Act Thirty-Three: Before the Attack

Brando glanced at the sheer, cliff-like mountain wall in the distance, then turned back to tell Romane to put on the Web Ring. He found the merchant's daughter surprisingly perceptive, and this ring would further enhance that ability.

Romane had been eyeing the beautiful black and white patterned ring for a long time and was naturally delighted, but she still asked curiously, "Is this also a magic ring, Brando?"

"Yes, it will let you hear more clearly. Keep an eye on the ground and alert Freya if you hear anything. I'll be back soon." Brando knew that besides the Golden Demon Tree, there was a Stone Cone Worm in this valley, which also came from the elemental plane of earth. It was a rare elite in the game, and one time it had suddenly appeared, nearly throwing him into a panic.

"Are there other enemies?" the two girls asked in unison.

"Possibly. Better safe than sorry, right?" Brando didn't want to pretend to be a prophet, and more importantly, it would be hard to explain later, so he could only answer vaguely.

Freya nodded understandingly, gripping her sheathed longsword tightly and shielding Romane. "I'll protect Romane. Please be quick."

"Hm?" Brando looked at her with surprise. When had this girl become so cooperative? He felt a bit flustered, but she didn't seem to have any ulterior motives. After a moment's hesitation, he put down his backpack, rummaged through it for a rope and hook, glanced at the two girls again, and then carefully climbed out.

"Freya, is it okay for Brando to go out alone?" Romane asked in a low voice.

"Brando has his own plans. We can't help much, so we just need to make sure he doesn't have to worry about us."

"Freya?"

Freya flicked her long ponytail behind her head, her bright eyes showing a serious expression. She wasn't admitting defeat, but her strength could only do so much. The future Valkyrie seriously considered that her strength might not be enough. To become a captain, she had to demand more of herself.

She let out a breath, clutched her sword to her chest, and made up her mind.

Meanwhile, Brando, carrying the rope, was making his way along the steep mountain wall. He should still be tens of meters away from the crevice in the rock face he remembered. He couldn't help but take a breath and look back. Fortunately, the Golden Demon Tree and its minions and offspring relied on sound and magical fluctuations, not sight, to detect targets. Otherwise, his position would be very conspicuous.

He grabbed a protruding rock, and gravel rustled down through the gaps between the stones, but that sound wasn't significant. He was only worried about making a big commotion, so he moved as lightly as possible.

Less than thirty meters left, almost there.

He hadn't dropped any Soul Crystals along the way, but Brando knew he had one last chance. In the crevice ahead, there was a treasure—no, calling it a treasure might not be entirely accurate. Although players called every hidden place that provided items and resources a treasure, he knew that the treasure there was actually relics.

According to the game's storyline, about ten years ago, a young nobleman named Borg Neson, an adventurer, came to this valley. He got separated from his companions during an attack by Treants, managed to escape alone, and hid here, but ultimately died from his severe injuries.

He left behind his personal belongings and a token. With the token, one could complete a quest in Brags, which offered a meager reward, but for Brando at that time, it was better than nothing.

However, the belongings left by that little nobleman were quite interesting because they were random, and if you were lucky, you could get anything. The best Brando had ever gotten was raw amber. Of course, he wasn't expecting that this time; it would be great if he could get a Soul Crystal, because in his memory, the chance of getting a Soul Crystal here was quite high.

He quickly climbed into the crevice. The rock crevice was actually very shallow, but it was hard to find from the outside. As soon as he entered, he saw the unlucky nobleman's skeleton lying askew. Surprisingly, every detail was the same as in the game, almost making him feel as if he were still in his past world.

However, Brando quickly calmed down. He carefully bypassed the skeleton and his gaze fell on a small pouch beside it. But he was slightly stunned because he saw a dusty, dry, and brittle piece of parchment resting lightly on the cloth bag.

There was nothing like this in the game.

He gently picked up the parchment and found it was a suicide note, with only a few short sentences written on it:

'To Martha, I may not live much longer. If I die, and whoever finds this note is fortunate enough to see it, I wish to legally transfer all my personal belongings to them. Furthermore, I have a secret ancestral property. I wish to divide this wealth into three parts: one part to this person, one part to my wife, Saidi, and one part to my daughter (the following words were blurred)...

If the person who sees this letter is interested in this wealth, please deliver this letter and my token to my wife, and tell her 'The appointment at the Baden Ball,' and she will understand what I mean.

Finally, I apologize to Saidi, and may Lady Martha punish me—'

Brando was stunned after reading it. He was even more certain that he had never seen this before. Previously, this questline only involved removing the Seal Ring from the nobleman's finger bone and handing it over to the citizen registration office in Brags to receive a reward. The questline ended there, with no follow-up.

But what was the reason for this? Was it because this place was different from the game? Brando shook his head. He instinctively refused to believe this judgment. At least all the previous discoveries had matched perfectly. Why would there be an exception here? So, what was the reason?

He thought for a moment and suddenly realized, could it be that only the first person to discover it got such a quest? Amber did have many unique quests and first quests, but could there be such a situation in a dungeon? No one had ever mentioned it.

He hesitated for a long time, so he carefully folded the suicide note and the Seal Ring together and put them close to his body. He felt that this quest seemed somewhat familiar, and perhaps someone had completed it back then. However, unfortunately, the part of the suicide note about the name of the other party's daughter and the address of her home had become blurred. Otherwise, this quest would have been simple and clear.

But Brando didn't care about that. The more troublesome the quest, the richer the reward. At worst, he could start with the citizen registration office in Brags. At least he still had two clues—the nobleman's name and his wife's name. And those were things for the future. Now, he still had to face his own difficulties.

After putting away the suicide note, he began to examine his spoils. In the cloth bag were two rubies, some coins worth about thirty silver coins, which was a considerable sum. There was also a pipe, a dark gray stone shard, and a glass bead. Brando poured out these items and rummaged through them carefully, disappointed to find no Soul Crystals, which made him sigh.

If this were in the game, these gains would have been quite good. But now, what he needed wasn't materials or money, but items that could immediately enhance his strength. However, despite his disappointment, Brando swept all these things into his pouch. He didn't have time to check which were useful and which were just decorations or miscellaneous items. The main thing was to get out safely.

After clearing out the spoils, Brando glanced at the skeleton again and returned the same way. Everything went smoothly. When he returned to the rock crevice where Romane and Freya were, he could clearly see the two girls relax.

"Brando, you're finally back. Freya and I were so nervous while you were gone. There were no sounds around, it was so quiet," Romane said, patting her chest and exhaling.

"Don't drag me into this—" Freya blushed.

"I was just checking the surroundings. There's only a patrol outside. We need to take them down as soon as possible."

"Are we going out?"

"We can also choose not to go out and leave from the other exit of the mountain path later. That way, we can avoid combat, but time might be tight." Brando replied.

"How tight?" Freya asked.

"About two hours later."

The girl paused. "How far is it from here to Ridenburg?" She had never traveled further than Webin from home. Ridenburg was a place she often heard adults mention, but it was only an impression.

"Let's put it this way: if we're two hours late, we'll have to race against Madara's undead army." Brando looked at Romane. "We might reach Ridenburg first, but we won't have much time left."

"Will it be faster if we go out and kill that tree?" she asked.

"There's a secret passage behind it, which was dug by merchants in the past to avoid checkpoints. I saw it in the municipal documents in Brags. When I was in the Brags Militia—" Our protagonist lied with a straight face. However, he wasn't lying to Freya about the secret passage; he had only learned about it in the game.

Freya gave him a suspicious look.

"Is that tree dangerous?" she asked, pointing outside.

"Very dangerous. We have a fifty percent chance of failure," Brando replied seriously. Although he really wanted to take a gamble and kill the Golden Demon Tree, he also told himself that he had to truthfully tell Freya how much risk they needed to take, because he was responsible for the lives of the three of them.

In a team, everyone had the right to make choices about their own lives. This was a basic rule of The Amber Sword. No one could force anyone else.

Freya fell silent.

"Romane, what about you?" she asked.

Romane shook her head. "I like adventure. My own life is meant to be used for meaningful things."

Freya then withdrew her gaze and nodded. "I understand. Brando, please lead us to defeat it. If we fail, I won't have any regrets."

Brando smiled. He hadn't expected Freya to react so strongly. "It's not that serious. I'll tell you how to deal with it. But first, let's take care of that patrol. Six Treants, you're all very familiar with them, but this time we need to end the fight in an instant."

Then he led the two to the edge of the rock crevice and looked out. They could clearly see the offspring of the Golden Demon Tree. Brando gestured to indicate a range. "We'll sneak over from here. Wait for my signal to launch the surprise attack. We need to be as slow as possible before the battle begins. We absolutely cannot let them hear us."

"We have at least half an hour, so there's no need to rush."

"Freya."

"Here."

"Romane and I will attack from the right. You hide under that rock on the left. When we launch our attack, you target the last two – do you remember their weak points?" Brando had Romane and himself on one side partly to protect her, and partly to reduce Freya's pressure, after all, this merchant's daughter had no combat ability.

Freya nodded. The Treants' weak points were their limbs, as all their sensory organs were located on their limbs. Without their limbs, they were completely harmless. However, she started to feel a little nervous. Previously, they had dealt with Treants using unexpected tactics, like rockfall traps. This time, they were going for a direct confrontation and needed to end the fight in an instant – she wasn't worried about whether Brando could do it.

But could she do it herself? Freya wasn't sure.

Brando glanced at her, understanding what she was thinking. Every novice had their own issues, and although Freya should technically be an 'NPC', he figured she wouldn't be an exception. He thought for a moment and encouraged her, "Don't worry too much. Your Empress of Wind Half-Plate has a great advantage against them. You should attack with all your might—"

Freya nodded.