Haven

"Empress of Wind Half-Plate!?"

Brando opened the heavy backpack and took a look. Seeing the complete bronze armor placed inside, he couldn't help but touch his forehead. No wonder, no wonder that adult Withered Beast could only hold Freya back earlier. It was this item's protection.

"Why aren't you wearing it?"

"That armor glows. I'm afraid Madara's undead will see it. I plan to wait until daytime, when the light is brighter..."

"Light?"

"It's that layer of blue light that surrounds the armor plates."

"That's the Feather of Wind, not light," Brando sighed when Freya looked at him with confusion. These were the most basic pieces of knowledge in the game, yet he hadn't expected Freya to know nothing about it. He picked up the armor and explained it to her one by one.

The Empress of Wind Half-Plate was the work of the great craftsman Saint Orso, just like his Wind Queen Ring, it had the Saint Rune of the Wind Empress on it. However, there were many types of Saint Runes of the Wind Empress. For example, the Wind Queen Ring was a token of Dilute, and the Saint Rune on it was Saint Orso's national emblem. It's just that the one Brando held was a fake, and therefore a very low-quality item—perhaps the clumsy work of some human wizard.

Of course, clumsy or not, 20 Oz of magical equipment was not something Brando's grandfather should have owned. His own memories couldn't help with this mystery, so he could only put it aside for now. However, from a game perspective, this might be a hidden quest line, but he wouldn't find any clues until he met the cripple from Black Pepper Alley.

On the other hand, the true Saint Rune of the Wind Empress must have come from the hands of elves. The Empress of Wind Half-Plate was equipment for the elven guard, so its lineage was pure. But since the Year of Radiant Return, hundreds of sets had flowed into other countries each year, so it wasn't particularly valuable.

In Brando's terms, in the game, it was just a piece of equipment with a Strength rating of 15 Oz.

The Feather of Wind was the Saint Rune of the Wind Empress applied to the Empress of Wind Half-Plate. It was actually a spell that reduced the power passing through it. In other words, it reduced damage. As was consistent with the elven style, this spell was particularly sensitive to plants, so it was normal for the Withered Beasts to be so restricted.

What Freya didn't know was that the Feather of Wind was called a beneficial status in the game, and its glow could only be seen by enemies at the moment it took effect.

Listening to Brando's explanation, Freya looked embarrassed. It was too humiliating, just like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. She couldn't help but bury her head lower and lower, finally murmuring, "Why didn't you say so earlier—"

Brando thought, How could I have known, my dear lady? Of course, he subconsciously treated some things as common sense. He also realized this might cause some misunderstandings, but it was normal to find it difficult to adjust from being a player who had been immersed in "The Amber Sword" for so long.

Seeing Freya's face turn red and her tightly hugging the backpack, he knew without asking why she had refused to discard the backpack at that time. So even the future Valkyrie had girlish sentiments. He didn't point it out directly, but the feeling of being trusted was quite good.

Brando's heart softened inevitably, and he couldn't bring himself to scold her anymore—

"Things are dead, people are alive. No matter how precious this item is, next time you encounter such a situation, you must ensure your own safety first, understand?" he said.

"I'm sorry."

"Then what about the third squad?"

"I entrusted the captaincy to Little Finis."

"Little Finis?"

"Yes, Uncle Maden once told me that this child might be Bucci's most promising person to make a name for himself. I used to take good care of him, hoping he could bring honor to our village one day. But I think maybe you're right, how can a man grow without tempering?"

"You've thought it through. Does Essen agree?" Brando sighed. Freya had finally stepped out of her own world. He had thought this girl was still clinging to her innocence and naivete, but seeing her calm and bright eyes, he realized she had actually grown.

"Essen thinks the same way I do."

Brando nodded.

After resolving the internal issues of the squad, he breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it wasn't a major problem. Although Freya was a bit stubborn and thin-skinned, she was a reliable companion in critical moments. Especially her act of not discarding the backpack at the most crucial juncture, although it annoyed Brando, it also warmed his heart—at least this friendship was substantial.

He couldn't help but turn his head and saw Romane looking at the sheltered cave across the campfire with sparkling eyes, as if appraising a rare treasure.

The merchant lady seemed never to worry about her surroundings.

"Brando, how did you know about this place? If we're in this location, those terrifying monsters outside shouldn't be able to find us, right?" she asked.

Freya nodded. "But we can't hide here forever. We have to set off when it gets a little brighter."

Brando also nodded. They were both right. There were several such hidden spots in the Xavier Mountain Pass, all on the cliffs on one side—many nightingales and hunters had paid with their lives back then to discover this relatively clever path, allowing them to avoid most of the Golden Demon Tree's minions in the valley and get closer to the boss.

But there were two difficulties. First, they had to reach the core area of the Xavier Mountain Pass where the Golden Demon Tree was rooted, the so-called "Forbidden Orchard," along the cliffs. Some sections required a grappling hook. Moreover, the Golden Demon Tree wasn't stupid; there were several patrol teams of Treants on the cliffs—but Brando had his own way of dealing with them.

The second difficulty was to sneak out through the secret passage behind the "Forbidden Orchard," which required Griffinto's crystal key. But that thing was hanging on a branch of the Golden Tree. In the past, they would just kill the boss and leave, but this time Brando had to find another way.

He had already envisioned the general steps. All that was left was to adapt to the situation. After all, not everyone could plan perfectly. Even when they made plans in the game, they were mostly outlines. The meticulously planned schemes that only existed in novels didn't exist in reality.

At this moment, the trump cards in hand became particularly important, which was why Brando valued the Wind Queen Ring so much.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take out the Soul Crystal and examine it under the firelight. The dark Soul Crystal looked like obsidian, but wizards could distinguish between the two by injecting power—and even ordinary people could tell the difference if they were familiar enough.

But Brando knew a simple test. He brought the crystal close to the campfire and saw signs of vaporization on the dark crystalline body, immediately identifying it as a Soul Crystal.

This was because unprotected soul power was extremely unstable in the face of open flames, which also explained why Madara's low-level undead feared fire so much.

"What is that?" the merchant lady asked curiously.

Brando placed the crystal on the Wind Queen Ring. The crystal dimmed slightly, then became more transparent. He thought about it and only injected 10 Oz of power, which was enough; more would be a waste.

However, he then remembered his ebony Gargoyle statue. The power contained in the Soul Crystal was the best medium to repair this amulet. But he hesitated for a moment after placing the crystal on it and gave up. The Gargoyle amulet had over three hundred possible control spells. He had spent half the night trying them yesterday and hadn't guessed correctly. He didn't have time to continue trying now. Besides, the remaining 20 experience points were just a drop in the bucket, and it would be a waste to put them in.

Brando thought about it. It would take at least 100 experience points to completely repair it.

What else could this thing be used for? Should he save it for later? But for Brando now, experience points spent were useful experience points. His strength was still too weak; he urgently needed to become stronger. Only by surviving could he change.

Should he use it on himself? Or use it as skill experience? It wasn't enough to level up if he kept it for himself. As for using it as skill experience, not only was the ten-to-one exchange rate unsightly, but he also had no skills to learn as a mercenary now.

He couldn't continue leveling up the Militia, could he? That would have to wait until he had ample experience.

Brando suddenly felt a little conflicted. He couldn't help but look at the sky outside. After dawn, the sky quickly became dimly lit, and they would have to set off soon. The Golden Demon Tree's minions were all blind, only instinctively attracted to light, and sensitive to sound and magical fluctuations. Therefore, traveling during the day and at night made little difference, except that it was more convenient during the day for humans.

At least they wouldn't need to light torches. Torchlight was too sensitive for Withered Beasts.

His hand continued to rummage in his pocket, looking for anything else that might be useful, but he soon touched something that felt like a card. Brando's heart stirred, and he subconsciously picked it up—he didn't know what it was, but that didn't stop him from experimenting.

The best way to appraise items was, of course, to have a complete set of data and alchemy tools. Players who weren't so professional would find an NPC. However, even in the game, appraisal fees were not a small expense. "The Amber Sword" had a unique feature: even if you didn't know an item's attributes, you could still use it as long as you knew how to use it.

Many players had developed their own methods for appraising equipment without an appraisal skill, and Brando was no exception.

He experimented with several common spells, but unfortunately, there was no reaction. He thought for a moment and subconsciously touched the Soul Crystal to the piece of stiff paper, wanting to see if there was any response. Generally, magical items would resonate with soul power; if they were damaged or could be recharged, they might even produce a higher-level reaction.

What Brando didn't expect was that as soon as he brought the two into contact, the paper suddenly emitted a strong beam of light, and the Soul Crystal in his hand instantly lost its color, turning into a transparent crystal prism.

Absorption reaction!

Brando almost jumped up in shock. He stared at the transparent crystal prism in his hand, speechless. A Soul Crystal that had lost its soul power was called a container. Wizards and elementalists would pay a high price for such containers to create magic-storing items.

Similar to scrolls, or rather, the scrolls in this world.

But Brando wasn't concerned about that. He only felt a bone-chilling coldness rise from his back. An absorption reaction was one of the few magical fluctuations with the strongest outward manifestations. He had really messed up this time. He figured the Golden Demon Tree could sense this magical ripple transmitting through the air from ten miles away...

Perhaps not just the Golden Demon Tree; with such a strong reaction, who knew if there was anything strange nearby that would target him.

It was just that Brando couldn't understand how such a low-level magical item could trigger an absorption reaction. That was a privilege reserved for magical items of at least 40Oz or higher.

Regardless, Romane and Freya looked at him with surprise – they had certainly seen that dazzling black light. Brando made a swift decision, stood up, and said, "Let's go, we need to leave here—"