The Amber Sword

Chapter 191 – The final moment (7)

Professions like Magic Swordsman and Rune Knight were indeed capable of identifying items. Rune Knights were able to use magic, but their true skillset was to analyze magic and fight wizards. They were greatly specialized in anti-magic and well-versed in dealing with Chants.

The words to form a Chant were typically fixed. The only ones who were exceptions to this rule were powerful wizards who could bend the rules. Witches who resided in rivers of concentrated Mana, believed there were thirty-six thousand words in this world that had mysterious power in them.

These words made up the rules of all Laws, Runes and Holy Words. and they were frequently used to activate magical artifacts. The most common words to activate old artifacts were the following.

Eaam was earth, Oss was wind, Vo was water, and Flamme was fire.

But they were not going to work for the cloak.

The magic artifacts created from the Golden and Silver Lineage were indeed old, but the earliest magic artifacts were taken from the Elemental Planes.

Faena sensed the cloak had a powerful Earth Element leaking out from it. She first tried the words that were from the races of the great earth, the Poem of Titans.

There were twelve hundred words in it. Trying them out one by one was nearly impossible, but she was experienced enough to choose the suitable words for activating a magic artifact. It was narrow enough to test them out.

After several tries, she moved on to the tale of ‘Yara’s teeth’, which represented the Shadow Element and the Vibration Rune. Her eyebrows were lifted slightly up and looked up with an air of triumph as she passed the cloak back to Brendel.

Her sky-blue eyes were full of pride and her pursed lips were slightly curved upwards. Brendel eyed her for a second as he took over the cloak.

Once a magical artifact’s known usage and activation word was discovered, the game recognized it as ‘identified’.

Green words immediately flashed in his retina:

– King Bruni’s invisibility cloak.

– Magic Resistance: 30%

– Activated ability: Enters a Shrouded state for a hundred and twenty breaths. The user would be as if they have disappeared from this world.

– Activation keyword: Far

[Oh, it’s identified. Wait, the description for this……!]

The corners of Brendel’s eyes twitched. The game explained that the world was comprised of seven layers. There were four Element Planes, two Energy Planes, and a Physical Plane. One’s existence was anchored to one of these seven Planes.

An invisibility spell utilized the Air or Water Element to distort light and deceive the eyes, but it was just a type of an illusion, and the caster could still be seen, heard, and even be touched.

A Shrouded state was significantly stronger. The most common use for this state was to pass through walls. Under it, there were no ‘walls’ in this world.

[A hundred and twenty breaths. That’s about five minutes, but it’s just the right amount of time to escape. This cloak is a god-tier item for those who need it. A 30% magic resistance is definitely a mythological treasure. It definitely doesn’t bring shame to the King of Titans and is a fitting collection for his vault.]

Brendel unfurled the cloak to its fullest and covered both Faena and Sifrid.

“Far!” He said.

The cloak became invisible in an instant. The feeling that came from it was incredibly intriguing. It felt like there was a layer of shimmering water all around them.

Sifrid’s eyes went wide and looked around her surroundings, before she turned to the youth with a revered expression. Brendel was always capable of doing something miraculous or unexpected things.

He also took a while to get used to the Shrouded state. There were a few famous solo players who had this equipment, but he had never seen one in action before.

“……Why do you know the activation keyword, I haven’t told you yet!” But Faena was completely shocked and stared at Brendel.

The youth also stared back vacantly.

Then he realized he made a serious mistake. Gamers could directly see the activation keywords once the artifact was identified, but he forgot he was not in a game.

An NPC would have to prove that they had the bloodline of a Star Seer who could see the future. But if they were a practitioner of Black or Blood magic, it was highly probable they would be burned on a stake.

Brendel stiffened and was a loss of what to say. It did not make sense for him to say that he had the abilities to identify an equipment, since he had brought the two girls to a point where they were close to their enemies. Why did he have to wait before Faena volunteered to identify it?

[Shit. I can’t say I don’t know about it, it doesn’t make sense. How do I know how to activate it?]

“Erm……” Brendel coughed once and his mind spun quickly: “Well…… You were muttering words from the Poem of Titans! There’s a section within the Poem of Titans that are related to the Shadow Element, and it’s either Yara’s Teeth or the Rune Words related to the Vibration— In any case, I tried one of them……”

“And you got it on the first try!?” Faena’s jaws dropped. She was supposed to the expert here, but this person had managed to solve it before her with a simple guess. Her confidence was greatly shaken and her eyes trembled.

“No, no,” Brendel hurriedly shook his head and said. Faena was actually being useful for once and did well, and he did not want to break her confidence and become more of a baggage than before: “You were the one who confirmed the scope. I can’t sense the particular brand of magic Element that’s exuding from the cloak…… I’m just slightly better in the knowledge of myths and legends.”

“…… Really?”

“Of course. I’m an Elementalist and even I’m unable to discern that the cloak is giving off the Earth Element.”

“What kind of Elementalist are you when your swordsmanship skills reach the level of a Gold-ranker?” Faena could not help but snicker with a disbelieving look: “The famous Grandmaster Makaine said this, human lifespans are severely limited, and if we don’t put our fullest focus into a single thing, it’s unlikely that we will be good at it—”

“Really? Did you forget that I beat you by using magic in the Green Tower? I took the Rock Key away from you.”

“You’re such a rude lout! How reprehensible are you to snatch something away from a lady!” Faena was angry that she made a tiny squeak of noise even though she knew where she was: “…… I thought you were a fake noble at that time, hmph, but it seems like you’re a real one. Still, the nobles from Aouine are indeed a rude bunch.”

Brendel grabbed the cloak’s fabric with his hands and rubbed against them to remove his sweat. He was really a faker.

[Yes, it’s rude to fight something over with a girl, but honestly, you needed to be taught a lesson. You were the one who started it first by stealing my bargained item. And the Rock Key is something that I needed to.]

“Well, it’s an event that’s in the past, and I don’t want to discuss who’s at fault right now.”

Brendel was in a great mood. He led the girls out leisurely while he tracked Andesha and the robed figure’s movements.

Andesha was still staring out at the forest on top of the building. She did glance at the courtyard several times but did not see the trio walking across it.

On the other side of the courtyard, Brendel found that there was a man’s figure wearing red robes standing there. The latter did not detect their presence as well.

[This man’s figure seems a little familiar.]

Brendel felt a prod on his arm and found Faena mouthing words: “Hey, that person looks familiar.”

He was surprised.

There were many Tree Shepherds that he came across in the game, and it was reasonable to feel some of them appear familiar, but for an aristocrat to know a member from an evil cult?

“Ah. Isn’t that Bishop Amman? My father and I had seen him many times when he was the regional priest in our territory. He and my father got along with each very well. But why is he here?”

“Amman?”

Brendel nearly spat out the word ‘impossible’.

[Didn’t he die hours ago from the fake Lernaia Hydra’s fangs? One of them went through his heart. And the only people who can survive that are people from the Golden Lineage. Even an angel cannot revive him.]

But Faena cast a veil of doubt on him. The more Brendel stared at the figure, the more he looked like Amman. He felt that was something wrong but did not think up wild theories just yet.

“That’s really Amman? You’re certain of it?” Brendel could not help but ask.

“Why are you acting so strange? How can I be sure of it? He’s so far away and his figure is all unclear, not to mention his face is under his hood. I only feel that he appears to be Amman, and it’s just a passing remark. Why are you acting so serious?”

Faena grumbled but added another remark:

“But if he’s really Amman, then it’s truly shocking news. Think about it, a Bishop from the Cathedral of Flames and a member of the Tree Shepherds working together!”

She even licked her lips, as though she found a piece of juicy gossip.

But Brendel’s facial muscles only tightened further.

[If this is really him, then it’s not as simple as a juicy gossip to be discussed over tea. There’s no legitimate way to come back from the dead. But evil spells relating to necromancy…… I would have never associated Amman with that. Yet, to work with Andesha…… Which means he’s a spy? Amman is a Tree Shepherd?]

All sorts of information were popping up in his mind. This piece of information was just too stunning. Even the game did not leak out any information about him, and he thought that no secrets from an NPC would be kept hidden from the gamers.

While he kept thinking of wild theories, a loud voice suddenly called out and echoed in the forest:

“Who’s over there? Stop hiding and come out!”

Brendel’s arms jolted. The sudden voice was a little hoarse, and it was so chilling that he felt like his bones were cold.

Indeed, it belonged to Andesha.

But how was it possible for her to detect them?

Brendel’s eyes subconsciously looked to Faena and found her staring back at him in terror. Both of their faces were pale.