Chapter 39: Act 31 – After the Battle
420 experience points.
A golden light gathered in midair, flowing into Brendel’s body. Looking at the chaotic battlefield, he couldn’t help but feel a little weak as he leaned against a rock to sit down. That was a level 22 monster; he himself was only level 6, considering his status as a civilian. To defeat a monster 14 levels higher was something he wouldn’t dare even contemplate in a game.
However, under the pressure of survival, he had no choice but to do so. His original plan was to lure that adult wilting beast beneath the rock and wait for Freya to attack before seizing the opportunity to escape. This chance was too hard to grasp, and even in the game, few would dare to do so; after all, that was a significant experience boost.
When he made the decision, he didn’t feel anything, but now reflecting on it, a wave of fear swept over him, leaving his back cold. The last bit of courage he had supported him in calmly answering a few questions from Freya and Romaine, as he didn’t want them to worry too much, yet Brendel himself knew his situation.
He felt like he was overextending his courage, yet unconsciously, he was growing in such an extreme environment.
Not just him; Freya was the same. Just a few days ago, she was merely a simple militia recruit, but now she had her own resolutions.
He slowly calmed himself down. The battle in the canyon was a rare harvest. 420 experience points were extremely important for him at this moment, like a timely gift; the immediate priority was, of course, to increase his strength. A mercenary needed 70 points for level 4, 130 points for level 5, and 220 points for level 6, and according to the setup, a second career skill would unlock after reaching level 5.
Mercenary Level 4 (0.3 Strength, 0.2 Constitution, 0.2 Agility, 0.1 Perception)
Mercenary Level 5 (0.3 Strength, 0.3 Constitution, 0.2 Agility, 0.1 Will)
Mercenary Level 6 (0.4 Strength, 0.3 Constitution, 0.2 Agility, 0.2 Perception)
When he leveled up, rows of data indicating attribute changes poured down onto the screen projected onto his retina. When he was level 3 as a mercenary, his attributes were 2.5 Strength, 2.3 Agility, and 2.4 Constitution. Upon reaching level 6, with growth, his statistics had become 3.5 Strength, 2.9 Agility, and 3.2 Constitution.
This meant his physical abilities had broken through three times that of an ordinary person, with absolute strength exceeding 25 times. Depending purely on strength and ignoring his experience, at this moment, Brendel could easily defeat the entire Buche militia squad from the past. Considering the experience bonus, even the same number of guards wouldn’t stand much chance against him.
This was the first level of strength.
Even Buche’s deputy guard captain Brensen could barely reach the first level of strength when mounted, yet even so, the veteran Marden still regarded him as a genius. After all, Brensen was only twenty years old, and with his youth and talent, he might one day ascend to the rank of a Lily Knight, making him, in a sense, a pillar of the kingdom.
At this moment, Brendel was even one year younger than him.
If it was the old Brendel here, he wouldn’t believe he could reach this level in just three days. Breaking through from ordinary strength to the first level of strength was something that half of the ten people couldn’t accomplish in their lifetime.
Completing it before the age of twenty was even rarer, achieved by only one in ten or twelve.
However, Brendel knew this was still not enough. Among the newborns baptized annually at the Temple of Fire, he knew many were born with the first level of strength, what one could call natural nobility—Revelators.
Moreover, there were rare individuals born with the second level of strength, known as the Chosen Ones.
As for those with knightly talent (players are also considered in this category), they were even more numerous. This was a world that revered strength, and Brendel understood he must leverage his advantages to stand out. His advantage was the power bestowed upon him by another world.
The skill unlocked after reaching level 5 as a mercenary was Strength Burst, which consumed three times the stamina in the next action to gain a 1-level strength boost.
This was the mercenary’s most crucial breakthrough skill early on, and Brendel would naturally not hold back. He now had 150 skill experience points; even upgrading this skill to level 6 would only require one-third—55 points. After level 6, this skill would become an instantaneous 4-level strength boost, nearly reaching mid-level in the first tier of strength during bursts.
The remaining skill points were, of course, used to enhance military swordsmanship and combat skills. He also casually devoted the remaining 6 points of career experience to the militia, allowing that profession to successfully advance to level 3, thus raising both his strength and constitution by another 0.2 levels each.
This was why so many players in the game took the experience penalty for dual-classing because the returns for initial multi-classing regarding experience were significantly higher than specializing. Of course, Brendel thought this way too; it was just that there was always a limit. Many who recklessly dual-classed faced their own consequences later on.
After all, after entering the third tier of strength, element awakening made professional corrections less apparent.
Total level 10, Brendel couldn’t help but close his eyes and take a deep breath. Now, wilting beasts were nothing but experience for him. If it weren’t for the urgent need to deliver a message to Ridenburg, he would have liked to grind for experience around the outskirts of Xavier Mountain Path; within half a month, he could reach level 15. Unfortunately, time did not permit.
He narrowed his eyes again, and in the distance, shadows of wilting beasts began to appear in the canyon, those bramble monsters stared this way across the valley—although they actually had no vision, they must have been startled by earlier commotion.
Brendel quietly grasped the sword he had placed aside; he was certainly not afraid of these creatures. However, being entangled would not be good, as Romaine’s aunt was still in the city, and they and Madara’s army were racing against time to reach Ridenburg. At this moment, he suddenly remembered the ring given to him by Marden, couldn’t help but take out the ring imprinted with the black pine leaf emblem to take a look—but then the young man recalled something and couldn’t help but chuckle.
The veteran of the November War did not understand this. Consider that Buche was an essential buffer area for the Vanmir-Ridenburg defense line in this direction—since the Thunder Era, the kingdom’s core had been preparing to establish a complete defense line here.
However, the implementation of policies is not always as simple as it appears on the surface. Due to a lack of funds and middlemen skimming, the repairs of the Vanmir Fortress and establishment of Ridenburg had already reached the limits of the project. As for the early warning system in the buffer area, those nobles didn’t consider it at all.
As long as Ridenburg and the Vanmir Fortress remained in their hands, they could live well. As for the countryside outside, Madara wouldn’t invade every year, would it?
Despite having Freya, Brensen, and Marden, those who fought for this kingdom, it was another fact that Erluin was already aging. The decaying upper echelon was destroying this country from its roots. In fact, Buche was an exception; Brendel knew that this kingdom had already begun to show signs of decay everywhere else.
He couldn’t help but sigh, looking to the east. The sky to the east seemed to be covered with layers of dark clouds, dimming even the morning sunlight. A nation was rising in the darkness there.
“Brendel, your ring.”
Brendel turned his head to see Freya looking at him with sharp eyes, unable to help but joke, “Does it look good?”
“You—” The ponytailed girl’s face flushed, then turned pale as she looked away, noticing Romaine sitting on the uphill laughing heartily at them.
“Romaine, you idiot!”
“What did I do?” The Business Lady was taken aback.
Brendel smiled; he knew Freya was venting her anger. He put on the Wind Queen ring and then touched the fate card in his pocket. Although he had never seen this before, he knew it was his biggest support at the moment.
Even a ten-minute state of second-tier strength was enough to do a lot of things—such as taking down the Golden Magic Tree.
With the fate card in hand, he re-evaluated his plan. After all, the drop from the Golden Magic Tree was too tempting; fortune favored the bold. The more strength he had here, the more chances he had in Ridenburg. Additionally, taking down the Golden Magic Tree wasn’t like grinding monsters; it didn’t require too much time—it was just a matter of passing.
He estimated he still had about 8 hours, which was more than enough. However, if he could get a piece of soul crystal before that, it would be even more certain, as using the Holy Sword to attack required paying for elemental energy.
He even contemplated whether or not to open his elemental pool. However, it didn’t seem worthwhile to part-time as an elementalist or magic swordsman for a magical item of 40Oz strength, because it was best if professions were interrelated to provide mutual boosts. Elementalists, magic swordsmen, and solar knights had their own systems and were hard to offer assists to warrior professions—in Brendel’s mind, he consistently treated mercenaries as warriors since both professions appeared quite similar in the early game, even sharing the same initial skills.
What remained was the ‘Elemental Soul’ quest to unlock the elemental pool for ordinary people, but he had no idea if such quests existed in this world.
Of course, those were matters for a long time from now. He couldn’t afford to think too much at present; there was still a distance from here to the Forbidden Orchard, yet taking a straight line would save him over two hours. Using those two-plus hours to wipe out some monsters to see if he could find another elite wilting beast was Brendel’s goal.
With that thought, he stood up, patted Freya on the shoulder, who was staring at him, then said to the two ladies, “Alright, after resting, let’s get ready to set off.”
Unfortunately, his kind gesture of reassurance turned awkward as Freya instinctively recoiled, causing his hand to land on a rather inappropriate spot—yet the touch was pleasant, and he could feel a soft elasticity even through the layer of metal scales.
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
Brendel watched as the future Valkyrie’s face first flushed with heat and then turned pale, then darkened. He intended to explain, but what greeted him was a hard blow from the sword hilt—
“Shameless!”
“Wait, I didn’t mean to—ow!”
……
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