"Hmm," Brand nodded, "But to be precise, it should be at the border between Tosankard Forest and Eternal Song Forest, where the Tusk Fortress is located. It’s the southern frontier of Erune."
After speaking, he silently gazed in that direction. Amidst the swirling clouds lay the vast wilderness, interspersed with the Black Forest, which presents the hardest-found treasure for explorers—any player would have a surge of ambition in front of such a scene—just like how sailors conquer the vast ocean.
"But why are we here? ... Brand, what are you doing?" The knight girl seemed puzzled, not understanding why Brand brought her alone to this desolate place. However, she saw Brand suddenly remove his cloak and jacket as he walked back toward her, causing her to jump in surprise, her armored hand instinctively clenching the hilt of her sword, nervously staring at him.
Brand stopped, looking somewhat perplexed at the future Valkyrie: "What are you thinking?"
"Why are you taking off your clothes?"
"Of course, I’m preparing to go down from here, where did you think I was going," Brand replied irritably. "Am I so untrustworthy to you? Come over and hold the clothes for me, wait here for a bit, dummy."
Frey’s face flushed red like blood, she lowered her head, seemingly wishing to find a hole in the ground to hide in. However, upon hearing Brand’s request, our Valkyrie hesitated for quite a while before undoing the various leather straps and dismounting. If she were in the academy, her dismounting speed would likely earn a negative mark in the riding skill exam. Then she used her somewhat trembling hands to take the jacket from Brand.
"... Where are you going?" she asked cautiously, holding the clothes dumbly like a clumsy maid.
"You’ll find out shortly."
Brand answered. Then she lifted her head to see him walk to the side, pulling a rope from the saddlebag and tying it to the ’Ghost Tree’. She watched as he slowly loosened the rope, walked to the edge of the cliff, and looked down, finally throwing the latter half of the rope down.
"Brand, what’s down there?" The Valkyrie stuttered, finally realizing what Brand was about to do.
Brand glanced at her direction, raised a finger to his lips to silence the girl from Buqi countryside, and then grabbed the rope with one hand, suddenly jumping downward—
"Be careful!"
Frey couldn’t help but shout softly.
But the shout seemed to stretch out in Brand’s ear, becoming more distant. The chilling wind on the cliff made him squint his eyes, and when he finally identified the scene before him, he felt the clouds beneath the precipice draw closer, creating a sense of diving toward the water.
Then, whoosh, he felt himself plunge into the mist. Brand hurriedly tightened his grip on the rope. With his Golden Rank strength, he naturally didn’t need to climb down slowly, but the last time he was here was at least ten years ago, and in the game, it had been nearly a century ago. He feared he might have remembered wrong, so he brought the rope for safety.
After all, without true Elemental Enlightenment, he couldn’t soar in the skies.
Brand focused intently on the cliff, and within seconds, a platform extending from the bushes passed through his view. He reacted swiftly, gripping the rope tightly, and it ’bam’ tautened tightly, yanking him to swing in mid-air. The rope carried a burnt smell, but Brand’s hands felt no abnormality.
Golden Rank physique, far beyond what normal humans can imagine.
He looked upward, confirming the platform’s position wasn’t too different from his memory, about ten meters higher than him. But that distance was nearly nonexistent for him. Brand lightly swung the rope to approach the cliff, then grabbed the interlocking rocks and ascended gracefully like a monkey.
The bush-covered platform was almost identical to his memory. Brand surveyed the surroundings; this rock protruding from the mountainside was approximately the size of half a basketball court. In fact, it was even broader, but dense trees and vines obscured most of the view. He carefully walked in one direction, following his memory, tearing apart the tangled, thick vines.
With a rustling sound as dirt rolled down, Brand, using little force, managed to pull aside the dead branches and leaves, revealing a conical Stone Tablet beneath. The Stone Tablet stood about his height and two widths wide, resembling Wisdom Stone Statues commonly seen in various forests, except the depiction was not of magic or Misoke, the storm weaver, but a black moon instead.
The Silent Moon, Erune’s seventh moon. Although astronomically unobservable due to being lightless, its existence is historically genuine.
Brand remained silent, systematically clearing the platform’s vines until revealing eleven similar steles. On each stele was a moon, each representing the flow of fate and the source of magic in Erune’s sky.
This place is the Hall of Destiny.
Or as players call it, the location for changing professions.
Brand had once researched these Steles; they were built by peoples even older than the Bimier people. Their construction seemed to stabilize the original Martha’s Tiamat’s Law. On the Vornede Continent, such Stele Arrays exist in many places, but all are built in extremely hidden locations.
Like the one in Tonyger, built at the fringe of Black Forest near Glahar Mountain, buried through countless ages. However, when Brand visited these places in the game, the arrays had already been cleared by players beforehand, avoiding as much time wasted today.
He examined the intricate threads on the ground at the center of the Stele Array, then lifted his gaze following them to the center of the platform. These metallic rune lines felt familiar, very similar to the Energy Transmission Array he saw underground in Valha, seemingly crafted by the same civilization.
This doubt flashed through Brand’s mind. Then he composed himself and proceeded to the platform center. Although these arrays conceal various secrets across Vornede, within the game, they serve only one function.
That is, to assign players their respective elemental awakening tasks. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)