Chapter 370: Act 127 – Changes in the Loop of Trade Winds (Part 2)
Half an hour isn’t a long time, but waiting for someone can make it feel incredibly dull.
Brendel, feeling bored, decided to practice his fire spells as an Elementalist on the side. He raised his hands, mimicking the Wandering Mage and made flames dance between his fingers—his performance quickly attracted a large group of Treants and Taniya children. They circled around Brendel, wide-eyed and captivated, as if the young Lord was a magician performing tricks.
At first, Antinna was concerned that Brendel might get angry, but to her surprise, not only did he not get upset, but he also mingled with the children, quickly becoming their leader.
For some reason, the noble young lady stood aside and felt a slight emotional stir as she watched Brendel play with the kids, as if something deep within her had been touched.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but no sound came out.
However, Xi, standing beside her, softly remarked, “The Lord is a good person.” The red-haired girl had previously bought a beautiful silver ring from a Taniya, which she used to tie her ponytail. The fiery red ponytail swayed gently in the breeze, complementing her vibrant personality. “I never knew that nobles could be so approachable.”
“Yes,” Antinna replied.
“Is he your friend?” Suddenly, a deep, robust voice inquired.
The two ladies were startled and turned around to see a tall, green-haired Elf, adorned with a leaf headdress and cloak, his upper body nearly bare, revealing shining muscles, standing beside them, gazing at the young man in the distance.
A Treant, and apparently, also a Druid.
“Yes, sir,” Antinna blushed, instinctively stepping aside.
“Are you the guests from the Cold Fir Territory?” the Treant asked again.
The noble girl nodded.
“I heard that your human nobility looks down on us and the Taniya, considering us to be barbarians. But from what this Lord has done, it seems I have misunderstood you humans?” he inquired.
“The Lord does not think that way,” Antinna replied. “In fact, he protects many Taniya.”
“I see.” The Treant nodded, looking at Brendel.
…
But Brendel was unaware of the conversation happening nearby. He was busy responding to the children’s requests, showing them all kinds of intriguing tricks, which occasionally drew cheers from the kids. The Green Spire, though magnificent and beautiful, rarely saw outside wonders—children of all ages knew that a magician performing fire tricks had come, and more were gathering, making it feel like a festival.
Funiya stood by Brendel’s side, feeling immense satisfaction from the adoring looks her peers gave her elder brother. Occasionally, she looked up at Brendel with sparkling eyes, feeling for the first time that someone in this world could be as great as her father.
As Brendel continued to engage with the children, he practiced refining his fire spells. He realized that the way Elementalists used their elemental pools differed significantly from that of Traveling Mages. In fact, for Elementalists, the elemental pool served more like a channel—the larger the channel, the higher the synergy with the elements, allowing them to cast more spells simultaneously.
In other words, Elementalists do not truly consume elements; they merely rearrange the free-floating elements in nature through this channel. For example, a Flame Arrow that occupies ten slots in the fire elemental pool does not actually consume ten fire elements but simply utilizes ten slots in the elemental channel.
Only those higher-tier spells requiring more than ten slots will consume the Elementalist’s reserved elements to guide the entire elemental environment, creating large-scale magic.
However, even the actual consumption needed for these spells is not high—compared to the elements occupied by the channel, the consumed elements can sometimes be less than one-tenth.
Thus, the natural recovery speed of an Elementalist’s elemental reserve is quite slow. Even before becoming an Elf Elementalist, they can only recover 1 point of all elements daily.
After reaching the Elf Elementalist level, the recovery doubles.
In fact, during the later stages of the war, most Elementalists paid for their consumption with elemental crystals, then used their elemental pools as channels to guide large spells. It was also quite common for high-tier Elf Elementalists to channel three or four large spells at once due to their elemental synergy abilities.
Meanwhile, Traveling Mages function in a self-contained system, generating elements using their land cards and paying for them, creating a nearly independent and complete cycle, with little direct connection to the world.
Brendel sometimes couldn’t help but think that perhaps this was why Traveling Mages could create their own world.
While practicing his spells, Brendel glanced at his fire elemental pool—noting it was only thirty-eight slots, far from unlocking the Fire Giant, which made him feel a little dejected. However, as he watched the flames dance in a circular pattern on his hand, an idea suddenly flashed across his mind.
He hurriedly rummaged through his pocket and found a necklace at the very bottom:
Flame Star [Magic], expands fire elemental pool by half, and strengthens fire elements by 10.
He had received this item as a reward for defeating the Earth God Eckmen because at that time, he had no fire card set, so it had been lying at the bottom of his box for who knows how long. He had almost forgotten it entirely.
If he hadn’t been bored practicing spells today, he would not have remembered it at all.
But with this item, things would be much easier. Brendel quickly removed his Ghoul Necklace and put on the Flame Star, then opened the elemental pool again. The thirty-eight slots immediately transformed into fifty-seven, significantly exceeding the requirement for the Fire Giant.
He suppressed his excitement, almost wanting to laugh out loud, but instead, he quickly opened his cardbook to unlock the Fire Giant:
Fire Giant
(Scorching Abyss X)
15 Fire
[Creature – Elemental/Giant, Level 36]
Tap to deal massive damage to your enemies and return them to your library.
When the Fire Giant is on the field, pay 2 Fire daily.
‘On the scorching earth, the Fire Giant always makes its enemies tremble with fear—’
However, before Brendel could appreciate this newly acquired card, he suddenly heard someone calling out to him. He looked up and spotted a familiar figure standing not far away in the crowd—Elder Swordsman Kuran.
The old man was signaling to him from a wooden stump by the side of the road—though the entire street was wooden.
Brendel wasn’t surprised to see Kuran. When Veronika and the others left, he had asked the Fire-Scaled Lizardman Lord Repal to find this old swordsman to investigate why the Cruz were appearing here.
Compared to the Fire-Scaled Lizardmen, Kuran, as a human, was clearly less conspicuous here.
However, he didn’t expect such rapid progress. Brendel thought this old guy was indeed quite capable; they had only just left the ‘Centaur Hoof’ market one or two hours ago.
He immediately halted his spellcasting, calmed the throng of children, and told them he had serious business to attend to. He had gained immense popularity among those Taniya and Treant children, and though they were reluctant, they parted to let him walk toward Kuran.
“What’s the situation?” As he got closer, Brendel immediately asked.
Kuran sat down on the wooden stump—though the whole street was wooden—looked up at Brendel and replied, “Guess what, kid.”
“How can I guess?” Brendel said irritably, “In any case, it can’t be for the same reason as us. Given the timing, they must have set off long before us. So unless the Druids informed them ahead of time, they should not have come here for that reason.”
“Moreover, the Cruz Empire wouldn’t care less about what happens to the Loop of Trade Winds unless there’s some artifact hidden inside.” Speaking of artifacts, Brendel suddenly jolted, wondering if there were any rumors about Valhalla circulating.
“Forget it, just tell me directly.” Brendel frowned and replied.
“Artifact?” Kuran paused, “You guessed pretty close. They’re coming for the Lionheart Sword.”
“The Lionheart Sword!” Brendel almost choked on his own saliva. How did this come about? How could the Lionheart Sword be here?
“Yes, do you remember the anomaly that occurred in Shubli half a year ago?”
Brendel’s expression shifted awkwardly. He thought to himself that he not only knew about it but had even caused that reaction. He repressed his curiosity and asked, “But that reaction didn’t happen in Shubli?”
“Supposedly it was an artifact’s reaction, and it’s said to be related to the Lionheart Sword. But oddly enough, isn’t the Lionheart Sword with the royal family?” Kuran frowned. “Regardless, those people have been searching all the way here. I’ve heard they entered the Black Forest from the south of Shubli, and since they found nothing, they’ve made their way here.”
Brendel suddenly understood that these guys must have gathered here after hearing about the anomaly in the Loop of Trade Winds.
But could this also be considered a case of hitting the nail on the head?
He felt a bit troubled; he was very clear about the complicated relationship between the Blade of Flames, the Lionheart Sword, and the Cruz people. The fact that they sent a Duke Legion Commander to handle this affair showed the Empire’s serious concern.
The problem was that the Loop of Trade Winds had nothing to do with this matter; it was merely the slumbering Valhalla. However, these people surely wouldn’t believe that; they would certainly come to investigate, just as he did.
This was troublesome.
Brendel suddenly felt it was getting a little tricky: “There shouldn’t only be Cruz coming here, right?” he suddenly asked, since such a significant artifact reaction would surely attract more than just the Cruz people.
Kuran regarded him with appreciation, nodding.
“You’re right. It’s not just the Cruz; the Erluins have also come; sent by the royal faction—though when the envoy entered the Black Forest, Erluin had not yet split, so I think they are still unaware of what’s going on outside.”
“Not knowing is almost acceptable.” Brendel shook his head. “What else?”
“The Wizards from Bud, the Temple of Fire, and some disorganized factions,” Kuran replied. “But the Druids only allow the Erluins, Cruz, and the Temple of Fire people into the city; the Wizards from Bud are entering the Green Spire as individuals.”
“How did you gather all this information?”
“As long as there are bars and adventurers, this kind of news cannot be hidden.”
Brendel nodded, thinking this time would stir up quite the commotion, and he was unsure what the next adventure would be like. However, he didn’t show any signs of panic—at least he still had a few advantages.
One was his relationship with the Druids, second was Funiya, and third was his familiarity with the Black Forest.
Especially the third point; that was something no one could compare to.
While he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard an exclamation. The crowd became frantic as if something monumental had happened. Brendel looked up and felt Kuran nudging him.
“Kid, look at the sky!”
“What is it?” Brendel looked up in confusion.
He then beheld a sight so incredible that he could scarcely believe it—
Right before his eyes, the imposing, giant cloud wall—the Loop of Trade Winds—was slowly moving to the sides, as if opening an immense door that had existed since time immemorial.
Time at that moment became both slow and fast, and in what felt like an instant, a crack appeared in the white cloud wall.
The crack was barely a line at the horizon, but one could well imagine how vast it truly was.
“The Way through the Clouds!” Brendel gazed at the cloud wall, his mouth agape.
…(To be continued. To find out what happens next, please log in, more chapters await, support the author, support genuine reading!)
