Brendel filled up several full bottles of the Hydra’s blood.
As usual, Kodan split the youths up into six groups. The deeper they entered the Dark Forest, the more they found the place to be unaffected by winter. Trentheim was undergoing a harsh season where everything was barren because of the cold, yet the temperature in the Dark Forest was increasing the more they traveled south.
The group led by Carglise discovered a cave next to a steep slope covered with green moss, which was behind a hill approximately two miles away.
The group followed the slope all the way down to the valley, and discovered the cave under ma.s.sive boulders that were hundreds of meters tall. After the youths parted the overgrown vines that hung down from the boulders, they discovered the putrid nest’s entrance.
Carglise obeyed Brendel’s orders not to search it; they reported back to him. The latter stopped tinkering with the Alchemy tools on his hands and sent out a signal into the air to get the others to gather.
Soon enough, he and his men went through the thick vegetation and went down to the valley. The formation of the land was indeed as reported by Carglise’s messenger. It seemed like the boulders were actually sections of a cliff collapsing onto the ground, but that was probably at a few years ago. The white boulders were covered with green vegetation.
The number of leaves in the valley was as much as one would expect in the summer. Not far away from the cave was a waterfall going past the cliffs.
Brendel found Carglise and his men near the waterfall lake. Merial had twisted her leg when they entered the valley, and she was sitting down on the rocks with a few men caring for her.
Brendel knew that Merial was a bishop at the first glance, but when he saw that she bared her lower leg, he found it to be elegantly shaped and surprisingly white, though her foot was slightly swollen.
He did a double take before he went to Carglise and tapped his pauldron, whispering: “Is your friend really a man?”
Carglise shook his head: “My lord, you should know that there is no gender amongst the chosen children of the G.o.ds in the Flame Scriptures. As long as one wears the robes, there is no difference if there are additional b.u.mps anywhere.”
Carglise gave a filthy smile, pointed at his chest and replied in a crude direct manner learned from the military school.
Brendel coughed once and asked: “So you mean your friend is a woman?”
Carglise shrugged: “I didn’t say anything about gender, did I? The first time I saw Merial, well, she had already worn the robes. If she’s not wearing her bishop uniform, then she would be wearing clothes for a male. I think only her parents and her nanny knows about this secret. Her father wanted her to become a member of the Church.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Carglise laughed mysteriously before he replied: “My lord, let us search the cave.”
Brendel nodded, glancing at Merial one more time as she got up to follow the crowd, before he brought his men into the valley and headed for the cave. He was at the forefront and parted the vines hanging below the ma.s.sive boulders. Lizards scampered away in fright as he walked through the cave.
The ceiling was approximately seventeen meters high. The waterfall was close to the cave, and there was refracted light at the entrance, showing off the colors of a rainbow.
“It’s quite pretty,” Amandina could not help but utter a gasp when she saw the rainbow. had one of her hand held by Brendel when they entered the cave. She felt at ease in her heart.
“Pretty is pretty, but the smell is a little awful.” Carglise was pinching his nose awkwardly with his fingers through his gauntlets.
A horrible stench that could make someone sick to their stomach was wafting out towards everyone’s noses. Eyes stared into the cave, but only darkness came back. No one knew how deep the cave was.
Brendel pulled out Halran Gaia and his men did the same, causing a series of metallic clangs to ring out. Kodan moved towards the front as he lit up a torch instead of drawing up a sword. The ground was uneven and there were loose rocks which had long shadows because of the light, seemingly pointing towards the darkness.
“Look over there. Hmm, the geology of this place is really bizarre. It’s amazing how the Hydra was able to find this place and build a nest.” Kodan pointed to the largest opening.
The walls were cracked near where Kodan was pointing and there was a huge pit leading deeper into the earth.
[The entrance to the Hydra nest? It seems like it was here before the ma.s.sive boulders crashed down. If I have to take a guess, this place was originally where the waterfall basin was. The water would have eroded this place to form a large hole. What are the chances for an entrance to be made like this?]
The cave’s formation was indeed a little bizarre.
He raised his hand to get everyone to move over to the pit which was large enough for the Hydra to enter. The vile stench was indeed coming from it. There were green spots on the walls; they were possibly wilted moss which came about when water used to pour through the pit.
Though the group was standing beside the pit, they did not enter it immediately. Kodan brought the torch to the hole, but he could only see darkness. It was difficult to tell how deep it was. Scarlett silently tossed a large rock into the pit.
A large crashing sound echoed after several seconds.
The majority of the youths glanced at each other, wondering if they were going to be sent in.
Brendel tapped the pit’s stony entrance with his sword before speaking he spoke to Amandina: “I’ll go down to take a look, the rest of you wait for me here.”
“My lord,” Carglise stood in his way, “I think it is best for us to go first.”
Brendel patted his shoulders and laughed: “When I’m going to use you as my runners I will definitely do so, but your experience in this place cannot compare to me.”
He turned to Felaern with a radiant smile: “Felaern, you’re with me.”
The older Wild Elf sister blinked several times before she placed her hand on her chest: “Me?”
Her face was suffused with displeasure: “I’m an Elementalist, my lord.”
“That’s not a problem. You forgot that your task is to clean up the battlefield. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
“……”
Brendel had to agree that the lucky babe’s luck was still working as usual. The pit was over a hundred meters deep, but Brendel saw something wonderful as soon as he landed on the cave’s ground.
The depths of the pit was a vast s.p.a.ce. It was clear that this was indeed the Hydra’s nest. There was a mountain of decaying meat and bones, and at the corner was a bunch of dried tree branches. In the gaps of the tree branches, he found a large quant.i.ty of armor and weapon fragments.
[Is that possibly—]
This ordinary metal was not of interest to him, but what truly drew his attention was a pair of metal gloves slotted with fiery-red gems.
Felaern came floating down with a pair of Wings of Wind. She flitted the giant pair of wings that were glowing green once before undoing her magic. She scanned her surroundings, but the pair of gloves also caught her eyes when Brendel rushed over to it.
However, she did not make any inquiries about it. Based on her knowledge of her lord, he would tell her if he wanted to.
Green words rolled out neatly in Brendel’s eyes the moment he picked up the golden metal gloves.
– Crimson blessing, Bahamut’s grasp
– Gloves
– +2 Armor Defense
– +5 Fire Shield Defense
– 10% Fire additional damage with each attack
– Grants the ability [Advanced Magic Formation]
Brendel praised the G.o.ds loudly in his mind. This was indeed the legendary gloves of alchemy. Even though it’s just a Fantasy rating, the gamers called it the ‘The G.o.dly Artifact of Fantasy’. It was a pun on how it was the best item amongst the Fantasy-rated items, and also stated that it was even rarer to find compared to a real G.o.dly-rated item.
Obviously, it was just a pay-to-win item to certain gamers, but gaining this item legitimately was one out of a million. Brendel could never believe that he would be able to get one just by going on his first adventure. It was like picking up a million dollars lottery ticket that he had to fish out of a drain, at least in comparison to killing a Hydra and gaining this item for his troubles.
He was about to wear the gloves when she heard Felaern whisper: “My lord, look over there.”
Felaern was pointing at a bunch of pearly-white b.a.l.l.s which the size of a coconut. Brendel could hardly believe his eyes when he saw twenty to thirty just at the tip of the nest. There had to be more inside.
[Holy s.h.i.t! I’m rich! Hydra eggs! Over a hundred!]
The value of the eggs could buy the entire Trentheim. Brendel’s heart started beating loudly. These eggs were the rough equivalent of a treasure vault containing priceless treasures in his eyes. He stared blankly at them before turning around to Felaern, took in a deep breath and spoke:
“Quick, get everyone down here. We need to get these eggs out of here!”
The youths who entered the pit by descending down the rope immediately shrieked:
“Urgh, this smell…..”
“I’m dying!”
“G.o.ds above, this is really poison!”
“Silence!” Scarlett bellowed in an authoritative manner, but she frowned as well. The stench was overwhelming.
If the Hydra they faced earlier was a person, it must be the most disgusting and laziest person. The nest seemed like it was a giant pit of feces that would induce anyone to puke out their guts. It was not wrong to say it was poison; Amandina who had the weakest const.i.tution vomited a few times. If Merial did not cast a purification spell on her, she would have fainted.
Kodan was the last person to descend to the pit. Since Brendel was wearing a pair of glowing gauntlets, Kodan’s eyes went over to it, immediately discovering the crimson rubies slotted on them. The shape of each individual link to the metal gauntlets could only be described as dignified.
“Is this the legendary Bahamut’s Grasp…..?”
Brendel was incredibly pleased and put on a beaming smile: “You guessed correctly, grandmaster Kodan.”
“Are these truly the legendary gauntlets which the hero, Sutherland, used before?” Kodan stared at the gloves with all his attention drawn to them, repeating his question: “Not a fake or replica?”
Sutherland was one of the most famous Alchemists in history. However, that was not the reason why he was well-known. It was because he was also a Dragon Knight. He was cherished by the Fire Dragon King, Bahamut, and the songs about him and his dragon’s travels were still sung by bards even in this era.
But the most famous aspect about Sutherland was not his ident.i.ty as a Dragon Knight or an Alchemist, it was his gauntlets.
These gauntlets were blessed by Bahamut and given to Sutherland as a symbol of their friendship. It was also why they were called Bahamut’s Grasp.
“They are real.” Brendel clenched and unclenched his right fist, allowing the rivets to make a slightly grating noise as the metal bits rubbed against each other.
“How do you know that it’s the real thing?” Kodan looked suspiciously at the gauntlets. He could not believe that Brendel’s luck would be able to bend fate. Just randomly entering a cave would allow him to obtain a legendary equipment that was used by a hero?
The legends about Sutherland were nearly three hundred years ago, and the gauntlets disappeared after that. Did it disappear along with the hero, or had it been pa.s.sed down to others? It was a question that no one could answer.
It was impossible to find out how it ended here.
Everyone’s attention was on Brendel when they heard Kodan’s words, but the youth did not explain any further. He merely grasped his sword’s hilt firmly before pulling it out.
Flames poured out from the gauntlets, covering his right hand and Halran Gaia. He raised his sword above his head, illuminating the entire pit.
The youths stared at Brendel with slack jaws. Kodan’s eyes were also widened but he tried forcefully to hold on to his viewpoint despite losing track of time for a while:
“There are many different types of enchantment that are similar to it…… Flame Favor, Fiery Grasp, it’s not necessarily blessed by a dragon.”
Brendel swung his sword. The flames vibrated and created a sound that was like a dragon’s roar At the end of his swing, they turned into a Dragon which rushed towards the wall. An explosion rang out, and the walls shook as dust and sand rain down for a moment.
Kodan was completely convinced that it was the Crimson Favor after seeing the might of the flames. Only the Favor of a dragon would create such firepower and shape.
Brendel extinguished the flames on his hand and returned Halran Gaia to his sheath: “But the dragon’s flames are not the strongest feature of the Crimson Favor. Do you know what other ident.i.ty Sutherland has?”
“Of course,” Kodan’s mind was not composed yet when he realized that the legendary gauntlets were before him, and he calmed himself before answering, “he’s an alchemist.”
“Indeed. The symbol of their friendship, the Crimson Favor, is said to be the perfect equipment for him. However, the strongest spell in this gauntlets is not the flames, but something else—”
Brendel took out a Hydra’s Blessed Scale. He turned over his hand to allow his palm to face up, and a Magic Formation immediately lit up above it.
Every ruby on the gauntlets dazzled with light and the scale that was placed on his palm started to float. In an instant the scale seemed to receive thousands of degrees in heat, softening in mid-air to become a liquid before separating turning into drops of crystal that were green and red.
He continued to manipulate the Magic Formation and the crystal drops started to converge together to slowly form into a crimson dagger.
The surface of the dagger started to cool down visibly with the naked eye. Ripples ran across it as it gradually hardened, as though someone was hammering on its surface and causing it to vibrate. Finally, the dagger was completely cooled down and the red metal turned into a black-green color.
Brendel grabbed the dagger’s hilt as it dropped neatly into his palm.
“See that?” The youth smiled and asked as though he did something praiseworthy.
Kodan could not help but draw in a deep breath despite the awful stench. He knew that it was Alchemy, but the Alchemy that he knew was certainly not as miraculous as what Brendel did. In the continent, Alchemy was a secret art circulated amongst the upper-cla.s.s n.o.bles, witches, and related professions.
Perhaps commoners might view it as a mysterious magic that could do anything, but in truth, Alchemy was a strict technique that combined Mana and unique materials.
Witches could create different types of potions in a bubbling pot of green liquid, while Galbu’s wizard craftsmen would use their knowledge to carve sigils on their weapons and armors, allowing their equipment to take on powerful magic.
But each creation took time and detailed work, with the exception of simple materials that required proprietary magic. The majority of the work done from Alchemy required a quiet location with a complete set of tools.
Brendel had skipped every single step, even the need for a blacksmith, and created a dagger with his materials.
“W-what is this…..” Kodan stared blankly at the dagger.
“An Advanced Magic Formation. To tell the truth, the Blood Magic Formation which is currently banned, was actually researched from this technique. Galbu’s wizards have a complete set of data on it, but they won’t be able to compare the Gauntlet’s Magic Formation— Hmm, with the Dragon’s divine blessing added into this, the Advanced Magic Formation’s quality is actually increased.
Usually, a typical Advanced Magic Formation can only create level 10 items and lower, and there’s also a limit in producing magical artifacts because one can only enchant it on the surface. But these gauntlets is capable of reproducing items to level 13 and below, and enchant the material’s body.”
Kodan did not understand what the levels meant, but he did understand the rules behind it. Brendel was able to manipulate the material that was limited by the normal Advanced Magic Formation.
The old swordsman heard of the term ‘Magic Formation’ before, thus the mysterious aspect about Brendel was greatly reduced.
“I understand the process roughly, but I actually think that the Dragon’s flames are more useful than this Alchemy thing.”
[…… This old fool. What is the use of your eyes if you can’t see the value. This Alchemy thing is the equivalent to Aouine’s revenue for an entire year. It costs seven billion Tor coins in the game!]
Brendel’s eyes of delight turned to annoyance. An NPC certainly had a different line of thinking compared to a gamer. Which gamer would want to be stuck in a laboratory all day? This item was naturally a G.o.dly artifact for them.
He briefly considered telling Kodan how much it really cost. The youth could not but feel a little pity for his gauntlets and patted it, but his thoughts were pulled away from one of the youth’s voice.
“My lord, are these the monster’s eggs?”
Kodan felt like he had been struck by lightning. After entering the Dark Forest, he thought he would not be able to be surprised any longer after killing off a Hydra and finding the Crimson Blessing, but to find Poison Hydra’s eggs?
[Marsha Above, is this young man going to gain one of the strongest War Beasts around? Once they mature, they would be standing on the top of a Gold-ranked cla.s.s!]
He immediately turned around to search for them, “Eggs? Whe—”
He stopped speaking and clutched his forehead, wondering if he was dreaming. He could see a great number of eggs placed into the Hydra’s nest, possibly more than a hundred.
“Eggs….. from that five-headed Hydra?” He asked Brendel to confirm it.
Brendel nodded. His reaction was just like Kodan’s when he saw them for the first time too. The value of the eggs had more practical use to him right now compared to the gauntlets.
“You…… What do you intend to do with all these eggs?” Kodan turned his head back stiffly to Brendel.
“How should I handle them?” Brendel repeated the question to himself.
This was indeed a question. The sudden wealth made him feel that it was unsafe no matter where they were put. He had to lead his men further into to the forest to find Valhalla, but it was unsafe to leave the eggs here.
“Boy, I suggest for you to send these eggs back to Firburh,” Kodan said with a slow and grave voice.
“No, I can’t do that.” Brendel considered carefully. Valhalla’s worth could not be gauged and was worth more than the eggs.
Kodan stared incredulously at him: “Is there something else in the Dark Forest that has more value than these eggs?”
“I thought about this for a while. It’s best to leave some men behind.”
“Leave people behind?” The old swordsman shook his head repeatedly: “Who? This is the Dark Forest.”
“It’s precisely because it’s the Dark Forest that no outsiders would come here. Weaker monsters won’t approach this place because the Hydra’s nest foul smell makes it seem like the Hydra’s still here. The strong monsters have their own territory and would not easily change their locations. Furthermore, this is still the outer section of the Dark Forest. The Hydra is standing at the top of the food chain here.”
Kodan suddenly became alert: “Why are you explaining so much to me? Are you planning something?”
Brendel grinned.
Kodan said exasperatedly: “I have never recognized myself to be part of your group. Are you not afraid that I would run away with these eggs? Certainly bringing all of them away isn’t possible, but I can simply take one or two away.”
“Well now, Grandmaster Kodan, this is the Dark Forest. Is it possible for you to find your way out without the Druids?” Brendel coughed.
The old man was immediately at a loss for words, and his eyebrows were raised: “What, are you threatening me again?”
Brendel hurriedly shook his head: “Of course not, it’s just a joke. I actually plan to leave a group of Fire Claw Lizardmen here. They should be sufficient to handle any beasts that come in by accident. Having them stay here is just a precaution.”
“Hmph. That sounds much better. Don’t joke with me if you have nothing better to do, boy!” Kodan said.
However, he found himself slightly disappointed when Brendel said that. It proved that the youth did not trust him.
The two of them continued to talk until a commotion stopped their conversation. Brendel found one of the youths rushing to him in a panic.
[This person is under Carglise’s group? Did they find something?]
Brendel had sent the youths to inspect the tunnels within the pit during his conversation with Kodan. Since this pit was the former waterfall basin, the tunnels were originally rivers. He sent them out to investigate if there were any other materials. If it was Firelight Moss, it might explain the scout’s astonishment, since they could grow as far as a football field.
“M-my lord….. C-captain Carglise, wants you to take a look for yourself……” The person who reported to Brendel said breathlessly.
Brendel and Kodan exchanged glances. What could that fellow Carglise be up to?
But Brendel nodded and gestured for the youth to bring them over.
The tunnel they entered was long and narrow, and one could see that the walls were smooth, proving that water had once flowed through here.
He studied the walls carefully to ensure that there were no other signs of creatures living here. They did not have any spider webs. While there were rodents and small creatures scuttering, they were not a threat to them.
It would be quite dangerous if a Tentacle Horror suddenly attacked them in this enclosed area.
After walking through the tunnel for several minutes, a light appeared in front of him. There were only four youths resting, and Brendel remembered that half of Carglise’s men were left behind to take care of Merial.
When these youths saw Brendel, they stood up immediately to greet him:
“My lord!” Lord Macsen’s lawless son rubbed his hands, as though he found a difficult problem. “We discovered something that we can’t handle.”
“Can’t handle? What’s the situation?”
“How should I explain it……” Carglise’s expression was incredibly odd: “I can’t explain it with words.”
Brendel wondered what this fearless youth had seen to make him look like the sky had crashed to the earth.
[If he’s pulling my leg and there’s nothing here…… Ha ha ha…… I wonder what I should do with you.]
Though he secretly wondered if there was a football field of Firelight Moss.
“In any case, my lord, let us go and have a look.” Carglise coughed and answered, moving to the side and having his hand pointing towards the darkness.
Brendel nodded and headed for the tunnel’s exit. There was glowing light and he became was slightly mystified. Did the material he was thinking about really grow here?
When he finally left the exit and came to a larger opening, he opened his mouth slightly and was instantly spellbound. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe him as being struck by a petrification spell.
Dazzling glowing lights filled his eyes. It was a crystal mine.
And it was a crystal mine that he could not see an end to.
========= Ciel’s POV =========
It seemed like Brendel accurately predicted his enemy’s actions. The south of Trentheim was completely peaceful ever since he left for the Dark Forest for a week, and there were no signs of a future battle happening.
However, the north of Trentheim was experiencing things differently. Tagiv and his clan members seemed like they had become addicted to their raids, and hara.s.sed Lord Palas’s men even more than before. Even though they were sometimes ambushed by the latter, the armies of Lord Palas were incredibly worn out by them.
While these men were busy dealing with Tagiv’s tribe, Firburh was considerably free of such ha.s.sles.
Romaine checked the accounts one more time before she became bored. Just like how Brendel had predicted, she was remarkably disciplined and subdued, except that she went to a certain bar and sat in there in the afternoon till it was sunset. Based on her explanation, it was a place where Brendel often went and she wanted to take his place.
Everyone closed an eye when she did that; it was good enough as long as she did not break the city down.
Bosley did not care if she tore the city apart as long as his workshop was safe. He sat on the balcony of a building near it and was taking out his pipe to smoke. However, no matter how much he tried to light it up, none of the sparks went into the pipe.
When two or three sparks finally landed in the pipe, they went out. It was an unnatural event—
He raised his head and indeed discovered Ciel wearing a light purple robe and grinning from a short distance away. He grumbled and complained under his breath:
“This d.a.m.ned wizard!”
But he did not dare to utter his words out loud. He could argue with Brendel, but wizards were mysterious people. Who knew if they cursed people in their sleep if they got insulted?
Bosley raised his head up and sighed: “Very well, Lord Ciel, what matter do you have to come and look for these old bones? Or did you come here to make fun of a pitiful man like me?”
“No, no, of course not, I’m here to discuss something with you,” Ciel shook his head hastily.
“What matter is it?”
“My lord has given me an order.”
“Hmm?” Bosley knew that the young wizard might have a way to contact the young lord.
“I am talking about—” Ciel thought for a while, before deciding on a gentler tone to describe the chain of events, otherwise the old man might be shocked to his death: “Grandmaster Bosley, what do you think of the possibility of creating a path to the Dark Forest?”
“Opening a path?” Bosley looked puzzled at him for a while: “Ah, I understand, you want to get some resources from the Dark Forest, right? That’s a little troublesome. Even if you invest in it there might not be an income, there’s nothing good in the Dark Forest, and maintaining such a road would cost a lot…… I’m afraid that even Trentheim cannot afford it.”
“If it’s an order that must be accomplished even with deaths?”
“Has he gone crazy!” Bosley suddenly paused as he realized the Grandmaster Wizard in front of him was Brendel’s squire and he quickly changed his tone: “That would depend on how deep the road is. I believe a day or two’s journey should not be a big problem.”
“My lord says that he needs a safe path up to the distance of a week’s journey.”
“Impossible!” Bosley nearly jumped up.