The Amber Sword volume 3 - Chapter 64

Chapter 64 – King of the Underground (15)
Brendel suddenly recalled that he needed to familiarize himself with Kodan’s sword and swung it several times. He found that it was sturdy and light, but it was just a common Magic Sword.
[A pretty low-end magic weapon. I’ve used something similar in regards to the size and length, though I don’t remember its name since it was a temporary thing.]
The ground was scarred lightly with from the wind, and dust danced about with each swing. Kodan’s eyelids were slightly lifted up.
“That technique really is the White Raven Sword Arte. But it’s never taught outside the royal family, so how did the kid learn it?” He rubbed the remainder of his beard thoughtfully and muttered to himself.
This same action also incited a debate amongst the youths—
“What is he doing?” Maher watched Brendel’s sword glinting against the light while it was swung in beautiful arcs.
“Maybe he’s creating some kind of smokescreen?” Jocah said uncertainly: “Perhaps he’s trying to score a victory over the enemy by creating a chance. Fighting a battle requires one to use his brains, got that, Maher?”
“Oh? And how would he see his enemies in the smoke?”
Jocah’s mouth opened for a while before he rolled his eyes with a huff: “Then it must be some kind of special technique. Why would he create trouble for himself? Just think about it a little and it will be all clear—”
But Cohen was certain of a different answer after observing Brendel carefully. “He’s familiarizing himself with the sword.”
A few other youths chattered in response after hearing his remark.
“He’s doing that?”
“But is it really fine to change to a new sword at the last minute?”
“Commander Kodan gave his personal sword to him, and it’s strange that he’s carrying so many swords behind him. I think all his swords are of low quality.”
Even though they did not know much about wielding a sword, they were certain that it would affect his performance.
At that moment, Brendel had stopped his actions and appeared ready.
Medissa did not bring her unicorn with her because they were there on a mission, but she was just as skilled on the ground. She brought her lance upright on the ground and stood beside her young lord.
While the youths briefly wondered if the Elven girl had any capability to fight when she did her own noticeable actions, Kodan glanced at her posture and gave a thoughtful hum to show he was impressed with her skill.
The gate opposite of the challengers was once again raised, and the monster that appeared was the very same Cerberus that died earlier. Three large heads growled repeatedly as the monster’s claws dug deep into the ground. Six bloodshot eyes glanced at their surroundings and sought out the enemies before them.
Its appearance caused a small commotion as nobody expected that the creature would return again.
This time it appeared to have learned from its previous experience. It waited till the chains were broken off before shaking its whole body to remove the chains completely, then sniffed the air cautiously and slowly approached both humans before circling them.
But Kodan sensed a hidden scene happening. His nose was raised slightly as he complained with a disgruntled expression.
“The boy doesn’t know how to control his killing intent. It feels like he’s everywhere, though the little girl is masking her presence quite well compared to him.”
His frown became deeper and deeper: “But there’s something mixed into his killing intent…… Element Power? What kind of Element Power is this, strange……”
The air was rapidly becoming colder and colder, and frost started appearing on the ground and walls. A mist came out from everyone’s breath and the air suddenly seemed to stop moving, as though there was something pulling it down.
Even the youths that were a hundred meters away felt like they were stuck in quicksand.
Brendel regarded the three pairs of blood-red eyes in front of him calmly. Soon enough, the monstrous dog felt like its body had a mountain weighing down on it, and its paws were somehow chained tightly. It was tough to even take a single step, not to mention attacking.
Its three heads were shaking as though they were resisting a mighty power that was invisible. It had no choice but to sink down to the ground because of the incredible strength weighing down on it.
“What?” Kodan was taken aback.
Two words were never clearer in Brendel’s mind. ‘Stasis’ and ‘Stability’.
Right now, his passive Element power was turning into an active one.
He felt he had once again grasped the Laws of his Element Power during the fight with Kabias, and was now able to wield it freely any time he wanted.
But he knew that it was still something that could not be grasped yet. A Gold-ranker would not be able to master the Element Power completely because they were not powerful enough to handle it.
Everyone watched the five-meters tall monster lay down in front of Brendel, as though it was bowing to its king.
And the youth stood there motionlessly with a glare, seemingly accepting its submission. The people around him were shocked.
[What ability is this? The Authority of Kings?]
Kodan’s mouth and eyes were wide with shock.
“Medissa, attack,” Brendel said these two words lightly.
Unlike the others, there was a tremendous force struggling against him in his body as he desperately brought out the power of the Laws. Outside in the real world, he felt all the power in the world would be there for him to use if he just lifted a finger,
The Elven princess advanced in a silver line. Her lance extended behind her, with the tip of her blade reflecting the light as though it was the signal of death. The straight line was turned into a perfect arc before it lunged towards the monster.
At the final moment, the Cerberus managed to shrug off Brendel’s Element Power, and leaped into the air with all its strength, while its heads moved away to avoid Medissa’s thrust infused with Element Power.
Unfortunately, Brendel twisted the Laws in his mind and forcefully brought the monster down as though its jump was an illusion.
Medissa’s attack found its target, and a large shockwave completely blew the monster’s heads off in a shower of blood and bones. The corpse fell to the ground in a loud crash.
A single strike that completely surpassed Kodan’s attack.
The youths were completely astounded by the girl, not knowing what Brendel did.
[An Element power that affects space and time?!]
However, Kodan felt like his jaw had completely fallen to the ground, and had to rub his chin to feel that it was still there.
Brendel also thought he had gotten close to the truth of his Element Power. He looked at his hand, a little unsure. He had locked on to a certain space and froze time, and made his Element power manifest as an active power, though he was still unsure whether he could use his abilities at will.
“My lord?” Medissa went back to him and asked in surprise. The impact she felt from striking the three-headed dog made her feel like she was piercing something strange.
“I can’t really explain what happened just yet,” Brendel replied, thinking for a moment.
After a minute, the thunderous voice came again from the air:
“Mortal, do you wish to continue challenging your destiny?”
“Let’s move on to the next challenge first,” Brendel said a little excitedly and restlessly, “Yes, I wish to continue.”
Varian soon appeared once again.
“Let me try it this time,” Brendel said hurriedly.
He was leaving the state of controlling the Laws quickly, and needed to experiment as soon as possible to confirm the suspicions in his mind. Medissa nodded as she looked at him, understanding his intentions.
Brendel brought his sword out with his right arm, pointing it to the ground, and walked forward with large strides.
The cold killing intent once again assaulted its new opponent.
Varian’s flashy appearance of brandishing his warhammer into the air to rouse the audience stopped in mid-air. The dwarf’s supposed composure that was supposed to pressure his opponents quickly faltered; he readied himself into a stance and regarded Brendel a little gravely.
He scoffed lightly with his beady eyes staring under his barbarian helmet, but anyone could see like that he was like a wild beast which had detected a danger to its life—
“Is he really that scary? He might be good with the sword but he’s just too young!” Jocah observed Brendel carefully as he mumbled to himself.
He had thought him to be as skilled as the guard riders in the mines. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not imagine Brendel would make a dwarf equipped like a steel fortress to feel nervous.
It was especially so when he recalled Brendel’s carefree attitude.
“Eh?!” He exclaimed.
But he quickly realized he was completely wrong. Brendel suddenly disappeared and appeared right in front of Varian, as though he had instantly teleported.
There was a shockwave of dust and afterimages that trailed behind the young swordsman, so the youths knew that he moved with an incredible speed that exceeded even Kodan’s earlier charge at the Cerberus.
Varian did not react mentally in time, but his wealth of fighting experience made his arms move his warhammer through sheer instinct and roared desperately to deflect Brendel’s attack.
However, at that moment, it appeared as though his arms were pulled back to its location before they reached their destination.
Brendel’s blade seemed to pass through his defenses like an illusion, shimmering as though it was present and yet not, with the sword slipping into the gap between the dwarf’s armor and helmet as a conclusion.
The dwarf’s eyes bulged, and he sputtered out blood lightly from his lips.
When the afterimages fully materialized into reality, Brendel had a single hand blocking his warhammer, while his sword was lodged firmly into the dwarf’s throat. Once he drew out his blade, the dwarf with the heavy fortress of steel collapsed heavily onto the ground, and blood slowly pooled around him.
He then flicked the blood off his sword with an outwards swing before he walked back.
TL: ‘Statis’ was suggested by one of the commenters a long time ago. I used ‘Frozen’ in the previous TL, I think.