The Amber Sword

Chapter 136 – Into battle

The trees within the Dark Forest were of varied height and appeared like waves of water in the night wind. It was impossible to find where they ended. Wolves started to howl within the forest, and more answered the call from near and far.

The succession of howls came nearer and nearer to the camp, and it sounded as though the beasts with bared fangs were growling next to everyone’s ears. Black shadows darted across the ground, stopping occasionally as they sniffed the air, as though they were seeking their prey.

A single pair of red lights the size of dots suddenly appeared in mid-air. In a heartbeat, hundreds more emerged and left vanishing trails. And in a few seconds, the number was as many as the stars in the sky. White cold mist could be seen streaming from their steely snouts.

The youths gasped, while the ambassadors’ muscles became taut.

“Prepare for battle!” Austin immediately judged they were unable to leave in this situation and ordered his knights.

Brendel’s men also readied themselves into a defensive formation; those with armor and shields stood in front, while the archers were placed in the back.

“Stay in position!” A yell rang out.

Brendel glanced at them. The youths were split up into squadrons and each leader was making sure they were orderly.

[Most of them are shaken but the leaders are doing well. Even though they aren’t confident, they are calm enough.]

“Lancers, lay down your lances, horizontally!” Kodan yelled at the youths’ side: “Hurry up! And make the formation a little bigger!”

The blades glinted as they caught the light from the campfire’s golden hue. The tips of the weapon seemed to increase in length. The wolves stopped moving and trotted uneasily. Red eyes moved back and forth slightly.

“They are going to test for weaknesses.” Kodan inspected the youths’ formations once more as he spoke.

Brendel nodded in agreement. He threw a vial of red liquid to Kodan and said: “Catch!”

Kodan subconsciously caught it. When he opened his palm, he discovered that the vial had Sealing Runes written all over it.

The contents looked like blood.

“Drink it,” Brendel said

“What is this?” Kodan asked.

“Potion of Dragon Strength.”

Kodan picked up the vial and shook it with his thumb and index finger. “I’ve drunk this stuff before. It only works once in a lifetime, right?”

“The garbage made out of Dragonblood Moss can be called a Potion of Dragon Strength? Potion of Cow Strength, perhaps. Drink it. You will get to feel the real thing.” Brendel answered with disdain.

The Wyvern’s blood bought from the Green Tower was made into a concoction and bottled in the vial. It was one rank below a dragon’s and one rank above a five-headed Hydra’s blood. A hundred vials were made in total and distributed to the youths when the camp was set up. There were still some left, simply because the Planeswalker’s cards did not benefit from any potions or materials.

As for the five-headed Hydra’s blood, Brendel had even more vials made. He planned to use it on his future White Lion Army and to give some to the Subterrane Dwellers. It would be good to bribe Tagiv and make them even more loyal.

Kodan took a final glimpse of the potion and drank it a little doubtfully. But his expression immediately changed and he stared at Brendel with disbelief.

“T…… This is……”

Brendel only grinned a little in response and surveyed the defense line.

His group of youths formed a formation in the front, while the ambassadors’ knights were placed on the left flank. Ropar led his Fireclaw Lizardmen to the right flank.

“My lord! Do we drink it now?” A young man with light golden hair asked.

Brendel recalled his name to be Janos, the leader of the first squadron. The latter was a shoemaker’s son who had a somewhat scrawny body when he first joined, but now he looked a little more like a soldier.

The approval was given and Janos was about to instruct his men to drink the potion, when someone interrupted him with a mocking tone.

“My word, is a shoemaker’s son going to fight against the big bad wolves?” A youth with silver-grey hair said.

He wore a simple suit of leather armor with his hand placed on his waist and wore a lopsided grin.

“Now it’s not the time to throw your jeers, Roland.” Janos did not have the mood to argue with him. The monsters were approaching closer and he felt the tremors on the ground, causing him to grip his sword tightly.

Roland shrugged when he saw his taunt fail, but he suddenly froze.

A light gasp escaped his lips when he saw the black wolves suddenly rush out from the trees like a tidal wave. He wanted to seek excitement when he joined Brendel, and now it seemed like the situation was certainly too exciting.

“Take out your Potion of Dragonblood!” Carglise was the first to raise his hand and a vial was in it. Janos, Roland, and the other leaders in charge of their squadrons also shouted as they took out their vials: “Drink!”

The Potions of Dragonblood Strength had a stronger effect when it was consumed before a battle. The youths took out their vials from their pouches and drank them. Under the guidance of Brendel and the other Gold-rankers, they had just cleared the hurdle to be called Iron-rankers.

But drinking the high-quality potions at their levels had a violent effect on them. They felt like a dragon’s flame was exploding within their chests.

“Shit, it’s so hot!”

“My body feels like it’s burning up……”

“Help, water, water!”

The youths’ faces were flushed red from the heat. Carglise smacked one of the youth’s head with his sword’s scabbard: “Eyes on your enemies, fool!”

Yells from the other leaders could be heard as well.

“Focus and don’t be distracted!”

“Pay attention to the enemies’ movements!’

Brendel nodded inwardly when he watched them from behind. He turned his head to search for Austin, and he tossed a vial towards him: “Catch this, Count Austin!”

“You’re giving me this?” Austin had been paying attention to the black wolves, but he also saw the youths drinking the contents in the vials. He looked a little blankly at Brendel. The latter’s action surprised him, because the ambassadors were not allies with him.

But the youth’s gaze had returned to the wolves.

“Do you still remember, that once upon a time in the ancient battlefields, the horns of the six dukes rang out loudly, while the swallow-tailed flags were flying against the wind?” His voice was loud enough to reach everyone.

“Do you still remember, the epics of our glorious knights who fought against their enemies and crushed them—”

Brendel gave a smile that bared his teeth as a sudden wolf howl could be heard: “In the name of Aouine, and the oath of the selfless lions—”

Austin was transfixed, but a single cry broke out behind him and answered Brendel: “I will uphold it with the sword in my hands!”

The knights behind Austin pulled out their swords and also repeated that cry as they faced the black wolves.

Brendel pulled out Halran Gaia: “Thus, descendants of the warriors who followed King Erik—”

The black wolves were finally moving.

“Slay the foes before us!”

A rolling carpet of black wolves rushed towards the camp. Red eyes flashed by as the wolves ran in the shape of a curve, heading towards the knights who formed a wall. Ten-odd wolves who were ahead of the pack leaped up to an area that oversaw the camp. They released a long howl that was high in tone before it fell in pitch, and the other wolves split into two forces, running past them.

The black monsters crashed into the humans wearing white armor. Lances impaled several bodies all at once, and black spurts of blood went in all directions. The lances creaked heavily as they withstood the immense pressure from the wolves, and the knights and youths were forced back with their feet dragging across the ground.

Finally, the lances snapped.

“Swords!”

The people who had their weapons broken threw them down and immediately pulled their longswords.

[A little longer. I need to wait a little longer.]

Brendel watched the wolves collide against the humans like they were cars that lost control in an accident. Golden lights appeared and flew straight at him. In an instant, more than two hundred XP were added to his total points.

He reached out for his own Potion of Dragonblood Strength and drank it. The viscous liquid went down his throat and he felt his body warm up. It was not painful, but it was an undeniable heat.

Green words appeared across his retina:

– Strength +25

– Agility +10

– Physique +20

– Potential +~10%

The effectiveness of the potion was diminished because of his high level. The youths under him would have benefitted far more in terms of additional stats. Kodan’s true level was actually higher than Brendel, so the increase in stats would not be as high.

The increase of stats was temporary with the exception of the Potential stat. The Potential Stat will slowly temper the body as long as the ‘drug’ remained in the system. Most of it will be squandered, but intense battles would allow it to be spent at a faster rate.

[Time to grind XP. Wait, that isn’t right. Time to have a workout.]

Brendel flexed his wrists with a few audible cracks.

[Holy Swords, open the path!]

A sudden pair of gigantic green wings appeared behind him and extended to each side—