The Amber Sword

v4c75 Legacy of the Skeleton (2)

Brendel’s gaze moved past Francisco’s Hold and stopped on the fourth item. It was a little mirror with a silver handle. Delicate waves were carved into the frame of the mirror. It seemed like something a lady would use. There were millions of equipment in Amber Sword. Aside from some of the most famous ones or those that he had used before, he wouldn’t recognize all of them. He picked up the mirror and a pale green light screen unfurled along its surface. Brendel raised his eyebrow slightly at the text that appeared on there.

“So it’s this thing...”

“What is it?” Just as Brendel’s gaze landed on that tiny mirror, Filas also noticed this item since it was the most delicate among all the things. As a noble, he was instinctively drawn to those with a gorgeous exterior.

Brendel raised the mirror —

Valora’s Mirror

[Fantasy]

Life + 20

Triple Cut Level + 1

Bonus skills:

The Shadow of Reality – Valora’s Mirror replicates all lies. Users of Valora’s Mirror can choose a target and replicate one of the target’s skills. That skill will be stored in the mirror as a real illusion. The user can expend 1/10th of its energy cost and cast the spell once. (Cooldown period: 1 day).

The mirror of the Night Goddess. This mirror was a very interesting tool in the Amber Sword. It can replicate abilities but it unleashes the skill as an illusion. But this illusion was a real illusion — as long as the target believed that this illusion was real, then they would experience all of the resulting consequences.

But if he didn’t believe, then this spell would just be a simple illusion.

Therefore, there was a trick to using this mirror. If you replicated a skill that was too outlandish, most people wouldn’t believe it. But there were some who were contrary and intentionally learned very bizarre skills – for example, knights learnt elementalists skills. Often when you didn’t believe, controlling skills such as Claws of Ice would befall you.

At most, Brendel had heard of the mirror in the past. He had never actually seen it. He held the mirror and described it to Filas. Of course, he didn’t mention the specifics and just said that it was something a female knight left behind after she died and that the mirror had the power to replicate illusions. He hadn’t counted on Filas’ eyes glinting when he heard this and asking, “Wait, I have a favor to ask. Count Trentheim, would you consider gifting this mirror to me?”

Though Filas may appear careless on the surface, he had received a nobleman’s education. Filas knew very well that, though they may have found the remains together, in accordance with the rules of nobility, Brendel would be doing him a favor.

For the nobility, inviting someone to preview the spoils of a winter hunt was considered the highest honor. Filas wasn’t naive enough to consider that he had the right to share the spoils. He could tell that Brendel hadn’t needed him to find this place; of course he also didn’t mention the word “buy” either. In their circles, that question would be considered rude and even insulting.

Especially since Brendel’s current position could be said to be higher than his.

By saying so, Filas was implying that he owed Brendel a future favor. Brendel understood the implied sentiment behind the sentence and looked at Filas in surprise. He didn’t understand why this mirror meant so much to Filas, enough to pay him back with a favor. The higher someone’s station in life, the less they liked owing people favors. Though Filas was just a squire, he could become one of Kirrlutz princes in the future.

Filas realized Brendel was a bit confused and explained, “Count Trentheim, you mentioned that this used to belong to a beautiful lady. I think it would suit Laurenna very well. I’ve always wanted to give her a present.”

“So that’s why.” Brendel understood. He hadn’t expected Filas to be so romantic. Brendel looked at the silver mirror in his hands — truth to be told, this thing was an excellent magical item. If he used it himself, it could be quite effective. But on the other hand, it would also be an excellent choice to win Laurenna and Filas over.

He had angered many people in Kirrlutz. Even if Wood covered up Williams’ death by saying the vice squad leader had died in a surprise attack from the devils, that explanation was only enough to fool the commoners. Williams was the heir to a noble family in Kirrlutz and his family and friends were all people with the highest authority. Even if they didn’t cause trouble for him now, he couldn’t discount the possibility that they meant him ill.

Not to mention that, for some random reason, the daughter of the Prime Minister has now appeared on the blacklist. Brendel hadn’t encountered her in Amber Sword before but the famous Prime Minister of the Kirrlutz Empire was well-known in the game for having the ability to change destinies with the flick of his wrist. Furthermore, his lineage of influence differed from Williams’ Holy Cathedral supporters, which meant that Brendel had, for all intents and purposes, gotten on the bad side of two major powers in the Empire.

Therefore, he had no choice but to consider winning the favor of the less ambitious forces in the Empire. After all, one of the previous holy saints in Aouine had once said that the politics of Aouine could not be separated from the Empire and the Wind Elves. Though that had been said in resignation, it was a true depiction of the state of things when it came to this ancient kingdom. The Princess and her supporters had not united Aouine yet, but even when they grew into their wings, Aouine’s geography meant Brendel could not completely remove it from the influences of Kirrlutz or the Wind Elves.

While he claimed at every opportunity that he wanted to break away from the Holy Cathedral of Fire, Brendel knew very well in his heart that the best choice before Aouine became a true Empire would be to remain neutral between the Holy Cathedral of Wind and Holy Cathedral of Fire.

His approach to the problem came from the same previous holy saint.

The previous holy saint was named Valatiran and he had been Tulman’s teacher when Tulman had walked among the mortals. He had been there when the Corvardo empire was established and was an important political figure in the hundred years spanning when Edward the White King ascended to the throne until the early years of Anson the Eleventh. He was the creator of the Era of Expansion. Frankly, both Tulman and Brendel’s own grandfather Darius were just following in this previous holy saint’s footsteps.

Brendel had taken this into consideration when he agreed to help Veronica. Both Laurenna and Filas both had families with some influence in Kirrlutz. More importantly, their two families were very close. If he could win the favor of both of these major families, then he had a way of countering the enemy forces hidden within the Empire.

Of course, the most important part was that Brendel thought Filas and Laurenna were decent people. Though they were the heirs to two noble families, they didn’t act arrogantly or spoiled. In contrast to these two, he had to doubt the way the so-called Prime Minister of the Empire and Duke Flowerleaf raised their children.

At least Feina, rude and arrogant though she might be, wasn’t a bad person at heart. But he wanted to stay away from the daughter of the Prime Minister.

Brendel believed that the inherent qualities of someone could determine a lot of things. If Filas and Laurenna were exactly like those heirs of noble families that he couldn’t bring himself to look at, Brendel wouldn’t look at them twice no matter how much influence their families had in Kirrlutz. Though he had already made peace with everything in his past, Brendel still retained the last traces of pride and belief in honor from his gaming days. If he could force himself to compromise his honor, he wouldn’t be in this much trouble.

After all, Aouine itself had nothing to do with him.

He looked over at Filas and tossed him the mirror. “You’re the guest and I’m the host. It’s only right for the host to give the guest a present. No need to stand on formalities. Besides, these items don’t have an owner, so perhaps Miss Laurenna is its destined owner?”

“You’re right.” Filas’ eyes brightened. “But Count Trentheim, you’re the most generous gentleman I have ever met. When you have the chance, please come visit us in Kirrlutz. I will absolutely treat you like my most honored guest.”

Brendel smiled slightly. If the guy said this, it meant that he considered Brendel someone worth knowing. But he only nodded casually. This was just a catalyst; a truly tight bond had to be forged by taking someone’s interests into account.

But he had plenty of chances so he didn’t rush now. Brendel had the thought of developing the Black Forest, which had some of the rarest goods in Vaunte. He refused to believe that the nobles of Kirrlutz would be able to hold themselves back when it came to these priceless specialized items. Even nobles of the Empire had to earn money and eat. The larger the family, the more astounding its expenses. What noble family of the Empire didn’t have their own business? Especially those in the upper echelons of the Kirrlutz society who chased after a life of luxury; he knew he’d get their attention with what he had.

Filas truly did have the air of the heir to a noble family. As a nobleman, he definitely knew the value of the Night Goddess’ mirror. But when he put it away, he treated it like any other ordinary mirror. Then he looked at the things on the ground and asked, “What about these? Count Trentheim, I’m sure you know them.”

Brendel gave a slight nod and explained about the Double Snake Ring and Francisco’s Hold. But he didn’t go into detail, just briefly outlined their approximate value and some of their history. In reality, he knew that for a nobleman like Filas, the practical use of these items wasn’t as interesting as the backstory to these magical items.

After recounting the story of the “Anti-Righteous Knight” associated with Francisco’s Hold, Brendel’s gaze landed on the last item. This was the fang that he had seen before. It looked a bit like a wolf’s fang, but when Brendel examined it closely, he realized it was a Skeletal Dragon’s tooth.

This was an amazing item to have. Skeletal Dragon’s teeth were one of the rarest materials in Amber Sword. If you use it to fashion armor, you’d have the special ability to withstand curses that speed up aging. Embed those into weapons, and the weapon would have the ability to speed up aging.

In his last life, a Skeletal Dragon’s tooth could be worth several hundred thousand Taels. Brendel had once tried all the channels and obtained one. But at that time, weapons made from it hadn’t been as effective for him because, in Amber Sword, it was public knowledge that players with time elementals were most suited for it.

The reason for that was simple. The chances of a Skeletal Dragon’steeth triggering the rapid aging curse ranged from 1% to 2.5%, dependent on the manufacturing process. The trigger rate could be considered extremely low. For most players, the rate could be considered a bit worthless. But for a player who had time elementals, it was different because possessing time elementals meant they had Flowing, which was an active elemental power.

The active elemental power of Flowing was described as follows: “As long as the Lines of Laws trended towards stability, the user’s attack can affect enemies and rapidly age them.” This basically meant that it actively triggered the curse of rapid aging, and this effect could be doubled up with that of the Skeletal Dragon’s inherent ability. Essentially, if someone had a Skeletal Dragon’s tooth, the rapid aging effect of Flowing would be doubled.

As one of the few luxury items that Brendel got to experience in his past life, Brendel remembered the effect of this item quite well. And here, he had the time and space elemental that was one step above the time elemental. This thing was practically made for him.