The Amber Sword

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The Third Letter

The grey gemstone was dull yet luminous under the light. This contradiction blended in together so naturally in this gemstone. It was as if anyone would be captivated by it and they would know that it was something extraordinary at first glance. But this grey gemstone looked so familiar to Brendel. When he opened the Dimension Space, took out an identical gemstone from it and opened his palm slowly, Freya gasped softly.

“Brendel, the gemstone in your hands is exactly the same as the one your grandfather left behind. Did Darius leave this behind for you?"

Brendel gave her a look that startled her. Freya had never seen him show such a weird look before, so she thought she’d said something wrong.

Brendel took a deep breath and put the gemstone back. As a matter of fact, he had another similar gemstone. He’d seen something similar on two separate occasions. He saw it for the first time at the Loop of Trade Winds, and the second time under the glaciers at Deadly Tundra Forest. At the Loop of Trade Winds, Archbishop Aman and Sanorso, the Wind Empress, called it the Sealing Stone. Whereas at the glaciers, Miirnans worshipped it like a holy object. But he knew very well that the gemstone was a fragment of the soul of the Darkness Dragon.

The grey gemstone emitted a strange light because it’d turned transparent, which meant that the heritage within the gemstone had already been extracted.

And this gemstone was his grandfather’s inheritance.

Was Sword Saint Darius the Darkness Dragon? Brendel was startled by this sudden thought, which seemed to explain why Darius was put to trial by the Holy Cathedral of Fire and exiled, and why he chose to leave the centre of power in the kingdom and lived in exclusion. It also seemed to explain why the friendly forces suddenly turned against each other during the Holy War. Everything that had happened seemed to make sense now. But then he shook his head as it couldn’t explain why they would be attacked by the Madaran Army during the third Holy War in the game.

Moreover, if his grandfather was the Darkness Dragon, it was highly unlikely that the Holy Cathedral of Fire would just let him go so easily. After all, the Darkness Dragon was the mortal enemy of the four Holy Cathedrals.

The other questionable point came from his grandfather’s lifespan. He remembered that his grandfather died of disease, but it was also because of the gradual ageing of his body functions. His lifespan was longer than an ordinary person’s, but it was considered that he had died at an early age based on Darius’ strength. He’d suspected this earlier, not to mention that his lifespan would be greatly increased after receiving the Darkness Dragon’s heritage. He knew very well what the heritage of the Darkness Dragon was - it was the Blood of God.

Brendel curled his knuckles and tapped on the desk. His mind was full of doubts. It was as if there was a thread in his thoughts, but he couldn’t catch what it was.

Suddenly, Freya said, “Brendel, Amandina, come over here and take a look at this map."

At this moment, Brendel already had some guesses and conclusions. The moment he raised his head and looked at the map, he was stunned. The papyrus map had a few lines drawn on it and some annotations. Nobody could tell what was drawn on the map, but he suddenly felt as if he’d seen this map before.

Was it during the game?

He immediately shook his head. There were very few secret maps in the game. Sophie had come across a few of them, but they were all clearer than this one. And in this life, there were even fewer secret maps, even almost close to none. He’d seen this map before, but he couldn’t recall where he'd seen it.

Freya looked at him and Amandina and said, “The annotations are also secret codes. I think there’s a place named Osopao on it."

"Osopao? There's no such place in Aouine,” said Amandina.

"Neither is Kirrlutz,” replied Brendel. He took a deep breath and continued, "It's a place named by the Miirnans. The Miirnans once had a huge battle with the Kirrlutzians and the Wind Elves there."

He suddenly recalled it. It felt as if another image had subconsciously surfaced in his mind, an image that overlapped with this map. He jolted, suddenly remembering that he’d seen this map before in Miirnan, Tuman. He’d suppressed a map in his memory when he officially embarked on the journey of becoming a Planeswalker. The map would occasionally come to his mind, but he couldn’t remember a thing about it when he tried to actively recall it. And this was the reason why he felt that the map was familiar yet unfamiliar previously.

He’d figured it out completely by now. The map that was given by Tuman only had outlines of hills and rivers, whereas Amandina’s father’s map had markings on it. The place that Freya pointed at was Osopao Plains, also known as Wild Four Leaf Clover. Brendel felt that there were places that were named by Miirnans that corresponded to the names of places today. Though there was a huge blank space on the map that was left by Amandina’s father. Brendel couldn’t understand why Bokenelson had drawn this map, but he could guess that the latter was probably looking for something, and the thing wasn't only related to the war between the Miirnans and the Black Dwarfs a thousand years ago.

Perhaps it also had something to do with his grandfather.

"Grandfather, where are you?” groaned Brendel.

As he looked at the three items on the desk, the doubts in his mind grew even more complicated than when he didn’t have these clues. It was as if he saw more gloomy clouds after the fog had cleared and it was pitch-black. He was so confused that he finally couldn’t hold himself back from asking Ciel and Medissa for help. “Ciel and Medissa, are you all there? I have got a question for both of you."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he spoke, he heard Ciel’s surprised voice. “Ha! My lord, what a coincidence, I was looking for you as well. Our minds are in sync…"

“Cut the crap,” interrupted Brendel. “Ciel, do you happen to know Parminder and Hippard?

“My goodness, why did you bring them up, my Lord?” She was shocked.

“Does that mean you know them?”

“Of course, they were your grandfather’s attendants. Parminder is from the Anna Family and he is the second son of Count Cordo. Hippard, on the other hand, comes from a small noble family in Seifer and he was well-known for being a genius back then."

Ciel paused for a moment before continuing, “Brendel, have you found them?"

Brendel shook his head. "I just heard about them by chance.”

“Did your father tell you about them? I’ve been looking for them too.” Ciel sighed.

"So does that mean that you don’t know what they’re up to recently?"

“My lord, they left without saying goodbye after receiving the Royal Highness Princess’ order. I knew they must’ve known something, so I’ve been looking for them since then,” replied Ciel.

Brendel immediately furrowed his brows and asked, “The Royal Highness Princess?"

Ciel fell silent. A while later, she said, “Ah, I think you’ve misheard me, my lord."

“Ciel, I heard from Raban that the scenery in Plains of Gem is very beautiful, and I think it’s time to give you a vacation.” Brendel threatened her.

She was on the verge of tears. “Okay, okay, Brendel, I’ll tell you about it, please don’t lock me up. Alright, that princess… I’m sure you know that your father almost got engaged to Princess Gryphine’s aunt."

“Which aunt?"

“I can’t reveal her name, I have to protect a woman’s reputation after all. Besides, she won’t necessarily want to meet you,” said Ciel helplessly.

“Are you telling the truth?"

“Definitely.” She swore.

Brendel furrowed his brows as he always felt like he couldn’t trust her fully. But if what she said was true, then the leads would come to an end once again.

He shook his head. He then suddenly remembered that she was looking for him. “Why did you look for me?"

“Ah, didn’t you want to ask Medissa something as well?” Ciel broke out in a cold sweat and tried changing the subject, but when she heard him grunt, she quickly replied, “Well, I mean, if your matter isn’t very urgent, then I have some news for you."

“What news?” Brendel froze.

“A countess passed on a magic message to one of her subordinates and told her to pass it on to me."

“Dilferi?"