them.

"Looks like a practice," laughed one of the elven archers, whose long blond braid was falling behind her.

"And then you'll complain that it's boring...," another elf made fun of her, so she stuck out her tongue, while the rest were smiling.

The ease with which they had ended those two losts had encouraged them, so they didn't hesitate to continue with the strategy "once again."