Chapter 686: Act 46 – The Growth of Valhalla (Part 2)
After listening to Monica’s mechanical tone finish speaking, Brendel was nearly stunned and couldn’t help but ask, “Valhalla is a replica of Babel! Monica, do you know the legends from the Age of the Gods?”
Monica snapped out of her daze and quickly shook her head, her tone returning to normal, “No, my lord, I don’t know.”
“Wait, then how do you know all this?”
“No, I don’t know either, but ever since the World Tree Fortress was upgraded, as one of its main overseers, this knowledge seems to have automatically appeared in my mind,” the Light Spirit Maiden hurriedly replied, “But I can’t say more than that.”
Brendel was slightly taken aback, calming down: “So, it’s possible that Valhalla is a creation from the Age of the Gods?”
“I can’t be sure, my lord.”
“Never mind, at least we know it’s ours,” Brendel waved his hand, deciding not to get tangled up in these irrelevant questions: “Let’s return to the original topic. Since that’s the case, I only plan to build the Elven Arrow Towers on the ring road. So I only need to build twenty towers, Monica.”
“I understand, my lord. However, the territory currently requires a better balance of magic and materials; what you allocated to us earlier may not be enough,” Monica replied respectfully, “Thanks to your lordship, Valhalla is growing very quickly.”
Brendel gritted his teeth. If Monica hadn’t brought it up, he wouldn’t have remembered the mountains of colorless, transparent crystals he had seen under the World Tree. These were a testament to the wealth consumed by this World Tree Fortress over the past six months.
But this was just the beginning; according to the list, each tower required nearly two hundred thousand magic and a substantial amount of materials. Magic could be converted from crystals, but materials had to be transported one by one from the territory.
He couldn’t help but groan inwardly: “From now on, the proportion of magic crystals produced in the Black Forest for your use will be doubled from twenty percent. As for the materials, I will have Yuta and Antinna prioritize your needs…”
“Thank you so much, my lord,” the Light Spirit Monica excitedly flew around in the air.
It was apparent that she had said so much just for this line.
But Brendel knew better than her how costly a higher-tier magical territory was; the Elven Arrow Tower was just the beginning. With the Elven Arrow Towers built, he would first need archers and crossbowmen, then wizards and magic apprentices.
Each of these required money. Brendel rubbed his forehead and asked, “How’s the training of the Wind Archers, Monica?”
“That’s what I was about to report, my lord.” Monica immediately responded, “The Wind Archer Hall has been completed, and the first batch of soldiers in training mainly comes from the tree spirits of the Loop of Trade Winds. Later, we also accommodated some elves from other places, such as some Wind Elf mercenaries and Wild Elf refugees from the north. However, starting from the third batch, humans will be the main source of soldiers; but judging by the training completion, elves are still the potential best Wind Archers—”
This was nothing Brendel had not expected; the number of elves in the human world was inherently few, let alone in a place like Toniger. It was also expected that elves’ archery talent far surpassed that of humans.
However, when he heard Monica say that there were now four hundred sixty-five tree spirit Wind Archers, one hundred eighty-seven other elven Wind Archers, and only one hundred sixty human Wind Archers, he couldn’t help but freeze slightly and turn back to ask, “Why are there so few humans? Is it because the elimination rate is too high?”
“That’s one of the factors, my lord.”
At that moment, a voice interjected. Brendel turned at the familiar voice and saw Fluora approaching, her face serious. The Wild Elf Maiden brought several rolls of parchment to his side and answered, “But the key reason is your strange rule for being a Wind Archer—only girls can qualify. Most people in Toniger are refugees, and women are inherently in short supply; those who meet the physical and age requirements are even less, and coupled with the elimination rate, what remains is naturally a rarity.”
Fluora glanced at her lord, her attire now quite different from before. Ever since she became a White City Vanguard, her outfit had transformed from a mercenary garb into a more formal Elementalist robe; though the robe was still monochrome, this was because of a significant drop in rank—then she calmly said, “Now everyone in the territory already knows your unique preference, my lord. While it’s normal for a man to have such fantasies, Fluora also hopes you can pay attention to your reputation.”
“What!?” Brendel was directly taken aback: “When did I set such a rule?”
He suddenly thought of something and hurried to the tree wall to look. Sure enough, he saw a large group of elves and human archers training in the direction of the Wind Archer Hall on the ring road, all of them were female. Furthermore, they were all of relatively high qualifications, almost dazzling his eyes.
Brendel quickly took a deep breath and turned back to ask, “What is going on here?”
He never expected that in just a few months without inquiring about Valhalla’s development, this damned World Tree Fortress had established a real ‘Women’s Army’. Of course, it wasn’t that he minded; Brendel certainly wished for his subordinates to be somewhat more pleasing to the eye, but as an army, men were indeed more convenient in many respects.
“Well…” Monica hesitated for a moment before answering, “The Wind Archers of Valhalla are originally inherited from the Princess Guard of the Silver Elves, so…”
Brendel immediately fell silent.
He understood perfectly well what the Princess Guard of the Silver Elves was. The name wasn’t meant to imply that this army was a guard for the Princess of the silver elves, but was a metaphor; every soldier in this ranged army was one of the most outstanding females of the silver elves.
According to the settings of the Amber Sword, it could even be said that this army was the Amazon warriors of the history of Vaunte.
Hearing what Monica said, he couldn’t help but feel mildly stunned; he would have never imagined that he would inherit such an army.
“Princess Guard,” he asked instinctively, “Does that mean Valhalla’s Wind Archers possess combat capability equivalent to the historical Princess Guard?”
That was a force on par with the Silver Elves and Dragon Knight Cavalry!
“Of course not,” but Monica immediately dashed his expectations, “The Wind Archers are merely the lowest-tier soldiers of Valhalla; in form, they can only be considered a simplified version of the Princess Guard.”
“Then what abilities do they have?” Brendel asked.
“You can see for yourself, my lord.”
In fact, Brendel didn’t need Monica’s reminder; he was already looking in that direction. On the lower ring road, behind the Wind Archer Hall was a vast training ground. The initial batch of tree spirit Wind Archers was divided into several groups, engaging in combat with each other. Brendel immediately saw those elven females’ forms flickering in and out, and in his understanding, only one type of spell effect could display such traits.
“Invisibility?”
“Indeed, Wind Archers are typical light infantry. Their greatest ability is to maintain continuous invisibility for a short time in battle, or long stealth before combat,” Monica replied, “However, the Wind Archers of Valhalla are also equipped with the Wind Archer armor designed by you, my lord, which grants them temporary flying and gliding capabilities—”
Holy Martha!
Brendel was inwardly thrilled; how significant the role of skilled invisible archers would be on the battlefield was evident. On the battlefield, the major flaw of archers was their lack of close combat capability and their visibility; generally, once the archer’s formation was approached by cavalry, it would be an instant collapse.
But the Wind Archers were evidently completely different; they didn’t even need protection. Once approached, they could instantly utilize the flying ability provided by the Wind Archer Cloak to create distance, then use invisibility to re-enter a concealed state, waiting for the next shot.
Heavens! Brendel could fully imagine how terrifying that would be. But now, the only problem was that the numbers were still too few; otherwise, they could be a great asset in this war.
As he thought of this, he suddenly recalled something and turned back to ask, “Fluora, is there new news from Rendener?”
“This time, it’s not, my lord.” Fluora replied with the same serious expression, “This time it’s news about a certain lord of Madara; a guy from Xierman, who has benefited from your kindness, sent back news via our courier. As you predicted, the Undead Army has begun to gather in the Pine Area.”
“The Blood Staff.” Brendel snapped the lord interface closed and stood up: “The Undead has started to move; hence, Count Rendener should be preparing to depart soon. This timing is a bit earlier than I anticipated, but it seems Duke Anlek must have some new development, making him feel somewhat urgent.”
“Princess asks when you will set off, my lord?” Fluora added.
“Princess?”
Brendel was slightly stunned, and suddenly a commotion arose on one side of the Square. He looked up just as he saw the princess and her entourage walking toward the square from the Moon Tower—presumably, they had entered the central hall of the World Tree through the ring road.
The princess passed through the center of the square with several female attendants. She glanced at her younger brother, who was securely bound by the roots of the ancient trees. Brendel then noticed that he hadn’t reminded them, and the Young Prince seemed to have completely succumbed to the tentacle’s tyranny, his little face flushed while his sword had been knocked away, and was there panting heavily.
Princess Grifian couldn’t help but frown slightly at this scene, shaking her head gently.
She approached Brendel, took a breath, and then softly greeted him: “It’s been a few days; Mister Brendel, you still look as energetic.”
“Your Highness…” Brendel felt a bit awkward, after all, it was about tormenting another’s younger brother—the future king of the kingdom to this extent. It would have been fine if the princess hadn’t seen it, but he hadn’t expected to be caught in the act.
“I didn’t come to discuss this, Lord Earl,” the princess shook her head, “I came to bid you farewell, and I’d like to ask, when do you plan to depart for Vieiro?”
“Farewell?” Brendel was taken aback.
“I plan to return to Vlada first; Lord Overwell and the envoy from Lantonrand are waiting for me there. Additionally, Mr. Aike and his fiancée have sent news that they set out for Varlanden yesterday; Duke of Lantonrand has fully entrusted him to represent Lantonrand in this matter—” She paused, “So the time left for me is limited.”
Brendel suddenly realized. He fell silent; in fact, he had already sensed the timing was ripe when he received the news about the Undead from Fluora. But he hadn’t expected the princess to arrive so soon.
“Mister Brendel, are you preparing to accompany me to Vlada?” the half-elf princess paused and asked.
Naturally, Brendel would love to travel with the princess. However, he hesitated for a moment, then ultimately shook his head: “No, it’s not necessary. Your Highness, I have other matters to attend to; you can go ahead first, and I will catch up with you in Varlanden.”
Princess Grifian looked at him; there was no surprise in her silver eyes. In fact, she already knew what Brendel was preparing to do because she pondered: “Are you planning to bring those Crusians along?”
“Yes,” Brendel nodded. The intention of going to Frostfall Forest was, in some sense, actually to help the Crusians, so he certainly needed to bring them along. However, most of those Cruzian Knights were deadweight; he thought for a moment and replied, “I only need to bring Laurena and her fiancé. Veronika should also go there and meet up with me.”
“Will you be able to make it in time?” the princess asked.
“I should be able to.” Brendel nodded.
Although the Frostfall Forest Maze was a legendary dungeon, it wasn’t actually very large. Moreover, he didn’t necessarily have to confront the monsters within; the best-case scenario was that Anlek had already obtained the Dragon’s Heart, and all he needed to do was take the item from those cultists.
There would be no psychological burden.
“Then I’ll leave it to you,” Princess Grifian looked at him, the trust in her gaze was very clear. She softly said, “I’ll entrust Margadale to you—”
“Rest assured, Your Highness; Princess Margadale is also my friend.”
“I understand, Mister Brendel, then I will feel at ease.”
“However, I have one last request, Your Highness,” Brendel suddenly said. He looked at this future regent princess of Erluin, hesitating a little; to be honest, he also wasn’t sure if she would agree to his request.
“Uh-huh?”
“It’s actually two requests. First, I hope that this time, Freya can lead the troops of Vlada. Second, I hope Prince Haruze can accompany me to the Frostfall Forest.”
As soon as Brendel spoke, the surroundings immediately fell silent.
The princess was slightly quiet for a moment: “For the first request, I already said, Mister Brendel. The command of the military forces of both territories is entirely entrusted to you; as for who will be their commander, you can decide.”
“As for the second request…” The half-elf maiden paused slightly, after all, he was her only brother. She had entrusted him with all her hopes, hoping he could support the kingdom. Of course, she hoped Haruze could be stronger, but that didn’t mean she could easily allow her younger brother to take risks.
Although Brendel didn’t say anything, she also knew the dangers of the Frostfall Forest. After all, that was still within the territory of the Kingdom of Erluin; most of the calamities in the province of Vieiro came from the direction of the Needle Hills Road, and as a princess, she couldn’t have not heard the rumors.
“May I know the reason?” she finally asked softly.
Brendel hesitated; he certainly couldn’t say he wanted to take the young prince to farm dungeons for gear and accumulate experience, all while hoping to make him a bit more independent. After thinking for a moment, he finally answered:
“I believe Prince Haruze… needs a bit of honing.”
“Couldn’t it be somewhere else?” Grifian furrowed her brow.
“Of course, but the time left for us is limited. Since there’s this opportunity now, I feel perhaps it should be allowed for him to go on a path of his own.”
Brendel answered seriously, he turned his head to look at the Young Prince, who was securely tied up, and asked, “Prince Haruze, are you afraid?”
“I…” The Young Prince was so choked up he was nearly crying, but he looked at his sister, then at this intimidating teacher; finally, he could only pitifully respond, “I-I-I’m not afraid…”
Seeing her younger brother like this, Grifian couldn’t help but let out a sigh. She understood that her younger brother was obviously not willing. But precisely because of this, she hardened her heart and solemnly nodded.
“I understand, Mister Brendel; I’ll entrust Haruze to you.”
Haruze looked at his sister with tears in his eyes. At that moment, the tragic expression nearly made Brendel doubt whether he was taking him from his sister or if this princess had abandoned him.
But the princess was obviously more resolute than Brendel had imagined; she didn’t even glance at her younger brother and simply said to Brendel, “Then I’ll take my leave, Lord Brendel.”
Brendel nodded, feeling a bit moved inside. Undoubtedly, for this princess, Haruze was one of the most important people to her. Handing over this young prince to him was even more significant than when she had entrusted the Keystone to him.
It could be said that if anything were to happen to Haruze, her persistence and hope would lose all value.
Brendel turned back: “Fluora, go have Miss Freya prepared; we are ready to depart.”
He commanded succinctly.
……
(PS: At the last moment of the update, the backend of Qidian actually lagged. I really want to strangle Qidian… your ‘strongest baboon’ can go die…)(To Be Continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com); your support is my greatest motivation.)
