The Amber Sword

TL: The mechanics for this Card usage in TAS are going to be more complicated. I’ll try my best to make it clearer, but you might need to reread the following chapters. I don’t play much Magic the Gathering, but I think the mechanics are similar.

Chapter 51 – Fishing in troubled waters (3)

[It doesn’t take long to unlock my Elemental Pool. As long as I have that, I will be able to pay for the cost of the ‘Holy Sword’ and self-preservation should be no problem.]

When one unlocked his Elemental Pool with a scroll, he would absorb the abundant energy within the scroll and fill up the Pool with Elemental energy. Brendel ordered the spiders to search for the scroll, as they were made from Elemental energy and were better candidates to search for the item compared to himself.

He turned his back and yelled: “Ciel!”

“I understand, my lord.” The young wizard looked at him and smiled: “Good luck, I’ll pray that I’ll meet again soon—”

Brendel nodded earnestly. Ciel raised a ruby into the air and countless lines formed between his thumb and index finger. The lines that were created took from Mother Marsha’s protective laws of magic and intertwined with each other. A wall formed with gold light and disappeared into thin air.

The gigantic skeleton with crimson armor swung the axe onto the invisible wall.

A ripple of wind current surged outwards, and the gemstone in Ciel’s hand cracked, but he continued to use his life to maintain the spell.

“Hurry, my lord!” He yelled in a low voice.

Brendel rushed out to the center stage. He did not know who managed to bid for the item. Even though items in the auction could be passed over directly, the nobles tend to protect their dignity and let the organizers send the items straight to their home.

[There’s still a chance it’s still here.]

He quickly ran to the path to the corridors, and he tried to find the doors to the Boxes. But with each door he opened, he found that it did not lead to the passageway. He became increasingly disappointed and anxious.

After a short while, he heard a thunderous boom made from the Crusader Executioner. Brendel’s expressions changed a little and he called out the system. The Highland Squire card was in the middle of the pack and it was colored in gray when he selected it. The Wind Spider Spirits were also the same. Half of the Wind Spider Spirits were dead and the card was also half covered in gray. It looked like the card was also going to go into the graveyard.

He hesitated for a while but he did not call the spiders back. It was very hard for him to search for the item in this place alone. The footsteps behind him were becoming closer, and he realized that the monster was not going to give him any time —

Suddenly, a spider popped out from one of the rooms and stopped next to his feet, before running off to another area.

[It found the scroll?] Brendel’s heart skipped a beat and chased after it. His agility was higher than the spider and it was easy for him to follow it, but the heavy and dull footsteps felt like they were coming closer and closer, and his heart beat just as quickly.

[How much further?]

[Am I going to be caught up?]

[Is it the scroll?]

Brendel felt there was no certainty that the spider found the scroll, but he could only bet on it. The spider and him turned at a corner and he saw that corpses lying on the corridor. They looked like the workers in this auction site.

[There are enemies here.] Brendel became alert, and he immediately saw that they were skeletons that walked out. He exhaled in relief, and he used the Charge technique to sweep across the undead. They might have been deadly enemies a month ago, but now they were just cannon fodder.

The first skeleton seemed to swung at him with a slow speed, and Brendel’s thrust was ten times faster. The sword cut across the hand and into its chest, and from the cut sections, white flames started to erupt and consume the entire body.

Brendel continued to run past seven skeletons, and when he put his sword back to the sheath, the skeletons fell to the ground and burst into flames. The youth did not have any time to relish on his kills as the crimson figure was already at the corner.

The Crusader Executioner had 22 OZ worth of agility and it far surpassed Brendel who had less than 10. The swinging axe destroyed the ceiling as it reached for Brendel, and he had nowhere to escape.

The only option was to activate Power Break.

When the Thorn of Light met the axe, there was a metallic wail as the blade bent backwards in a bizarre angle. Brendel felt like the bones in his right hand shattered into pieces, and he was flung onto the wall.

It was fortunate that he had landed next to the spider, and he stood up in pain and continued to follow it. He had lost his sword as his hand was unable to hold on to it.

[I can’t feel my right hand….. If I don’t get the scroll, that’s the end of me.]

When he entered the room, he surveyed the room with a hopeful expression, but he saw a scene that he did not wish to see.

A Zombie Outlander which was next to a mercenary’s corpse, turned its head back. It did not expect that someone was outside. It held a scythe that was still dripping blood, and it looked at Brendel with a pair of green flames inside its sockets. The youth found that it was holding on to something tightly.

It was a clear crystal that held burning flames within it.

A Fire Seed.

The Zombie Outlander raised its scythe, but Brendel was one step ahead of it, and he supported his right hand up with his left hand. The pain almost made him tremble, but he said through gritted teeth: “Oss!”

The immense wind pressure that condensed in an instant seem to leave the room in a vacuum, before it exploded with a thunderous boom. The maelstrom of air went straight to the Zombie Outlander and caused deformations to the armor. It was thrown backwards to the wall and blasted it through, leaving behind a gaping hole.

The undead creature was not a defensive creature like the Gargoyle, and it was instantly destroyed like the swordsman in the Pine Fortress.

Half of the body remained behind, and Brendel went forward to grab the Fire Seed from its hand. He did not know how useful it would be, but he did not care anymore. When he turned back, the Crusader Executioner was holding on to a crushed Wind Spider Spirit that dripped green fluids onto the ground.

The monster laughed from within its hollow chest. It was not sentient, but this undead monster had an innate bloodlust towards living creature.

“Fuck off.” Brendel raised the Fire Seed with his left hand and squeezed it—

The crystal ball shattered, and red light poured out from it. It swiveled around Brendel and expanded ten times in size, and moved towards the Crusader Executioner. The monster raised the axe, but it paused and stood still in an instant, as it was paralyzed.

At that moment, all the Elementalists and wizards within ten miles of Bruglas, stopped what they were doing with a change in their expressions and looked towards the direction of Bruglas.

The red light continued to swivel and expand, pouring out from the auction side and went into Hood street, circled around the area and finally spun around the entire Bruglas city. It continued to broaden several miles before it slowly stopped and disappeared.

It was a short moment, but the solders in the Silver-winged Cavalry watched their shadow hounds evaporate in an instant.

The power of Order.

The living undead revered Mother Marsha like humans did. They were also creatures that were based on Order, and the Fire Seed would not affect them. But the Crusader Executioner was different. It was a Nest creature.

The only exception to this was a Guardian Nest, otherwise all Nests are made from the Chaos. The Shadow hounds were low ranking creatures that were unable to fend against it and quickly evaporated into thin air.

The Crusader Executioner was dealt an immense impact and was unable to move. The youth saw that it took 110 damage, and he sighed with relief.

[I gambled correctly…]

No one in their right mind would use a priceless Fire Seed to do something like this, but it proved that Chaos and Order were in opposition of each other.

Brendel took in another deep breath and quickly searched the room for signs of the scroll. The spider must had found the Fire Seed instead of the scroll. He did not find it and he quickly left the area, as the Crusader Executioner would not stay down forever.