Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Beginner's village

Everything was just as she remembered. The shelves were full of ingredients, materials or tools, almost all in perfect condition, and there was almost no dust. However, there was no sign of the people. There were not even recent footprints, or hand or finger marks. It looked like a ghost village.

There was no doubt that it was the beginner's village, both from the barrier and her memories. Nonetheless, as in the beginner's area, there was no one.

"What does this mean?" she was puzzled and feeling disappointed at not finding anyone, even irritated.

She toured the place, while wondering if she should store all those ingredients, or if people, or ghosts, would appear in the morning.

She decided to wait, so the vampire tried the tailoring platform, and was delighted to see that she could use it perfectly, even more refined than in the game. The vampire felt capable of doing more and better designs, although, for the time being, she decided to continue surveying the surroundings.

She regretted not having learned the other professions. In the game, Gjaki could buy what she needed from those who had learned them. Or, easier, she could ask Eldi. Now, it would have been helpful, but there were no masters to teach her, or to buy recipes from. Unfortunately, there was no turning back.

She arrived near some circles, one red, one green, and one blue, which were supposed to take her to different leveling areas. She was tempted to try them, but it was all very strange, so she decided to do it later.

As she did so, she found some kind of anvil, and wondered if it could be used like in the game.

To her delight, the answer was affirmative, and soon her weapons were as good as new. She even repaired some arrows that she had used before, and her assistant had recovered.

She walked the perimeter, while hoping to find a victim to gain some experience, but there was nothing near. In general, the animals of the forest preferred not to approach that strange fluctuation of mana that prevented their passage.

So, instead of sitting around waiting, she decided to go back to the place that she hadn't been able to get out of her head after testing it.

Without hesitation, Gjaki sat down in front of the wooden mannequin on the tailoring platform, and began to manipulate it.

All of her designs from the game were there, but now they were clearer and, above all, less restricted. In the game, she had to stick to the rules imposed on it, but now she wasn't.

She could manipulate shapes, materials and colors at will, of which there was no longer a limit. Gjaki was excited, like a girl in a toy store, and she didn't know where to start.

Finally, she settled on an old crocodile pajama design, which she had abandoned in the past because it wasn't possible to create what she wanted. However, now it was very simple to transform her design so that the huge jaw of a crocodile, including teeth, emerged from the head. Making a serrated tail was a piece of cake. Molding it to be more adorable than fierce was just a matter of skill and imagination.

Once the design was complete, she gathered the materials, and let herself be absorbed by the platform, so her mind were linked to it. She felt that she could master it, command the materials to rise, cut, mix, sew.

From the outside, it looked magical. From the inside, it was like a fun puzzle where there were only need to follow the design created previously. Although it could be improvised and tweaked while it was being manufactured.

When she opened her eyes, on the mannequin was a crocodile-shaped pajamas, with a rather childish design. Next to it, there was an adorable stuffed crocodile that she had improvised while creating the pajamas, and now could be seen in her designs.

She couldn't help but laugh, both for the joy of creating it, and for imagining Eldi's resigned face, or Goldmi's, somewhat embarrassed at the thought of wearing it.

"It's weird. Those expressions weren't in the game. Maybe I imagined them?" she was surprised.

However, Gjaki remembered them perfectly, as if she had actually seen them in her companions. She didn't quite understand it.

The sun was almost up, so she put on her sunglasses, gloves, and the rest of her clothes to greet it. She was waiting for something to change, while savoring the penultimate piece of chocolate cake.

However, the sun's rays only illuminated the place. None of the villagers appeared, not even ghosts. Only the thin layer of dust that indicated that it had been abandoned not so long ago was clearer.

After waiting a while and walking through the village, she decided to rest, as she felt somewhat exhausted, and the sunlight made her sleepy. So, she looked for a place to set her castle-tent, although she earlier decided to take advantage of her mana to create a Portal mark in a covered place, next to the jewelry platform.

Then, she came in and settled on the bed, where she fell asleep while hugging a stuffed crocodile. At almost a meter in length, it was very soft, it matched her pajamas, and she felt comfortable sleeping while hugging something.

When she woke up, it was still daylight. The vampire looked the crocodile in the eyes and put it away, along with her pajamas. She dressed prepared to resist the sun's rays and left the tent. The village was the same, deserted. There weren't even ghosts. She sighed.

She remembered something and went back into the tent for a moment, then went out. She lifted one of her gloves slightly, thus letting the sun touch her skin, albeit indirectly. It didn't take long for her to feel a burn, and she put her glove back on. She let Self-Regenerate work on the area that had been burned, which didn't include the one she had covered with the sunscreen. It certainly worked.

It was then when she discovered a figure in the distance, sitting on a chair, in front of a table. She hesitated a moment before approaching, wary, concerned. It was still daylight, so she was at a disadvantage.

"The Oracle!" she exclaimed suddenly.

She had recognized that mysterious figure from the game. The mask with two expressions, a white part and a black part. Their clothes, with those same two colors. Their gaze, which was hidden from her behind their mask, but was directed toward her.

She approached without fear. She felt very familiar with that character in the game, as mysterious as they were essential. If she could get information from anyone, it was from them. Although they could also hide it from her. She sat across from them.

"Welcome, Gjaki, the vampire, the blood warrior. It's an honor to welcome the first visitor to return. You've really come soon," the Oracle greeted her.

Gjaki stared at them. The Oracle's words had confused her.