Chapter 107 – Lure (6)
writer:
Fei Yan update:2022-07-25 14:23
Brendel quickly recovered from the surprise and eagerly rushed to activate his Charge skill, moving across the terrain in a straight line, passed through the mercenaries and Elven infantry to swoop down into the thick of the fray. Dozens of Lizardmen rushed at him with their lances.
“Good! Come at me!” Brendel roared.
He activated Power Break and swung his sword to strike at the incoming weapons, knocking back the Lizardmen easily. With his current strength, he easily pushed back the Level 19 creatures.
He then took another large step forward, gripped his sword’s hilt tightly with two hands and swung it from right to left. The air instantly distorted and a translucent ripple could be seen rending the Lizardmen’s flesh and passing through them.
The foliage around him fluttered backwards freely from the Sword Rave’s shockwave. A series of green words and numbers filled his retina as the Lizardmen’s bodies separated into half. The enemies around him fell into a quick silence as they retreated in fear as the body parts were strewn in a fan-shaped area in front of Brendel.
There were only a few physical techniques that utilized thin air to wound the enemies other than magic and unsealed Elements. Medissa’s area of effect abilities did not come from her own Elven techniques but the Spectral Knight’s techniques. In order for a Silver Elf to do the same thing, they had to reach the peak level of 60 before possessing similar capabilities.
Brendel drew his sword back and changed his stance into a defensive one, taking time to breathe in properly.
Even though he killed only seven Lizardmen, the effect was more than enough to demoralize them. The Lizardmen nearest to him had their morale bars plunging to a red color, and they started to retreat away from him. The space around him was empty and gave enough time to check the amount of XP that he got.
[60 XP for these Lizardmen wielding a lance. A level 19 creature would give around 20 XP. I’m getting nearly three times the XP of a normal mob creature when I killed these lizards, this is just like how it is in the game. The Elven infantry got me 200 plus XP, I got 420 XP from my charge. If I kill a few Lizardmen leaders and the mobs around them, I’m going to level up!]
Brendel felt his blood burning hot. He was at 3200/7900 XP, and only had a chunk of XP required to get to reach level 25.
[Level 25 is a new checkpoint. Not only do I get a new talent, I can get the third ability from my profession. Along with that, I’m goint to be classified as a Silver ranked fighter, and only at the age of only nineteen. That’s at the level of a ‘Blessed’ character!]
Even though Brendel had never looked down on his NPC status, he was quite irritated to see ridiculous talents popping up around him with Gold-ranked abilities and stats.
[Or maybe I should target the level 25 dragoons or disciples first— Hold on, should I go after the Dark Bishop now?]
Brendel quickly swiveled his eyes around to look for the Dark Bishop in excitement. His eyes were starting to become bloodshot as he drooled over that sizable XP. However, what he saw was a group of high ranking disciples rushing to the Elven infantry like a wave. He realized that the Dark Bishop did not wish for the Lizardmen’s formation to break completely.
Once the Lizardmen’s army was cut into half, it would become difficult for the Dark Bishop to give orders, as well as becoming slower to respond to the enemy’s attacks. He knew that if he lost control of the battlefield, his chances to escape will be reduced significantly, thus he had no choice but to send out his disciples in order to prevent the situation from becoming worse.
Ten over disciples brandished their weapons while riding the boar-like demons certainly looked imposing, but the Elven infantry had already moved back into position and lined up with Brendel, ready for them. The Lizardmen were impeded by the mercenaries’ ranged attacks and there were not many obstacles between the disciples and the Elves.
If the Dark Bishop was a little better in commanding, he could order the Lizardmen around him to charge at the mercenaries on the hill. This would even the odds a little bit more, but he was simply not suited to lead. The only things he had in mind were to prevent the lines from splitting altogether and protecting himself.
After issuing his commands to his men to prevent any enemies from coming near him, he started to prepare his spells, but Brendel had already found him and formed a plan—
=============== Amandina’s POV ============
The war cries in the valley started to mix together and Amandina could no longer discern what was happening. The battle below seemed like it was happening in another world
When the cool wind blew over the hill’s top which was completely bare and void of foliage, she shivered and coughed lightly once, before tightening the cloak around herself. She stood alone in the open cliff and looked at her surroundings in slight fear, then turned back to check a certain crevice in the wall and whispered in exasperation:
“Romaine, are you still not done?”
“I’m almost done.” Her voice came back like she was finishing soon.
Amandina sighed. She had heard of that answer a few times already, but she knew that Romaine would definitely ignore her grumblings even if she tried, so she could only stomp her feet to get rid of the cold.
However, Romaine was really about to finish what she was doing. She went deeper into the narrow crevice and walked in the dark area without hesitation. Any normal person would feel frightened of this tight area that was void of light, but she walked with an excited expression as she reached her destination. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a crystal, bent down to her feet, cleared the small rocks on the ground and placed the crystal on top of it.
She got up and count the places where she laid five other crystals, nodded and finally came out from the crevice with a light-hearted expression. She discovered Amandina with her frowning eyebrows that nearly touched her eyes which were filled with full of discontent and blame.
“I’m regretting this already. Let’s go back now.” Amandina shivered and coughed from the cold.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a small experiment and Brendel won’t notice it at all,” Romaine showed a lopsided grin and pulled Amandina’s arm: “Let’s move on to the next location.”
“W-wait……”
“Give me more of that crystal.”
“What are you trying to do!” Amandina’s wary hands went over her pouch. It was unlucky enough that that damned girl discovered her secret, but she did not want to have anything to do with her crazy acts.
“But your calculations are fine right?”
“Of course!” She gritted her teeth as she answered: “Romaine, you horrible woman, I’m actually a recognized student in Lantonrand’s Royal Geology Circle……”
Romaine immediately made a disappointed sigh.
=============== Brendel’s POV ==============
A Wind Bullet and a Fireball.
When the explosion of burning air finally dissipated from the battlefield, the high ranking disciples had been turned into ashes.
[Ring of the Wind Empress, 20 OZ, 30 damage, Flame ring, 24 OZ, 70 damage. That’s enough to clear out these Silver-ranked disciples. I was worried there might be some elite demons that came along with the disciples, but it looks like my concern was for nothing. If I think about it, they are unlikely to come into this world in great numbers…… Unless a flag is somehow raised and the Gate of Demons is opened, cough—]
Brendel’s XP was raised by two thousand points. He was nearly level twenty five. He quickly lowered his sword and gave new orders to the Elven infantry: “Attack the enemies’ flanks, get rid of the Lizardmen and clear a path for me. The BOSS, I mean, leave the leader to me! Got it?”
Twenty Elves nodded at the same time.
“How about me, my lord?” The Nightsong tiger asked.
“Go along with Nalaethar.” Brendel replied.
“You don’t need any help?” The Elven commander asked.
“Just leave the leader to me, I don’t want that bastard to die off too quickly.” Brendel answered.
He had other thoughts about the Dark Bishop. Even though the latter had abilities and stats equivalent to a level 35 normal NPC, his true level was only 25 and Brendel actually had an easier time to deal with enemies with lower levels.
Without giving them a chance to argue, the youth charged towards the Dark Bishop, but two Bachsa demons that were nearly three meters tall were obstructing him.
They were aggressive demons who also had the Charge abilities, and could be said to be the bane of low level archers and wizards. Brendel stopped before them for a split moment before going around their backs like a stealthy spirit. His hair flitted about as their weapons missed him before they landed onto the ground with a resounding crash.
Although the demons had the Charge abilities, their agility was incredibly low and their regular strength were also no match for Brendel’s strike combined with Power Break. His sword danced across the demons’ bodies, painting injuries across them one after another as he constantly moved behind them and biting at their backs. The demons were slowly bleeding to their deaths, but they were not even able to catch a glimpse of Brendel’s appearance.
The Dark Bishop did not waste any time and quickly finished casting his spell. He screamed and directed a bolt of lightning towards Brendel who had kept an eye on him.
[Claws of the Demon, a magic spell of the Third Circle.]
Brendel easily recognized the magic spell. It was a spell that had two effects. Even though it was based on the Dark Element, the dark energy converted Hellfire into burning damage, while the second effect caused a loss of speed. As a magic spell of the Third Circle, the effects were much more effective than an Ice Arrow. It would literally seal the enemy onto the ground with dark energy unless they had over 40 OZ strength, and would only dissipate after a couple of minutes.
This spell was one of the most common spells amongst Dark Elementalists and Witches, and were primarily used for a sneak attack. Brendel really wanted to tell the Dark Bishop it should not be used in this manner when he saw this ugly sight. During the early days in the game, players simply used this spell without thinking until much later, where they discovered that it was better used with a combined spell to hide the flashy effects, or even used as a close combat spell.
The reason for that was because the spell needed careful aim.
When Brendel saw the Dark Bishop’s hand stretched out, he immediately kicked the Bachsa’s body in front of him to block the lightning’s path. Hundreds of black electricity sparks chained the body onto the ground and spluttered hellfire everywhere. It was an impressive sight, but the spell effectiveness was rendered to zero as it missed its intended target.
He then activated Power Break again with an upwards swing of his sword, sundering the other demon’s neck and arm and instantly killed it with the body parts flying high up into the air.
Brendel took a moment to take a deep breath. The recent addition of the Spectral Knight’s crystal had caused the effectiveness of Power Break to increase his strength to over 30 OZ, but the drain on his stamina was even higher than before.
Fortunately, the balls of light that flew from the demons into his body caused him to level up and his body felt lighter than before. Green words streaked across his retina:
– You have reached Level 25. New talents are available.
– You have gained the technique Frontal Assault;
– Frontal Assault (Level 0): Spend 5 stamina and break the opponent’s defenses (Armor, Magic, Natural), causing your enemies’ defenses to weaken by 1.7 OZ.
– Detected an Item of Destiny: ‘The Golden Seed of Destiny’. Do you wish to activate the destiny of ‘The Golden Dawn’?
[What the fuck! No, I refuse to activate!]
Brendel was stunned for a moment before he hurriedly shook his head.
volume 3 - 210 – Valhalla Ruins
One of Faena’s hands clutched the edge of her skirt and raised it up. The others did not know when she had approached and stood on a pyramid-shaped platform. The pale light from the Fire Seed lit up the thin strands of hair hanging the sides on her face.
“What is this thing!?” She suddenly asked aloud and pointed with her other hand to a certain object.
It was a black metallic staff. Its body had roughly the thickness of an arm and was embedded in a large crystal that was connected to the base of the platform. On top of the staff was a large crystal sphere.
Brendel was certain that this thing did not exist earlier.
He patted Scarlett’s hand. Both he and Orthlyss had guessed the answers to the puzzle that concerned Scarlett. It could be put aside for now since the Dragon’s blood did not pose any real danger, and the threat from the Dragon loli girl Rauze was still faint.
Brendel and the others went over to take a closer look at the staff. There were golden patterns inscribed into the black staff’s body, though these patterns seemed like they were meaningless lines. They resembled the aesthetics of the hall and was a product of the ancient eras. The crystal on the staff’s head was fixed tightly and could not be pried off with strength.
Brendel’s current strength was many times of a normal adult but there was no sign of the crystal loosening. It meant that the crystal was not affixed by physical means but magic.
The youth had already guessed this outcome at the first glance. He took a moment to look at the others before he placed his hand back on the crystal sphere. In the next instant, a web made out of layers of green light came into everyone’s eyes. It quickly extended to reach over a meter to form colorful images filled with mystery.
[Just like I thought.]
A spark streak across Brendel’s mind.
“What is this?” Veronica asked.
“The core of this underground city,” Brendel answered.
“Oh? I know that the Wind Elves’ Fade Fortress has a crystal sphere in it. The wizards from Galbu made them and it allows one to manipulate the outer defense systems. Is it similar to this crystal?”
“Similar, yes, since it’s a replica of this crystal,” Brendel replied.
In the game, the Galbu Wizards crafted many replicas and sold them to players at a million Tor coins. As expected, the imitation’s effectiveness was much weaker than the real deal.
Words formed in Brendel’s retina.
“Stao cu……d oaa s……A’rtee s…… (Request…… Templar…… Interrupted, broken……)”
“Dum Ru……d oaa s……A’rtee s…… (Dawn Knights…… Cathedral, request…… Interrupted……”
“Pos’ssa……d oaa s……A’rtee s…… (Market area…… Request…… Interrupted……”
The language of the ancient eras was complex. The shaped designs of the alphabets were prominent twenty thousand years ago, spread throughout the continent at a certain year, but it was eventually phased out and buried. Brendel recognized some of the words because he saw many of the deciphered images in the game.
This language in the game was created by the AI and deemed a miracle by the public. Many players studied the books collected in the various libraries scattered in the kingdoms. The history in the game was tied to many events, and it was greatly enthralling to many players.
More words poured out over Brendel’s eyes like a waterfall, each sentence becoming more and more complicated. The others were looking at the various images that had unrecognizable words hovering over them, but they suddenly rearranged to form a map.
Brendel had issued a command to the system.
“This is a map of the entire underground city!” Veronica’s eyes glinted with a strange light when all the layers of green light stopped moving.
There were three defense lines created across the images that resembled broken glass. Lines were drawn across them like spiderwebs, and there were also three-dimensional pictures of the various rooms and halls.
[It certainly looks like galaxy maps in the space-genre games.]
Brendel saw Veronica looking back at him with her green eyes:
“There’s even an image of the city above us…… Is it be possible for the crystal to control the above city?”
Brendel nodded with excitement that could nearly be perceived as agitation, but it was not because of what Veronica asked. It was common knowledge that a city’s Core Crystal was the operating system of the city’s defenses.
What surprised him was that he could recognize the words that the images were showing.
[I see. So this is why Valhalla is perceived as a territory with a ‘legendary’ rating. There are some words that I can’t read since I didn’t read enough ancient texts, but it’s enough for me to understand. Valhalla is a Conceptual Land. The entire city is equipped with an ‘Eternal’ magic system.]
“This ‘Eternal System’ you’re seeing now is a complex magic formation that incorporates Element Powers and Magic Spells for defense. It’s a Domain that’s self-sustaining and not affected by outside forces. Unless you destroy the entire city to bits, the system would continue to function.”
Brendel remarked, though he left out certain information.
[It’s also a powerful form of Spirit magic. The citizens of Valhalla probably preserved their souls back then. This system is capable of collecting Heroic Spirits from other regions. This means that it could retain technology, armaments, and techniques. In short, it’s a data preservation center.]
The youth organized the windows in his retina. He saw Mist Elves, Negans, Dawn Knights, Dark Elves, and a few other races.
The Dawn Knights were Negan warriors who worshipped the sun. They were from the Golden Lineage. Each one was capable of conjuring the morning sunlight to resist the enemies of darkness and capable of casting powerful healing magic, but these Dawn Knights were ultimately wiped out during the war against the Twilight Dragon, and the Negan race disappeared in the annals of history. However, Valhalla was able to preserve these Heroic Spirits.
There were also Angels of Death and Dusk Elves available for recruiting.
[The Dawn Knights are Tier 10, the Death Angels and Dusk Elves are Tier 14. Just a handful of the former would be the equivalent of a medium-sized kingdom’s entire force in the distant past. Each individual Death Angel or Dusk Elf is equivalent to a hero found in the War of the Holy Saints. Indeed, Valhalla is a fitting name as it calls Heroic Spirits to this place—]
Brendel frowned a little. It was strange……
Even if this was a parallel world, what were the chances that the civilizations of this world used terms that resembled his past world?
His thoughts were interrupted by Veronica’s gasp.
“Just how much Mana is required to control the city through the Core Crystal? Doesn’t it mean that the circuits are connected everywhere?”
The youth knew what she was thinking. This was similar to Galbu’s floating city. The Kirrlutz Empire would definitely be interested in this land.
“No, it’s not just the entire city,” he shook his head, “it’s the entire region.”
“””What!?”””
It was not just Veronica who exclaimed. Mephisto and Faena joined in as well. Just exactly how impressive this territory was?
“But you’re going to be disappointed.”
“Why?” Veronica was already tempted. She was still a general of the Kirrlutz Empire, and this was a floating city that was bigger than the Galbu’s.
“Here, try it out for yourself.” Brendel removed his hand from the crystal and invited Veronica to try it out.
The latter looked a little stunned.
“You want me to control this place?” Veronica was curious and puzzled over Brendel’s actions. He was literally inviting her to control this place and fly it over to the Empire.
Brendel merely smiled and nodded.
Veronica did not ask again and placed her hand on the crystal. Her eyebrows first lifted up, then sank quickly. She showed a face of understanding after a few moments.
“What is it, commander?” Faena asked eagerly.
“I see. I was thinking how a wily fox like you would be trusting enough to let me test out the system.”
Even though Veronica did not understand the language, she discovered that it was impossible to activate any of the magic circuits in the city. Perhaps it was because there was severe damage to the circuits, or maybe time had somehow corrupted them despite the system being ‘Eternal’.
“Is it possible to repair them? How bad is the damage?” She asked.
“Completely ruined, and I doubt anyone knows how to repair this place. The only thing that survived is the Fire Seed.”
“”It’s a pity.”” Mephisto echoed Veronica’s words at the same time.
“You’re too devious!” Faena glared at the youth, certain that he would not reveal this information if this place still functioned.
Brendel merely nodded with an emotionless face.
[Indeed, it’s a pity. It’s a legendary place…… But at the same time, there’s a functioning spare Core Crystal underneath this place. It’s too bad you can’t read the language, hahaha—]
volume 2 - 108
TL: This chapter is kinda short but I feel like there’s info dumping here…… Erm, I’ll be translating the JP series and TSTBGAM tomorrow.
Novels belong to writers, we only provide reading services。