The Amber Sword

He stared at Brendel’s sword again, hesitating.

[If I tell the human that the Rune Dwarves are required to acknowledge the wielder of Halran Gaia as our king and that the wielder would lead us to rebuild the kingdom, will he even believe it? But this is a damned human and a stranger at that, and I’m supposed to acknowledge you as my king? My poor old bones!]

“A legend?” Brendel said.

Odum gritted his teeth. He decided to weave a story and take his chances instead. He coughed loudly and continued: “I’m afraid that the legend is only for the ears of the Rune Dwarves. But it seems that you are interested in leaving this place, based on the earlier discussion?”

“Do you have a solution?”

“Yes, my lord,” the old dwarf initially thought of using ‘my liege’ or ‘your majesty’ when he realized the youth carried Halran Gaia, but he felt the words were unacceptable to him, and probably everyone in this place would be shocked out of their wits, “the solution is actually very simple—”

He paused and carefully pointed at the sword: “If you lend me the sword for just a while, I might be able to let everyone leave easily.”

“What?”

Brendel was surprised. His puzzled eyes went to Medissa who looked back just as confused.

“Odum, what the hell are you trying to do. Let me tell you that this boy is even more skilled in the sword than I am. If you try to pull off any strange tricks, be careful that your head gets cut off from your body.”

The old dwarf immediately thundered after he understood what Kodan was saying: “Everything I said is the truth, you damned—”

He suddenly realized that the guard commander was still someone powerful. Even though he was a stubborn person, he was at least not a fool: “This sacred place was constructed by us Rune Dwarves solely for the purpose of putting this sword here. Since Lord Brendel has already taken the sword, it shouldn’t be a problem to leave here!”

“There’s such a rule?” Brendel asked.

He had never heard of such a function in the game.

“Of course. My lord, the Legacy items of the Silver Lineage are meant for their descendants. However, you can be recognized as a person worthy of receiving the Legacy even if you’re from a different race,” The dwarf’s tone was once again different towards Brendel: “though, as a Rune Dwarf, I should be able to open this space if I wield that sword—”

Brendel glanced at Kodan, but the latter looked just as surprised as anyone else. Even though the old guard commander had worked with Odum, his understanding of the dwarf was merely the knowledge of how stubborn he was.

[There isn’t really a choice here. Even if this dwarf tries to pull off any tricks, the coliseum will deal with it. Probably.]

There was also a worming suspicion in his mind about Cohen, the appearance of the dwarf, and the gamers who completed the quest in the game.

It was only a short moment before he tossed the sword to the dwarf.

“Go ahead and try it,” he said, looking back at Cohen.

[It will be good if this works out for everyone.]

“Is there something you wish to say, my lord?” Cohen noticed his gaze and asked.

“It seems like you have a chance to leave your own name behind in songs and books.”

“Why are you so certain that he’s capable of releasing us?”

Cohen watched everyone leave the dueling grounds except for the dwarf who walked to the center, and he asked puzzledly.

“It’s just that I believe in history,” Brendel said.

“History?” Cohen repeated the word, not understanding.

But Brendel did not answer and merely watched the stage closely. The dwarf raised his sword and waited.

“Mortal, do you wish to challenge your destiny?”

“Yes!” Odum said in a thunderous voice.

But the gates were not raised and the coliseum was instead filled with silence. After a moment, the announcer’s voice came again: “I sense a familiar blood in you. Are you our descendant?”

“Yes, I’m a proud citizen of the mountains and boulders, the child of steel and fire, revered ancestors. For hundreds and thousands of years, we have experienced difficulty in the wilderness, but we finally managed to overcome all obstacles and come here to allow our souls to enjoy our deserved respite—”

“This is our homeland, and where we started from.”

The coliseum was momentarily silent, but the announcer’s voice bellowed:

“Respite? No, that moment has not yet arrived!” The voice echoed repeatedly, as though it was furious to hear the dwarf’s answer, while the place shook and made everyone unsteady on their feet: “Descendants of the Rune Dwarves! You have to continue to struggle against the Chaos and rebuild what we have lost with your Champion, only till then will your souls be welcomed back to this sacred place!”

“And that moment has arrived, revered ancestors.”

“...... Is that so?”

The dwarf suddenly glanced back at Brendel with some hesitation and a little disbelief, but he raised the longsword in his hand.

“Dazzmoteshremm!” The dwarf yelled.

Brendel did not understand what it meant, but Medissa explained to him with a frown.

“It’s ancient word of making an Oath. I think it’s part of the Holy Alliance’s Contract during the Era of Chaos.”

[That contract from the Era of Chaos? That’s even older than the Era of Darkness’s.]

The lore in the game stated that every sentient creature in this world signed an alliance with Mother Marsha as the witness to fight against the Twilight Dragon, and a Law bound the alliance together. This was the era when the Gods still lived.

It was considered ‘meaningless background details’ by Brendel since the supposed Gods did not have any impact on the game.

There was another Holy Alliance’s Contract where the majority of the various civilizations fought against the Dragon of Darkness after the Twilight Dragon, but it was much weaker compared to the original copy.

Brendel did not know what the details of both contracts were, only that they were both divine artifacts.

Soon after Odum said the word, the entire coliseum suddenly shook and everyone was blinded by light. They felt like a seal was lifting, and knew that the dwarf was telling the truth.

However, Brendel saw something different in that rumbling space. It was as though he was hallucinating—

A strange painting appeared before him.

A black moon atop of a black lake, and in the center of the lake was a tall tower......

The painting changed and turned into numerous black-clothed men walking on an endless wasteland......

Black words appeared in his eyes:

– XVI: The Tower

– The Fallen ‘Moon’ has stolen the light.

[This looks like the image I saw during Fortress Riedon’s escape.....!]

– XX: Judgement

– The light has been lost.

Words continued to be written in his eyes.

– XVII: The Star

– The Silver Lineage is lost on the grand earth, advancing (seeking) on the thorny path in the darkness amidst ignorance.

Then the words vanished and he found himself back in the silver mines. He shook his head to clear his mind and saw Medissa looking at him with concern. He nodded to indicate he was fine.

When he glanced about, he saw Romaine approaching carefully bit by bit, as though she wanted to ask if he was out of concern, but was also afraid that she would be caught by him. He found Romaine’s cat-like walk to be funny.

“You know, we really need to thank someone.” He said to Medissa.

“Yes?” Medissa looked back in slight surprise.

“We need to thank Romaine for bringing us good luck,” the youth turned around with a solemn face and his both hands pinched her cheeks with lightning speed: “right, little Romaine?”

“Ow! Ouch, hurts, it hurts, Brendel...... I-I won’t do it again......” Romaine’s face did not escape his grasp, and she narrowed her eyes from the pain as tears nearly spilled out. She quickly admitted her fault: “I-I’m sorry, really......”

Her eyebrows were almost bunched together. She wanted to retreat, but was afraid to pull back because of the pain, and remained stuck in that position.

Brendel glanced at the dwarf before he looked at Romaine again: “Do you dare to run about again?”

“I, I won’t......” The girl’s eyes went to the left and right when she said that.

Brendel sighed inwardly. She was definitely not going to change. But he decided to bring her along everywhere as long as they were traveling together. He was not going to be able to handle it if this situation had to happen again.

He let go of his hands.

The light disappeared and they found themselves back in the darkness.

“Why is it dark again?” Romaine’s voice immediately rang out.

“It’s because we’re back in the silver mines,” Brendel replied simply.

[I have much to reflect on...... Earth’s languages, the fact that I chose not to save the youths, that the system is affected by the Laws of this world, and the strange images when I left that place—]

Brendel’s thoughts suddenly went to Halran Gaia. Now that he and his companions were out of danger, he could not help but get excited about having a new sword.

[But, well, I guess I can start thinking about the loot I gotten from that place first...... Let’s see, upgrading the portable Nest: Tamar can make the Black Mana Crystals with a Black Crystal and Mana Fragments. A Sage Slate can be bought at Ampere Seale, though the battles at Chablis really makes me want to stay away from it. However, the Amber Gemstones are directly controlled by the kingdom, and a Rock Key is even harder to obtain—]