The Amber Sword

Chapter 54 – The road to surpass limits (1)

“Planeswalkers?”

Brendel nearly groaned out. He felt his forehead, wondering if he was dreaming. The person before him who called himself Tulman, along with the strange surroundings and information, made his mind a complete mess.

[I have never heard of a profession called Planeswalker in the game. That VRMMORPG is spectacularly complicated and huge, and I can’t possibly know every single aspect of it.]

But Brendel felt that things were too forced, and instinct told him that his guess was incorrect. Brendel had a poker face, but his mind was spinning quickly.

[What place is this? How did I get here? Planeswalkers…… Does this mean that the game world different from this reality?]

Tulman’s hands were placed in his robes, and he was floating in the darkness. He saw that Brendel was showing signs of doubts. He smiled and spoke:

“Looks like you’re still doubtful of this place. This is just a projection magic, and it allows me to transmit the information that I have left behind directly to your mind. There’s no need to worry. This place is inside your mind, and everything is created within you—”

Brendel knew that Tulman meant to say subconsciousness.

“Are you saying that this is a magic that affects the soul? Then why isn’t my Unyielding talent working?” He was slightly calmer than before, but he asked again: “How should I leave this place?”

Brendel suddenly remembered that he was still in danger, and he could not afford to waste any time here.

“There is no need for you to be in a rush to leave. This is the world that you have imagined, and everything that happens here is as fast as your thoughts. The Basett people has a saying: ‘A person could have dreamt a long dream in a single moment’. Even after your thoughts have come to pass, a second has not transpired.”

Tulman smile became even broader: “Even if you are going to die the next second, you can live for an hour longer in here.”

Brendel carefully dissected the meaning of his words. His rational thoughts were willing to believe him, but his instinct still warned him of the danger outside. He took a deep breath.

“I got it, but let us get to the point. Emperor Tulman, what exactly you want to tell me? What’s a Planeswalker?”

Brendel forced himself to calm down and ponder on the meaning of this ‘dream’.

[Tulman said that this is a projection, then it means there’s information he wants to pass to me. But I don’t see myself related to Tulman. Looking at my other half’s body, he’s a pure southern Aouine citizen. He doesn’t have Mirrna or Basett blood in him. There’s no link for me to inherit anything from Tulman.]

Brendel’s thoughts went to the items on his body.

[Projection… Then it must be some sort of medium. There’s a bunch of matchsticks, a deer statue and medicine, the fruit of the Golden Demonic Tree and some reagents. All of these should be excluded. The Ring of the Wind Empress is a replica, so it shouldn’t be that. Furthermore, that ring leads to another different quest.]

Roen had tracked down the information on the painting that contained it, so Brendel got to know the lore. Roen claimed there were thirteen replicated rings centuries ago, and each of them was priceless now. It was a merchant who handed it to a ancient knight, and from then on it exchanged hands until it reached Brendel’s grandfather. As to what happened to the merchant, Roen did not know.

Brendel suspected that Roen was still hiding something, but he was certain that this replicated ring had something to do with the Wind Sage, Osor. Still, that had nothing to do with Tulman.

[The myserious rock that I got from Berg Nesson? I have always felt that his background was more than it seems, as it is strange that Amandina was able to make Magicite for no apparent reason. In the game lore, this was something that puzzled the players. That young man might have discovered that something, maybe not about the Magicite, but the background of Amandina’s family.]

Brendel shook his head. Even though he felt that the mysterious rock was the most suspicious, he suddenly remembered that it was after he used the scroll, that he entered this dark world.

[The scroll itself has the legitimate watermark created by the fairies, so it is not the scroll itself. But the activation of this spell, it is the unlocking of my Elemental Pool. Then… this link. The Cards of Fate. Because I saw them as techniques and not items that I didn’t connect the dots. Now that I think about it, these cards are more and more suspicious.]

The cards had never appeared in the game. Brendel thought that it was incredibly strange that a whole series of cards had not been heard by anyone.

[It’s possible that one might not have heard of one of the card names, like the Wind Spider Spirit card, but not hearing of the deck itself? That’s like saying you have never heard of what a magician wears for equipment. And the exceptional freedom of these cards actually allows a warrior like myself to use magic freely. You can even say that these cards is an entirely new profession. It’s not like these cards appear only in Madara, it appeared in the city that I am most familiar with.]

[The tomb of Gerald, The valley of the Golden Demonic Tree, Fortress Riedon, Bruglas. I have been in these area for a long time, and I can even remember all the rumors for the first three years inside the game. Nothing comes to mind. In the first place, why did I allow myself not to think about these cards?]

Brendel did not realize that he was in grave peril when he found the cards, and like so many people, concentrated at surviving first. Brendel’s fingers felt to his pocket.

[If… this is a whole new profession.]

“You mean a Planeswalker is……?”

“You have guessed correctly, the Cards of Fate are related to a Planeswalker.”

Brendel immediately stopped talking, because he knew that the young Tulman before him was going to explain everything.

“I need to clear one misunderstanding. These Cards of Fate are not created by me. You should have guessed by now, but they are even older than what we know in history.” Tulman brought his hand out and flipped it over. A card was on his palm, but it was facing down. Complicated sigils were drawn on top of it.

“If you take a look at the patterns here, you would find that they are the original sigils. I had merely simplied them with my little understanding, and passed down what I knew to the humans, elves and the Mirrna people.”

“Hold on,” Tulman raised his hand up and stopped Brendel from interrupting him: “I know what you want to ask. Why is it that I’m obviously the descendant from the Mirrna and Basett blood, and an eternal enemy of the light, help the humans and elves?”

He laughed: “It’s very simple. As a Planeswalker, the problems and solutions that I see were different from others. I was all to young when I got these cards, and I tried to pursue the truth in this world. The cards combination that I created was called ‘Unification’, and with that intention, I believed that there was not much difference between the races, or even many other things. The only things that I saw differently was the very basic elements in the world.”

Brendel listened carefully and sat down. He thought for a long time.

“To tell the truth,” Brendel said: “I don’t really get what you mean, can you make it simpler?”

Brendel did not have the mood to think anymore. He only felt that the Planeswalker from Tulman was a new profession to could bring a great change in his future. He did not understand why, or perhaps he was under a wrong impression, but his intuition was telling him that the cards were much more than he thought they would be.

Tulman nodded: “Certainly. To speak about Planeswalkers, you have to start with the cards. Every single card represents a different viewpoint in this world. It is not just a simple projection, or replica of reality. With the cards coming together, they would form a small world that is not unlike this world. Planeswalkers are the only ones who are able to bring true meaning from from these cards and turn it to power in the world.”

He paused for a while before continuing. “Like the cards combination that I use. ‘Unification’, is made up of cards that combines six different elements to describe the qualities in this world, and it represents the meaning of my deck: The power of Laws.”

“And I know of one other Planeswalker,” He continued. “His cards combination is called ‘Infinite power’, comprised mostly of Red and Black Cards of Fate as a combination. He pursued the strongest power. The Red cards can be seen as Fire, but it can also be seen as strength. The Black cards can be seen as Darkness, but it can also be seen as death and destruction.”

“Of course, we both failed to reach the truth of cards.” He shook his head, then smiled again. “The meaning of the cards is made of up of the combination. The Cards of Fate’s unique point is allowing many viewpoints to describe the Laws the world and yourself. One can even see it as the cards representing the inner you.”

“As to where the cards come from, or who created them, we do not know. The earliest Planeswalker should have been born during the Era of Darkness, and I suspect that these are created by the people of Matteya.

It is said that the Matteya is a group of dimension nomads, who move to one place to another. Their understanding of the world is different from ours. We think that the world is a infinitely vast place, with infinite things and knowledge, but the Matteya perceives the world as very small with a very narrow view. They have a concept called ‘uhs’, which is also the origin the Elven and Kirrlutz ‘infinite’. In their eyes, ‘uhs’ contain countless worlds, and they are constantly shifting between them.

I suspect that they understood they have twisted the meaning of the Guardian Land and the world world, and develop a concept like this. However, it is also true that the humans have a limited knowledge of this world.” Tulman suddenly laughed. “I unintentionally talked too much about pointless things, it looks like I have difficulty in getting rid of my habit.”

Brendel asked a question: “I have also heard of the Matteya, and perhaps they are the earliest Planeswalker, what does this have anything to do with me?”

“The Matteya splits a single day into six phases, and strictly speaking a Planeswalker also splits the day into six phases.

The first phase – Six AM to Ten AM, break of dawn to morning.

The Matteya calls this stage as the ‘Growing Sun’, while the Planeswalkers call it the ‘Growth period’. In this stage, a Planeswalker can tap their land cards, and get their mana for the day—”

“Wait!” Brendel said: “Tapping of land cards?”

“Indeed, tapping of land cards. This is the basic ability of a Planeswalker, and their source of power.”

“Can you explain a little more?” Brendel said.

“It’s very simple. If you have a land card, Elemental Pool and Mana Pool, you can tap the card during this time every day, and the land card will draw the energy from the ‘territory’ that they belong to and link it to your Elemental Pool. This way the energy that is created from your ‘territory’ will be converted into Elemental Power and placed in your Elemental Pool.”

“Wait, doesn’t say clearly on the Land card, one Elemental Point each week?” Brendel interrupted.

“That single Elemental Point is outside the Elemental and Mana pool. Its purpose is used for the new users who wished to pursue the path of a Planeswalker, to allow you to use and understand the world’s power. When you become an official Planeswalker, you wouldn’t need it anymore.”

Brendel nodded. “Understood. Please continue.

“At the Growth Phase, a Planeswalker can also gain the ‘bonus’ of the additional effects. An example would be the Highland Squire card. As long as your Highland Squire in on the field, the owner will receive one reputation point. And this reputation point is given during your Growth Phase.

At the same time, a Planeswalker can use several effects from.

Green – Life, nature

White – Light, Protection, Nurture

Red – Fire, Vigor, Vitality

Blue – Water, Nourish, Irrigation

As well as other cards that are mixed in elements.”

Brendel frowned. He had never thought about this before. Ciel had talked about this before, and he recalled about the cards that did not require anything.

“The Second Phase – Ten AM to two PM.

Matteya calls this: Exuberant Growth.

The wizards and witches call this period, the Falling Tide. It is the day where the Sun is at its peak, and the moon at its weakest. As Mana is weakened, the Elements are stronger. It is the period where the Elements are active, and has the Phase where it has the most offensive power.

Planeswalkers call this the ‘Prime Phase’. This is the only time when a Planeswalker can use any card without limits. At the same time he can even draw three additional cards from his deck to place into his hand.” (TL: Hand refers to the set of cards, not the limbs)

Brendel was confused: “What do you mean by drawing cards?”

“This is the law of the Planeswalker. At the start of every day, you can only have a set amount of cards. You might be able to draw more than the cards in a day, but when you reach the ‘Reset Phase’, you have to discard the additional cards in your hand.

At the same time, the stronger a Planeswalker is, the more cards he can control in his hand. For someone who has just started like yourself, you can only control five cards.”

“Are the cards in my hand controlled?” Brendel asked.

“No, the cards in your hand can only be taken in the card combination that you have. My card combination is ‘Unification’ from six different elements, thus the Laws separate my card combination into six equal decks.”

Brendel frowned: “Doesn’t that mean that the uncertainty of the cards are increased? Isn’t it better that I hold on to a limited number of powerful cards and discard the useless ones so that I can maintain my deck strength?”

“In theory that is true, but that is not the final goal of a Planeswalker.”

“Final goal?”

“After the the Third-tier of power, people can unlock their Elements and become stronger than before. You might not know this, but after the unlocking of the Elements is the pursuit of Perfect Physique, from Iron-ranked to Gold-ranked. But that final step, is to pursue the transcendent limits of power described only in legends.”

“As you know, fire is a component of many things, and the purest form is a Fire Element, as it is the basis of all flames. But there has always been a rumor of something even higher than a Fire Element called, ‘Matter’.

‘Matter’, ‘Time’, ‘Space’, even ‘Logic’. It forms of the world’s most basic principles, and we call it ‘Existent Force”

Brendel stared at Tulman speechlessly. He knew of the Perfect Physique as he as Level 130 in the game, a Silver Perfect Physique. He had also heard of the Existent Force.

[Players in the game reported that they did not gain any further experience after level 160 in the game. There was rumors of that Existent Force path, but nobody knew how to get there.]

“You mean to say,” He stuttered: “A Planeswalker can get to that Existent Force?”

Tulman nodded and pointed to the card floating in the air: “When you have created your ‘world’, and the Laws reach an equilibrium with the cards, the path to the Existent Force will open to you. But before that, you have a long way to go, and it starts from your most basic card combination.”

“What do I need to do?”

“The truth is, the moment you got your first card, you have revealed your combination. But I’m a little puzzled… I have never seen your combination before. It seems to show something about a Profession System. I don’t understand why you’re interested in that. And what does this ‘All Supreme Profession Dominance’ mean?” Tulman said with a perplexed expression.

Brendel broke into a cold sweat when he heard that. He was in the mindset of Sophie when he found the cards for the first time. At that time as a gamer he naturally wanted to have a strong profession, and it seemed that his Middle School Second-year Syndrome had been caught by the Cards of Fate.

[Holy shit! Opening the Path of Knights or something crazy like that….. If the Cards of Fate brings one’s viewpoint in the world… Then I’m going to do that All Supreme Profession Dominance as a reality?]

TL: Here’s the phases for Planeswalkers so far…

1) Growth Phase – Tap lands, add bonus effects from cards.

2) Prime Phase – Draw three cards to put into hand. Use any cards in hand without limits.