Chapter 703: Act 62 – The Reward of the Mission I
Elemental Awakening.
At that moment, Brendel felt as if a spark had ignited in a world filled with the darkness of his soul. Golden flames burned in his pupils, and in his eyes, the world had transformed. The crystallized trees that were gradually collapsing and turning to dust, the paths in the woods, the rocks, and the snow seemed to be covered with silver lines. The lines confined energy and matter—intertwined threads of laws—while in those blank and fragile areas, matter appeared to be so weak that it could collapse at a touch.
He picked up a pebble and gently pressed it at a spot; the stone crumbled in his hand like moldy bread.
This is a world governed by laws.
He had long known this secret, but without awakening the elements, it was difficult for mortals to truly grasp the essence of these words. Just as ordinary people cannot comprehend the truth of the world, only when they cross that threshold—
Time, space, laws, energy, randomness—all birthed from the spark, presented before them. They could understand that even the essence of magic under the constraints of Tiamat’s laws, the complexities of all things are not as secretive as people often imagine.
All that is seen is formed by the laws that constrain magic. This is the most fundamental rule of Vaunte.
Brendel squinted his eyes; the feeling of power flowing quietly in his heart was exactly the same as in his previous life. He raised his hand, which was also covered with a faint layer of law lines, but all these strange phenomena were gradually fading, as the world seemed to revert to its original state in an instant.
Next, Brendel saw his status panel begin to change:
Humanity: Difficult, Age 20.
Power System: Elemental Domain (Id Law), Advanced Permission.
After awakening the elements, the power system was no longer simply divided between physical and magical, elemental and melee. Apart from pursuing the primal law of his ultimate power, there were only two systems exploring the mysteries of rules like wizards and elementalist.
However, Brendel noticed an additional line of ‘Advanced Permission’ appear at the back, which caused him to pause slightly. After the awakening of the elements, the power system annotated the most primordial forces; he immediately thought this might refer to the powers of a mage.
He continued to look further down.
The section for absolute power had also disappeared. After entering the Elemental Domain, power became intrinsically linked to the laws, and the previous methods of calculation were no longer applicable. Then there was a description about the elements themselves; the originally simple characteristics had now expanded into an entire section:
Time and Space—
(In the eyes of the Hasal people, time and space are concepts used to describe the state of existence in the world. If material and energy do not exist, then time and space collapse accordingly. But concepts often extend to the forces of definitions and imagination; they are the roots of the laws, the key to existence—)
Brendel stared dumbfounded at this sentence. Whether it’s time or space, they are the highest manifestations of the elements, alongside the wind element of Saint Ausoor, the light element of Fanzan, the fire element of Gilt, and the earth force of Erlandta, collectively known as the supreme elements.
People often believe that above the supreme elements is the force of existence.
But unexpectedly, above them, there existed mixed elements, referred to as conceptual elements. Brendel had always thought that his space element constrained space and defined states within it, hence allowing effects like guaranteed hits.
But upon reflection, in a four-dimensional world, time and space actually coexist as one.
Elemental Power (4/4)
Guaranteed Hit—
‘Space is constrained and managed by you.’
As long as the law lines tend toward stability, the user can make the next attack appear at any coordinate in space.
Consumption: 50PO (Force of Order)
Stability—
‘Space is the farthest distance between people; if you cannot cross it, how could you hurt me? — Sadding, the King of Law Wizards’
The law lines protect the user’s armor and weapons; as long as the attack fails to penetrate the laws, this armor and weapon are considered undamaged. In addition, stability grants the user an additional +2 defense.
Consumption: Passive Element
Flow—
‘Time is my ally, your enemy.’
As long as the law lines tend toward stability, the user’s attacks can affect and rapidly age enemies.
Consumption: 100PO/S (per second)
Interval—
‘You seem to be trapped in the cracks of time, its flow always especially slow for you.’
The user’s aging speed is halved, doubling their lifespan.
Consumption: Passive Element
Force of Order: 400/400
Four elemental abilities, more than the normal two active and one passive elements typically unlocked upon awakening elements. Aside from Guaranteed Hit remaining unchanged, Stability added two properties that could protect armor and increase defense. Flow and Interval were newly introduced due to the time element.
The Flow element is of minimal use to players but can have miraculous effects on NPCs. According to seasoned players, this is the ultimate skill for PvE. Interval is the same; normal humans live about two hundred years in Vaunte, and awakening elements extends lifespan by another half, but the longest-lived humans generally do not exceed four hundred years.
A lifespan doubled means eight hundred years, nearly approaching that of the Silver Elves. This attribute has virtually no value in the game, and Brendel even doubted its very existence; however, here, it was undoubtedly one of the best elements, if not the best.
Finally, the Force of Order upgraded from 100/100 to 400/400, exceeding ordinary players by fifty. Brendel thought this might be the extra reward of the so-called conceptual elements.
He continued to scroll down, noticing his talents had undergone earth-shattering changes:
Bloodline Talent, Unyielding—
(Level 3)
Hardcore, ignores all damage for fifteen minutes after receiving potentially fatal harm.
(Elemental Bonus) After the effect ends, revert oneself to the last state fifteen minutes prior. This ability can be activated once daily.
Self-healing, the body’s recovery ability increased to 6X.
(Elemental Bonus) Halves the time required to return to perfect condition.
Unyielding, elemental resistance +10, physical damage reduction increased by 10%.
(Elemental Bonus) Additional +2 defense.
Resilience, stamina in the first two stages (Active, Fatigued) can perform all abilities as in the additional stage.
(Elemental Bonus) Reduces stamina consumption to half.
Fate Talent, Fool—
(Level 1)
Fervor, selfless devotion isn’t always a good thing—within half an hour of initiating fervor, the character can gain a double boost to all attributes; this ability can be activated twice per day.
Ancient People, can learn ancient attribute skills like regular skills.
Fate Talent, Chosen One—
(Level 1)
Ancient King, followers gather under you out of admiration, thus they incur no morale penalties regardless of their race.
One can see that the elements provide powerful enhancements to the bloodline talents. This is precisely the main reason why the attributes of players who entered the Elemental Domain are vastly different from those before awakening elements.
After entering the Elemental Domain, elements began strengthening the abilities on the status panel one by one. The Elemental Awakening phase involves bloodline talents, first-class career skills, and primary attributes; the Side of Truth involves first fate talents, second-class career skills, and secondary attributes; the Pinnacle of Laws involves second fate talents, third-class career skills, and third attributes; in the Realm of Extremity, a player will possess domains, further enhancing bloodline attributes, first-class career skills, and two attributes.
In the Sage Domain, elements will directly enhance all attributes, all talents, three career skills, and grant the player the final law talent.
At that level, looking down upon the existence below the Golden Domain seems akin to deities gazing down at ants. Beyond that, the Perfect Body leads to another world.
However, even though he was somewhat prepared, when Brendel witnessed the enhancement of bloodline talents by the time and space elements, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh from the depths of his heart. The Amber Sword was never a game that advocated fairness and balance.
But it did take fairness into account; in the game, players only had one chance to be treated fairly — at the starting line. Thus, there is a saying that bloodline talents are the most just of talents.
But after that, the game no longer restricted player growth. The more effort you put in, the greater the rewards; attributes, skills, fate talents, and even careers have strengths and weaknesses. It was a very realistic and brutal game. If not for the game’s exceptional quality, far surpassing any other game of its time, it might have long been drowned in a sea of criticism.
An obvious example is just like what Brendel is witnessing now. The time and space elements, considered conceptual elements, not to mention the strong attributes they possess, also provide bonuses that exceed ordinary elements by at least twenty to thirty percent.
Of course, such elements—Brendel had never seen anything comparable even in the game.
Conceptual elements.
The strongest he had previously encountered were just the highest elemental powers along with time and space, which were said to be closest to the power of existence.
Then he continued to browse down; the following section was attributes. Since this was his first awakening of the elements, he assumed that the time and space elements would first enhance his primary attribute—Brendel widened his eyes at his status panel, suddenly startled.
[Strength] 310+49 (Equipment)+107 (Elite Template)
[Dexterity] 240+17 (Equipment)+80 (Elite Template)
[Constitution] 670+42 (Equipment)+240 (Elite Template) [Elemental Enhancement]
[Intellect] 1.5+0.5 (Elite Template)
[Will] 140+26 (Equipment)+32 (Elite Template)
[Perception] 36+13 (Elite Template)
[Bloodline] 44+17 (Elite Template)
Upon seeing these attributes, he was instantly dumbfounded. Theoretically, as a warrior, his primary attribute should definitely be strength. But evidently, the time and space elements, for some unknown reason, had enhanced his constitution.
No wonder he felt much more energized since earlier; at first, he thought it was due to the elemental awakening, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case at all. His constitution had more than doubled; how could he not feel full of energy?
Brendel was suddenly a bit frantic. What does a warrior need constitution for? Warriors in the game are not tanks; they are damage-dealing careers! Did this damned element enhance his constitution because he looked more like a knight, or did it think he actually had hidden M attributes?
If he were still in the game, he would have definitely jumped around calling for the GM right now. But here, he could only change his expression for a long while, ultimately heaved a helpless sigh.
What else could he do?
Call Lady Martha to switch it for him? Not to mention that Martha had left Vaunte long ago after the sky-blue knight shattered the firmament; even if she were still here, she would likely respond to such trivial calls with a lightning strike.
Regarding this, Brendel could only consider himself unlucky. He was afraid that this damned element might have strengthened something else, especially skills. Although there was no precedent for this in the Amber Sword, what if this thing went crazy and enhanced his scholar skills? Wouldn’t he just slam his head against the wall?
He looked down and breathed a sigh of relief.
The skill list had not been enhanced at all; there was only a line of ghostly green system prompts:
‘Higher permission obtained, would you like to start enhancing skills?’
This was exactly the same situation as in the game. Although it was a bit strange, the Amber Sword always referred to power as permission. The players had discussed this for a while, but ultimately reached no conclusion; Brendel found it mundane and didn’t care.
He tapped on the light screen and confirmed, “Enhance.”
‘Which skill would you like to enhance?’
The career skills Brendel could now choose from were essentially just four categories: mercenary, elementalist, scholar, and sanctuary knight. But as long as he hadn’t lost his mind, he would never choose elementalist or scholar. Therefore, the choice before him was a dichotomy.
Mercenary?
Or Sanctuary Knight.
Brendel fell silent.
Queen Wind’s Nine Stars, Flashing Sword, In-depth Analysis, Charge, and Piercing Strike—these core skills all belonged to the mercenary class. Had this been before, he would have undoubtedly chosen to enhance this career as his main focus.
But now there was a problem.
That is, the time and space elements chose to enhance his constitution attribute. It’s well-known that in the Amber Sword, all skills are closely related to basic attributes; although he can still choose to enhance his second and third attributes after reaching the Side of Truth and Pinnacle of Laws, by the time he reached the Sage Domain, aside from the primary attribute, other attributes were doomed to be enhanced one time less.
The impact of this single fewer enhancement would become increasingly apparent in the later stages; at present, it only appeared as a doubling. Once he reached the Silver Body, it would likely feel like a two or threefold difference. That kind of two or three-fold variation would already be capable of deciding many matters.
Should he focus on offense or defense? (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please head to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation and monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation.)
