The Amber Sword

v3c289

The Passage of Time

Rokshbe Hall’s long corridor was clear like a piece of mirror, and from time to time, there would be a priest in red walking by, their footsteps clicking as they move. Brendel was sitting on a long bench inside, fiddling with the menu sheepishly under the moon. Sometimes, a system window would open up beside him as he checked the time.

It had been three hours since the incident in the afternoon.

The massacre in Acacia manor had shaken the Holy Cathedral, and they had started investigations, but it was predicted that results would not be produced in a short period of time. But besides that, Brendel realized that, after he had cut down two Gold rankers and several Silver rankers, he managed to raise one level. And now his Holy Knight Class had reached level 16. As the class was an Ascended Class, it needed more experience to level up, and that to level up to level 16, it would require as much experience as a normal Warrior leveling up to level 25.

But for every level up for an Ascended Class, the stats would have a greater increase when compared to the Basic Classes, so it can still be said that being a Holy Knight is stronger than the other Basic Classes. It was until two years later in the game that the first Ascended Class appeared, so in essence, Brendel was faster than the players by one year. It was all thanks to Mavicart’s Grimoire. However, even it was now a small piece of what it was originally as the Nine Luminaries Sword Art was like a black hole, sucking in all the experience the Grimoire has to give.

Brendel was checking on his newly added stats as he sucked on whatever was left of the Mavicart’s Grimoire. He leveled up once more, closing the gap with the peak of Gold rank. If he excluded his other Classes, Brendel expected that he would have to reach at least level 60 to reach the Elemental Realm. It would be an arduous and long task, but he did not have the liberty of the time to do that with all his responsibilities as of now.

“But if I can’t get into the Elemental Realm in time, it would be hard for me to protect myself when the Demonic Waves come,” Brendel shook his head. “No, it had already started.” The Loop of Winds was just an opening act, and although it had not affected the majority of Vaunte yet, it was bound to happen.

And it is evident that there had been a higher activity with the Magic Beasts recently. The astrologists in the South even thought that it was a side effect of the Loop of Winds.

They were only half correct. It was not a side effect, but rather just the beginning of the Demonic Waves. As someone who experienced this once before, Brendel was really knowledgable about all of this.

He pressed on the ‘+’ symbol on his system window, and then notifications for confirmation began to pop up.

-System notification: Holy Knight Skill ‘Blood of Sun’ leveled up to Level 10.

-System notification: Holy Knight Skill ‘Crown of Thorns’ leveled up to Level 10.

From the Ascended Class onwards, the player would be required to reach certain levels to unlock Medium tier skills. To get those of the Holy Knight, Brendel had to level up to level 30 in the least.

Level 5 ‘Blood of Sun’ could only reflect up to 25% of damage, Level 6 ‘Colliding Halo’ only added three points to his Defense. It was only until now that his Defense was passable to be considered a true Warrior. Previously, he was more like a Night Swallow or Wanderer Class.

Brendel laughed. Although he may be leveling up really fast compared to his previous life, his equipment was still lacking. He may be equipped with the Crimson Red Blessing, Spectral Knight Crystal, Warrior Ring, and Halran Gaia, he did not have anything else that was of good quality. He even had items like Elemental Bracelet or Flame Ring that were items about level 20 and could be proved to be insufficient at times.

The reason for that was because he was always busy with other matters and did not have the time to clear the instance dungeons. Ever since he left Fortress Riedon, due to the Red Bronze Mercenaries, his entire plan was ruined. And ever since leaving Trentheim, Brendel felt that his own abilities were lower than he had expected. Fortunately for him, his plan was executed smoothly and he managed to partake in the noble’s meeting, or else he would have to question his own worth in this world.

At the thought of that, Brendel raised his eyebrows. History really did change.

The meeting was supposed to delay until noon back in the game, but that was completely different now, and the location had been swapped from the Anderla Cathedral to the Sophora Manor. Brendel raised his head and looked down the corridor. It was the first time he felt so lost ever since he came to this world.

Just what is the reason behind the incident this morning?

When he had locked gazes with Arreck, he was sure that the old fox was part of it. But that would not make sense. Won’t hurting the Royal Family be detrimental to them? Just what is happening that made Arreck stand on Seifer’s side?

Besides him, the other nobles also realized the anomaly. Most of the influential nobles did not come, which meant that they had probably known about it from the beginning. And he was even suspicious that the Holy Cathedral was part of it too. Ampere Seale was well protected by the Holy Cathedral of Flame, that if he wanted to assassinate someone here, he would have needed to rely on the Cards of Fate. So how could such a big group of Evil Cultists appear?

That just seemed impossible.

From past experience, the Royal Faction won. Although the princess was weak, she had a lot of supporters, and once Duke Arreck sided with her, she will emerge victorious in this civil war. It was just that in this lifetime, the people who backed the princess seemed to have disappeared, and he could not come up with an explanation for it.

He racked his brain to come up with an explanation, and did not leave out any details. Plus, with his knowledge about the future, albeit it would be a little different, the main outline would still remain. And with just a little more time, he was confident that he could perfectly see the outcome.

He pursed his lip, and the wrinkles on his forehead deepened.

But then, a shadow came before him and into his vision, causing him to momentarily stop breathing. Freya was in her military uniform, her ponytail tucked behind her head, looking really dashing yet soft at the same time. She seemed to realize just how awkward the mood was, and said, in a blushing manner, “Long time no see.”

Brendel laughed. Somehow, whenever he saw this girl, all of his troubles would disappear. [T/L: Uh oh, Romaine you seem to be in a precarious position.]

“Are you only here to say that to me?” he said with a smile. The headstrong, unwavering war goddess that was unparalleled seemed to be gone, while the image of her from Bucce seemed to be getting clearer and more relatable.

He could still remember she tended his wounds in a panicking state. She was obviously mad, but cute as well. Seems like she’s still Freya and not the stone cold war goddess that I know of from the game.

“You!” Freya pouted. Although she came here under the orders of the princess, she could not say that she did not anticipate meeting Brendel. She could see that the reason she was chosen was due to her relationship with Bredel. But she did not know just how did they realize that she was affiliated with him.

“… Brendel, why are you here?”

“Did you forget that I was the one that wanted you to get close to Princess Gryphine?”

“I did not forget,” she said, forgetting for a moment the reason she was here due to all the rage in her head. She backed off a little, “You told me that, to help myself and Bucce, I have to enroll in the Royal Cavalry Academy. But now that Bucce is conquered by Madara, are you suggesting that we wage war with them?”

Brendel shook his head.

He raised his head and looked into the darkness at the end of the corridor, “Freya, you’re not the Freya from Bucce anymore. So what do you think of Princess Gryphine? What do you think of Aouine?”

She fell silent, and sat beside Brendel. Combing her long hair, she said, “To be honest, I never thought that our Kingdom would fall into such peril. Back when I was with Madden, I thought that, despite the problems we have, Aouine was still a big nation. Life was peaceful back then, and wars did not seem like a possibility.”

“Do you still think that there is a chance of redemption for this Kingdom?” Brendel turned and looked at the side of Freya.

“I don’t know. But if it were to perish, I would go down with it.”

“Is that what you have learned from the Royal Cavalry Academy?”

“Kinda. But this feeling was always within me, just that I did not understand it. Brendel, I do have to thank you. It’s you that led me to join the Academy. And now that I see it, it was the best experience I have ever had this life… And I think it may have changed my life as it is,” she thought for a while before replying.

Brendel just smiled.

But he felt terrible. Seems like this outcome was always meant to be. The future war goddess was sitting next to him, and confessed to him about her ideals. She was that sort of person from the beginning, burning with all its might even till the end. I don’t wish to change her, but now that I think of it, the plain cold Freya back in the game might have been her true self.

This rotten country had changed hearts, and the war will do the same as well.

Brendel turned off the logical reasoning he used in the game, and could seemingly hear the voice of this world. Fate is an ever-changing thing, and everyone is gambling on it with all their might and glory, hoping to put their lives on a better path.

“What do you think of the princess?” Brendel asked once more.

She did not reply, but asked with a question of her own, “Brendel, can you tell me? How can the princess free herself from her responsibilities with the nobles and royalty?”

“So I suppose you’re standing on her side then?”

“Sly, but I asked first,” she glared at Brendel and continued, “Brendel, are you part of the Royal Faction?”

Brendel was stunned. He sighed inwardly, That girl from Bucce really did grow up. Although she still is Freya, she was not that clueless girl from back then.

Surprisingly, he shook his head, “You know that I’m a Highland Warrior. And we never had any ties with the Royal Faction.”

Freya was stunned at first, but then she nodded. She remembered that Brendel told her the same thing back then. But last time, she did not understand what he meant by ‘Royal Faction’, or ‘Highland Warrior’, or ‘Highland Wizard’. Thinking back, her face burned with embarrassment. She had thought that he was some noble with all those terms he was spurting out.

Even though he was indeed a noble.

The two of them fell silent as they reminisced the memory of their past.

About the stars under Bucce’s night sky; about Josen who nearly died in the hands of the Necromancer; about the Golden Tree; about Fortress Riedon’s prison; about the battle in the night and the burning moat.

Fate is like a mysterious line, changing people’s directions in unpredictable ways.

After some time, Freya asked, “Is Romaine still fine? Did you bully her?”

“It would already be kind of her to not bully me,” he said sheepishly.

Freya laughed. That seems plausible.

Then she said, “Princess Gryphine requests to see you, Brendel.”

“Okay.”

Brendel composed himself and nodded.