Chapter 843: Act 21 – The Warlike Knight I
The gold of the river does not refer to the gold buried beneath the riverbed silt, but rather to the fate-laden gold flowing quietly beside Yilian; this is one of the most precious treasures in the world, often used by witches as a medium for divination spells to change the future, hence it is also called the gold of witches. In folklore, the greedy witches mentioned frequently are indeed referring to the same substance.
This is an extremely rare magical mineral; even a tiny amount the size of a fingernail’s worth is valued at the equivalent of a castle. In the game, witch gold has another important use, which is to sever the threads of fate. In simple terms, this gold is needed as a medium to perform extraordinary spells that transition from the highest stage of evolved elements—the Sage Plane—into a perfected physical realm.
Before the slate war, Brendel had never even heard of this legendary mineral, only finding vague references in certain books. The first discovery of witch gold by a Vaunte player occurred after the Holy War ended, during the Year of the Ember, when the first slab was found on the White Mountain at the border of Saint Ausoor. After that, players began to enter the Black Forest in large numbers, and witch gold finally appeared in their sight.
However, this gold is extremely rare even in the Black Forest; to put it simply, the probability of its appearance is slightly less than that of the Fountain of Youth.
Each time a Valkyrie is resurrected, it requires up to a pound of river gold—an entire pound! Brendel felt like telling Bud outright that he couldn’t resurrect the Valkyrie at all, which would be simpler. In comparison, the other materials are much easier to obtain. The teeth of Fenrir are what sever the future; of course, its offspring count as well, but Fenrir’s offspring belong to twilight monsters, meaning they only appear during wolf disasters, and they must be of a considerable scale, just like the ones in the Loop of Trade Winds. Whenever Fenrir’s offspring appear during a wolf disaster, it signifies the total destruction of an area, accompanied by calamities and slaughter, and very few of their teeth remain as spoils, roughly equivalent to priceless treasures.
As for the blood of the hydra-lizard, this is something he finds the easiest to obtain because he has five hydra-lizard eggs. As long as he can raise a hydra-lizard lair, he can have as much hydra blood as he wants.
Lastly, the singing silver only appears in the Singing Spring within the Black Forest, and it is only slightly less rare than river gold. Luckily, few people in this world know how to use this magical metal; most treat it as a collectible, so its market price is not high. Occasionally, it can even be seen in auction houses around Ampere Seale, and if one pays attention and is willing to spend, collecting singing silver is not impossible.
However, even if these issues are resolved, they are still not as challenging as the final condition.
The lair of the Windrider.
In one word, Brendel can explain how troublesome this condition is: “Because it is a level six creature.” Indeed, the Windrider itself is a level six creature, and a rather valuable one at that; it is only occasionally captured in the plane of wind elements, and no one has ever seen its lair. He has not even seen the lair, so how could he construct one based on fur? Unless Valhalla can provide a lair for it, otherwise, it is basically a wild dream. However, he asked Monica repeatedly, and she also had no clue; the Light Spirit girl keeps reiterating—her knowledge is based on the restrictions of Valhalla. Once the Varlun Warrior Hall was established, information about Valkyries entered her mind, but regarding other information—she knows nothing!
Yet she did give Brendel a compromise, which is to buy a Windrider—only priced at 1.2 million Thor, roughly the total income of Duke Toniger for half a year. Upon hearing this, Brendel felt like locking this Light Spirit lady in a drawer to prevent her from babbling in his ear.
He couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh; indeed, fortune does not fall from the sky. Whether forging the Silver Steps or awakening the slumbering Valkyries, at least it seems like an unreachable goal right now. Fortunately, when the Varlun Warrior Hall was completed, it included several well-known Valkyries, such as Brynhildr and her four lieutenants: Sigurd, Grey, Scarty, and Laskigritt, all of whom are renowned Valkyries in history. Except for Brynhildr, who is a peak ninth-level being, the others also possess solid near-ninth-level capabilities. From the perspective of raw power, they surpass Brendel.
However, their battle capabilities are far inferior. Brendel has privately fought them one by one, and for the strongest among them, Brynhildr, he needed to invoke Queen Wind’s Nine Stars and the Blade of Flash to win. As for the others, relying on his terrifying combat experience, he could easily defeat them. He even slightly estimates that if the Traveler Mage’s abilities mature further, combined with the Traveler Mage’s skills, even if the five Valkyries join forces, he may still have a fighting chance. However, Brendel did not take this aspect into much consideration; his combat performance has earned him much respect among the Valkyries. The spirits in the Varlun Warrior Hall respect strength, and the power of this Lord was clearly recognized by Brynhildr and the others, even Bud’s attitude towards him had grown more respectful.
Unfortunately, this respect does not mean much; Bud informed him that Brynhildr and the others could not leave Valhalla to fight at the moment, because Valhalla cannot afford their magical expenditure. Brendel nearly blacked out upon hearing this; before the Dawn Temple was built, the Valkyries’ daily actions relied entirely on Valhalla’s reserved magical energy. If they were to patrol and fight within Valhalla, the consumption would be quite low. According to Bud, it would only be several hundred to a thousand units a day, equivalent to about a dozen Moon Crystals of magical energy. However, once they left Valhalla’s range, the consumption would increase exponentially. If Brynhildr and her three companions were to leave Valhalla for a week, they would consume magical energy equivalent to the total energy required for Valhalla’s first phase—slightly over 130,000 units, which gave Brendel a bit of a toothache.
For a small-scale civil war and border conflict like the current war with the Blood Staff, it could last at least a month. After a month, the payment for several thousand Moon Crystals would be required. Although he could afford it, it obviously doesn’t seem worthwhile. Moreover, if the war prolongs, the money will flow out like water, so Brendel decisively decided to let Brynhildr and her companions stay in Valhalla. On one hand, this war does not need them, as claws are sharpest when hidden, and on the other hand, Brendel is also clear that these Valkyries currently serve as mercenaries for Valhalla, facing multiple limitations and are extremely costly.
In short, if he can avoid using them, he will.
He sighed, thinking only this way.
He raised his head—
The sky was drizzling with light rain; after the autumn month, the weather began to cool, with the rain carrying a chilly desolation, soaking into his skin and piercing to the bone. In the Shubli region, where the undulating mountains lay, he stood on a hilltop overlooking downward. In his line of sight, countless shadows seemed to be moving through the forest at the foot of the mountain, beneath the serrated leaves of the Erluin oak or the delicate leaves of the blue oak, many figures cloaked in grey were proceeding one after another. Not everyone among them hated the rain; some lifted their hoods, revealing beautiful faces beneath, golden or green long hair sticking to their elegant necks and smooth foreheads, pointed ears sprouting beside their hair, bearing wind-shooting bows larger than the elves’ long bows, passing through dense thorny bushes or wild strawberry tree groves one after another.
It had already been the third day since leaving Valhalla. Throughout these three days, news from the battlefield in the Xilmann region was continuously relayed through Kewen’s eyes to Carglis and then transmitted to him. He then sorted this information and selectively disclosed a portion to the princess. The reason for this was that he knew most of this military intelligence was meant for Vieiro and Lantonrand, the lord generals among them; it was difficult to ensure that none had spies or scouts. He did not wish to expose his connection with the King of Xilmann, lest it draw the attention of Rendener and the Blood Staff. Of course, in his correspondence with the princess, she had already recognized the presence of this group of ‘Xilmann bandits.’
It was evident that she did not fully trust Kewen and the others, a position determined by her status. Being of royal descent, she naturally represented the interests of the nobility. Someone like Kewen, who indiscriminately attacked noble territories, would never earn her empathy. In fact, the princess had warned him more than once not to harbor the thought of taking these individuals into his service, as it would greatly damage his reputation among the nobility. However, regarding such small-minded advice from the princess, Brendel often found it laughable and helpless. He was well aware of what kind of person King Rendener had historically been; how could he give up on the chance to associate with people like that for the sake of those die-hard aristocrats?
He was historically known as the King of Rendener, who rose from nothing to overthrow Rendener during a time of turmoil in Erluin, gaining recognition from various factions with his strength and becoming an independent king. Even before the Battle of Slant Forest, Madara had acknowledged his position, serving as a buffer between Madara and Erluin for a long time. After Erluin’s fall, he assisted Ailara against Madara, but by that time, the players of Erluin had already fallen apart, as for the events following, he could not know.
But such a person was definitely not someone as simple as a mountain thief.
The situation on the frontlines was highly tense; after the Blood Staff defeated the White Wing Cavalry Corps in the Xilmann River Valley, Deputy Commander Walter had already been confirmed killed in battle that night. This grim news effectively declared the annihilation of the White Wing Knights, meaning the entire Golan-Elsen route is currently exposed under the sharp thorns of Madara’s blooming black rose. The Vanmil Legion indeed had to split into defensive positions in the northern areas of Duskwood Forest, but the results were minimal. After suffering several defeats, the remaining human army had been driven back to the southernmost part of the Manowell area; according to news from the front, the Undead Army had crossed the Slovowan and was about to invade the most prosperous area of Golan-Elsen.
Although that place now exhibits the aura of panic typical of an impending apocalypse.
The Duke of Golan-Elsen was sending people northward to seek aid from Karasu, but to outsiders, the nearest army was still in Lantonrand, that is, the private army of Duke Kanonong. Not to mention Vieiro’s and Karasu’s armies, which were basically useless when it came to urgent matters. Currently, both the Blood Staff and other observers of this war undoubtedly believe that Madara has once again secured victory. Even in Ampere Seale, some Crusians’ envoys and priests from the Temple of Fire, who had not yet vacated their posts, were watching with cold eyes, feeling a sense of schadenfreude; the Erluin people repeatedly make the same mistakes, which they obviously consider to be extremely foolish.
However, in reality, only a few people plotting this war understood that a large army had hidden themselves under the very nose of the Blood Staff, and a real battle was just about to unfold.
Brendel looked down at the Wind-Shooter troop and then turned his head, his gaze falling on Quinelle, who stood silently beside Medisa and Funiya. This tree spirit leader had heard about his war plans and hastily traveled from the Loop of Trade Winds to here. He stood in the rain, folding the message made from large oak leaves, and smiled slightly: “Thank you for bringing the little lady’s regards, Quinelle. Please tell Funiya, our little princess, that we have not forgotten her and are always welcome her back to assist Duke Toniger once she becomes a true priestess of the Forest Goddess.” Quinelle looked at him: “Lord.” Brendel waved his hand: “Just call me Mister Brendel; it sounds better.”
Quinelle frowned: “Mr. Brendel, the elders hope you can keep your promise. We rarely deal with humans, and some rumors about you…”
“I understand. Some unscrupulous merchants and nobles indeed have tarnished our reputation, but I am different. The changes in the Loop of Trade Winds are evident today.” Brendel replied: “The Great Elder should understand that humanity possesses dual traits of greed and curiosity. It is precisely this that drives them to explore the unknown world. I am merely providing them with an opportunity, but only I know how to manage it. The development of the Black Forest cannot afford setbacks, but once humans taste the sweetness, the achievements we make today will not just stand the test of time; they will create a tradition for all civilized kingdoms—namely, the expansion of wilderness. It will be a new era where civilization will no longer be holed up like it is today.”
Quinelle nodded. It was precisely because of Brendel’s words that had convinced their Elder Council back then; otherwise, even if this young man sparked the seed of the Loop of Trade Winds, the typically neutral Druids would never involve themselves in the conflicts of the human world. But now, Brendel’s displayed capabilities indeed proved that only he had the ability and courage to open up the dark frontiers, and thus the Druids must stand with him, supporting him in taking control of this ancient kingdom. Brendel painted a tempting vision for them; once the scenes in that painting were realized, it would be the dream of generations of Druids.
So magnificent and grand, Quinelle found it hard to understand how a human, a shallow nobleman, could have such ambitions.
He looked at Brendel and replied: “I will pass on your words to the Great Elder. I entrust my children to you; please treat them well.”
Brendel solemnly nodded.
He was not passionate about war, but Erluin needed to survive. Sometimes living meant fighting. “Lord.” At that moment, Xiao Peiluo, who had been standing aside, finally spoke. Veronika had them stay in Valhalla to protect Rainwright, and the young men of the Blade-Broken Knights inherited the best qualities of imperial soldiers—loyalty and obedience, so there was no dissent whatsoever. However, they were currently in a somewhat awkward position. The Blade-Broken Knights could not exist as an independent armed force of Toniger. Both Xiao Peiluo and Brendel were clear about this, so nominally they had to operate under Brendel’s command, but as for how that command would be exerted, it was very nuanced.
If Rainwright was merely staying here, then they should exist as the personal guard of the Crusian Crown Prince. In this case, Brendel could limit their activity range and authority, but he could not directly command them. The other situation was if Rainwright was here requesting asylum. In that case, apart from the personal guard, the Crown Prince of Cruz would obviously not be allowed to have private armed forces. However, Veronika did not clarify this matter with them, and the current situation seemed as if the Crown Prince was seeking shelter, but this lord from Toniger did not directly command them to disband and return to the empire, which made it somewhat delicate.
A few days ago, at Brendel’s invitation, they had accompanied the Crown Prince to participate in that military conference, and the information revealed was quite thought-provoking. The Legion Leader did not explicitly tell them what to do here; one might say he neither endorsed nor opposed their presence. Still, this lord clearly intended to have them participate in this war, or at least showed them a certain attitude. And as for how the Blade-Broken Knights would choose, Xiao Peiluo understood very well; the warlike blood flowing within them had already made the choice for them—they undoubtedly wanted to join this war.
