The Amber Sword
Chapter 1: The person in the dream

“Warning: Severe hemorrhaging, Imminent death.”

“Warning: Heart function deteriorating, Imminent death.”

When Sophie woke up, his mind was still reverberating with the loud warning sounds after that dire battle. It was a sound like a saber cutting across his mind again and again, causing him to have a splitting headache. (TL: Yes, Sophie is male. Don’t look at me, that’s the author’s choice.)

That’s right, he remembered he should be in a game with his friends from ‘The godly force’ defending the Orrgesh mountainous region against the Madara’s undead army. The ashen skies were howling with the freezing winds, and uncountable shadow creatures were streaming down from the dagger-like mountain peaks. The forces were without end in sight as if they were a black tidal wave. The huge army were comprised of thousands of skeleton, and there necromancers hidden within them, as well as skeleton dragons and blood curling wraiths circling in the sky.

Surround on all fronts, they were definitely doomed.

His first reaction was to curse in his heart, that bunch of twat bastards from ‘The flaming thorns’, never mind their incompetence, they even had to dragged their allies down by allowing the enemies to surround their rear, this was fucking horseshit!

He then finally had the heart to check his status. It was a delightful surprise to find that he did not die, as the Madara army tended not to leave anyone alive. But he immediately creased his forehead. His injuries were a little too ridiculous. Not only did his heart dealt a fatal blow, he even had carrion poisoning.

Wait, carrion poisoning?

Did he not already complete the mission to gain the ‘Pristine physique’? Why would a body from the Silver descendants get affected by this low grade dark status? Bug? What the heck are you doing, devs?

He did not have too much time to question this point, the youth coughed weakly and lifted himself up from the grey dirty floor. He thought that it was a small matter to be afflicted from the weaken status, and it was enough to find a priest to get rid of it. The urgent thing is to stop the bleeding before he dies. Even though he was not an elite gamer, but he was certainly a veteran and he understood the situation just by checking things out.

Sophie groaned once and pulled off the skeleton which only had half of its body left and pinning his body. These low level soldiers were like air to him. Come to think of it, this was already the forty-fourth year into the second era, and Madara was still conjuring up these low leveled grunts. Other then wasting soul magic, they were completely useless. Just as expected the undead wizards’ brains from Ogador were affected by the negative energy and rotted away. None of them know what change is.

He even had the mood to complain, but he realized in an instant he actually had trouble pushing the skeleton away. Just as expected, the punishment from having a weakened status is nothing to sneeze at, he was able to easily push away a bone dragon during normal times.

Sophie cast his mind back to when he nearly died. When was it? It’s almost close to a few months now. ‘The godly force’ battle prowess was nothing to laugh at, if it was not for the useless bunch of people from ‘The flaming thorns’, he probably would have continued to keep his undying record.

Once he thought about this point, the youth could not help but felt waves of depression. The holy church alliance’s epic failure would certainly bring up a lively discussion on the forums.

“This bunch of Madara thieves!”

Sure, he could castigate all he wanted to, but he still needed to find a way to stop the bleeding. At this time a healing pot would be the best, and if that was not possible, a bandage would also suffice. These things should not be lacking in the battlefield. Normally the bags from grunts doing the thankless tanking were left alone. The stuff inside them are mostly healing pots and bandages, especially bandages. He even saw a noob carrying a bag full of bandages.

What a laughing riot, did he think carrying bandages was going to save him from death?

He subconsciously prepared to climb up, but as he turned his body, he was stunned.

Wait, was this the Orrgesh mountain region?

He should have seen this scenery of dystopia before his eyes: White naked spikes that jutted out from the steep slopes, littered with corpses and vultures flying all over the battlefield, the broken Grays flag with a bright cross fluttering on the hilltop. But this was not what he saw.

There was no ear-piercing northern wind blowing through the Orrgesh region, no wraiths flying across the silent shadows, not even the dry, bone-chilling air.

It was like a hallucination that he was still in Orrgesh. And when this hallucination vanished, he came to realize he was sprawling on the floors of a quiet and broken old house. The smooth wooden planks were nailed in onto the ground, and there was an eye-catching pool of bloody scarlet liquid……

He could not help but paused there, and unconsciously touched his chest. A series of penetrating pain interrupted his actions, and he yelled loudly with his teeth bared. This blood was from him, this injury was from him…..

But where was this? He felt the house was slightly familiar to him. On the first floor was the living room and kitchen, and on the second was the corridor leading to the various bedrooms. The cellar was in the basement.

Yes, this was building design in the Aouine’s southern region, and even though this house was a little old, it was not something a commoner can afford to live in. One could guess that the former owner of this house had some form of status.

Aouine’s southern region. Sophie went into a trance.

How long ago was that memory? Gesund’s mountains and the melodious flutes from Bucce’s bordering towns were like a distant dream.

But did the lands not belong to Madara now? In his memory, the Aouine kingdom had long perished, yes, it was during the third Black rose war.

“Why am I here!”

“Wait…..”

“Bucce……. Bucce….” Sophie repeated this name.

That’s right, he remembered.

His name was Brendel and born in Bruglas. His blood was half Kadireig which came from his mother, but he did not appear to be noble just because he had a noble’s blood. That was because his father was a commoner. Even though his grandfather participated in the November War and received the Candlelight Emblem, ultimately it was just a knight household that has lost its lustre.

No!

Sophie’s heart raised a series of alarms, what the hell was all these settings. No, no, he is Sophie, a Chinese citizen.

But a voice in his mind immediately told him.

“You are Sophie, and you are Brendel.”

Immediately a cold dread washed over Sophie’s spine. He held his breath as he found there was a little something extra in his memories. Brendel’s memories poured into thoughts like a tsunami, or a stranger that intruded without permission.

Sophie breaths quickened, and his pupils widened. He quickly remembered that hopeless sword swinging from that frightening skeleton. He tried to shrug off that scene, but as his memories piled up, he got mentally exhausted instead. His mind throbbed painfully and his forehead was full of perspiration.

Hah. He suddenly recalled the event of a big battle. The Grays Church knights fought a fierce battle against Madara who surrounded them and pushed them to the brink of despair. He remembered that ‘his character’ was killed by a necromancer.

After that green light swept over him, the world turned to darkness…..

That was how the game was set up. The death will persist for twelve hours, but could someone explain to him why a normal death in the game led him to here?

To this world?

His mind was a scattering mess. If there was a word to describe his current train of thought, it would be ridiculous.

Ridiculous!

He understood what happened to him. he got frigging teleported to another world!

His soul crossed over to his world onto a dead person called Brendel!

No, more accurately it should be combined into one…

Sophie grabbed onto the floor planks tightly. His fingers’ joints were a little numb. He looked at his own arms. They were a little long and there was sign of sickness from his pale skin. Even though he was prepared for it, he could not resist a jump in his heart. His skin should be a healthy yellow beige color descended from the Mongolians, and not something like this.

His heart raced as he became flabbergasted. Even though he had the entire nineteen years of the former owner’s memories, it could be said he did not know anything about what he was experiencing right now.

He could feel that the Brendel youth had in his life.

His aspirations, his desires, what he loved, what he hated.

It was like he had just been reborn and finished nineteen years of life. His everything was like Sophie’s everything, as if it was one and the same. These two very long dreams that merged with each other made him felt lost.

“I am Sophie.”

“But I am also Brendel.”

A sense of sluggish exhaustion gushed out from Sophie’s innermost heart, and covered his entire body in an instant. In the end, he gave a long sigh and calmed down slowly.

[Forget it, since things has come to thus, just let it slide.]

Sophie could not resist shaking his head, and looked at his arm:

“With this meager strength, he had the nerve to claim he was number one in swordsmanship…..” He could not help but mock himself when he thought of Brendel. Unexpectedly he felt a scintilla of relief.

[It’s fine, even if I left that world I have no regrets left behind there.]

Suddenly a flash of lightning streaked across the darkness. Sophie felt that it was the Gods above giving him another chance, and ignited hope within his heart.

That was because he recalled a particular event.

That’s right, Aouine. This was a doomed kingdom within the game, and in Brendel’s memory was the ‘Year of bustling summer leaves and flowers’. This was the 375th year of the first era, and the game history was written to the 44th year of the second era! Sophie’s body trembled when he found himself becoming like a prophet because of his memories.

Indeed, no one was more familiar with what was going to happen in this world. As one who did not accomplished anything in his past life and escaped reality by hiding in the gaming world, what was he going to do in this one to make up for it?

Sophie became dazed.

This was the ‘Year of the bustling summer leaves and flowers’, and the opening year of the First Black Rose war. In that war Aouine was completely decimated, but that was also the era where a new renaissance happened.

And he was also one who experienced it first hand. He remembered that his first choice was also Aouine when he first played this game. He was a complete newbie who grew in such a war.

The curtains were raised thanks to the start of this war and accompanied by Aouine’s one sided defeat. The situation was only reversed only when the Bruglas army arrived. Sophie’s memory of that dire battle was deeply engraved. He had also followed the forces, and the survivors were less than one out of ten.

He was no more than a common person, be it the past life or this life.

Brendel’s skills with the swords are literally pointless. The sudden assault from Madara was something out from a classical textbook. Swift, merciless and silent, and when this ancient kingdom reacted from it, the entire army within this region had received a cataclysm.

And on this day, Brendel must have encountered the Madara’s scouts. Sophie suddenly felt an alarming chill climbing his spine again.

He could only display his ambition after surviving.

He immediately comprehended that he needed to save himself by finding something to stop the bleeding. The youth struggled towards the empty side corridor. As he examined the design of this house, it resonated with his imagination. He was well acquainted with the building design precisely because he had the most unforgettable time spent here.

“Aouine, here I come again—” Sophie whispered softly in spite of himself.

TL: Kind of a speed translation, I guess. I just wanted to get it out there this was the main protagonist and not CH 0’s trolling (kind of). I’ll fix any mistakes later.