Chapter 601: Act 345 – Beneath the Abyss IV
It was said that Nemeses’ hands were stained black, naturally because of her previous achievements. Although the phenomenon of magical power dissipation existed in the Vaunte world, magical items were closely linked to the power of their owners. When their previous owner died for some reason, most magical items would lose their power, even disintegrating into fragments.
However, this dissipation was not entirely random; some specially processed equipment—such as the Queen Wind Ring—would not experience magical power dissipation. For general equipment, losing about two-thirds was considered a normal degradation. The existence of Elemental Awakening was undoubtedly a top figure in Vaunte during this era. In other words, the magical gear they possessed could not be ordinary. Yet, under Nemeses’ inspection, only a standard longsword remained.
Luck, at times, could feel elusive but was hard to deny at others. At least before Nemeses removed the bracelet from Williams’ corpse, Brendel thought this was certainly the case.
“Can I take a look?” He said to the Lady Knight after a moment of contemplation.
Without hesitation, Nemeses handed over the bracelet. Brendel already knew what its properties were even without inspecting it, but instinct as a player after years of experience compelled him to eagerly open the window—
A pale green, semi-transparent display appeared before him, visible only to him, filled with lines of text in elvish.
Will-o’-the-Wisp (Bracelet Type)
Silver Tier, Ancient Level Magical Item (Equipment Requirement: 225 Oz)
Strength +27, Constitution +22, Perception +6
Special Effect: Increases experience gained by 5%
Special Effect: Dark Perception +3
Indeed, it was identical. Holding the bracelet, Brendel felt a sense of relief wash over him. Although just an Ancient Level equip, the name Will-o’-the-Wisp was absolutely renowned in the game—firstly, its owner Williams was no ordinary person; secondly, the bracelet’s attributes were extremely powerful: Strength +27, Constitution +22, Perception +6. It was understood that a warrior at the peak of gold would only have main attributes around five hundred; while Brendel had already reached Elemental Manifestation, his attributes were still at the upper echelon of the gold level, with main attributes not exceeding three hundred.
In simple terms, an ordinary piece of equipment that could boost attributes by over ten percent was already quite substantial. But the power of Will-o’-the-Wisp extended far beyond this; beyond its attributes, the experience boost and dark perception were the most critical elements of this Ancient bracelet.
The experience boost was self-explanatory, as this was a very rare attribute, while dark perception was an essential trait within the game. Dark perception’s most important effect was its ability to sense the flow of dark magic. In the Vaunte world, due to the influence of the Magic Sea’s reflection of twelve magical moons in the sky, the entire continent—including the Blessed Lands—was subject to constant infiltration by dark magic.
With dark perception, one could foresee threats. For Brendel, the simplest application was that it allowed him to sense the movements of magical creatures. While this attribute didn’t seem particularly important now, it was invaluable in a future where a magical tide was imminent. For not only would there be an increase in magical creatures during the Great Magic Tide, but also an increase in dark treasures. To swiftly enhance one’s strength in that era and stay a step ahead, a sufficiently high dark perception attribute was required.
This would later become a consensus in the game. However, aside from certain unique beings—such as witches or the blind prophets—ordinary people often had a dark perception attribute of zero. Thus, possessing equipment with dark perception became crucial.
Even had he not obtained this bracelet today, Brendel would have sought similar gear to prepare for the future. Erluin needed to survive in the times ahead, and its enemies were not just the northern nobles.
But unexpectedly, Nemeses had given him a pleasant surprise.
“Do you recognize this bracelet?” Nemeses looked at him, keenly asking.
“I’ve heard some rumors about it,” Brendel replied. In his memory, it was said that this bracelet was made by the Council of the Eye of Vigilance from the Crystal of the Dragon of Sky and Knowledge. However, in the game, this Council of Vigilance had long since vanished with the destruction of the ultimate stronghold ‘Babel’, leaving the true reason why the crystal would create such a bracelet for the council unknown to anyone.
“I’m quite interested in this bracelet,” Brendel said.
“It was, after all, your trophy, Mister Brendel,” Nemeses replied.
“Thank you.”
Brendel immediately put on the bracelet. The Will-o’-the-Wisp melded like mercury into the crimson Blessing and the Gauntlet of Bahamut, as if it had become part of the armor set. However, magical items often possessed the ability to alter their appearance, so Nemeses didn’t find it strange.
As soon as he donned the Will-o’-the-Wisp, he felt a surge of new power invigorating his body. Then an unfamiliar yet familiar sensation spread from him in all directions. The rain seemed to dim slightly for a moment before becoming crystal clear instantly.
At that moment, he suddenly felt the flow of magic between heaven and earth. Though subtle, it was omnipresent. The storms of the outer sea contained traces of magic, which were essentially the purest form of power—or, in gaming terms—experience points.
The only issue was that no one had a method to collect them.
Brendel glanced at the Lady Knight Nemeses beside him. She too had traces of magic flowing in her body, though not prominently; it mainly gathered in her limbs and shoulders, cultivating explosive potential. This was the strength at the upper echelon of silver, a substantial power among mortals, yet still too scarce.
“Lady Nemeses, may I ask you something?”
Nemeses raised her head, instantly understanding that he wanted to test out his new magical equipment. She nodded, stepping back and drawing her longsword. “Pardon me.”
With a swift thrust.
In Brendel’s vision, Nemeses’ swordsmanship split into three, extending three red lines. This was the effect of the ‘Deep Analysis’ skill imparted to him by the silver elves. However, he didn’t need this hint at all, as he was very familiar with Nemeses’ sword technique—an improved combat array derived from the sword saint Darus.
Instinctively, Brendel believed she had learned this from Freya. After all, this technique, modified from Darus’s swordsmanship, would certainly shine in the eyes of the discerning, and he had never intended to keep it a secret when imparting it to Freya. Without much thought, Brendel grasped the Gauntlet of Bahamut with his left hand, clamping it down precisely on the anticipated trajectory of Nemeses’ blade.
At that moment, it felt as if the Lady Knight was offering her sword into his hand for him to grip. Nemeses was momentarily taken aback, lost in thought for a moment.
“Use your skill, Lady Knight,” Brendel quickly reminded her; he wasn’t there to practice swordsmanship with Nemeses. She immediately clenched her teeth, and the blade trembled as a beam of white light shot forth from the sword.
At that instant, Brendel sensed the convergence of magic within Nemeses’ body. He immediately sidestepped, evading the blade’s wind.
This was the power of dark perception, indeed just as it had been in the game. Unlike the silver elves’ deep analysis, dark perception couldn’t determine the attack’s direction, but it could sense the accumulation of magical energy before all special skills were cast, making the two complementary—an excellent alarm in battle.
Having completed his test, Brendel found Nemeses’ gaze sharpen. She struck again towards his shoulder.
Heavens, Brendel realized that this time the Lady Knight was serious. Clearly, catching her sword previously had humiliated her. As the best student of the Bastaf Royal Knight Academy, she was not one to admit defeat easily.
That character was quite familiar—
But Brendel wasn’t afraid of the current Nemeses. Not to mention strength; even in swordplay, he could easily overpower her. He didn’t even draw his sword, simply using his armored left hand to block it, then reaching for Nemeses’ hand that held the sword.
In his mind, this move would naturally render her incapable of any further attack. However, to his surprise, Nemeses was resolute; with her right hand pinned, she immediately dropped the sword, then swiftly caught the falling sword with her left hand and coldly thrust it towards Brendel’s abdomen.
A left-handed sword!
Brendel quickly released Nemeses’ right hand but didn’t retreat; instead, he pressed forward, using his hand to pin down her left hand that held the sword. Just then, at that very moment, his left hand’s Bahamut Gauntlet interpreted this as a defensive action against an attack, leading to an unexpected development.
The crimson Blessing’s special effect, Fire Shield, was activated.
A burst of flames exploded between the two. Brendel was fine; his chest armor was merely slightly scorched. However, Nemeses, wearing Erluin’s military uniform, fared worse. The front of her uniform was charred away, exposing her snow-white skin beneath, and even a charred hole in her underwear revealed a prominent, rounded curve.
The two froze in shock.
At least a D, Brendel thought in that moment.
“Turn around,” Nemeses said coldly.
Brendel hurriedly rubbed his nose and turned away, feeling a bit dry in the mouth.
“Let go of my hand.”
“Give me your cloak.” Nemeses stated calmly. She hadn’t turned back around, as there were still many others nearby. Although the noble mercenaries under Earl Ouding and the cadets from the Royal Knight Academy hadn’t yet noticed the changes.
Brendel complied, tearing off his cloak and shutting his eyes as he handed it to her. Nemeses calmly wrapped herself with the cloak and then looked at Brendel, asking, “Mister Brendel, are you truly the descendant of Lord Darus?”
“Uh…” Brendel was unsure why the Lady Knight suddenly brought this up. However, it was best she didn’t press further. “I’m not entirely sure, but I think Charles wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Did your grandfather teach you your swordsmanship?”
“No, certainly not. I learned it from other players,” but Brendel wouldn’t answer like that, or it would be truly incomprehensible. He thought for a moment and nodded.
Nemeses glanced at him and nodded before picking up her sword from the ground and turning to leave.
Leaving Brendel alone in the rain, he let out a long sigh of relief.
“Mister Brendel, you’re quite hasty,” Otales said curiously beside him. “By the way, have you done the same thing to Lady Wind? Otherwise, why would she be so angry with you?”
Brendel recalled that there was someone peeking nearby and realized the question was a bit probing. He would certainly not dare to do such a thing to the elven lady. If he did, he would likely already be dead without a grave. So, he shot her a fierce glare: “Children should be elsewhere.”
“I am over a thousand years old,” the elven girl beamed proudly. “Compared to that, Mister Brendel, you’re the child, aren’t you?”
Goodness, now you remember this? Brendel felt that he couldn’t win against her, so he simply ignored her and began to check Williams’ corpse.
He thought he couldn’t possibly find anything worse than Nemeses, but he actually discovered two pieces of equipment that hadn’t suffered magical power dissipation. One was a cloak, the Cloak of Flame Patterns, giving +15 Bloodline and +3 Defense. He would bet that Williams hadn’t even realized that this cloak also provided a bonus to Bloodline; he certainly had chosen it for its defensive capabilities.
In Vaunte, this was quite a common phenomenon because NPCs often “couldn’t see” that the equipment had attributes. Thus, they would judge based solely on the surface abilities of magical gear, with only a few scholars like Turiman able to carefully analyze all functions of a piece of equipment.
This process was called identification in the game. However, general equipment doesn’t require identification for players; aside from a few special items, this could be considered a benefit for players.
The other item was a wizard’s piece, a wand with +32 Constitution, capable of summoning two gargoyles and amplifying magical power, an item restricted to the silver tier wizard class. Unfortunately, only Charles in Brendel’s camp could equip it, but Charles was a card creature and thus unable to equip items from the real world.
Brendel didn’t imagine Williams would carry such an item; he could only speculate it was a trophy.
Finding two pieces of equipment for wizards didn’t surprise Brendel at all. In the game, he had long been unable to find what he wanted, referred to as the wizard’s friend, and the senior sister often joked to outsiders:
“An elf is her best friend.”
But accolades like that were better left unsaid.
Recalling his past traumatic experiences was difficult to endure.
After finally sorting through the loot, he totaled eleven Blazing Longswords, the Queen Wind Ring (Otales version), Will-o’-the-Wisp, the Cloak of Flame Patterns, and a golden-tier wand, along with one piece that was both anticipated and unexpected:
He recognized it immediately as a fragment of the Flame Blade Odrefice.
It appeared to be a part of the sword blade that had broken in the middle, the shard bright like a mirror, but with dark red flame patterns atop it. As soon as Brendel found the fragment on Williams’ corpse, the soul blade of the Flame Blade bound to him resonated immediately.
However, Brendel felt no excitement in obtaining this artifact’s fragment; he only regarded it as a troubling hassle. The Crusian people couldn’t possibly have left the Flame Blade in Erluin, and if this matter wasn’t handled properly, it could lead to a situation where neither side would yield.
He had just frowned when he saw Freya running over from the rain.
“Brendel!”
“What’s wrong?” Brendel asked, putting away the fragment of the Flame Blade. He noticed a hint of anxiety on Freya’s face, feeling a bit puzzled; the Royal Fleet of Erluin shouldn’t have been able to wipe out the Crusian so quickly. Did they encounter some new enemies?
That couldn’t be; Brendel didn’t believe the Crusian would dare to reinforce their numbers, just as he didn’t think the Northern Coalition could regroup in a short time.
“Someone has arrived,” Freya replied, rushing to his side, slightly out of breath, as if she had run a long way.
“One person?”
“Yeah.” The girl from Buche nodded hurriedly.
“Who?”
“It’s High Priest Wood; he said he wants to see you.”
“Huh?” Brendel was momentarily taken aback. Just as he had thought about trouble, he was caught off guard by it arriving so swiftly. However, why was Wood coming to see him at this time? Was it concerning the Flame Blade? He clearly understood that Princess’s side had no leeway for compromise anymore.
……
(PS: 4500 words, preparing to create a new character card, comrades, I need your help, you know what I mean.) (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
