Chapter 36: Act 28 – The Shelter
“Queen Wind Half-Armor!?”
Brendel opened the heavy backpack and took a glance, seeing the complete set of bronze armor inside, he couldn’t help but rub his forehead. No wonder the adult withered beast could only restrain Freya; it was under the protection of this thing.
“Why aren’t you wearing it?”
“That armor glows; I’m afraid the undead in Madara will see me. I plan to wait until daytime when the light is brighter…”
“Light?”
“It’s the layer of cyan light surrounding the armor plates.”
“That’s Wind Feather, not light.” Brendel sighed deeply, seeing Freya looking at him with a confused expression. These were basic bits of knowledge in the game, but he never expected that Freya knew nothing about them at all. He had to pick up the armor and explain it to her one by one.
The Queen Wind Half-Armor was a creation of Saint Orsoto’s great craftsman, just like his Queen Wind Ring, featuring the sacred pattern of Queen Wind. There were many types of Queen Wind sacred patterns, for instance, the Wind Ring contained Dilu’s token, with the sacred pattern being the crest of Saint Orsoto. However, the one in Brendel’s possession was merely a counterfeit, significantly lower in quality—perhaps crafted by some human wizard with limited skill.
Of course, despite its inferior craftsmanship, a 20Oz magical item was not something Brendel’s grandfather should possess. He couldn’t draw any leads from his memories regarding this mystery; he had to set it aside for now. From a gaming perspective, this could be a hidden quest line, but he would only find clues once he met that lame man in Black Pepper Alley.
On the other hand, the true Queen Wind sacred patterns must have come from elven hands; the Queen Wind Half-Armor was standard issue for the elven guard, thus naturally of pure lineage. However, every year following the Return of Radiance, several hundred sets had flowed into other countries, so they weren’t particularly valuable.
In Brendel’s words, in the game, it was merely a 15Oz power-level piece of equipment.
The Wind Feather was applied to the Queen Wind Half-Armor as a sacred pattern, which was also a spell, designed to reduce the power acting upon it. In other words, it diminished damage; in line with the elves’ usual style, this spell was particularly sensitive to plants, so it made sense that the withered beasts were so limited in their capabilities.
But what Freya didn’t know was that Wind Feather was known as a beneficial state in the game, and its glow could only be seen by enemies at the moment of activation.
Listening to Brendel’s explanation, Freya felt embarrassed. It was too humiliating, like a country girl who had never seen the world; she couldn’t help but lower her head further and finally muttered, “Why didn’t you say so earlier—”
Brendel thought to himself, “How would I know, my lady?” Of course, he subconsciously regarded certain things as common knowledge, and he realized that this might cause some misunderstandings. However, having immersed himself in the Amber Sword for so long, it was normal for him to struggle to adjust back to his player identity.
Seeing Freya’s flushed face as she tightly held onto the backpack, he thought he could guess why she had refused to part with it at all costs. Even the future Valkyrie had girlish feelings; he didn’t point it out directly, but it felt pretty good to have someone trust him.
Brendel’s heart couldn’t help but soften, and naturally, he could no longer say reproachful words—
“Things are dead; people are alive. No matter how precious this thing is, you must ensure your safety first in such situations next time, got it?” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
“Then what about Team Three?”
“I entrusted the captain to Little Finnis.”
“Little Finnis?”
“Yes, Uncle Marden once told me this child might be the most promising one to leave Buche. Before, I took care of him, hoping he could one day vindicate our village, but I suppose you’re right; a man must go through trials to grow.”
“You figured it out; does Aissen agree?” Brendel sighed. Freya had finally stepped out of her own world. He previously thought this girl was still holding onto her innocence and naivety, but seeing that calm and bright gaze made him realize she had matured instead.
“Aissen shares my thoughts.”
Brendel nodded.
After resolving the internal issues of the team, he let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it was not a major problem; although Freya could be stubborn and sensitive about losing face, she was still a reliable companion at crucial moments. Especially her decision to not abandon that backpack in the direst moment, though it annoyed Brendel, it also warmed him—at least this friendship was significant.
He couldn’t help but look back, finding Romaine gazing at the sheltered cave with bright eyes through the campfire, as though assessing a rare treasure.
The Merchant Miss seemed to never worry about her surroundings.
“Brendel, how did you know about this place? In this position, those dreadful monsters outside shouldn’t be able to find us, right?” she asked.
Freya nodded, “But we can’t hide here forever; we need to set off as soon as there’s a bit of light.”
Brendel nodded as well; both of them were right. There were several such hidden terrains on the Xavier Mountain Path, all along one side of the cliff—countless nightingales and hunters had previously given their lives to uncover this relatively clever route, allowing them to avoid most of the magical servants of the golden magic tree and get close to the BOSS.
However, there were two difficulties: first, they needed to travel from the cliff to the core area of the golden magic tree, also known as the ‘Forbidden Fruit Garden,’ where several breaks required the use of a grappling hook. Additionally, the golden magic tree wasn’t stupid; there were several patrols of magic tree men guarding the cliff—though Brendel had his ways to deal with them.
The second difficulty was that to sneak out of the hidden passage behind the ‘Forbidden Fruit Garden,’ they would need Griffin Tor’s crystal key. However, that thing hung on the branches of the golden tree; in the past, they would simply defeat the BOSS and claim it, but this time Brendel had to find another way.
He had already envisioned the approximate steps; all that remained was to adapt to changing situations. After all, not everyone could devise a perfect plan; the plans made in games were mostly outlines, and those meticulously crafted plans that existed only in novels didn’t truly exist in reality.
At this time, the trump card in hand became particularly important, which was why Brendel valued the Queen Wind Ring so highly.
With that thought, he couldn’t help but take out the soul crystal and examine it under the firelight. The dark soul crystal resembled obsidian, but wizards could tell the difference by infusing it with power—and even ordinary people could distinguish between them if they were familiar enough.
However, Brendel knew a simple test method; he brought the crystal close to the campfire and saw signs of vaporization on the black crystal-like structure, immediately confirming it was indeed a soul crystal.
This was because the soul power lacking protection was extremely unstable in front of an open flame, which also explained why the low-level undead in Madara feared flames so much.
“What is that?” the Merchant Miss asked curiously.
Brendel placed the crystal onto the Queen Wind Ring, and the crystal dimmed slightly before becoming more transparent. He thought for a moment, only infusing it with 10Oz of power; that would suffice, as more would be a waste.
However, he then remembered his black wood gargoyle statue; the power contained in the soul crystal was the best medium for repairing this talisman. But after hesitating for a moment, he ultimately decided against it. The gargoyle talisman had over three hundred possible control spells, and he had spent half the night yesterday trying to guess and couldn’t figure it out; he didn’t have time to experiment further now. Moreover, wasting the remaining 20 experience points would be insignificant.
Brendel considered that restoring the talisman entirely would require at least 100 experience points.
What else could this thing do? Or should he keep it for later use? For Brendel at present, using experience was the only valuable experience; he still felt his strength was too weak, and he urgently needed to grow stronger. Only by surviving could he change.
Should he use it for himself? Or as skill experience? Having insufficient for leveling up, using it for skill experience was not only a poor exchange rate but also considering he didn’t have any skills to practice as a mercenary right now.
He couldn’t continue leveling the militia, either; he would need to wait until his experience was ample before considering that.
Brendel suddenly felt somewhat conflicted. He couldn’t help but glance at the sky outside; after dawn, the sky would grow bright soon—they were about to set off. The magical servants of the golden magic tree were blind, merely instinctively drawn to light, and sensitive to sound and magical fluctuations, so traveling during the day was not much different from traveling at night, but for humans, daytime was easier.
At least they wouldn’t need torches; the light would be too sensitive for the withered beasts.
His hand continued to search through his pockets for anything useful but soon encountered something card-like. Brendel felt a spark of interest, instinctively picking it up—he had no idea what it was, but that didn’t stop him from experimenting.
The best way to identify an item was of course to have a complete set of data and alchemy tools; players in the game didn’t have such professionalism to resort to NPCs. However, even in the game, identification fees amounted to a considerable expenditure, and the ‘Amber Sword’ had a unique feature: even if you didn’t know the properties of the item, you could still use it as long as you knew how to employ it.
Therefore, many players had devised their own methods for identifying equipment, and Brendel was no exception.
He tried several commonly used spells but to no avail. As he thought, he instinctively touched the soul crystal to the card, hoping to see if there was any reaction. Generally speaking, magical items would resonate with soul power, and if there was any damage or capacity to recharge, they would produce even stronger responses.
But Brendel didn’t expect that the moment he brought the two into contact, the card suddenly emitted a strong glow, and the soul crystal in his hand instantly faded in color, transforming into a transparent crystal prism.
Absorbing reaction!
Brendel nearly jumped in shock, staring speechless at the transparent crystal prism in his hand. The soul crystal that lost its soul power was referred to as a container; wizards and elementists would buy such containers at high prices to create storage magical items.
Similar to scrolls, or precisely what scrolls were in this world.
But Brendel wasn’t concerned with that; he only felt a chilling sensation rise from his back, as absorbing reactions were among the most potent external manifestations of magical fluctuations; this would certainly alert the golden magic tree, estimating it could sense this magical wave spreading through the air even from ten miles away…
It could even attract other strange creatures nearby; who knows if anything unusual would take notice of him thanks to such a strong reaction.
Brendel just couldn’t fathom how such a low-level magical item could produce an absorbing reaction; that was a privilege typically reserved for items above 40Oz.
Regardless, Romaine and Freya looked at him in shock—of course, they had seen the dazzling black light. Brendel made a decisive call, standing up and saying, “Let’s go; we need to leave here—”
…
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