White City Vanguard, Holy Song, Group Charge, Encourage, Cavalry Preparation, Heavenly Armament—six cards fell one after another into Brand’s hand and stacked into a deck. With a single motion of his hand, all the cards dissolved into countless white Secret Characters and Law Threads that merged into his chest.
Tu Men saw this scene and could not help asking, "Isn’t six cards a bit too few for a standalone deck?"
Brand smiled with full confidence, then shook his head.
"Interesting, I more or less understand what you’re thinking." The Elemental Emperor from the Saint War Era pondered for a moment, then reacted: "You intend to incorporate the abilities of every Profession in this World into your deck, uniting them as one, using Destiny Cards to simulate utterly different Power Systems. A fine idea! But on the Vornede Continent the variety of Professions is immense—can you truly reenact them all with cards?"
"Of course I can." Brand had naturally long since considered these questions; he answered with confidence: "The Vorn World has gone through thousands, even tens of thousands of years of history; the Professions that evolved from it number in the thousands. Even different inheritances within different organizations can develop into two completely distinct Professions. For example, the Wind Elf’s Star Knight and Steel Scale both descend from the Star Inheritance, yet the Skills they command are utterly different."
"However—" he shifted the direction of his words: "No matter how things change, they never depart from their origin. Traced back to the root, the Power Systems on the Vornede Continent can, in fact, be divided into no more than twelve. Among them, the combat professions that pursue the limits of martial technique and excavate their own potential can be split into two: those who take Strength as their origin—warrior, mercenary, Swordsman, even Noble Knight can all be placed here. Standing on the other side of the scale are the archer and assassin, who pursue lightness and agility; in addition there are those Wizards who probe the mysteries of the Law—Law Mage, String Mage, Rune Mage all fall into this category; and then there are the Elemental Mages who rule the Elements—Elemental Mage, a Profession you, Great Emperor, must be quite familiar with."
"Next come those who wield Chaos and Dark Magic Power—the Magician, witch, Necromancer and Chaos Cultist are the outstanding among them. After that is the Strength that maintains Nature’s balance; though the Druid and Shepherd Tree Man are mortal enemies, they both sprang from this source. Then there are the favorites of the Twin Goddesses Alice and Yi Lian, those who interpret Destiny—the Astrologer is the representative among them."
Listening to Brand interpret the Professions in this way, Tu Men’s eyes could not help but brighten slightly. In a thousand years, this was the first time he had ever heard anyone divide the continent’s Power Systems like this. The more he listened, the more he felt Brand’s words were utterly reasonable. Not only this Elemental Emperor, even Saint Ausor beside him could not help falling into a momentary trance as he listened.
It was said that in an age long past, when Babel Fortress had yet to fall and the Great Library still preserved intact the materials from the era of the Divine People, people did indeed divide the Strength in the World into several systems. But after the catastrophe, all knowledge was lost and scattered into Fragments; naturally, no one knew what had become of those precious documents.
Tu Men listened closely to Brand’s explanation and increasingly felt that this might be the truth of that time. He could not help narrowing his eyes, unable to understand why this young man before him could see the essence of Strength so clearly.
Of course, this Elemental Emperor perhaps did not know that what Brand was actually reciting was the very same introduction to the Strength in Amber Sword that had once appeared on the official website. If anyone was unfamiliar with this introduction, it could only be someone who had never played this game.
Brand continued, "Yet aside from the Strength of Nature and the Law, and apart from the Magic Power of Chaos, the Tiamat Laws also promised mankind sacred Strength. The secular Hillma pantheon holds the Power of Creation; the Priests of the Flame Temple and the Priests of the Wind Queen Temple revere this pantheon, and thus command the Strength of Healing. The proud Ainka pantheon holds the Doomsday Sword; Thunder and Holy Flame are both its Authority, and the Knights of the Holy Hall follow the path of arbitration and Judgement."
"Then there is the Power of the Soul. Power of the Soul is born from spirit, language, and sound. Though the Bard and Spirit Mage are rare, they are by no means mere legend. In addition, Magic Technology extended from Magic Power has given rise to the Alchemist and Mechanic."
"Besides these, there is one rather special Power System," Brand suddenly said.
"Oh?" Before Tu Men could speak, the Wind Queen could not help but voice her curiosity. Yet she seemed to feel a bit embarrassed at once and gave a cold snort.
Brand had lived day and night alongside this Elf Sister for a long time; how could he not understand what was in her mind? He hurriedly explained, "Calling this Power System ’special’ isn’t to say that it is weaker. One should rather say that it once existed, or that it exists only in Fantasy."