The Amber Sword

Chapter 57 – King of the underground (8)

============= Brendel’s POV ==============

The battle that Brendel had almost did not give him any loot, and the experience he gained was a pittance.

Before he started searching amongst the rubble, he had told the worker to stay behind for a moment while he and Scarlett investigated the creatures.

[Killing Iron-ranked creatures and below hardly nets any XP at my level. This is the same XP reduction in the game.]

The single loot he found amongst the rubble was an ogre ring. It raised the wearer’s strength and was rated accordingly as a prefix for equipment. The lowest rated Strength Ring was a ‘Ghoul Ring’, and the highest rated Strength Ring was ‘Colossal Dragon Ring’.

The Ogre Ring that he had gotten was a 20 OZ ring, which far surpassed his expectations for a loot drop. The odds were a 1/1000 chance for a level 15 creature to drop a magical equipment like this. The best item that a level 15 creature could drop was a 25 OZ defensive item, but the odds were even higher at 1/10000, which any gamer would not perceive as a possibility to get it realistically.

[But to get such an item when my luck is pretty much shitty at all times…..]

But he was a gamer.

An endless amount of creatures that one could grind in the game was unusual. He calmly and quickly searched for the leader that was hiding amongst these low-level creatures.

[There!]

He quickly spotted a smaller cat-like creature made of shiny black obsidian moving in the darkness. Even though it was just a second, Brendel had already recognized that the creature had to be at least five levels higher than the Rock Panthers based on its material.

The youth quickly cleaved the surrounding enemies in a large arc and pursued after it. But what surprised him was the swift reaction of the creature. Before he was able to swing his sword, that black panther had disappeared into the shadows.

[That creature’s speed has surpassed what it should have at its level!]

Brendel wanted to activate his Charge skill, but he lost his target as it seemingly disappeared into thin air. The Rock Panthers also started retreating like a falling tide, and he stopped chasing them in astonishment.

All the creatures had disappeared after a few seconds.

[What’s going on?]

He certainly did not think it was because of his bloodlust or oppressive might that ‘frightened’ them away. These creatures were non-living and acted upon their instructions.

The area became open.

“What was that?” Scarlett managed to catch a glimpse of the black creature when Brendel chased after it.

“The leader. Although to be more accurate, the summoner’s eyes. Regardless of what kind of summoner they are: An elf, necromancer, or beast tamer, in order to control a large army, they need to control a creature that’s intelligent enough for them to use. I’m not sure how big this army is, but if that obsidian panther is the strongest creature amongst them, it’s still fine.”

“If it’s not?” She asked.

“We’re in trouble,” Brendel said and walked a little faster than before.

Scarlett felt the events that happened so far were bizarre. Even though it seemed like Brendel knew what was going on, she did not like the feeling of a trap.

“My lord, let us return to the third level. Aren’t our goals supposed to be capturing the guard commander and controling the mines? Why are we wasting time with these creatures?” She whispered.

“At first my goals are to do just that, but now it’s a little different.”

“What’s different?” She asked in wonder.

“It’s…… complicated.”

A Legacy item from the Silver Lineage had more value than the silver mines. He would never do something stupid like switching the Golden Apple with gold mines. But he did not explain himself and continued to walk deeper to where Cohen’s mining spot was.

He stopped after a few steps.

“Hmm.” He uttered lightly to himself.

“What’s wrong?” Scarlett asked from behind.

“Take a look at this.” He walked to the cornering turn.

Scarlett limped her way over with her halberd as a crutch and discovered that the tunnel widening into a fairly big space. However, she was surprised to see the place in shambles.

It was as if a violent tempest had occurred there. Under the weak light from the crystal, she could see there were fragments of Rock Panthers intermixed with a few glaring obsidian shards.

Brendel looked deeper into the tunnel, pulled out his sword, and said: “It seems like someone is ahead of us. And that someone is powerful.”