Chapter 512: Act 260 – The Shimmering Sea, The Sea Route to Ampere Seale (Part 2)
“Lord, it seems there’s a problem.” Carglis whispered to Brendel as he and the young officer approached.
“Hmm?” Brendel turned around. Carglis and the White Lion officer on duty today were responsible for patrolling beneath the deck, primarily to ensure the safety of the ‘cargo.’ This time, Brendel had brought along the first batch of White Lion armor manufactured jointly by Master Berun and Tam. These armors were different from the lightweight armors used by the Erluin royal family’s White Lion swordsmen today. After incorporating design suggestions from Brendel and Otales, they resembled more the original White Lion armor that the former ruler Eke had once modified.
The White Lion armor was derived from the standard armor of the Wind Elf’s White Wing Knights, but after being forged by humans, the craftsmanship fell significantly short of the original. The former ruler Eke had modified the White Lion armor and tactics. In recent times, the White Lion swordsmen had also been referred to as the White Lion Guard. Erluin has extensive documentation regarding the ‘King leading the Knights to unify the Southlands,’ where the ‘King’ referred to was former ruler Eke, and the ‘Knights’ were the White Lion Guard. The White Lion Guard and the Silver Elf Temple Guardians were once the two core forces of Erluin, and legends claimed that the White Lion Guard was a truly close combat fourth-tier unit, only slightly inferior to the White Wing Knights. However, by the time of the fall of the Siphai Dynasty, the tactics modified by Eke had already been lost, and much of the information on forging the White Lion armor had been lost as well.
Even Brendel and Otales could not fully restore this lost knowledge, but as the saying goes, every warrior is half a blacksmith. Although the two were ignorant of the original White Lion armor, they were very familiar with the Wind Armor it was modeled after. The Wind Armor had been a very popular armor type in Erluin due to its high protection, lightweight, and agility. Historically, a considerable number of Wind Armors had flowed into the kingdom, making them not too rare—Brendel had been fortunate enough to acquire a set. As for Otales, being a knight of the Wind, she was part of the upper echelon of Wind Elves and well-versed in their secrets. Even if they could not produce complete design blueprints for the Wind Armor, producing a modified version should pose no problem.
The newly created White Lion armor was further developed from the Wind Armor, altering the standard chest armor into something closer to a breastplate. Thanks to the unique magic array of the Wind Elves, it matched the original in agility and lightness, with added enhancements in protection. The Wind Shield spell attached to the armor could defend against arrows from a hundred meters away, significantly negating cuts and slashes from swords. With average skills, one would find it difficult to cut through the armor without using full force. In today’s Erluin, any warrior with even a bit of strength would have no problem facing ten opponents while wearing this armor.
Moreover, the armor was also imbued with agility spells and a dehumidifying magic array, ensuring that the wearer wouldn’t easily feel fatigued after prolonged marching. Of course, all of this came at a price. Players often had a bad habit of habitually investing all their best resources into forging an item, and as a result, Brendel was left dumbfounded when the final cost of the entire armor set soared to tens of thousands of Tor. With his current finances, it was impossible to equip the entire White Lion army with such exorbitantly luxurious items.
After some compromise, he decided to outfit his officer corps with this armor first and designate it as their standard equipment. As for the regular infantry, they would use a simplified version of the armor. Currently, Berun was working on removing some of the components, primarily targeting the most expensive magic crystals and magic array portions. According to the Elder’s estimation, Brendel would likely be able to present results when he returned from Ampere Seale.
Brendel was well aware of Master Berun’s ulterior motive, likely wanting to see how he would express his stance on this journey to Ampere Seale — whether he stood with the Princess or the opposite. Berun wanted to ascertain if Brendel’s words matched his actions, and Brendel felt no discomfort with this, as no one would believe another without reason. Furthermore, Berun’s expectations aligned with his own.
Brendel actually didn’t believe there would be any issues with the White Lion armor stored below deck; the patrol was a routine duty. He was slightly taken aback when he heard the officer’s report. But when the young officer continued, “Jiduer heard strange noises from the hold, seemingly coming from outside the ship,” he realized it was not the armor that was the problem.
Brendel thought to himself that it was indeed strange sounds echoing from outside, turning his gaze toward James with an inquiring look. The hold of the ‘Far Land’ was filled with cargo and ballast. There was, except for rats, a high probability that it was coming from outside the ship. If it was rats, there would be nothing to worry about, but if it came from outside, that was problematic. Sounds underwater did not transmit as clearly as in the air, and with the ship’s hull providing an extra layer of barrier, to hear anything meant something was either very close or exceptionally large.
“Which side?” the young captain immediately asked.
Brendel looked at his subordinate, and Carglis promptly replied, “It should be the port side.”
The young captain reacted quickly, turning and signaling, “Drop the crystal chain, port side!” A sailor nearby saw his gesture and ran over, retrieving a rope from a coil and tossing it into the sea on the left side of the ‘Far Land.’ Brendel recognized what it was; it was a special sound-sensitive magic crystal that vibrated if any sound source was nearby. With numerous monsters lurking beneath the outer sea, sailors often used this to determine if sea beasts were lurking beneath the ship. They said that experienced sailors could determine the approaching creature just from the vibration frequency of the crystal chain.
However, that sailor clearly did not possess such a skill. He merely tossed the crystal chain into the water and cried out in alarm, “There’s something below! A lot of them!”
“Ring the alarm bell, prepare for battle!”
The young captain’s expression turned serious. The sea surface was calm, yet unknown creatures had surrounded the ship beneath. Clearly, the visitors possessed a certain degree of intelligence and means no goodwill. But Brendel was the quickest to react. Before James could say anything, he dashed forward and severed the rope that the sailor was holding with a sword. The sailor was momentarily stunned, only to see something beneath the water grabbing the rope and swiftly dragging it down—the force from below was tremendous. Had Brendel not acted, the sailor would have been pulled down along with the rope.
The sailor, pale with fright, was momentarily speechless in his gratitude. But when Brendel looked over the side of the ship, he turned back and said, “It’s a humanoid creature.”
Among the many monsters in the Shimmering Sea, very few were humanoid. Apart from several tribes of fishmen, there were also mermaids and nagas; besides, there were lizardmen pirates. However, lizardmen pirates did not linger in the water, and mermaids rarely attacked humans. Those who approached quietly like this were either fishmen or nagas.
James, still doubtful that the young lord could conclude the enemy’s identity just from a glance, had to acknowledge that there were indeed enemies beneath the surface, and they had already shown signs of aggression. A sailor rushed to the main mast to ring the alarm bell, and the sailors below the deck quickly came up armed to the teeth. The ‘Far Land’ was a large vessel, manned by forty sailors, alongside the chief mate, second mate, and boatswain, Brendel also ordered his officers from the White Lion Infantry to join them. Soon enough, the deck was crowded with people.
Brendel remained considerably calmer than the young captain at that moment, knowing well the strength he had at hand. Today’s ‘Far Land’ was comparable to the kingdom’s main warships ranked below level three; what pirate would seek trouble with such a ship? Brendel eyed beneath the sea, but his mind wandered momentarily to another segment of history concerning the British’s infamous submarines. He wondered if the current ‘Far Land’ could be likened to a coal transport ship disguised as a warship back then.
However, the nature was somewhat different.
At that moment, dark shadows appeared beneath the water’s surface. Triangular fins broke the surface, leaving white waves in their wake; Brendel immediately recognized them as sharks. There were at least sixteen or seventeen shark-driving tribes hunting in the Shimmering Sea, and the fishermen trained the sharks the same way land inhabitants domestic wolves. Just seeing the sharks was insufficient to determine the identity of the opposing party.
James shared the same thought. He tucked his pipe away and drew his sword, stepping to the ship’s side. But it was at this moment that a melodious song echoed from the sea.
“It’s a siren!” The young officers of the White Lion Infantry were relatively composed, but as soon as the sailors heard that song, their faces turned pale and they screamed. Sirens were mythical creatures said to lead ships astray with their enchanting songs. In Crusian epics, sirens were described as women with bird bodies. However, Brendel knew they bore no resemblance to the harpies beneath Jotungrund.
True sirens were real mythological beings, with the upper body of a woman and bird-like claws below the knee. They were more alluring than any woman in the mortal realm, and their wonderful voices could captivate the souls of all who heard them. Myths described that once a soul was taken by a siren, the ship would wander aimlessly at sea until it became a ghost ship. Many seafaring folk grew up hearing such stories; hence, when sailors heard that song, they lost their minds in terror. Conversely, Brendel’s rustic subordinates appeared surprisingly calm.
“Quick, put in your earplugs!” James commanded. Sailors were generally superstitious. Although no one had seen a siren in hundreds of years, just the legend alone was enough to prepare those who lived on the sea. He quickly took out the earplugs he had prepared long ago and stuffed them into his ears. The other sailors soon followed suit, and surprisingly, even the officers of the White Lion Infantry had brought their own earplugs.
Brendel had several years of experience at sea and had ventured to the outer seas, so he undoubtedly knew more about the ocean than James. However, at this moment, he did not stop the young captain’s order. The beautiful song seemed to penetrate his mind, causing him to momentarily lose focus, but he quickly regained his clarity—this was not the song of a siren—he turned around and handed his earplugs to Antinna. The noble maiden glared at him with a pout, everyone feared the siren’s soul-stealing song, yet their lord did not believe in omens, which annoyed her as she disapproved of his disregard for his own safety.
Everyone present noted that the young lord wasn’t wearing earplugs yet remained unfazed by the song, and they couldn’t help but be surprised. They knew Brendel was a Highland Knight and assumed it was an attribute of the wizard’s mysterious powers. However, they were unaware that Brendel’s will attribute was frighteningly high. Even if a true siren arrived, it might not be able to enchant him.
He turned back to the captain and declared, “It’s not a siren; it’s a mermaid.”
“What?” The captain, wearing earplugs, thought he had misheard.
“It’s a mermaid,” Brendel asserted decisively, “Below the sea are the nagas; I know that the merfolk of the Shimmering Sea often move together with them.”
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it with recommendations and monthly votes on qidian.com; your support is my greatest motivation.)
