The Amber Sword

Chapter 230 – The city of trees (1)

If one were to look Trentheim from above, they would discover that each end of the region was high and the middle section low. The south-west area was a plot of barren land with the city Firburh built in that location.

Peering from this city would have access to the shape of numerous mountains starting from the west. River Gris was in the intersection of these mountains towards Graham’s mountain range, and it was the best hunting spot during the autumn season. This place was also where the forest trees were most dense.

To the north of the river was the Macsen region, and traveling further would lead to the Palas region.

The east of the river was the Schafflund mines which overlooked a particularly important passage towards Firburh, and it was the best position in Brendel’s thoughts to build a fortress.

Even though the land was uneven, it was not a problem for the dwarves. It was because of the lack of funds that this project only started recently. An army was now camping in that area to build a few palisades on the path between Firburh and the Schafflund mines.

In the middle of a particular mountain near this area, the originally dense foliage and trees were removed and replaced with boulders collected from the surroundings, forming a Magic Formation on the uneven, dull-colored ground.

Repeating circles formed the base pattern of this Magic Formation, written with many mysterious Runic words, and even if the most famous royal scholars in Aouine were to come here and study them, they might not be able to recognize them. Brendel believed the words were much earlier than the era of the Dragon of Darkness, and it probably dated all the way back to the Twilight War.

Divine energy ran across the Magic Formation, almost as if the forest was whispering; a type of Nature Mana permeated the forest. Vines flushed with a deep verdant green was growing at a perceptible speed over the boulders’ cracks. Even though the Magic Formation was only up for a week, it was as if the surrounding area had been untouched for several centuries and overgrown with vines, seemingly gathering the entire forest’s mana into this spot.

The completed Magic Formation for Valhalla.

In the center of the Magic Formation was an indentation, coinciding with the size of the Magic Core in Brendel’s possessions.

“This Magic Formation doesn’t have any external source of Mana. Instead, it gathers and absorbs the surrounding natural Ether and converts it to Mana. Even us Silver Elves are not capable of invoking such a powerful Law. My Lord, you’re truly a genius. I can’t believe how dense the natural Ether is.” Medissa praised as she studied the Magic Formation.

“It’s not as if I created it,” Brendel answered with slight embarrassment.

“Even though that’s the case, you were the one who deciphered the information on the crystal in Valhalla. Even the Elder Druids did not manage to read them. But you coincidentally read the ancient texts regarding these runes, my Lord, perhaps it’s destiny.”

The older wild Elf sister, Felaern, also agreed with Medissa, to which Brendel expressed a smile.

[What ancient text? I understand these moon runes because of this strange status as a ‘player’. The system in my eyes deciphers the information upon completing conditions, while any native in this world would have to use artifacts or read the right documents to identify things.]

“Then when are you going to put the crystal in, Brendel?” Romaine asked.

“Probably right now,” he answered.

He had witnessed implementing a city’s Core Crystal before in the game. It was a lifeform that was halfway to artificial intelligence, planted like a seed with Mana poured in to make it grow. There was also another Magic Formation implemented to fortify it before pouring in the Mana.

The youth was now performing it for the first time. He took the crystal in his hand and embedded it into the Magic Formation’s center, and immediately felt it vibrating in his hand. After a quick glance, he discovered that there was a faint glow in the center that poured out like golden liquid onto the Magic Formation’s runes.

He shook his head hurriedly.

– Unknown request received. Switching to City Mode.

[Am I seeing things?]

The system in his eyes activated this mode when he was recognized as Firburh’s lord by the citizens. The windows shown by the system resembled a strategy game’s user interface, and he was able to observe the efficiency of his city.

Now there were currently two menu options, Trentheim and Loop of Trade Winds. There was a (2/3 cities) icon on the menu, though he was unsure what would happen if he had three cities. There was information on estimated harvest, specialty, population, resources, and even public safety amongst others.

There was even data from his appointed men, displaying the current leader of the task. As an example, Romaine was in charge of the financial aspects.

If the youth transferred her to another department, then he could immediately see how the financial aspects were affected. This system existed in the game, but it was far more effective since one could immediately ‘order and delegate’ the task.

In this world, the system was more like an observation system.

Windows continued to pop up and the youth’s eyes landed on Schafflund’s finances. Out of curiosity, he shifted Romaine over to a slot and saw that the income rose by 33% for the next three months. This result naturally revealed Romaine’s ability that mostly went unnoticed because of her antics.

[Even though her sense for financial management is not as keen as her business acumen…… In any case, the city has various types of income compared to the silver mines. For this reason alone, it’s far more worth for her to stay there than to go to Schafflund.]

He still decided to let Romaine continue to be the administrator for Firburh’s finances.

Brendel’s thoughts went back to the green letterings in his retina. He paused for a moment before he agreed to it.

[Allow the unknown request to link up.]

A new sub-system appeared under the City Mode, which was aptly named as Valhalla. But it was greyed out and when Brendel tried to access it, he immediately saw a notification.

– Valhalla is currently under construction. The first phase requires 132000 Mana units.

[132000 Mana units!?]

The youth felt a jolt. It was a significant amount that could not be provided by mortal means. Even Grandmaster Wizards like Tulman and William would probably be drained until they were mummies.

[Ah, no, I’m supposed to use Magic Crystals here. The weakest type is Moonstone, followed by Fire Agates. I have never tried out the Wizard class or really looked into being a professional Alchemist in the game, so I don’t know what is the conversion rate. Damn it, if the conversion rate is low, then this ‘Valhalla’ thing is really a black hole.]

The youth took out a prepared Moonstone from his Dimension Hole. The quality of the Magic Crystals in the Dark Forest was pretty good, or at least this particular crystal was far better than the ones he saw in an ordinary market. He threw rhombus-shaped onto the Magic Formation and it immediately lost its color to become something like glass, with the phenomenon happening in the blink of an eye. There was also a change in the notification in his eyes.

– Valhalla is currently under construction. The first phase requires 131900 Mana units.

[1:100.]

The youth felt relieved. If the lowest tier of Magic Crystals was 100 units of Mana, then the higher tiers would provide enough. He tossed another Fire Agate, and as expected, it exchanged for 2000 units.

With that exchange, then it would only take a few hundred crystals to fill up 130000 units. The amount of Magic Crystals mined from the rich Dark Forest was calculated in thousands. The people in the city who required these crystals were Ciel and his wizards, Bosley, and Tamar. Brendel took nearly half of the mined crystals into his own pocket, not worried about the city having an insufficient supply.

But he quickly realized he was too naive.

After throwing a few hundred Magic Crystals down on the ground, and Valhalla’s Crystal Core absorbing enough Mana for the first stage, the ground cracked open with audible sounds and large fissures. Everyone watched that Crystal Core split open and within it grew a……

Tiny sprout.

“This bloody—!”

Brendel could not help but become cross-eyed when he saw this sight. It was ridiculous that he planted the Crystal Core like a seed, but for it to really act like a seed….. After a moment, he regained his composure and knew that it was not just an ordinary plant. Several hundred Magic Crystals wasted to make an ordinary plant— No one else around him thought that.

The sprout quickly grew at an astonishing rate in a short period of time, reaching to Brendel’s height before growing even further. The latter had to look up as it continued to grow and extend upwards with branches forming. It was indeed like a divine tree guarded by the ancient Elves. In one minute, it had grown up to the point that would at least take an ordinary tree a full decade to grow.

And it showed no signs of stopping.

Everyone could see a visible concentration of Mana around the leaves, while roots sprang up all over the ground and knocked away the boulders as they grew rapidly and bunched up together.

Several minutes later, that former ‘tree sprout’ doubled in size.

It looked like an ancient tree.

“T-this is……” Orthlyss who had been sleeping recently woke up from feeling the intense agitation of Mana around her. She was at a loss for words when she saw the tree.

Brendel had shut his lips ever since he blurted out his first two words.

The tree now needed seven or eight people to hug it at its waist, but the height of the tree did not grow and was only ten meters high. At this moment, the youth gradually discovered the shape of the tree’s crown actually formed a natural courtyard.

[What the heck! Isn’t this courtyard similar to that World Tree we saw in the Loop of Trade Winds?]

He finally realized this point.