The Amber Sword

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The Abyss(4)

For one to say that Maynild was cold-blooded was naturally because of the results of her previous battle. Magic disintegration was not uncommon in Vaunte. Magical items are closely tied to their owner’s powers. When a magical item’s owner dies, most items lose their magic while some even disintegrate.

However, this kind of disintegration does not happen all the time Some specially treated equipment– such as the Wind Empress’s Ring– would not exhibit magic disintegration, while for regular equipment, losing about two-thirds of its magic was considered normal. Similar to the existence of Elemental Activation, Vaunte in this era was definitely a big-time hotshot. The magical equipment they possessed was definitely not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill goods. However, under Maynild’s inspection, there was only a standard longsword left.

Luck is sometimes an abstract concept, yet still at times an undeniable presence. At least that was what Brendel thought before Maynild removed the bracelet from William’s dead body.

He froze for a moment before saying to the female knight, “Can I have a look?”
Maynild passed the bracelet directly into his hands without even thinking about it. Brendel did not need to look at it to know what its properties were, but even so, due to the player instincts he built up throughout the years, he eagerly opened the window.

A pale green, translucent light screen that only he could see appeared, and on it, there were a few lines of Elvish text. Because this equipment has a very close relationship with the wild elves:

Glow Wave (Bracelet).

A Silver ranked ancient magic item. (Equipment requirements: 225Oz).

“Let go.”

“Give me your cloak,” Maynild said calmly. She did not turn around because there were quite a few other people over there, although Count Audine’s noble private soldiers and the students of the Royal Cavalry Academy had yet to notice what happened.

Brendel did as he was told, he took off his cloak and handed it to her with his eyes closed. Maynild calmly wrapped herself up in the cloak, then she looked at Brendel and asked, “Mr. Brendel, are you really the descendant of Master Darius?”

“This……” Brendel did not know why the female knight suddenly asked about this. But it was better that she wasn’t fixated on the previous incident, “I’m not sure either, but I don’t think Ciel would lie to me.”

“Did your grandfather teach you your sword arts?”

“No, of course not. I learned it from other players.” But of course, Brendel would not answer like this, otherwise, it would be hard to explain himself. He thought about it and nodded.

Maynild gave him a stare and nodded, then she picked up her sword and turned to leave.

Brendel was left alone in the rain, completely relieved.

“Mr.Brendel, you’re so lustful.” Orthylss who was watching at the side asked curiously, “Oh right, did you do the same thing to the Wind Empress? Why else would she be she so angry with you?”

It was only then that Brendel remembered there was a peeping kid beside him, but this was quite the question. If he had dared to do anything to the Elf lady, he would’ve been obliterated by her. So he glared at her fiercely, “Stand aside, kid.”

“I’m over a thousand years old.” The elf girl instantly became smug, “Mr.Brendel is the kid here.”

Dammit, so now you remember this. Brendel immediately felt like this brat was invincible so he simply ignored her and went to inspect William’s body himself.

He didn’t think he would be more ruthless than Maynild, but he found two more pieces of magical equipment that has yet to display magic dissipation. A cloak, the Cloak of Flame, +15 bloodline, +3 defense, he bet William did not even know that this cloak could add to one’s bloodline, so it was definitely the cloak’s defending ability that interested William.

This was actually a very common phenomenon in the world of Vaunte, as NPC ‘could not see’ the attributes of equipment, so they tend to make judgments based on the superficial qualities of magic equipment, and only a few great Tuman scholars could analyze all the functions of the equipment.

This process was called identification in the game. However, players usually did not need to identify equipment other than a few special ones, which was probably a benefit for the players.

The other piece of equipment was also a wizard’s tool, a gold-ranked cane with a +32 physique that could summon a two-headed gargoyle ghost and increase magic powers. This cane’s usage was limited to golden realm conjurers, and unfortunately, the only one under Brendel who could equip it was Ciel. But Ciel was a card creature which meant he could not equip items of the real world.

Brendel did not know William would keep this on him, he could only guess that it was loot from a battle.

Obtaining two pieces of wizard-use items was not surprising at all to Brendel as he had always been unable to obtain things he wanted in the game. His female senior who was named the Friend of Witches always said, “Sophie is my best friend.”

But such praise was better off unsaid.

Brendel felt uncomfortable thinking about the tragic experiences of the past.

Finally finished with sorting the loot, there were eleven Sword of Flames, a Wind Ring (Orthylss edition), a Glow Wave, a Cloak of Flame, a Golden cane and an item that was expected yet also unexpected by Brendel: He immediately recognized a fragment of the Flaming Blade Oderfeiss.

It was probably the middle part of the broken blade, its fragment was as shiny as a mirror, but with dark red flame patterns on it. As Brendel recovered this fragment from William’s dead body, the spirit of the Flaming Blade started vibrating.

Brendel was not at all excited by obtaining a fragment of a divine artifact, he only felt like it was a pain in the ass. The Kirrlutz people would never leave the Flaming Blade in Aouine, and if he doesn’t manage this properly, this might turn into a deadly conflict.

He frowned and saw Freya running towards him in the rain.

“Brendel!”

“What’s wrong?” Brendel put away the fragment of the Flaming Blade and asked. He saw a nervous look on Freya’s face, and could not help but question. Aouine’s Royal fleet could not have eliminated the Kirrlutz so quickly at this hour, could it be that they had met with some new enemy?

That’s impossible. Brendel did not think that the Kirrlutz would dare to increase the number of their soldiers, just like how he didn’t believe that the Northern Coalition army could regather in a short time.

“A person is here.” Freya ran up to him and replied, panting, he did not know how far she had come from.

“One person?”

“Yes.” The girl from Buga nodded.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Archbishop Wood, he said he wanted to see you.”

“Huh?” Brendel trembled slightly, he didn’t think that trouble would arrive at his doorstep so quickly. Why is Wood looking for me at this hour? Because of the Flaming Blade? He should know that the princess’s side will no longer allow for compromisations