The Amber Sword

Chapter 202 – The victory loot that continues to give surprises

The era of the Holy Saints was one of the most vibrant periods where many had learned ancient combat techniques. But the majority of these techniques, including the various swordsmanships, were lost.

Even intermediate-ranked combat techniques were considered rare.

The current Wind Elves who had guarded their history with considerable effort did not even manage to keep even one high-ranked technique, and they studied intermediate-ranked techniques instead.

Even the White Raven Sword Arte that Brendel was using was an incomplete technique derived from the Wind Elves, and it was considered to be a secret Arte handed down to Aouine’s royal members.

It was only a hundred-odd years later, when the Mana Wave reached its peak, that the Sage Slates reacted and pointed to hidden areas. Various factions and adventurers finally discovered the ancient techniques that were used in the past.

Orthlyss was a Heroic Spirit who worked as a personal knight of the Wind Empress who also fought against the Dragon of Darkness’s forces. Brendel could hardly imagine what combat techniques she possessed, and she was the very definition of a huge, dazzling, walking treasure mine.

“So what exactly can I learn?!” Brendel asked with slight disbelief.

“You sound like I’m going to go back on my words.” Orthlyss rolled her eyes before she continued with a solemn tone: “When it comes to swordsmanships, it’s very difficult to go far if you don’t focus. Thus, even though I know many swordsmanships, I intend to teach you just a single Sword Arte instead— The Wind Empress’s Nine Luminaries.”

“W-what did you say?” Brendel stuttered.

“The Wind Empress’s Nine Luminaries.”

Brendel’s mouth opened large enough to fit several eggs in it. His nostrils flared in an ugly manner while his eyelids opened up to show his bulging eyes.

The Wind Elves had several famous swordsmanships. Legend depicted that the Wind Elves were split into three different factions after the final battle against the Dragon of Darkness. Kaelnir, later crowned the Summer King, inherited the Dazzling Sun Sword Arte, and his Blazing Sun Knights successfully snatched away the throne from the Wind Empress. Even now, the descendants of the Summer King’s knights were the prevailing High Nobles amongst the Wind Elves.

The personal knights of the Wind Empress Osorno inherited the Resounding Stars Sword Arte. But most of them were killed in battle, and the remaining few did not pass on their Legacy. The last Wind Elf died four hundred years ago, and the Resounding Star Sword Arte was forever buried in the annals of history.

But the strongest Legacy was from the Wind Empress herself. After Kaelnir successfully usurped the throne, Osorno disappeared and her swordsmanship was forgotten. The members of her House quietly vanished after the war, and no one mentioned the Nine Luminaries Sword Arte ever again.

[The Nine Luminaries Sword Arte! Navagraha! It’s one of the Great Three Sword Artes in the War of the Holy Saints! I can understand if you possess the Resounding Star Sword Arte, but how did you get your boss’s swordsmanship?!]

The Nine Luminaries Sword Arte literally summoned eight extra bodies to fight along the original body, and they resembled the attacks of a nine-headed hydra. It was also coincidentally the symbol of the Wind Empress.

If the Flash Strike Sword Arte was the limit for the fastest sword strike, then the Nine Luminaries Sword Arte was the limit for the most powerful AOE technique.

“I can learn it……? This particular technique that’s ranked amongst the great three Sword Artes, Flash Strike, Nine Luminaries, and Thunderous Nature?”

“Yes?”

“Nao?” Brendel bit his tongue out of sheer excitement and giddiness.

“I can certainly teach you right now, but I would suggest that you finish your task first. Learning a Sword Arte isn’t accomplished in a minute.”

Brendel immediately sobered up at Orthlyss’s reminder. The Druids were still hanging on by a thread, and he could learn the swordsmanship any time he wanted. But before he went to find the Fire Seed, he needed to find a way to handle the black orbs. These things were unstable energy sources and he could not just hold them in his hands.

“Ah, going back to the earlier question. These orbs look like they are the fragments of a divine artifact. How did you get them?” Orthlyss asked.

“Not exactly a divine artifact. It’s a replica.”

“It’s still a remarkable feat to even create a replica, but how are you going to handle these orbs? They are certainly a strong source of power and can be used in different ways if you know how to do so, but they are also highly unstable at the same time.”

Orthlyss was experienced enough to know that these orbs were pure Element Power of different natures. Mishandling them could cause serious harm. The crater was proof of how dangerous they were.

“I have some experience in handling these things. The best way is to find something that has the Dimensional Space characteristic.” Brendel said without skipping a beat.

“The Laws of Time and Space to hold them? That’s quite a good plan. They are capable of holding many different types of high-level Element Powers, and these orbs are no exception…… Hmm?” Orthlyss’s tone suddenly changed.

“What is it?”

“You are looking for an artifact that has the Laws of Space and Time…… Look over to your right.”

“Huh?” Brendel instantly turned his head but there was nothing to be seen.

The Rift of Destruction literally destroyed the vicinity and there was not even a piece of rock left. However, he did not believe that Orthlyss was pulling a false one on him. He took a few steps before his heart skipped a beat.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?”

His mind went through several reactions. From disbelief into astonishment before transitioning to delight. It was as if he found an unbelievable amount of money on the ground. After checking the repeatedly, he discovered a silver thread of light. It was so subtle that he was certain he could not discover it if it was not for Orthlyss.

He slowly reached out to that familiar silver thread and gently pulled it away. It was as if space was sliced away to reveal a perfectly cut sphere that did not fit in with the environment, and it flooded the area with light.

The sphere was as big as a bank’s vault and he eagerly walked into it. He was smiling so hard that his muscles were starting to cramp up.

“This……”

The youth gasped as he picked up a golden bodkin arrowhead amongst the seven that were placed neatly on the ground.

“God-slaying arrowheads?!” Orthlyss gasped as well.

These projectiles were not created with metal but were made with the Golden Tree’s wood and carved with intricate runic patterns of the Holy Cathedral of Fire. They could sever almost every single type of Element Power and Mana.

[These are the killer assassination tools that suppress tier 5 Element powers. The ultimate cheat who would catch anyone with their pants down if they fail to guard against it. These things are super rare because the only NPC who made them was Farnezain who had two Element Powers, Order and Chaos. Even if players managed to get these two Element Powers, they needed to know how to craft it as well. In truth, the gamers use them to hunt World Bosses and I haven’t seen anyone using them for PK.]

Anti-Element Power, anti-Mana, it was the nuclear bomb of all projectiles. And there were actually seven of them.

Brendel carefully put them in the bag that was attached to his belt, then started going for the vials and potions near them.

[Healing potions number 7…… 5, 13, 19. This is crazy. There are more than a hundred of them.]

“What is in the vials?” Orthlyss asked.

Apparently, Healing Potions were created after the War of the Holy Saints, and Brendel had to inform her of the various types. She was quite surprised that Alchemy had advanced to a point where drinking these potions could replenish life to the users.

Brendel was in such a pleasant mood that he continued to talk about how civilization advanced by creating Magicite and even aerial ships that made use of them.

“Even though many of the combat techniques were not passed down and were lost, there were still many talented people who— WOAH!” He suddenly shouted.

Orthlyss immediately looked at the vial in Brendel’s shaking hands. It still looked like one of the healing potions, but the youth was muttering ‘Number 1’ several times.

It was the ultimate potion that the Holy Cathedral of Fire developed in order to ‘save someone from the brink of death’ if there was a lack of Priests. It was the effort of countless people and money, and the effect surpassed everyone’s expectations.

Even a few drops of the potion could restore flesh on a bone. However, the price was so exorbitant that even the most powerful faction in the continent would be stressed greatly from procuring one. It was also the reason why the other types of subsequent healing potions eventually became popular and mass-produced, though their effects were increasingly diminished.

Brendel had to take in several breaths before he managed to tear his eyes away from the vials and put them into his bag. He felt like he was swimming in a sea of golden coins, no, there was really a sea of coins in front of him.

“Wh— There are rare materials and suits of armor and weapons in this vault! …… Hmm, mostly from the Holy Cathedral of Fire.”

Brendel was now certain that this vault belonged to Amman. It seemed like the Dimension Space that he possessed had resisted the Chaos Element Power and prevented the destruction of these things.