TL: Procastination is bad.
Chapter 127 part 2 – Change of the Loop of Trade Winds (2)
Thirty minutes was not a long time, but it was boring to wait for someone.
Brendel started to practice casting his fire-related spells out of boredom. The flame danced around his fingers as though it was a living creature, and very soon his performance attracted a large group of Tree Elves and Senian children. They crowded around him and stared without blinking at Brendel’s act.
The children pestered him to perform even more magic acts and Amandina was worried that Brendel would be annoyed instead. But the youth put on a grin and made his magic even flashier. This act quickly won their hearts and they were completely enthralled by him.
Amandina watched the youth and the children play together, and she felt somewhat moved. She opened and closed her lips several times, but no words came out.
“Our lord is a kind man. I did not think that the nobles would be so approachable.” Scarlett remarked softly.
The wind stirred her fiery hair while she replaced her ponytail ribbons with a silver hairclip that was bought earlier. It glinted from time to time, which was oddly suiting for her.
“Mmm.”
“He’s your friend?” A low, deep voice suddenly asked.
The two ladies jumped a little and looked back. There was a young man who had long green hair adorned with a crown of interlocking small branches and leaves. His ears were equally long, proving that he was a Tree Elf. But what surprised them was his height and exposed muscular chest which even seemed to gleam against the light, while his back was covered with a cape. It seemed like he was a Druid as well.
The nearly half-naked youth was just standing behind them, looking at Brendel with interest.
“Yes.” Amandina’s face turned red, and she took a step back subconsciously.
“Are you the guests from Firburh?”
“Yes.”
“I have heard rumors about the human nobles looking down on us and the Senians by regarding us as barbaric people, but it seems like this noble’s actions are saying otherwise. Are we mistaken about the humans?”
“I can’t speak for the other nobles, but our lord would never look down on you. In truth, he has protected many Senians.”
“I see.” The Tree Elf nodded as he continued to watch Brendel.
Brendel was engrossed in fulfilling the children’s requests. He came up with more and more tricks he learned in the game that made them cheer each time. Even though the city was grand and filled with beauty, it was rare to see a performing wizard. It was not just the children who gathered around Brendel, but the natives who joined in, making it look like a festival was going on.
Sifrid was standing next to Brendel. She was immensely satisfied to see that people of her age watching her brother Brendel with idolizing eyes. She occasionally looked at Brendel with dazzled eyes as well, feeling for the first time that there was someone who was just as great as her father.
Despite the excessive amount of fireworks, Brendel was actually practicing his magic spells without spending too many Elemental Points. As a Planeswalker, he had to use up his reserves to use a card, but as an Elementalist, he could simply gather the Elements in his surroundings. The stronger his affinity he had as an Elementalist, the more spells he could cast.
If he made ten Flame Arrows and fired them at his enemies, he could drain the surrounding Fire Element and use it to make the arrows, and the price for that could be draining 1 Fire EP in his reserves to rearrange the surroundings Elements, provided that the land was rich in the Fire Element.
However, if he cast grand magic spells that required a significant amount of EP, he would either have to use up his reserves or instead extend the range of draining and rearranging the environment’s Elements.
Before one became an Elementalist, the amount of EP gained every day was insignificant, and even if they did become an Elementalist, the amount recovered was not impressive either. In the game, many Elementalists had to use Element Crystals in the later part of the game and consuming their EP reserves to create a powerful magic spell that seemingly shook heaven and earth. Some of the best Elementalists were able to rearrange the Elements to activate three or four huge AOE magic spells at the same time.
But for a Planeswalker, unsealing a new card meant that it could only take place in its own realm. This meant that his EP pool functioned like how a wizard’s MP did.
Brendel glanced at his remaining Fire EP pool as he continued his magic tricks. He could only use 38 Fire EP at any given time, and unsealing the Fire Dijinn was still quite a long time away. This made him feel a little depressed. (TL: Constant usage of Elements increases EP pool.)
But suddenly a flash of lightning streaked across his mind as he watched the flames on his hand formed a circle.
He extinguished the flames in the hands and suddenly went through his bag hanging from his belt, finally taking out a necklace:
– The Star of Flames [Magic artifact]
– Equipping this item will increase Fire EP pool by 50%, Fire Element’s power increased by 10 points.
[I completely forgot about this item when I killed the Acolyte of Earth, Ekman. Since I didn’t have any fire-related cards back then, I forgot about it completely. If I didn’t perform for the kids I wouldn’t have remembered it at all.]
He immediately took down the Ghoul Necklace and replaced it with the Star of Flames. He immediately saw that his 38 EP increased to 57 EP, which was more than enough to unseal the Fire Dijinn. He suppressed his urge to laugh like a crazed madman since there was a crowd, and he hurriedly searched for his album of cards to unlock it.
- Fire Djinn
- (The Blazing Inferno X)
- 15 Fire Elemental Points
- Living Element: Djinn, Level 36 Creature
- Tapping the card will cause Fire Djinn to deal an enormous amount of damage to target enemy. Shuffle this card back into the deck after tapping.
- Pay 2 Fire Elemental Points every day when Fire Dijinn is on the battlefield.
- 'The Fire Djinn always terrifies its enemies on the scorching lands.'
- Unlocking this card requires 50 Fire Elemental Points.
Brendel did not spend time on admiring his new card because he suddenly heard someone calling his name. He raised his head up and saw a familiar figure.
Kodan was signaling to him.
The youth was not surprised to see him. When Veronica and the others left, he summoned the Fireclaw Lizardman chieftain, Ropar, to bring the old swordsman over. He then tasked the latter to investigate why the Kirrlutz Empire sent out their men to this city.
[Oh. That’s surprisingly quick. Obviously, it’s less suspicious compared to sending a Lizardman to investigate, but this old man works quickly too It hasn’t been more than a couple hours since that incident.]
He turned his head towards the children around him and explained that he had to go on official business. Still, he had already gained a strong reputation amongst the natives. Even though the children were reluctant to see him go, they parted to allow him to walk towards Kodan.
“How did the investigation go?” Brendel got straight to the point.
Kodan first sat down on a wooden bench before he looked at Brendel: “How about taking a guess, boy?”
Brendel sighed with exasperation: “What kind of guess can I make? They are definitely not here because of the sudden changes to the Loop of Trade Winds. If I’m to think about the timeline, these people set out from Kirrlutz much earlier than we did. Even if the Druids requested their help early on, the Empire would never bother about this place, unless there’s some kind of Divine Artifact here—” Brendel suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
Did news about Valhalla leak out?
“Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you found out.” Brendel frowned and said.
“Divine Artifact?” Kodan paused for a moment: “Your guess is actually pretty accurate. They are here for the Lionheart.”
“Lionheart!” Brendel nearly choked on his saliva. How did the Lionheart end up in this place?
“Well, yes. I’m sure you know about the strange event in Chablis approximately half a year ago?”
Brendel’s facial muscles twitched repeatedly. Of course, he knew about it, the cause of the Divine Resonance was due to him after all. He suppressed his puzzled thoughts and asked: “But that reaction happened in Chablis and not the Dark Forest, right?”
“Yes, and that reaction seems like it’s a Divine Resonance, and the rumors about it seemed to be related to the Lionheart. Hmm, but isn’t the Lionheart in the Royal Family’s hands?” Kodan’s brows were pinched together as though he did not understand: “In any case, I heard that they started searching from the south of Chablis and entered the Dark Forest from there. It seemed like they did not get any results about it and continued to search until they reached this place.”
Brendel immediately understood.
These bastards did not manage to get any clues at all and gathered here because they heard the rumors of the change to the Loop of Trade Winds from travelers.
[Shit. This is a nasty coincidence. The Lionheart has a complicated relationship with the Kirrlutz Empire, and for them to send out a general to handle this issue…… It goes to show how important the sword is to them. The only thing in the Dark Forest is the sleeping Valhalla, but these people won’t back off unless they investigate the area for themselves. Things have become complicated.]
“It’s not just people from Kirrlutz, right?” He suddenly asked. The Divine Resonance was an event that was plainly visible for miles. The Kirrlutz Empire would certainly not be the only investigating party.
Kodan nodded with praise in his eyes.
“Right again. It’s not only the Kirrlutz Empire, even our kingdom has sent her men to investigate. Naturally, the order came from the Royal Faction. But this particular group has been cut off from the outside ever since they entered the Dark Forest, and I think they don’t know anything about Trentheim’s recent events.”
“Even if they knew there wouldn’t be much of a difference. Who else is here?”
“Galbu’s wizards, the Holy Cathedral of Fire, and a few other rubbish factions— Most of the men from these factions aren’t allowed to enter the city, but the Druids allowed the people from Aouine, Kirrlutz, Galbu, and the Holy Cathedral of Fire to enter the city. Though I heard that the number of wizards from Galbu can be counted on one hand.”
“That’s a pretty detailed investigation.”
“If there are adventurers and a pub, the news about them can’t be kept a secret.”
Brendel nodded. The crowd was getting big. Even the adventurers in the pub were likely to be involved in this mess. But he remained calm because he at least had several advantages.
First, a working relationship with the Druids. Second, Sifrid. The third was his familiarity about the Dark Forest.
Especially the third point. No one else could do the same thing.
Their conversation was cut short when a scream interrupted them. People started to panic as though there was some unbelievable event happening. Brendel was looking for the source of troubles, but Kodan nudged him and pointed upwards.
“Boy, look at the sky!”
“What is it?” Brendel looked up puzzledly before his jaw dropped in amazement.
The seemingly unending wall of clouds in the Loop of Trade Winds was moving away in two directions, as though it was two doors opening up at the same time. The sense of time seemed to slow and accelerate at the same time. In just a split second, a visible fracture happened to the wall of white clouds.
And for one to see it happen in real time across the endless clouds— One could only imagine how fast the change was.
“W-wind Scar!” Brendel stuttered as he gazed at the clouds in shock.