Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Penultimate boss (II)

While she was regaining her mana, and they were having a quick snack, the disc boss had stopped, remained hidden and was recovering from the damage suffered. It wasn't much, compared to its health, though it couldn't fully recover before the second round.

"We continue as before. This time, I'll dodge it," assured the lynx.

"Be careful," pleaded her sister.

It is true that she had been able to heal her, and she was back in her peak condition, but the elf couldn't bear the image of her sister suffering. Or even that something worse could happen.

The lynx attracted her enemy again, which pounced on her as it had done on the previous occasion. The first time was relatively easy to dodge, as it was still accelerating, but the second time, when it bounced off the wall, it had already reached the peak of its speed.

However, this time the feline had stayed in the middle of the cavern, away from the wall, so with more time to react. And, besides, the second attack hadn't taken her by surprise. She was ready to dodge even before the boss changed directions.

Meanwhile, the archer was firing the Light Arrows three at a time. She was aiming at the area where her target would arrive, and didn't miss a single time. Her marksmanship and trajectory calculation was as commendable as it was natural, as if she had been doing it for a long time.

In fact, in her home world, she had a great ability to rescue crockery that was about to hit the ground, and was very skilled at playing darts. What wasn't clear was whether her natural ability had been transmitted to Jorgaldur in some way. Or if perhaps the reverse process had occurred, so she had brought with her a portion of what she had perceived in the real part of the game. Or if it was just a coincidence.

But that wasn't what was going through Goldmi's mind at the time. She was fully focused on her goal and her sister, and wasn't surprised when the huge disc made its way towards her.

She had taken a few steps forward, partly to get a better angle to fire, and partly to draw it in, so relieving her sister of the pressure, even for a moment.

As planned, she immediately used Fallback and Twister. The latter isn't very effective against this type of enemy, as it is difficult to get them inside, but, this time, it had come directly.

The Twister wasn't able to damage it for long, nor was the slashing damage the most effective, but it was still a good mana investment. After having passed through it during the going and the return, the boss had suffered far more damage than with a few arrows. Plus, it had the added effect of slowing it down a bit. However, the effect didn't last long, as it soon accelerated again.

With time to prepare, and while taking advantage of the slower speed, the lynx not only came closer to the boss, but also counterattacked. By joining Shred and Purifying Touch, she made her claws to pierce through the semi-ethereal body of her enemy, so she added a bit of damage. To be able to do more than just dodge was comforting, despite the fact that her sister nearly had a heart attack.

They kept up the same strategy the entire time, only stopping to rest in the safety of the tunnel when their reserves were depleted. However, when they managed to lower the vitality of their enemy to approximately 50%, something unexpected happened: the boss Split in two.

"Sister, come back!" the elf yelled, scared.

"No need, I can handle this," her sister refused.

Although the tone of voice was no longer as cheerful as a few moments ago, when she was boasting of having gotten used to dodging her enemy. Now, she was serious.

Fortunately, the trajectories of the discs were telegraphed. They were always going in a straight line towards their target. Therefore, she only needed to move once they hit the wall. The problem was that now she had to do it more quickly, even jumping twice in a row more than once time.

It was more tiring and dangerous. She could no longer afford to play shred the disc, but she had it under control. Of course, when they stopped for the elf to recover her mana, she took advantage of it to rest and recover energy. The only good thing was that each disc had its volume cut in half, so they seemed somewhat less dangerous.

Goldmi, for her part, had no major problems. She simply chose a target, with the aim to finish it off. She guessed that conditions like having to eliminate both of them at the same time, as sometimes had happened in the game, were absurd in the current circumstances.

Here, her attacks dissipated mana, which is the effect that wounds inflict on dungeons' beings, so such a condition was meaningless. Therefore, it seemed a better idea to kill one than to damage both equally. By reducing the number, the risk was reduced.

But problems can always get worse. By the time the health of one of the discs reached close to 25%, it Split again, so increasing the pressure on the feline. It was when, after a few rebounds, one headed towards the elf, that they realized a small detail: now two of them could fit in the tunnel.

"Sister!" a frightened lynx called her this time.

Goldmi ducked in time. Then, she looked back, surprised by the attack, to see the light from the disc receding, then getting closer again.

She quickly left the tunnel and stood to the side of the exit, thus leaving the boss' slice to emerge shortly afterwards. And she stepped back in when another disc came toward her.

The situation was clearly much more dangerous. It was enough that the elf was no closer than the feline when they bounced off the wall, but it wasn't an easy thing to accomplish. They might have succeeded with one, but not with three.

And Goldmi wasn't quite sure she would be able to dodge them if she went to the center of the cavern. Besides that, it would be more difficult to attack from there. So she made a somewhat risky decision. They would do as before, though unable to rest, and assuming they could attack her. If she could, she would dodge the attack. And, if not, she would have to endure the pain while healing herself. She hoped her armor could lessen the damage. And, in the worst case scenario, they would have to withdraw.