Chapter 836: Act 16 – Valhalla Four Months Later
Silver moonlight pierced through the dense layers of foliage, falling upon the square and making the chilly square seem hardly less vibrant than during the day. Brendel stood on the balcony of the town hall, overlooking the tranquil hills and forests of the Southlands beneath the night sky. Four months later, Valhalla had already taken on the form of a small town. This towering ancient tree, rooted among the northern mountains of Schafflund, had a canopy with a diameter of over a thousand meters, casting a shadow over the city below. However, the residents here comprised mostly treants, villagers from Viridien Village, and a portion of humans, most of whom were members of the Valhalla Windrider Guard, while another group of new inhabitants were Crusian youths from the Folding Sword Knights, who also lived in the lower city.
The massive root system of Valhalla segmented the surrounding districts into four areas: northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest. The new military camp for the Light Spirits was located in the western district. From the square above, the western district had begun to take shape, with streets and buildings laid out in an orderly fashion. It must be said that Odum, a descendant of the runic dwarves, had some skills; at least the intuitiveness for urban planning seemed innate. The western district was primarily divided into northern and southern blocks, with a main street running through the entire area, separating the two blocks. In fact, this street circled around the whole lower city of Valhalla, which Brendel mockingly referred to as the “ring highway,” a term no one else understood but that slowly caught on over time.
This ring highway was also designed by Odum, essentially mimicking the inner and outer rings of Valhalla, which he referred to as the third ring. It was indeed well-designed. Brendel knew that the old dwarf was coordinating with Monica to possibly carve a path through the center of Valhalla’s trunk and build a cross-shaped street, which would truly connect the entire lower city. Having personally experienced modern urban design, Brendel understood the benefits of such a design, but Odum’s focus was mostly on defensive purposes; with the regions of Valhalla connected, mutual defense would become much easier.
Regarding this matter, Monica had not opposed it. After all, given the size of Valhalla, opening a passage from the center was not a big issue, especially since it was not a fully-grown tree but rather a magical city. In the northern block of the western district, the main building was a military camp, alongside some typical human architecture, serving as the newly built noble residence — the noble barrack of the Kingdom of Erluin, similar to that of most human nations, equipped with a training ground and campsite, a functional structure that would significantly enhance the speed of training soldiers and morale of stationed troops, serving a similar function here, although less conspicuously.
Brendel thought that the improvement in discipline was perhaps a result of the concentrated management of the military, merely represented in the game’s data.
The White Lion Guard was stationed in this camp, situated in opposition to the Windrider camp to the south. In this vast district, these two major functional buildings made it appear relatively empty, but compared to the other three regions that had yet to be developed, it was much better. Brendel intended to move the entirety of Firburh into Valhalla since a city under this gigantic tree could not remain a secret forever. In fact, after Odum directed workers to complete the outer fortress, many had already speculated about their Lord’s future intentions, though they could never guess that this was the legendary fortress. Brendel publicly proclaimed it to be an elven giant tree planted by the treants, and relying on his relationship with the druids, nobody could raise any objections. After all, there were many such towering ancient trees in the Black Forest, and the druids constructed their cities atop them.
Perhaps one day, as Valhalla continued to grow, this lie would ultimately be uncovered, but Brendel believed that by that time, he would have nothing to hide; at least for now, Valhalla still seemed very fragile and needed protection. In fact, apart from a few people close to him, most believed this story, including Veronika, who had personally visited Valhalla and thought it was merely a gift from the druids, never considering it the fortress of legends, as it seemed too far-fetched, and she had personally witnessed the fortress lie completely silent in the Loop of Trade Winds.
As for the others, including the young members of the Folding Sword Knights, they were amazed when Brendel brought them into the city. Some of them had heard from that Business Lady about the grandeur of the druids’ tree city but had not expected to see it with their own eyes and live here as guests for a while, expressing keen interest. That scholar lady had asked him for permission more than once to explore the city, and although Monica wasn’t particularly fond of these outsiders, Brendel had allowed her access from the lower district to the upper square, further dispelling any doubts from everyone, including the Crown Prince.
Currently, the young members of the Folding Sword Knights were temporarily residing in the northern district, where many tents had been pitched. However, military camps and accompanying buildings were also being planned. Over the past four months, Monica’s kin had increased to nearly five hundred. Now, the upper canopy was always bustling with those sprite-like Light Spirits flitting about the branches, and under their management, the construction of Valhalla was advancing day by day.
However, the city’s growth itself was slowing down. According to Monica, it needed several years to transition from this stage to the next. One reason was that the supply of mana had begun to fall short; Valhalla’s demand for mana was insatiable. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the ore from the crystal mine in the Black Forest had been supplied to this territory, but it barely maintained daily operations. In recent months, Toniger had seen a considerable reduction in income from the mana crystal trade, and Antinna had reminded him of this several times, both subtly and directly. Yet, the Business Lady remained optimistic, believing that the mana crystal trade was not a long-term business; the key was that such products were overly sensitive and easily attracted covetous individuals.
In general, high-purity crystals produced by a mine are quickly consumed in the first few months, followed by a long, arduous extraction process, with output decreasing yearly. Finding such a crystal mine in the Black Forest was quite rare. If Toniger continuously and massively exported these high-purity mana crystals, it wouldn’t take long for the ambitious to guess that a high-reserve crystal mine had been discovered in the territory. Now was just the right time to reduce the export of crystals while Valhalla was growing. As for the reduction in income, other minerals and specialties being developed in the Black Forest had gradually compensated for this shortage over the past few months.
Moreover, the critical factor was that many resources within the territory had started to become self-sufficient, thereby reducing the financial dependency on trade considerably.
On the other hand, the number of Light Spirits was also an issue. Monica’s five hundred kin had stabilized the growth of Valhalla from the first to the second phase in less than six months, but relying solely on their efforts for the next phase, according to her, would take at least five years. If he wanted to shorten this time to one year, he would need at least two to three thousand Light Spirits, yet the output of the Light Vortex was still only twenty per month. The Moon Tower was currently serving the Mage Tower of Charles inside Firburh, contributing to the training of Toniger’s first batch of wizard apprentices. It was unlikely to increase the output of the Light Vortex at this time, and even if the output of the Light Spirits was doubled, it would still take several years to reach that number, making it not worth it.
The current solution was to first develop the territory, allowing Valhalla to at least reach self-sufficiency, and then continue strategizing about balancing input and output. There were many ways to enhance mana and production, but they needed to be gradual. At present, the only buildings within the territory were the crystal pool, the Mage Tower, the Light Vortex, and the Moon Tower, but Brendel was aware of some advanced structures that could greatly accelerate the territory’s development.
However, one, he needed blueprints, and two, he needed more mana wells.
As he pondered these thoughts, Brendel took a deep breath and withdrew his gaze from the quiet city blocks below. He turned back and walked into the hall. The great hall of Valhalla was now much livelier than during the day; nearly all the officers of the White Lion Guard, except for Carglis, had gathered here, while facing them were over a dozen officers from the Folding Sword Knights. Medisa, Himelam, Antinna, Charles, and several mercenary leaders stood on the other side, forming a circle as his trusted lieutenants, with a smaller group comprised of the Crown Prince, Shi Do, and the Laurena couple alongside the younger prince Haruz. Brendel found it peculiar that the Crown Prince seemed unwilling to engage with the young members of the Folding Sword Knights.
However, after a moment of thought, he understood the other’s intention: they did not wish to take an oppositional stance here. This was a statement; on one hand, they were guests, and on the other, there was no need, because Rainwright was well aware that Brendel could not truly command these individuals. The young people from Cruz were rooted in the Empire; their families, futures, and destinies lay in their homeland. If Erluin were an immense entity like the Empire, it might attract some; yet, Erluin was merely a small kingdom, and he had no need to worry about these young members of the Folding Sword Knights truly pledging loyalty to him, Count Toniger.
Thus, there was no need for him to clash with these young junior officers. He was a prince and must maintain his superior position.
The prince must have had a sharp mind, already grasping this point, understanding that if he wanted to control this knightly order, he had to show them sufficient respect, because nominally, the Folding Sword Knights also pledged loyalty to this prince. Although everyone could clearly see how things were, this surface level of nobility was very significant, and nobody would actively tear it down; even the young members of the Folding Sword Knights probably realized this, but simply did not mention it.
Because of this, he too had to do things by the rules. Veronika and Mangolov must have thought along these same lines, hence they felt secure handing these young ones over to him.
Brendel suddenly realized he might have taken too much for granted; however, he shook his head. That was enough. He had never intended to truly recruit these individuals; he merely needed a group to help him oppose Madara. The nation of shadows to the east was growing stronger day by day, while his trained White Lion Guard could only be considered an outstanding force in Erluin, but compared to the carefully groomed successors of Cruz — the Folding Sword Knights, they were still far behind.
The critical point was that he didn’t have much time remaining; he needed to arm this army belonging to Erluin before the second Black Rose War arrived, or he would completely lose his grip under that blooming black rose.
One Freya was not enough.
But what about one Folding Sword Knight?
When he stepped into the hall, it was still filled with heated disputes, which could be described as lively. The opposing sides were arguing about whether to attack Count Rendener or Madara’s undead army first. Brendel raised his head and glared at the enormous map of Erluin hanging on the wall; a red cross had been drawn over the location of Silman.
The Whitewing Knights had been defeated.
Exactly like history, but this time he had even reminded Golan-Elsen’s side. Yet, those rigid noble officers still made the same mistake. In fact, there had been a prior debate on whether to warn Golan-Elsen about the attack; because Makarolo and others believed that following the original plan to lure the Bloodstaff into the target area for ambush would require not raising its alertness. However, if they failed to alert Golan-Elsen’s side, it could potentially lead to the princess losing the people’s support afterward. More importantly, the citizens of Silman and Buche would suffer heavy losses because of this.
In the end, the princess personally wrote a letter to the duke explaining the situation, as Brendel found some of the reasons put forth by the royal party ridiculous. One year from now, both Madara and Erluin would be wary of each other; if one side was busily preparing for war and the other remained completely unresponsive, that would alert the Bloodstaff. They had to understand that this was not the Year of Flowers and Summer Leaves, but rather the last season of the Year of Swords.
But unfortunately, everything happening now infuriated him, and he became more and more contemptuous of the outdated noble system of the kingdom; the descendants of the ancient nobles were simply unworthy of their current status.
He sighed. Without a doubt, the Bloodstaff would head straight for Vieiro, just as history had shown. Although it plotted with Count Rendener, its objective was different; it aimed to completely occupy Golan-Elsen and Vieiro to sever the connection between Karasu and the other regions of Erluin. Only such a feat could justify the war it had initiated in the eyes of Madara’s supremacist, earning it a higher status. It should be well aware that it had already aroused that supremacist’s wariness; if it could not take the initiative to attack, it might as well close its eyes and await death.
But Count Rendener was different. His goal should rely on Madara to carve out a solid territory for himself, with the intention of becoming a neutral autonomous region between Erluin and Madara, having completely torn ties with the royal party. His best projected outcome was to gain independence from Erluin, but if unsuccessful, at least he should be able to escape towards Madara.
Thus, the regions of Silman and Slofavan were his targets. However, he shared a common goal with the Bloodstaff, which was Cuckold Fortress.
Moreover, Count Rendener would likely strike the Cuckold Fortress before the Bloodstaff did. He should find a way to deceive the gates of Cuckold Fortress under the pretense of reinforcements before the news of his collusion with Madara leaked. That was the least troublesome way. But even if it became exposed, it would still be easy to besiege the fortress. Now, there was no obstacle before the Bloodstaff, and nobles of Cuckold Fortress would surely order the Vanmiir Legion to advance south from Bruglas to block the undead army. At that time, their rear would be entirely exposed, unable to resist Rendener.
But that was merely a hypothetical scenario.
There, an unexpected enemy awaited Rendener, falling right into his trap. The outcome of this war for both Rendener and the Bloodstaff was already determined; what needed planning now was how to ensure their failure.
He interrupted his thoughts, walking over to Nemeses, who was studying a slightly smaller detailed topographical map on the table. She noticed Brendel’s arrival and looked up at him, softly saying, “You’ve become stronger since returning from the Frostwraith Forest.” Brendel was momentarily taken aback; this seemed to be the first time the ‘senior’ had spoken to him privately since coming back. He nodded, not denying it. His experiences from the final battle with Milos had nearly been shared with Freya. Though he was uncertain if others could benefit from it, at least for him, it was a substantial gain, rivaling what he had acquired from the Loop of Trade Winds.
His ranks of Sanctuary Knights and mercenaries had reached the necessary peak; he would not need to elevate those two professions anymore. Moreover, the opportunity to become a Frostwraith Guardian from Sibers had also been unlocked. However, he hadn’t invested experience in it yet, as there were many branches to choose from for advanced profession skills, and Brendel was still pondering.
Nemeses quietly regarded him again before asking, “Did you leave the Dark Kehua and Light Kehua here for Echis?”
Brendel froze momentarily, only then realizing that this was what she truly wanted to inquire about.
“You sensed it?” he asked.
“Different from in the game,” the Lady Knight answered. “The future of this world—”
