The Amber Sword

But they did not understand what their lord was attempting to do with the magic bolts. There was no difference in damage even if a normal bolt was used. What was different was the accuracy.

[Is there some weakness somewhere on the monster?] One of the mercenaries thought.

However, the bolts nailed themselves deeply onto two giant trees with two dull thuds, completely disappearing from sight.

“Hold on...... The bolts are off their marks?” One of them said.

Everyone had a strange thought. A few even expressed showed disbelief as to how someone could actually missed their marks with the Bolts of accuracy, but they were quickly interrupted by the sharpshooters in the group.

“Look closer, do you see that—“

“Is that a line?”

“No, it looks like a rope.”

They finally saw that there was a rope connected to the bolts at a person’s chest height.

[[[Anti cavalry rope trap!]]]

They were quickly surprised by Brendel’s ingenuity, but some of the magic savvy men pointed out that the Spectral Knight was a spirit creature, which was resistant against physical objects and hardly effective.

The Spectral Knight noticed the bolts and charged towards Brendel’s direction without considering it as a trap. Unfortunately it did not expect the rope to actually work against it. The black ropes emitted black light as the Spectral Knight approached it. A living warhorse of considerable strength might actually break it apart, but the Soul Energy in the rope was incredibly effective against the Spectral Knight.

That unexpected barrier threw it off its mount and its entire body was launched straight into the air. Brendel had waited for that moment where it was helpless in the air. The agility it had on its mount was too high for him to aim properly, but now he was able to attack it without fail.

“Flamme!” Brendel raised the ruby ring towards the Spectral Knight. Red light poured forth like a laser from the ruby ring after a short delay and struck the Spectral Knight’s chest.

It was as if any other light sources dimmed and the surroundings turned darked. Flames with the intensity of the sun’s brightness flared from the center of the Spectral Knight. An explosive blast resounded throughout the whole forest that even Brendel had to cover his ears. The surroudings of the Spectral Knight had completely evaporated while the sandy ground turned into glass.

The foliage that was further away had turned black and was smoking from the intense heat.

“Oss!” Brendel followed up with another merciless attack with his other ring and a blast of wind directly struck the Spectral Knight. The air distorted as the blast of wind struck the Spectral Knight before the sound reached Brendel’s ears.

The mercenaries watched the events unfold in stunned silence. The younger Elementalist muttered to herself: “Fireball, Wind Blast, is our lord a Silver-ranked Elementalist......”

The older sister combed her hair neatly after it was affected by the gust of wind: “The magic came from artifacts.”

Her voice did not disguise the surprise she had. They had won the battle without anyone dying and got away with mild injuries.

Brendel confirmed it with the Stats Window. He had successfully risen by two levels.

[Two more levels before I can select the next talent. The first talent decides the different physical attributes, while the second talents dictates that path of what a character can take on in the future. It’s the most important talent amongst the others.]

“It’s a pity that the fireball magic takes time to activate. If it’s an instant spell I wouldn’t have to pull off all these stunts.” Brendel sighed as he watched the burning trees. The flames would soon die down as they were made from magical properties.

He made a long sigh and drank thirstily from his waterskin. This battle was not as exhausting as the ones he had earlier, where he found it hard to even lift a finger. However this was highly dependent on being flawless in executing the strategy, and every mistake caused him to shake in fright.

His reflection on the battle quickly turned into shock as he found that the Spectral Knight did not turn into dust. It was lying quietly on the ground as the mount stopped beside, nuzzling against its hand.

The Soul Fire slowly disappeared on both the Spectral Knight and the mount at different speeds. The glowing armors on them started to crack, before vanishing into the air like tufts of smoke, revealing the body under the heavy armor.

“A unicorn?!” Brendel first identified the mount.

He gaped at the transformation of the supposedly evil beast, revealing a body with bristling muscles that could only belong to the fittest warhorse. A single horn was adorned on its forehead which easily disclosed its identity.

[— Wait, but doesn’t the legends in Vaunte state that only the purest of maidens can ride a unicorn?]

He turned his head to look down, and spat out the water in his mouth. Some of it even went into his nose and made him cough uncontrollably. The armor that covered the Spectral Knight had completely disappeared, and a young Elven girl was lying there like a sleeping princess dressed with an finely tailored dress, or perhaps to be more accurate it was the spirit of the Elven girl that was there.

A silver seal was still present on her forehead, which signified that she had not became an adult as according to the Elven customs, perhaps one who was unfortunate enough to die early. Brendel’s pupils narrowed in utter dismay as he realized what he had been fighting against.

[A young girl?! That was...... what we were fighting against?]

Brendel was seized with mental anguish as memories of the past came flooding back. The drowning blood scents of iron-rust and distressing screams as the slave merchants slaughtered the gamers and NPCs one by one, till they were finally routed. Did it not resemble the same actions they took when Brendel led his men to slay this undead monster?

Everyone else had came up with the intention to congratulate Brendel as they approached him, but once they saw the real figure of the enemy they had fought, they were taken by surprise.

“This......” The Nightsong Tiger looked at the translucent sprit and did not know what words to utter.

Amandina was also startled, and she breathlessly asked: “...... That thing from before...... Is her?”

Brendel gritted her teeth as he nodded.

It might have been quite inconceivable that a young girl was capable of the feats that she did earlier, but that was the truth. In the back of his mind, he had faintly thought of the possibility of the idea that it was some corruption of a former Elven king that made it turn into a Spectral Knight, but seeing it as the girl in front of him made him shudder.

Amandina frowned but accepted the explanation.

“Do we kill her?” A small voice asked.

Brendel turned to the voice and found that it was the younger Elementalist. The older sister only furrowed her brows, but it was clear that both of them were conflicted over the decision to kill a fellow Elf.

The Silver Elves and Wild Elves were quite different. The Wild Elves had sunny dispositions, were kind and agreeable. They got along with humans more so than many other races, and even stayed in the human cities, as well as marrying them.

But the Silver Elves were aloof and the true lineage of the noble Elves, stayed faithfully to the prophecies and avoid the material world, giving the world a mysterious and venerated image. They were usually taller than the humans, having lithe figures and graceful actions. They were the earliest descriptions of ‘nobles’ and seemed unreachable like the moon.

Such was the difference between the pair of twin Wild Elves and the spirit of the Silver Elf lying before them.

Brendel felt a pair of eyes on him, and he turned towards Romaine. She seemed to ask the same question, but she yearned to hear the answer she expected the most.

Brendel licked his lips nervously and shook his head. He turned his gaze back at the spirit. The Soul Energy was breaking down as the spirit became more transparent. Even though she had not disappeared yet, she would not be able to hold on much longer.

“She is already dead. What you see now is the soul disappearing.”

Romaine uttered a disappointed sound.

Brendel was also feeling puzzled. The damage that she received was far beyond a Spectral Knight could handle. Even if she was ten levels higher, she should had been turned into dust and not appear like a sleeping beauty.