Chapter 157 (1/2)

Chapter 157: His Fame Will Spread Throughout the Firuman Continent

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Overall, the atmosphere during dinner in the Morani Castle on the second day of Link’s return was quite pleasant.

After the meal, Link went back to studying the Scroll of Enlightenment in the privacy of his room and even managed to use the materials he had brought with him from the academy to create a rechargeable defensive spell magic ring. This ring would allow the insertion of the same spell into the ring even after it had been used.

And so, the night passed with Link spending his time in solitude and hard at work.

By nine in the morning the next day, the funeral for the old Viscount went on as planned. His body was then put to rest under the ground around noon while the priest chanted holy readings. And thus, the whole matter was settled.

Soon, the carriage from the East Cove Magic Academy was ready as well. Luckily the coachman was a perceptive man who went into hiding the moment he felt there was something awry last night, and so he survived the Dark Elves’ attack unscathed.

Before they set out, Lilith and Molly went to their rooms to pack up their things while Wharton and Clyde stood in the courtyard to bid farewell to their brother. As they were waiting for Link’s mother and sister, Link handed the ring he created last night to Clyde as a parting gift.

“I’ve just made this defensive magic ring for you,” Link told his brother. “Wear it on your left forefinger. When you want to use the spell, just firmly press the surface of the ring with your thumb and you’ll be good to go.”

The ring was made with Mithril and it looked outwardly plain even though its inner workings were complex and intricate. Link had produced it with the utmost care to ensure that it was of the highest quality that he could manage, though he didn’t want to make it look too expensive to avoid attracting petty jealousies from the other knights which might cause his brother trouble.

Clyde beamed at the mention of a magic gear. He put on the ring and thought it felt just right – it was neither too tight nor too loose, while the ring itself was not too big and fancy that it might lure any unwanted looks.

“Try the spell,” said Link.

Clyde then went on to press his thumb on the surface of the ring and immediately a shroud of faint aura enveloped his body. It was the defensive spell that Link had added his own Supreme Magical Skill modifications – the Edelweiss.

Level-4 Edelweiss was a bit too complicated to be fixed into the ring, so Link was forced to use the Level-3 version of the spell. Once he was sure that Clyde knew how to release the spell properly, Link then waved his wand over the ring and recharged the ring with his Mana, while at the same time explaining the spell to his brother.

“This is a defensive magic ring,” he told Clyde, “and it will protect you from any attack that is Level-3 and below, whether it’s a magic spell or the blade of a sword. It can also decrease the power of Level-4 attacks to some degree. You can use the spell five times. After that, just find a Magician who accompanied the army and tell them to direct their Mana into it and it’ll be just as good as new.”

Clyde knew instantly from Link’s explanation that this ring could mean the difference between life and death for him in a battlefield. He was sure that the ring must be worth more than a thousand gold coins. Clyde was immensely grateful to his little brother, yet he just couldn’t find the right words to say. In the end he just stayed silent and vowed to himself that he must now work hard and become an outstanding knight in the army so he wouldn’t let his brother down!

Meanwhile, Wharton was watching his two brothers on the side. His eyes were green with envy for the ring on Clyde’s finger, but he knew that he mustn’t expect Link to show the same courtesy to him as he had treated him poorly in the past.

To his surprise though, Link suddenly walked up to him and handed him another Mithril ring that looked identical to Clyde’s.

“Regardless of what had happened in the past, you are still our eldest brother,” said Link. “This ring is just like the one I gave Clyde. Use your thumb to activate it. You can use it five times as well. I won’t bother to explain the rest.” Link had no intention of pleasing Wharton with the gift, he merely wanted to make sure that Wharton would have no cause of jealousy or displeasure, which might in the end bring trouble to Link in the future.

Wharton stood there motionless and unsure of how to respond. He wanted the ring more than anything else, yet he feared that Link might be playing some kind of a magic trick on him, so he hesitated to reach out his hand and take the ring.

“What are you waiting for? Just take it!” said Clyde, annoyed at Wharton’s distrust of his own flesh and blood.

Wharton finally came to his senses. He reached for the ring and clutched it in his hand tightly, afraid that Link might try to take it back.

Link had no time to entertain Wharton’s behavior so he turned his back from his brother the second he took the ring and walked away without saying another word.

Wharton noticed Link’s cold manners and suddenly felt embarrassed of his own narrow-mindedness.

“Have I really been that cruel to you in the past?” Wharton suddenly asked.

Just then, snowflakes started to fall from the sky. The bitingly cold, winter breeze whistled across the courtyard and the cold pierced through the skin like little blades of knives. Lilith and Molly were both ready now and had reached the entrance of the castle’s great hall with their luggage. As they came out, a gust of wind blew against them, causing both of them to shiver like leaves.

Link looked over and noticed that while the clothes his mother and Molly were wearing looked quite thick, they were made of cotton from the South which couldn’t protect them from the cold in the least.

Such clothes couldn’t be worth much more than five or six silver coins. Even merchant families with a little more affluence in the River Cove Town wore better clothes than that. Come to think of it, even the coachman’s livery was made of much better materials than his mother and sister’s clothes, yet they were the Viscount’s wife and daughter!

Obviously, this was another one of Wharton’s doing.

Link turned to Wharton with a frown. He really couldn’t be bothered to say anything more to him now. Forget it, he thought. Mother and Molly won’t be coming back to this oppressive castle again anyway. Once we reach River Cove Town, I’ll just buy them the nicest and thickest clothes I can find. It won’t cost me more than 100 gold coins.

Wharton felt Link’s sharp gaze and moved his lips as if to say something, yet the normally loquacious Wharton suddenly found himself tongue-tied and unable to find the right words to say. For the first time in his life, he felt so ashamed of himself that he wished he could burrow a hole in the ground and hide in it.