Amber Sword

Tai Si was taken aback. He instinctively flicked his sword to deflect the giant axe—the burst of wind from the sword sent the shattered wall fragments flying backward. However, he still gasped involuntarily, "Executioner!"

The massive skeleton did not hold back just because he was a core member of the All Things Return to One. With its burning eye sockets, the first thing it saw was Tai Si's thin sword intercepting its giant axe. The Soul Fire flickered slightly, and its right claw immediately stabbed forward, aiming directly at the ribs of the Erune nobleman.

If that strike were to land, a normal person's upper body would probably explode. But Tai Si calmly extended his left hand to block the Crusader Executioner's attack. His movement was not large, but under his grip, the right claw of the giant skeleton could not advance an inch.

"Capture that young man!" The Crusader Executioner was notoriously fierce. Even with his newly attained Gold Level swordsmanship, Tai Si dared not underestimate its Silver Middle power. Therefore, he could only give orders to his followers in a low voice, instructing them to stop Brand.

Unfortunately for him, Brand was far more cunning than he imagined. In fact, as Brand rolled forward, he had already anticipated the Crusader Executioner clashing with the massive skeleton. And before the skeleton could attack, Brand had already escaped, heading towards the room outside where the Elemental Inspiration Scroll was.

Provided the Wind Spirit Spider did not find the wrong location.

With a 'bang,' Brand crashed through the door. The first thing he saw on the table was a set of Mana Potions—he easily recognized them because they were made by him and Tama together. These were the Mana Potions he had sold to the auction house, sending a chill through his heart.

Still, the wrong place.

But then he noticed the box on the nearby chair. The young man's breath quickened slightly as he spotted a familiar yellow parchment quietly resting inside the box.

This was it, the scroll that might save his life. If he could activate Second-level Power through the 'Holy Sword' card, even temporarily, Brand had confidence in not falling behind against Gold Level power. At the very least—escaping wouldn't be a problem. He quickly grabbed the scroll, bit his finger, and smeared his blood on the center of the scroll.

The completion of an Element Contract was so simple.

The scroll glowed faintly and then began to burn from the edges. This was no ordinary fire but Elemental Fire from the domain of Fire Essence—the Barbator Abyss, also known as the Fire of Contract. In Vorn, both angels of the Heavenly Realm and devils of the underworld used Elemental Fire to inscribe contract marks. This tradition dates back to the world's early days, starting with the first contract between Martha and the Fire Elf King. However, even in human merchant societies, the tradition has been discouraged throughout history, though some still imprint contracts on parchment due to its influence.

As the Fire Contract was established, the same pattern appeared on the back of Brand's hand, known as the Elemental Mark, the symbol of an Elemental Mage.

Brand carefully examined his Elemental Mark, realizing it was the most common Fire Pattern of Erune. He couldn't help but feel a bit wistful; he had hoped for something more special. Not to mention the Six Elements Sacred Mark of Tu Men, but even a three-element or four-element pattern would have been better. Being a single-element Elemental Mage was the least promising path.

Fortunately, he wasn't aiming to become an Elemental Mage.

The usual notification of contract completion projected onto his retina, a faint line of green text. Then his Element Pool formed, with six slots for each element and seven for fire, but no Light and Dark Element Pools. Seeing this, Brand confirmed once again that this body had no potential for becoming an Elemental Mage.

Player Elemental Mages had seventeen slots for each element and a complete Light and Dark Element Pool. Even so, they were only considered suitable for becoming Revealers.

Of course, that was still far better than Brand's situation.

If one had to describe Brand's predicament, he was the kind of ordinary person least suited to becoming a Wizard or Elemental Mage, who stumbled upon an Elemental Inspiration Scroll. Brand remembered that casting a Flame Arrow required three fire element slots, meaning if he were an Elemental Mage—his Element Pool would only suffice for casting subordinate spells twice a week. (Subordinate spells are those outside the Twelve Ring System, such as Char's Magic Arrow).

Though he had no interest in becoming an Elemental Mage, the awkward Element Pool still left him somewhat amused and exasperated.

He coughed, suddenly hearing footsteps outside the door. Unsure if it was the young man with Golden Power, a tight feeling gripped his heart, and he instinctively reached for the Mana Potions on the table. But this time he grabbed nothing but air. No sooner had he extended his hand than he realized he was no longer in that auction house.

He discovered himself in an endless expanse of darkness—

Room, table, Mana Potions, and everything that should have been there disappeared, leaving only the vast, unknown darkness. No, Brand suddenly remembered he had seen such darkness in the game—when he died. A chill ran down his spine. Could he be dead?

But this wasn't a game—

So what was this?

He couldn't help but look around, first suspecting he had fallen for an illusion technique. But even considering how unnecessary that would be, he had never heard of an illusion this all-encompassing. Unless it directly influenced the mind, but such an illusion would trigger his Unyielding Talent, and he wouldn't be entirely unaware.

But in the next moment, Brand froze.

He saw a young man with long black hair and hauntingly red eyes emerge from the darkness. The young man looked at him with a faint smile, his delicate hand, like a woman's, gently brushing the silver robe he wore. Then he said with a smile, "You seem quite confused?"

Brand recognized the young man's robe, an Elemental Master Robe, though he was surprised by the four interwoven blood-red patterns on its sleeves. High-level Elemental Mages skilled in using Twelve-Circle Magic were known as Elf Masters, emissaries of the Elf King. A single pattern adorned an Elemental Master Robe—

Two patterns belonged to a Great Master from the Elemental Throne.

Three patterns identified those considered sages.

But what did four patterns signify?

Brand could think of only one name, Elemental Emperor Tumon. This young man did match the myths describing the Miner people—black hair, blood-red eyes, followers of the Dark Dragon. Yet after hesitating for a long while, Brand dared not confirm if this young man was indeed that legendary figure; Tumon had been said to be dead for thousands of years, right?

But the young man seemed to sense the confusion within Brand and nodded with a smile, "I am indeed Tumon."

"You are Tumon?" Brand was so surprised he momentarily forgot his predicament, "How can you be here?"

"That is not important, Brand," Tumon replied. "My previous contractor passed away nearly three hundred years ago, and the last person to carry these cards did not want to abandon his path of the knight. I didn't expect that just a few decades later, there would be a new successor."

He paused and then smiled, "What I mean is, would you be willing to stop for a moment and listen to the story of the Travel Mage?"

"Travel Mage?"

Brand was slightly taken aback.

...(To be continued, for more, please log on to www.qidian.com, support the author, support legitimate reading!)