Chapter 51: Act 43 – Are You Not a Highland Knight?
The guard captain with the weasel-like appearance sent them here, threatening them coldly before leaving, which made Freya grit her teeth in anger. Brendel, however, remained calm, sitting alone in the darkness and surveying the small space around him through the dim light of a distant torch — this should be the second level of the dungeon beneath the barracks, with thirty-two prisoner cells and four jailers, all light infantry from the 104th Swordsman Regiment of the White Mane Legion.
In the past, who hadn’t experienced a time when their player character was marked for PK? This wasn’t Brendel’s first visit to the dungeons of Ridenburg, although they had previously been locked up on the third floor, where NPCs viewed players as a group of lawless scoundrels. The thought made Brendel chuckle a little.
He pulled out a black ebony gargoyle statue from his pocket, stroking it gently; the crack on it was now almost imperceptible. He then turned around and asked the dark void across from him, “Freya, Romaine, are you okay?”
“Brendel, how long are we going to be locked up?” came the somewhat anxious voice of Merchant Miss from the other side.
Brendel thought to himself that it appeared even she had moments of fear. The two girls were locked up in the adjacent cell; though it was dark, they were at least safe. Just as he was about to respond with some comforting words, he heard a dull thud from the darkness across.
“I’m so furious! Those damn bastards, how can we have worked so hard for people like them?” Freya slammed her fist on the wooden bars, her teeth clenched in anger.
“Hey! What’s all that noise in there?! Do you want a whipping?” a jailer’s harsh voice immediately came from outside.
Though Freya wanted to charge out and thrash these lackeys of the powerful, she understood her situation. She took a deep breath to calm down.
“Brendel, what are we going to do?” she whispered.
Another voice cut in immediately: “Is this the black prison? Auntie said some people are locked in the black prison for life, never seeing the light of day. Brendel, will we end up like that?”
“Shut your crow’s mouth, Romaine,” Freya snapped in reply on behalf of Brendel.
Brendel chuckled, “Do you still have any hope for those people?”
“I hope they all die!” Freya gritted her teeth.
“But without their help, Ridenburg will be in danger,” Brendel went over to the cell door and responded softly.
Freya fell silent.
“At least I’ve tried,” she answered. “My strength isn’t limitless; I can only do so much for Buche and everyone.”
Brendel felt reassured; it seemed their efforts throughout the night were worth it. In fact, he had noticed that since the dream in the Golden Tree, Freya had rapidly matured.
It was precisely because of this that his ‘Valkyrie Development Plan’ could be implemented; he had to make Freya his assistant. An S-rank commander in a game, this had to be a good deal.
“Good to hear you think that way,” he said.
“Brendel, do you have any plans?”
“Hmm, you two step back a bit.” Since Brendel dared to come in, he certainly had a way out. The confidence stemmed from knowing that the following night could be described as ‘long and full of dreams’. Ironically, the nobles of Ridenburg were still blissfully unaware.
Freya had given these people one last chance but was locked up here on false charges.
Was this what they called self-destruction?
“Wait, Brendel, what do you intend to do? Don’t do anything reckless! This is a dungeon!” Although Freya wanted those nobles to die, she still considered herself a citizen of Erluin; charging out so brazenly, wouldn’t that be rebellion?
“I know what I’m doing.”
“What do you know? Ah, Romaine, you hurry and talk some sense into him!” Freya couldn’t help but lower her voice. On one hand, she hoped the guards outside would come in to stop Brendel’s crazy actions; on the other, she worried they would realize something was happening inside, caught in deep conflict and contradiction.
“Brendel, I want to go out too,” Merchant Miss responded.
“You shut up! I didn’t ask you to persuade him!” Freya was almost in tears. Did these two not realize the seriousness of their situation? Escaping from prison could lead to execution by hanging! The thought that her two best companions could become wanted criminals made her uneasy.
Brendel, meanwhile, took out the ‘Highland Vassal’ card and tossed it to the ground. The small amount of water element generated in the Holy Tree Secret Land this week immediately paid from the ground card, and after a puff of smoke, a young man dressed in robes and carrying a large bundle of scrolls stepped out from the mist, brushing his sleeves.
Brendel understood that without an elemental pool, the elements generated from the ground card would be paid this week and would dissipate, meaning they couldn’t be stored, but they could still be used within that week.
“My name is Charles, Lord, and I’m happy to serve you,” the young man said as he bowed deeply.
“You’re a Highland Mage?” Brendel asked.
“An apprentice,” the young man corrected earnestly.
Brendel discovered that he could examine the other’s attributes and opened the screen. A 16-point life Highland Mage apprentice, 8 points of mana, possessing two spells: Basic Construction (2 mana) and Magic Arrow (1 mana). His knowledge base included Basic Magic, Construction Magic Knowledge, Basic Knowledge, Local and Geographic Knowledge, and also 1 level in Heraldry.
“Do you practice rule magic?”
“Indeed.”
Rule Wizards are a broad category of wizards dedicated to studying the power of rules. Their magic involves manipulating the lines that connect the material world to the world of rules, converting their powers into reality using gem energy.
In the Amber Sword universe, there are nine schools of magic, including rule magic, elemental magic, string magic, sorcery, runic magic, holy words, astrology, necromancy, and magic circle arts. In fact, each of these nine schools represents an entirely different system of spells, though ordinary people often cannot distinguish between them, thus they are collectively referred to as wizards.
Yet, this classification isn’t without reason; after all, all magic shares one common point — its mystery.
“Brendel, is someone talking to you?” Freya suddenly asked.
“Hmm, my attendant,” Brendel replied.
“Attendant?” the young girl was taken aback.
Brendel took out a soul crystal containing the Ten Feet Silence spell, tossing it to the young man: “Activate it.”
Although warriors cannot use storage magical items, apprentices can. Charles received the crystal, infused it with 1 mana, and the surface of the soul crystal glimmered slightly — the surroundings instantly became silent.
It was as if an invisible and intangible monster had suddenly appeared in the darkness, swallowing the sound whole. Freya over there was equally shocked, realizing she suddenly couldn’t make a sound. Of course, she didn’t know this was Brendel’s work; her heart raced — after all, this is how most ordinary people reacted when faced with mysterious spells.
Charles nodded at his lord.
Seizing the opportunity, Brendel turned and struck the wooden bars of the dungeon, which were as thick as a man’s arm, with a punch. After the battle in the Golden Magic Tree, Brendel’s resources had never been so ample; with 965 total experience points, he could upgrade mercenaries to level 8 and then upgrade militia to level 6. Once his total level reached 15, his strength was already at 5.4 energy units. With strength surging, he exceeded 10 energy units.
His punch hit the wooden bars; the sturdy post should have snapped in the middle with a crack and violently flung itself into the bars on Freya’s side with a loud crash. Instead, within the silence spell’s range, one could only see the wood silently shattering, wooden splinters flying. Two pieces of wood flew over, hit the other side, and softly bounced down.
Brendel walked through the gap wider than a person, followed by Charles. He grabbed the iron chain on the opposite railing, tugging it until it deformed and snapped apart like tearing a piece of twine. He then opened the door, just as the duration of the silence spell ended.
“What’s this? You want to stay a little longer?” Brendel stood at the cell door, looking at the two girls with surprised expressions and asked with a smile.
“You, you, you just got out like that?” Freya could hardly believe what she had just seen; it was too outrageous! Watching Brendel’s skilled technique, it seemed he had done this many times before!
Brendel smiled; those noble lords really treated him like some nameless militia. It was ridiculous. He had escaped from prison more times than one could count in the game — not to mention Ridenburg, even from Iron Thorn Fortress in the port city of Ampere Seale, he had successful experiences.
Players have always disregarded NPC rules; back in the day, there were even players who escaped from the capital prison of Gruz, causing a stir on the forums.
He thought to himself that if he stayed here until tomorrow morning, it would be a disgrace to his former identity as a player.
“Who is this?” Freya finally noticed there was someone new by Brendel’s side.
“Esteemed lady, I am the vassal of the lord,” Charles bowed his head and performed a courtesy to the two young ladies.
“Vassal?”
“Lord?” Romaine and Freya could barely control their voices. What was going on here? Was the dungeon some kind of mysterious space? Why did Brendel seem to inexplicably transform into a lord after staying in there for a while, and now had a follower too?
Freya couldn’t help but pinch her face to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. She couldn’t help but think that if that young man, who had been living alone in the old mansion for months without showing his face, was a lord, then she would become a Valkyrie herself!
Moreover, “How, how did you come here?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“As you can see, I am a mage,” Charles replied leisurely. This greatly impressed Brendel; this guy’s ability to spin yarn was nearly on par with his own.
“Mage apprentice.” Freya gasped.
“You, you, you’re a Highland Knight, Brendel, you’re actually a Danielian!” She looked at Brendel with an unbelievable gaze. In this world, there was only one type of mage who could serve as a knight’s vassal; the Highland Knights of the Karasu Province had allied with wizards for three hundred years, forming Erluin’s strongest military force — the White Knights. The friendship between the Highland Knights and their magician vassals was one of Erluin’s well-known legends.
In that moment, Freya had already decided that Brendel was a young nobleman from a Highland Knight family. No wonder he was so formidable, no wonder he could remain so calm in every situation; it turned out he was a knight. Suddenly lowering her head, she thought about how this despicable guy was a noble while trying to get close to her and Romaine, who were merely two small commoners — yes, he must have ulterior motives!
She immediately attributed to Brendel some of the vices she had heard from Aunt Sil, then quietly shrank back.
Brendel was clearly unprepared for their future Valkyrie’s high level of divergent thinking, believing that she was simply too shocked to accept the truth. In fact, he didn’t mind; since they thought it would help them accept it better, he could avoid the hassle of explanations.
He couldn’t help but shake his head and exchanged glances with Charles.
Reality was just so helpless.
“Alright, ladies. It’s about time, let’s hurry out,” Brendel said, looking at Romaine, who was hiding in the dark with curious, sparkling eyes, and shook his head: “You’re not seriously planning to stay in here until dawn, are you?”
“Brendel, are you really a knight?” Romaine suddenly asked.
“No, I’m Brendel,” he replied.
“Well, then I’ll come out now.”
“Please —”
……
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