Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Beginner's area (I)

She stood for a while, looking at what had been the cave from which she had emerged. The collapse had scared and startled her, but not as much as its meaning. There was no going back.

She didn't doubt about even for a moment that this was the reality, that she was in the game, that she hadn't survived the surgery. She didn't know how, but she knew it, she was completely sure of it.

Others would have thought it was a dream, but not her. Somehow, she had always felt a strange connection to that fantasy world, and now she knew it was real. She turned her gaze to the huge square, while the wind caressed her hair, making it swing to its beat.

"It's blond, like in the game. It seems that my body is the one of the game. It's a pity that I don't have a mirror," she said to herself, while brushing the hair away her eyes. "This is annoying. In the game, I could easily change the hairstyle. I have to find something to make myself at least a tail. A braid, like the one back then, would be even better."

The moment she thought about it, a kind of fairy appeared in front of her, leaving her bewildered. Immediately, the fairy went to her back, disappearing from sight. She turned to her, but only managed to catch a glimpse of her silhouette. The fairy seemed to want to hide behind her, like a mischievous girl playing hide-and-seek.

Then, she noticed that her hair was being pulled back extremely smoothly and quickly. She turned back to the other side, glimpsing the fairy figure again, who, this time, was clutching the blond hair. And She lost sight of her when the hair too followed the movement of her head.

For a moment, she was paralyzed, unable to understand what was happening, but it was only surprise. At no time did she feel fear of that figure, only a strange familiarity. It was then that she realized what the little creature was doing. It was the same feeling as when her mother braided her hair as a child.

"Is she making me a braid!?"

She stood still, waiting, feeling how her hair was skillfully straightened. It didn't take a minute before it was over, and the fairy was gone, after which she grabbed the braid, that reached to the middle of her back, and brought it in front of her eyes.

"It's... perfect... like in the game. Hey, little fairy, whatever your name is, wherever you are, can I see you?" she called, speaking to the void.

It was like calling a ghost, it seemed a bit ridiculous, but the fairy simply appeared in front of her, looking at her with her blue eyes and blonde hair, tied in a braid like hers. In fact, she looked like a copy of herself in the game, though her skin had a metallic sheen.

She stared at the fairy for a while, and even stroked her, without her even flinching.

"You're like a doll," she said, but there was no answer.

After observing her for a while, she thought that perhaps she shouldn't have her floating there, at which point the fairy somehow got inside her and disappeared. It seemed like a strange dream to her, but she was sure it wasn't.

"If this is a game, can I somehow see my stats?" she wondered aloud.

And just as she spoke, these appeared in her mind.

They were similar to the game, there was even a schematic image of herself, showing the equipment she was wearing at the time. Although, after seeing the fairy, she wasn't even surprised.

She discovered that she was level 1, something that seemed normal to her, since she was in the starting area, and had just arrived to the world. What did strike her as odd was that there was a gray 100 next to the 1, as well as most of her spells and skills were like this. Only a few appeared bright.

Also, her parameters of strength, agility and the like were very low, those of the initial level, although much higher ones were also in gray, right next to them.

She tried using one of the gray spells to no avail, and then one of the glowing ones, specifically Life Detection. She felt then as if she could sense all life about two hundred meters around, though she only felt the faint aura of the grass.

"There is no one," she muttered to himself.

In the past, this area had been full of new players and trainers, but now it was just an empty place. But she didn't need a trainer either, because her profession was the same as in the game, druid archer. It has a powerful ranged attack and can defend itself against in melee, in addition to having the powers of wind and nature.

"They aren't here," she said sadly, looking at an area of her stats that was completely covered by a thick fog.

There, there should be the faces and names of the animals with whom she had established a bond, those whom the players called pets, and whom she had always referred to as her sisters. That was what they had called her when they had established the bond, and that's how she had called them ever since. In fact, she had always felt that this bond was somewhat special, that she had really felt attached to them. However, now that bond didn't exist, as if it had been broken or never had been. Or as something worse.

A shiver ran through her entire body at the thought that they might have died. She clenched her teeth, refusing to accept that possibility, trying to convince herself that they were alive, that she would find them.

And they weren't the only ones she wanted to find. There was also an elf that she had saved in the past, on a unique mission, an elf that she had visited very often in the game. She blushed slightly at the thought of that impossible love she had never forgotten.

"Will I be able to see him again? Will he remember me?"

She had no answers for it, not yet. And to search for them she had to become familiar with that world, perhaps even be able to fight. And for this she needed weapons. The problem is that the trainers who were to provide them weren't there.

"Maybe...?"

She only thought about it for a moment, and an immense space appeared in her mind, showing her all the objects that were in her inventory. Without hesitation, she chose a level 1 bow and arrows that she had saved long ago as a souvenir. She had never thrown anything away. She didn't even consider choosing the highest level ones, or trying them, assuming the rules from the game.

Bow in hand and arrows in a quiver behind her, she walked down the hill toward the abandoned square.