Amber Sword

Chapter 1155: Chapter 289: The Length of Time

The ground of the Evergreen Vine Corridor inside the Lockshebi Palace gleams like a mirror, intermittently walked upon by monks in red robes, the sound of footsteps fading away; Brand sits on a bench in the inner courtyard, idly fiddling with his attribute menu under the laurel leaves, the light green screen stretching and contracting before him, new windows occasionally popping up from the side; yet no one else can see this curious scene.

Three hours have passed since the thrilling events of the entire morning, and the dust has yet to settle.

The massacre at Huaili Manor shook the entire Holy Temple; reportedly, the temple’s upper echelons are already conducting an urgent investigation, although no results are expected anytime soon. What surprises Brand is that after cutting down two Golds and several silvers, the experience he gained was just enough to level up. Now his Holy Temple Knight level has reached Level 16. Since Holy Temple Knight is an Advanced Profession, the experience required far exceeds that of Basic Professions, with a Level 16 Holy Temple Knight requiring nearly as much experience as a Level 25 warrior.

However, when calculating the number of professions for Advanced Professions, the corresponding Basic Professions are considered as one, and the attribute points gained per level are much more than those of Basic Professions, thus overall enhancing the character; in the past, Amber Sword, the first advancement was an entry-level event, and it took two years in the game to have the first veteran professional, yet Brand has advanced faster by a whole year. This is entirely thanks to obtaining the Book of Mavikart, though the wreckage has now dwindled to a small mass — the Wind Queen Nine Luminaries acts like a gold-absorbing Black Hole, except it absorbs experience.

While searching through his newly added attributes, Brand seizes the time to absorb the last bit of experience from the Book of Mavikart; after gaining another level, he takes one step closer to the Golden Peak. Apart from his levels in Militia, Scholar, and Elemental Mage, Brand estimates that when his total warrior-class levels reach around Level 60, he’ll enter the Realm of Elements, though unlocking elements is a lengthy quest chain, and now, burdened by petty matters, it seems tedious.

"If I don’t quickly achieve the strength of the Realm of Elements, it will be difficult to ensure self-preservation in the impending Magic Tide," Brand suddenly shakes his head—no, the Magic Tide has already arrived. The storm surge of the Trade Wind Ring is just the beginning; although it hasn’t affected most areas of Vaun, it’s an inevitable certainty — news from various places indicates that monster activities are becoming frequent. In southern Erune, astrologers believe this is a side-effect of the Trade Wind Ring storm surge.

They guessed half right, only it’s not an aftereffect but a beginning. As someone who has re-experienced all this, Brand knows clearly.

He fiddles with the ’+’ sign in the skill tab with his fingers, continuously prompting confirmation messages on the window. He increases the ’Flame Sun Blood’ and ’Thorny Crown’ of the Holy Temple Knight to Level 10. Mid-level skills begin to require professional levels, after which he will have to wait until Holy Temple Knight reaches Level 30 for further unlocking. However, even at Level 10, the Flame Sun Blood can reflect 50% of the damage, with the Conflict Aura, previously enhanced to Level 11, further adding 11 points of protection — until this moment, his defense is barely worthy of being called a warrior, with nearly a set of authentic magic-enhanced full-body armor defense capabilities, while previously he resembled more professions like nightingale or ranger.

Brand can’t help but feel a bit wry. Although leveling seems fast this lifetime, the equipment hasn’t kept up with the pace. On him are good items like Red Blessing, Ghost Knight Crystal, Warrior Ring, and Earth Sword, yet other parts would unavoidably have a beggar’s attire suspicion in his previous life. He even carries items like the Elemental Bracelet and Flame Ring, which, although top-notch around Level 20, seem somewhat lackluster compared to his current level. Flesh Shin Guards are good, but soon they will struggle to keep up with his leveling pace, not to mention he hasn’t had a decent set of armor until now.

All this is due to being overwhelmed by mundane matters and having no time to grind instances. Since departing Ridenburg, his original plans have been disrupted due to the Red Copper Dragon Mercenary Group, although he holds Tonyger, his actual strength falls far short of Brand’s expectation. Thankfully, he managed to catch up with the Ambeser conference, or else he would doubt the significance of returning to this world again.