Chapter 680: Act 41 – All-Class Domination IV
Enya, the centaur lamia, and the Pendulum Man had piqued Brendel’s curiosity from the moment they appeared. After the battle in the underground tomb, he finally understood that summoned creatures from cards could also wield those cards.
Although Enya had mentioned that she and the Pendulum Man were merely using Chunximan’s deck in a simulated environment, it at least proved that the great mage had entertained similar ideas during his lifetime.
And that was indeed the case.
Chunximan had left behind some fragmented notes, indicating that in his later years, he conceived the idea of establishing new rules based on creature cards—if mages could summon all creatures, then why couldn’t mages summon other mages?
This was undoubtedly a bold, nearly genius idea; using lofty terms like fantastical to praise this vision would not be an overstatement. Most madly, Chunximan succeeded, or at least succeeded in a sense.
He first restructured the centaur lamia and the Pendulum Man, the two strongest cards he had on hand, with whom he had the deepest emotional connection. It could be said that Enya and the Pendulum Man were his first experimental subjects. Though this experiment was not perfect, it provided Chunximan with a direction.
Unfortunately, this great genius—or madman—ultimately did not complete his vision. Before he could create a perfect summoned creature, an unknown crisis erupted from Duke Toniger’s underground, and together with the witch queen, he chose to seal the entire tomb with his life.
Thus, he sealed his lifelong efforts within.
This record was eventually handed over to Brendel by the centaur lamia. In fact, what Brendel received was still not the complete realization of this vision, as even Chunximan had not had the time to further experiment and perfect it, leaving him with merely an incomplete record.
But that was enough.
Just like Brendel’s thoughts, it didn’t need to be perfect; it just needed to be pushed to its limits. With his experiences from his previous life, shaping a deck that belonged solely to him seemed like a possible endeavor.
“Are you planning to summon a mage creature?” Tumen asked him nervously.
Brendel nodded.
Tumen immediately adopted a serious expression, replying, “But do you know that Chunximan’s method is not foolproof? Mages are special authorities; they transcend all power systems you mentioned. The way he summoned mage creatures is, in fact, a nearly compromised method.”
“I know,” Brendel responded. “Master Chunximan essentially delegated his mage authority to ensure that his summoned creatures possessed similar rule powers to his own.”
“This leads to two issues: first, the delegation of authority inevitably reduces the deck limit for the mage. Second, because the summoned creatures possess the same authority as the mage himself, they might rebel against him at any time.”
Brendel was inherently a risk-taker; he was entirely different from those who acted cautiously with meticulous plans. Therefore, during his time in the Amber Sword, it was he who received the most attention from his senior sister. The consequences of concentrating individual heroism and adventurism in one person were easy to imagine.
However, through long-term adventures and games, he was no longer that naive youth; he now understood that even risks required assessing their probability. The most critical point was to know both oneself and one’s opponent.
Thus, without Tumen pointing it out, he had already investigated all the potential consequences thoroughly. Moreover, he continued, “Additionally, a mage’s authority cannot be divided infinitely. Based on Chunximan’s strength, he could at most delegate four additional authorities, while my ability would allow for at most two.”
“So you understand,” Tumen fell silent. What Brendel spoke of regarding the deck capacity was an issue that a mage must face. Unlike apprentices who could carelessly use others’ decks, every card in a formal mage’s hand represented their own rules and the structure of the world, requiring them to allocate a certain amount of strength to maintain each card.
This relationship was generally proportional to the size of the elemental pool, typically ten to one, though there were exceptions.
Tumen pondered and said, “Chunximan was nearly at the peak of mage status; his strength was on par with mine. Above him lies Lord Odin’s level, and only two or three people have ever reached that. That means, even if you consider pursuing this path, you could at most possess four or five mage creatures, and you need to think clearly—these mage creatures themselves would also have significant flaws—”
“I’ve considered it, Lord Tumen. But thank you for your reminder,” Brendel smiled. “I believe this is my best choice.”
“Ah… you.” The Elemental Emperor couldn’t help but shake his head, glancing at the coldly observing Saint Ausoor beside him, saying, “Isn’t this your precious student? Won’t you advise him?”
Queen Wind shrugged, “This is a matter for you mages. Besides, I believe in this young one; he hasn’t made a single mistake so far. Can you believe that? It’s already a miracle.”
Tumen was slightly taken aback, unable to hold his silence for a moment.
Then he raised his head and asked, “Have you considered it carefully? So what do you plan to do?”
“Leave it to me,” Brendel replied confidently. He had started contemplating this moment since leaving the underground tomb. After experiencing the battle with Ampere Seale, his thoughts became even clearer.
Moreover, he hid a secret that he could not disclose. He just hoped to validate his speculation; if it were true, the path of his mage journey would embark on an unimaginable road.
“I need to first identify the core cards of the knight deck, to reshape my elemental pool and deck—”
Tumen nodded, “Good. The unknown rules pose a significant threat to anyone, so acting prudently is wise. I’ll watch over you as you begin.”
Brendel nodded, then drew a card from the air.
The pattern on that card was so familiar: beneath the starlit sky, a lady knight wielding a spear traversed the forest with her unicorn. This tranquil scene seemed to tell a timeless story, unchanged from a thousand years ago. Medisa in the image resembled the first meeting in the Eternalwood Forest.
“Medisa, have you considered this?” Brendel asked. “This may not be good for you; it might strip away your eternal life.”
The girl’s voice smiled softly, as if emanating from the void: “Lord, it has already been stated; following you is my honor. Moreover, have you forgotten, my existence is built upon your cards?”
Brendel understood.
He felt a bit touched. Typical mages would ponder over the backlash of summoned creatures when dividing authority. But he could be certain that Medisa would never act against him.
He pointed to the card and, following Chunximan’s recorded methods, extended his rules onto the card. Tumen and Saint Ausoor saw that moment when brilliant silver rule lines extended from Brendel’s body, wrapping around the unicorn knight card.
The silver rule lines were even sturdier than Brendel’s spatial rules; they slightly vibrated within the stone array, causing the entire spatial rules to resonate as if they bowed to this supreme rule.
Yet, just a moment later, a dark golden card slipped from the embrace of the rule lines, landing in Brendel’s hand—
Fran Knight
Eternal Song I
Light 30
[Creature—Fran Knight/Silver Elf (Level 1)]
The Fran Knight enters the field with 60 mana; special ability, Mage.
Tap to restore 10 mana.
Maintain, the Fran Knight remains on the field as a permanent entity.
“Her loyalty is as unbending as the straightest sword; she would rather break than bend—”
(Mage special ability: Summoned creatures with Mage abilities can use fate cards through their summoner’s elemental pool just like a true mage. They can gain experience and use equipment normally. However, once summoned creatures with Mage abilities exhaust all mana or life, they will be completely destroyed.)
Time seemed to still for several seconds.
Tumen, Brendel, and Saint Ausoor gazed at the flowing dark golden card. After a while, the Elemental Emperor, from the era of the Saint War, could not help but let out a soft sigh:
“Although I do not support your decision, I must admit, Chunximan is indeed a genius. In the exploration of rule power, I am far from his equal.”
“…This card has rewritten the history of mages.”
Tumen gazed at the card with a look akin to that of admiring a work of art, even somewhat entranced. But after a moment, he shook his head, unable to suppress his thoughts: “However… such a rule might not be the best for you, Brendel. Do you understand? Because you might have to exert a thousand times the effort of others; both you and I have overlooked one point…”
He added, “Although they are mage creatures, the land cards and elemental pool they use are still your own. If you assume you have four mage creatures, the proportion of land cards in your deck may drag down the fighting power of your entire deck—”
The Elemental Emperor raised his head, seemingly wishing to comfort Brendel, but he abruptly realized that this young man he had always admired was staring blankly ahead.
“Brendel?”
Not just Tumen; even Saint Ausoor nearby noticed something amiss. They watched as a bright flame seemed to ignite in Brendel’s eyes, and an eerie smile appeared on his face.
Soon, he lifted his head somewhat stiffly, akin to a puppet, looking at Saint Ausoor, then at Tumen, and said dryly, “You’d better take a look at this.”
“What?”
“My elemental pool…” Brendel faced Tumen and Queen Wind, suddenly closing his eyes, his left hand overlapping his right hand, as the power of mana and elements began to gather between his magical triangle.
In an instant, the Elemental Emperor’s eyes widened.
“This is impossible!”
Vornd’s history was long and intricate, with few who could be called Elemental Emperors throughout the ages. Tumen was among the best of them, unmatched in his talent for elementalist skills. Legend had it that when he opened the elemental pool, the astrologers of the time proclaimed the birth of a future Elemental Emperor.
For Tumen was approximately the only person in thousands of years of Vornd to have an elemental pool with an elemental capacity of one hundred grids, just as he recently acquired it.
But even Tumen himself had never seen, heard of, or even considered the possibility of such an existence—
Two elemental pools!
Brendel possessed two elemental pools!
At that moment, both Tumen and Saint Ausoor nearly thought their eyes were deceiving them; they reacted in a manner quite unbefitting their status, instinctively rubbing their eyes.
They quickly realized they were both performing the same action, then became aware of the implications.
It was real!
Someone actually possessed two elemental pools simultaneously—
Tumen looked at Brendel, finally unable to maintain his composure and calm demeanor, and couldn’t help but grasp Brendel’s shoulders—of course, his instinctive action only allowed his hand to pass through Brendel’s body like a mirage.
This Elemental Emperor from the Saint War era realized he had grasped nothing but a memory, but that did not quell his shock, as he couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment, “Brendel, what exactly is going on?”
Brendel looked at the two before him with curiosity.
He obviously knew how this happened; finally, after a long wait, having crossed that invisible barrier and officially become a mage, he, as part of Sue’s soul, had finally gained his own elemental pool.
And it was far more than that.
He discovered that his two souls had the same authority within the mage power system. What did this mean? Brendel could hardly contain his wild laughter; indeed, he had not been mistaken.
He could separate out a full double of the authority compared to a normal person!
…
(PS: In these three chapters today, I’ve included a lot of settings. I spent a lot of time detailing them to make the settings seem rational… so it got delayed until this late… = =. It feels like writing thirty thousand words in a day is nothing compared to this; it’s so mentally exhausting. I really hope that everyone can support me more. Also, this marks the ninth day of daily updates with ten thousand words; tomorrow I’ll update another chapter, and I’m about to clear up the backlog from last month, so I might release another single chapter tomorrow. Please show some support, everyone. The strong monkey will die first…)(To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for recommendations or monthly votes on Qidian (qidian.com); your support is my greatest motivation.)
