The Amber Sword

Chapter 64 – King of the Underground (15)

Brendel suddenly recalled that he needed to familiarize himself with Kodan’s sword and swung it several times. He found that it was sturdy and light, but it was just a common Magic Sword.

[A pretty low-end magic weapon. I’ve used something similar in regards to the size and length, though I don’t remember its name since it was a temporary thing.]

The ground was scarred lightly with from the wind, and dust danced about with each swing. Kodan’s eyelids were slightly lifted up.

“That technique really is the White Raven Sword Arte. But it’s never taught outside the royal family, so how did the kid learn it?” He rubbed the remainder of his beard thoughtfully and muttered to himself.

This same action also incited a debate amongst the youths—

“What is he doing?” Maher watched Brendel’s sword glinting against the light while it was swung in beautiful arcs.

“Maybe he’s creating some kind of smokescreen?” Jocah said uncertainly: “Perhaps he’s trying to score a victory over the enemy by creating a chance. Fighting a battle requires one to use his brains, got that, Maher?”

“I can’t really explain what happened just yet,” Brendel replied, thinking for a moment.

After a minute, the thunderous voice came again from the air:

“Mortal, do you wish to continue challenging your destiny?”

“Let’s move on to the next challenge first,” Brendel said a little excitedly and restlessly, “Yes, I wish to continue.”

Varian soon appeared once again.

“Let me try it this time,” Brendel said hurriedly.

He was leaving the state of controlling the Laws quickly, and needed to experiment as soon as possible to confirm the suspicions in his mind. Medissa nodded as she looked at him, understanding his intentions.

Brendel brought his sword out with his right arm, pointing it to the ground, and walked forward with large strides.

The cold killing intent once again assaulted its new opponent.

Varian’s flashy appearance of brandishing his warhammer into the air to rouse the audience stopped in mid-air. The dwarf’s supposed composure that was supposed to pressure his opponents quickly faltered; he readied himself into a stance and regarded Brendel a little gravely.

He scoffed lightly with his beady eyes staring under his barbarian helmet, but anyone could see like that he was like a wild beast which had detected a danger to its life—

“Is he really that scary? He might be good with the sword but he’s just too young!” Jocah observed Brendel carefully as he mumbled to himself.

He had thought him to be as skilled as the guard riders in the mines. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not imagine Brendel would make a dwarf equipped like a steel fortress to feel nervous.

It was especially so when he recalled Brendel’s carefree attitude.

“Eh?!” He exclaimed.

But he quickly realized he was completely wrong. Brendel suddenly disappeared and appeared right in front of Varian, as though he had instantly teleported.

There was a shockwave of dust and afterimages that trailed behind the young swordsman, so the youths knew that he moved with an incredible speed that exceeded even Kodan’s earlier charge at the Cerberus.

Varian did not react mentally in time, but his wealth of fighting experience made his arms move his warhammer through sheer instinct and roared desperately to deflect Brendel’s attack.

However, at that moment, it appeared as though his arms were pulled back to its location before they reached their destination.

Brendel’s blade seemed to pass through his defenses like an illusion, shimmering as though it was present and yet not, with the sword slipping into the gap between the dwarf’s armor and helmet as a conclusion.

The dwarf’s eyes bulged, and he sputtered out blood lightly from his lips.

When the afterimages fully materialized into reality, Brendel had a single hand blocking his warhammer, while his sword was lodged firmly into the dwarf’s throat. Once he drew out his blade, the dwarf with the heavy fortress of steel collapsed heavily onto the ground, and blood slowly pooled around him.

He then flicked the blood off his sword with an outwards swing before he walked back.

TL: ‘Statis’ was suggested by one of the commenters a long time ago. I used ‘Frozen’ in the previous TL, I think.