Chapter 45: Act 37 – Awakening
Brendel awoke from his grandfather’s dream, his forehead feeling cool to the touch. He gazed up at the dull sky, releasing a long sigh. In the game, there were methods to escape the shackles of will through equipment and skills that instantly raised one’s resolve, such as his talent for perseverance.
However, deep down he felt that this was not the best way to solve the problem.
After all, with the fusion of Brendel’s memories, he was unable to sever that part of his soul. He wasn’t merely one or the other; he was a unified whole that represented both Sophie and Brendel. If he couldn’t face Brendel’s weaknesses directly, he would one day also be unable to face his own.
Only by correctly recognizing himself could he fully accept his past.
This growth was not merely spiritual—
Simply acknowledging his past self brought him immense gains. He hadn’t anticipated that Brendel’s swordsmanship had been honed by his grandfather; those memories had been buried by Brendel’s subconscious out of a sense of self-abandonment—until this moment when the memories of practicing swordsmanship in his youth finally resurfaced and integrated into his soul.
What kind of swordsmanship was this?
Brendel had once sealed away the sword techniques passed down by his grandfather because he subconsciously believed he was unworthy of using them. Yet, even so, the swordsmanship instinct embedded in his youth had made him an unquestionable master of swordplay among the Anzek militia.
Our protagonist couldn’t help but open his attributes list, now showing: Militia [Military Swordsmanship (Level 3+1), Combat Skills (Level 3), Tactical Theory (Level 0), Military Organization (Level 0)].
Training skills couldn’t exceed the professional level, but the skills gained from equipment and quests did not count towards that. Level 4 swordsmanship was an ordinary person’s level after practicing for thirty to forty years, making it absolutely inappropriate to appear in someone as young as eighteen or nineteen.
Yet Brendel felt that as long as he fully absorbed the essence of the sword techniques his grandfather had imparted, achieving 30% more experience in Military Swordsmanship at level 4 would be no problem. Recall of that old man’s swordplay sent a chill down his spine—this was at least level 10 in Erluin’s military swordsmanship. His grandfather was truly a legend.
With a jumble of thoughts in his mind, he sat up from the ground and couldn’t help but look towards the center of the valley. The haziness that had spread from the Golden Demon Tree dissipated a bit, indicating that the power of the dream was weakening. He looked back at Freya and Romaine—Freya had her eyes tightly shut, occasionally furrowing her brow.
The Merchant Miss looked pale but her expression was calm.
Fortunately, the situation wasn’t as dire as he had imagined. Next was to inject belief; as long as everything went smoothly, the Golden Demon Tree wouldn’t be too difficult to contend with. He crawled over to Freya, pressed his finger against her forehead, hesitated for a moment, and chose ‘confidence.’
The Golden Demon Tree lured people into traps constructed from their negative emotions, while players had to respond with positive emotions. Observing Freya’s demeanor, Brendel believed that her apparent stubbornness and persistence were more like a protective layer over her inner weakness, and he wished for the future Valkyrie to be more confident—only confidence could lead to maturity.
He couldn’t help but think that she truly had no guard against him. In this state, it would be easy for him to take advantage. He glanced at the sleeping Freya and Romaine, especially at the latter’s smooth forehead, which made him unconsciously harbor a desire to kiss it.
Brendel’s heart raced, and he quickly composed himself. Though he liked the Merchant Miss, he wasn’t a shameless person. He rubbed his forehead, his mind swirling with a myriad of bizarre thoughts.
He couldn’t help but think of that dream.
After leaving the dream, his mindset had changed completely; that feeling of having gained yet lost something made him more mature. He understood that he wouldn’t turn back. The significance of time lay in the repetition of generations, and everyone had to walk their own path alone—
So did he.
Having understood Brendel’s pursuits, he also had to plan for his future path. He knew that the Black Rose War would soon end; this war in the game only lasted from late May to late July, and the nobles were unwilling to involve themselves in a war.
This aligned with Madara’s thinking—foreign invasions were an external manifestation of this nation’s internal upheaval, but Madara did not wish to provoke the entire Light Faction, making retreat inevitable. Since both sides on the battlefield were unwilling to engage in a prolonged conflict, peace talks were a done deal. However, that felt more like a farce; Brendel understood that the Erluin he wished to fight for was not the Erluin of now.
He was waiting for the regent princess to ascend the throne.
Of course, he couldn’t just sit idle. He thought that after the war ended, the royal family would surely reward some individuals—on one hand to establish heroes, on the other to soothe the populace’s hearts. Maybe there would be a recommendation spot at the Royal Cavalry Academy of Bastia, just like in history. However, Brendel had little interest in that spot; to be honest, he was not keen on entering Erluin’s outdated system as it stood, but it might be a good idea for Freya to pursue some additional training.
But what should he do? Brendel pondered; this was the beginning of a chaotic era. A single person’s power was limited; he needed a territory and to rally some people to support his ideals. He knew that with his familiarity with history and the world, he could quickly grow his territory, but where to start?
Should he navigate Erluin’s internal systems? Not to mention the timing, he also didn’t want to get involved in the war too soon; he had to maintain a low profile so as not to be detected by those truly powerful forces.
As for conquering a mountain to declare himself king, that was out of the question for the same reason. Another route was to take the path of a pioneer; there were pioneers in the game, and the same went for reality. In this dark world, not all territories were in the hands of nobles. The kingdom’s borders—where civilization met barbarism—held many untamed lands.
Since the time of the Aine Dynasty, Erluin had issued an edict: any pioneer who discovered a new territory could immediately claim it legally and be granted a title by the kingdom, depending on the size of the territory.
These titles were not hereditary, and most lands would be reclaimed by the royal family and temples after three generations, yet those looking to seek opportunities from this path remained drawn to it. Among them were reckless gamblers, adventurers, mercenaries, illicit merchants, and even legitimate knights and clergy, making little difference to them.
If we talk about such virgin lands, Brendel couldn’t help but grow excited. He knew of several at Erluin’s borders—though they varied in size, they were at least a possibility. However, when it came to the selection process, our protagonist found himself hesitating.
He didn’t have a great need for advantages in development or geographical positioning; the key was to remain discreet and preferably start from those territories that had “relics.” After all, he was alone and lacked manpower and supplies, so utilizing the relics of cities in the game could save him considerable effort.
After thinking it over, he finally remembered a place. In the game, it was called the most legendary territory, later destroyed by its owner’s mistake and set ablaze by his enemies, yet the discussions in forums about this spot had been tireless for years.
He recalled seeing countless mentions: if ‘Valhalla’ were still intact, wouldn’t it be a completely different sight now?
The thought of this made Brendel bristle with excitement—had he never imagined such a thing? If that legendary territory had not been destroyed, its ultimate development would surely have been beyond everyone’s expectations. He didn’t expect that this daydream might actually be realized in his hands.
While he was off lost in thought, he suddenly felt the person beside him move slightly. Then Freya opened her eyes, spotting Brendel with his hand resting on her forehead. She initially froze for a moment, but soon the confusion in her eyes receded like a tide. She suddenly awakened, her whole body recoiling as she blushed and stared at Brendel.
Even without her words, Brendel could clearly read what was written on her face: You shameless scoundrel, what are you doing?!
He shook his head, about to explain, but Freya seemed to react first. She appeared to suddenly remember something, her cheeks flushing even deeper: “I’m sorry, I—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Quickly wake Romaine and tell her it’s time to get up,” Brendel replied casually.
“Wake-up call?”
Brendel coughed, realizing he had misspoken. He then explained in detail the origin and purpose of injecting belief. Yet, what he thought should have been a simple matter unexpectedly caused Freya’s expression to change.
“W-Why didn’t you let Romaine use it first?” she asked, standing up in a panic.
Huh? Brendel was taken aback, thinking to himself that it seemed she was more psychologically fragile, Miss Valkyrie. But before he could finish his thought, Freya rushed over, helping Romaine up from the ground.
The Merchant Miss still looked pale, her expression calm. However, Brendel was astonished to discover that when Freya helped the soft-spoken Merchant Miss up, two streams of tears rolled down her eyelashes—
“What’s going on?!” he could hardly believe that Romaine was actually crying.
“I’ll tell you later.” Freya took a deep breath, placing a hand on Romaine’s forehead, but elicited no response. She paused for a moment before saying, “You turn your head away!”
“Why?”
“Turn away, quickly, and don’t look!”
Brendel was taken aback for a moment but nodded. However, his curiosity was just as strong as that of the now-awake Merchant Miss. After a while, he couldn’t help but sneak a glance. He immediately saw Freya turning Romaine onto her side, hugging her, and gently pressing her forehead against Romaine’s, murmuring anxiously, “Little Romain, wake up quickly. Didn’t you forget our promise?”
He couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback; he knew that Freya and Romaine had a close relationship, but he hadn’t expected that the usually outspoken Merchant Miss had her own little secret.
However, he had no time to be surprised before Freya shot him a fierce glare.
“Sorry, she was the one who saw it herself,” Brendel diverted the subject.
“You shameless!” Freya scolded, her face flushed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
…
(PS. There was a power outage this morning, so I’m late.
Regarding the deletion of posts in the review section, some were removed due to inappropriate comments; it’s not random deletions, please forgive me.)
