Chapter 924: Act 97 – The People Behind the Scenes
“Charles.”
“Arrived.”
“Himelam.”
“I’m here, Lord.”
“Lady Nemesis.”
The lady knight hid behind a dragon’s blood tree and nodded to Brendel from a distance.
The afternoon sun filled the entire valley, but it was eerily silent within. Looking down through the dense branches, the first thing that caught the eye was a long and beautiful back, scales black and shiny arranged tightly in order. Then there were a pair of massive bat wings and a curled neck, the top of the neck adorned with a skull-like head—this was a dragon. She lay quietly in the valley, her enormous body nearly filling the entire area, while some small creatures busied themselves around her.
On the screen of the scrying spell cast by Charles, goblins, earth goblins, and some gnolls were visible; the giant dragon seemed to be dozing, her leathery eyelids drooping, motionless except for an occasional flick of her long tail.
Earl Orkans looked at the graceful and massive creature with a hint of trepidation. This dragon was slightly smaller than the one they had seen the previous night; it should be the black dragon that had left alone. At his suggestion, Sir Cooper beside him asked, “What should we do, Captain?”
“Captain”—since last night’s battle, this title had officially become how the surviving Cruz nobles referred to Brendel. He understood that, subconsciously, this represented his rising status in their eyes, though how much that rise would benefit him in the future was still uncertain.
He also glanced at the valley and then gently shook his head. The dragon was blocking their path, which was quite unfortunate: “She’s lying here basking in the sun, which means she hasn’t spotted us. Perhaps she’s resting or waiting for Marlaxias. If she hasn’t moved by evening, we’ll have to find a way to circumvent her.”
He turned back to Juliette and said, “Be careful of her minions. Don’t let the goblins and gnolls discover us. Gather the personnel and hide in a nearby valley, set up a perimeter, and don’t hesitate to kill. The dragon is unlikely to remember such lowly servants; as long as they aren’t all wiped out, she won’t suspect anything.”
Juliette carefully noted every word and quickly vanished into the dense jungle.
Sir Cooper couldn’t resist stealing a greedy glance in that direction.
A squirrel crawled down Brendel’s shoulder and onto the ground. Turning its head, it lifted its small face, staring at the latter with its dark eyes—this was White Mist, the familiar of Romaine. They would naturally sense each other within a certain distance. As the watcher chosen by the Witch Queen herself, as long as she and Romaine were in the same domain, she could find Romaine’s position. In fact, she had relayed messages between Romaine and Brendel two or three times, but the dragon named Modest had blocked him on the other side of the valley and would not be able to cross for a while.
Romaine had first let her relay the news, including the dwarven testimony and QiYala’s speculation, so Brendel understood that beneath the valley was actually the camp of the lizard lady Sargoss.
“White Mist, tell Romaine and the others to stay there. We’ll regroup after evening. Have them be careful and not run around causing trouble.”
“Mm.” White Mist remained taciturn in front of anyone, only showing a bit more patience to respond with a “mm” in front of Brendel or Romaine.
The small prince, eager to feel the fluffy head of the squirrel with his finger, was bitten hard on the finger by Lady White Mist, scaring him into retracting his hand.
“Is this a familiar?” Haruz asked curiously, looking at the grass where White Mist had disappeared.
“Familiar can take many forms and doesn’t necessarily need to be living, so it isn’t always a squirrel. The most famous witch in history, Beatrice, used a butterfly made of pure gold as her familiar,” Brendel replied, patting his head with a little doting. “You’ll have a familiar too. Although not every wizard has one, I’ll make sure to find you the best familiar.”
“Thank you, teacher,” Haruz’s eyes widened, “But can I have a squirrel as my familiar?”
“Why do you like squirrels so much?”
“They… they look cute, don’t they?” The small prince answered, blushing.
Brendel rubbed his forehead, almost defeated by the little prince, thinking how about having a bit more normal hobby, like a fierce shadow leopard or a cool multicolored salamander that could make its master invisible, or even a dragon like Tumen as his familiar—wasn’t that what boys should aspire to?
He patted Haruz on the shoulder and said, “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“Oh—” Haruz looked extremely disappointed.
Brendel smiled faintly.
As a teacher, there’s nothing more gratifying than encountering a good student, but a student like Haruz, with an unbelievable talent for ancient magic, born into nobility yet not the slightest bit arrogant, and obediently listening to his teacher, was a rarity even among good students.
Haruz’s talent in dark magic could indeed be described as terrifying—
Ancient magic, the original magic of Vaunte, had its origins linked to witchcraft, rune spells, and word spells, a claimed form of power stemming from the dark ignorance—the exploration of unknown rules itself a part of dark power; even today, witches still harness such forces.
Ancient magic differs greatly from the current magical system. Most ancient spell incantations are long and slow, requiring complex and strict spellcasting actions and demanding high environmental standards. Ancient magic mainly evolves from array techniques and rune spells, along with unique dragon string spells and witchcraft. The most important aspect of casting ancient magic is the display of runes and formations—only array techniques in today’s magic system utilize this. Current array techniques have been simplified by pre-drawn formations to shorten spellcasting times. However, this method is ineffective in ancient magic systems; an ancient mage must instantly form a formation while simultaneously displaying the correct runes.
This places a terrifyingly high demand on a wizard’s talent, requiring extraordinary magical sensitivity—i.e., bloodline attributes—along with a fearsome elemental sensitivity—absorbing countless runes under the four elemental laws and an almost limitless mental capacity—i.e., mana pool; otherwise, one cannot activate those spells costing astronomical amounts.
By the age of the Silver, very few could master ancient magic, but none of this seemed challenging for Haruz. Brendel strongly suspected that the young prince possessed dual-spirited gifts or a calamity of azure. He had never seen Haruz become exhausted from casting spells, meaning he could practice spells all day long without the need for a wizard tower’s mana pool, and the next day he would still be energetic.
Typically, an apprentice could master about seven to nine runes, depending on talent. Players learning elemental spells or rune spells generally fixate on around ten, which is already considered extraordinary from NPCs’ perspective. Romaine initially mastered fifteen runes during her apprenticeship in witchcraft, which made Brendel incredibly envious.
Currently, though, the little prince had mastered fourteen runes. The reason he had one less than Romaine was that, over the past three months, Brendel, in coordination with Queen Wind, had only enough time to teach him this much. Thus, what they taught was precisely what the young prince had mastered, and Haruz could only cast some minor tricks, not yet even qualifying as an apprentice, merely skimmed the surface.
Who really is the protagonist? Brendel found himself doubting his life, suspecting he could have crossed into this world solely to open the future door for the little prince.
In various stories and legends, individuals of his identity often meet a tragic end. If this narrative leans toward the evil side, he’d surely be struck down by the little prince in the future, followed by a cool line such as, “Teacher, I no longer need you.” Conversely, if it’s a knight’s story, he likely would perish in front of Haruz over some incident, prompting the latter to awaken and embark on the path of the strong.
Brendel glanced at the “fragile” little prince and thought that the latter scenario was likely the course of events.
However, to give up on teaching Haruz now was impossible because no player could possess talent like Haruz’s. Players come from a heroic pedigree, a bit weaker than the Chosen Ones, while Haruz is practically certain to be a chosen one himself. His character poses his greatest flaw, which is almost negligible among the Chosen Ones Brendel had seen. More terrifying is that he possibly possesses destinies of doom alongside an exceedingly outstanding bloodline talent.
This delicate little prince is essentially a legendary face, yet Haruz dutifully follows him. It felt like leveling up with a character who had cheat codes. Brendel foresees the future’s trajectory, understanding which job combinations would be the strongest. Coupled with Haruz’s talent, he can almost envision the kind of monster he’s crafting; it’s a feeling he absolutely cannot refuse.
A wizard’s future often hinges on their direction for development. Some are limited by their talents, others by their personalities, but many are restricted by their experiences. Throughout history, many exceptional geniuses went unnoticed because the mentors they followed were mere charlatans. Even court wizards often had their insights limited due to what they learned throughout their lives; not everyone has the complex inheritance system like Bud.
Players can’t possess legendary “native” talents found in natives, yet seldom do natives have the meticulous career planning down to every level as players do. However, Brendel does. While some things may elude him temporarily, he knows what is best and would never hastily use substitutes that might lead to lifelong regrets down the line.
Brendel is eager to see how far his student can go when these two elements combine; based on what he knows, the talents of the body-level wizards among the players back in the day didn’t match Haruz’s bizarre level.
Haruz, along with his sister, undoubtedly isn’t aware of the path his teacher has laid out for him. For Haruz, the current dilemma is how to become a competent king. The throne feels like an annoying burden to him, far less interesting than accompanying his teacher on diplomatic missions to other countries. Even though such journeys are fraught with dangers and fears, they are also thrilling.
After answering Haruz’s question, Brendel again looked at the valley, seemingly confirming the terrain or the lizardmen’s camp distribution. This habit felt natural for him, almost instinctual. After noting the nearby terrain, he signaled to the others, indicating for everyone to retreat back into the dense forest.
Once everyone quietly withdrew into the bushes, Charles dismissed the scrying spell. Brendel turned to others and asked, “What did you see?”
“I smell a plot, Lord,” Charles responded.
“That’s obvious,” Brendel retorted. “With two dragons and the Queen Medusa appearing on the surface, there’s no way Jotungrund would stir such chaos merely for inconsequential matters.”
“What does that mean?” Sir Cooper asked, bewildered.
“Soy sauce refers to a type of tea, you know, afternoon tea. What the lord means is that these stinking creatures are definitely not here to invite you for tea,” Charles explained kindly. However, Lady Nemesis couldn’t help but give Brendel an odd look after hearing this explanation.
Unfazed, he continued, “Lady Sargoss is a confidante of the lizard king; the subterranean lords rarely get along. Modest boldly resting here suggests their relationships go beyond a simple joint invasion of the surface; it’s likely a tighter alliance. I suspect the Minotaur King Gerald and the Dragon Queen Gwendolyn have also come to the surface. Since four of the five underground kings are already active, how could the remaining Minotaur King Gerald stay behind in Jotungrund?”
“Jotungrund has emptied its nest,” Brendel said quietly, his voice ghostly, like a chilling wind sweeping through the afternoon woods. Everyone involuntarily shivered: “This is not merely a description but a declaration, and it may very well correspond closely to our current state of knowledge. The five underground kings uniting, plus the lizard king and the Blind King, could very likely send word across every corner of the dark underground.”
The forest fell silent to the point where a pin drop could be heard.
“What does that mean?” Earl Orkans finally asked.
“It means you gentlemen may have the fortune of witnessing the first unification of Jotungrund’s underground world in thousands of years, perhaps the only such event in recorded history; they are collectively appearing in the surface world, soon to become a new witness to this holy war. They are no longer a mere sudden force but a newly added player. Imagine, when the entire army of Jotungrund surges into the surface world—”
“That’s impossible…” Cooper gasped.
“Logically, it indeed seems implausible. However, if the five underground kings all appear on the surface, they would never leave any other lords below to threaten their rule. These lords are all cunning strategists, and their sensitivity to political schemes, I think, isn’t any less than those present,” Brendel replied.
Earl Orkans chose to remain silent.
“But what would their reason be for doing so?” Cooper asked. “They’ve been in the underground world for thousands of years.”
“I’m not sure,” Brendel shook his head. “Although someone in the Empire may know.”
“Are you referring to the one who acted against Young Nidwen’s daughter?” Earl Orkans asked.
Brendel nodded.
A moment passed in silence as no one chose to speak. According to rumors from Romaine, only three individuals in the entire Empire could take such action: the supreme leader of the Temple of Fire, the patriarch of the Cecil Family, or perhaps even Duke Kirk. Among these figures, aside from the Supreme Leader of the Temple of Fire, who would dare hastily claim they betrayed the Empire? Who could recklessly make such a judgment?
Even Her Majesty the Queen would have to think carefully before encountering this issue.
“May Martha bless the Empire,” Cooper couldn’t help but murmur quietly.
“What is the status of Miss Delphine?” Brendel suddenly turned to confirm with Himelam beside him.
The Priestess Maiden slowly shook her head. “Her condition is quite poor; her wounds have become infected, and she’s suffering from complications with pneumonia. She’s burning up badly, and her organs are starting to fail. I cast a disease removal spell on her, but the effect was minimal.”
What exactly do the Jotungrund people want from Delphine?
Brendel felt a strange sensation rising in his heart. The Cruz people could reverse the battlefield situation a second sooner by unearthing that traitor, but this glimmering dagger of cold light was buried too deeply, to the extent that the fate of the entire Empire rested upon a dying, deluded woman. It was hard not to wonder if this was punishment for the Cruz people’s pride, akin to the plight of the Minren people back in the day.
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