But Otin's response was simple. After the charge that day, everyone who accompanied him experienced life and death, and each of them had such an insight—as if the banner of the former king was once again fluttering on the battlefield. However, the banner of Erune hadn't shone for too long, so much so that after the great battle that day, all the Eruein almost cried silently, not out of the fear of surviving a disaster, but because of regret.

Shame towards the ancestors, regret, and remorse for the lost glory.

Otin hadn't had such a pursuit full of youthful passion for many years. He didn't know who could pick up the holy white banner of Former King Ai Ke. He once placed his hopes on the Kerkova Royal Family, but that day, he saw something different in Brand and those fighting alongside this young man.

This kind of quality was something that Deceitful Fox Marko and Bujia had once seen in the Southern Territory, a kind of vow that seemed to be engraved on the Lion Heart Sword, which is the true faith of Erune.

"I only ask you to promise to always stand on the side of Erune, always stand on the side of Former King Ai Ke and his descendants."

Leaving these words, Otin and Count Roborun departed. Brand nodded, earning him the first agreement from the domestic nobles of Erune, an agreement that tied him to the same chariot of history.

Now, everything is back to the starting point.

The preparations for war by the alliance of humans and elves continued day by day—

Brand originally planned to complete all the work within half a month, but messages from within the territory gradually confirmed that Madara was getting involved, and multiple pieces of evidence pointed to those Bone Skeleton Commanders likely being the deputy of Instarlon—the One-eyed Dragon Tagus. This was absolutely the worst news. At this moment, Madara was practically a sharp sword hanging over Brand's head, forcing him to advance the timeline to one week. One week later, the army must set out.

Of course, during this week, Brand himself was not idle either. His primary task was to upgrade and enhance his own strength. The best way now was naturally to extract experience from the remnants of the Book of Mavikart, a veritable treasure trove for him. Back when he was merely at the center of the Trade Wind Ring, he extracted just a trace and gained twenty or thirty thousand experience, while it only took a little over 130,000 experience to advance from Level 27 Mercenary to Level 28 Mercenary.

Naturally, while Veronica was still around, Brand did not dare to easily display such abilities in front of her. Although the Female War God of the Cruz people held him in high regard, the Cruz Empire was after all a potential enemy. Besides, having such a person by your side constantly gaining strength every second would surely arouse suspicion.

After Veronica left, Brand was eager to return to the Green Tower, and for the moment had no time to deal with this precious legacy left by Anman. It wasn't until the elf and human alliance was formed and the druids' cities began to operate at full capacity that he found the time.

Brand had Queniel specially prepare a quiet room for him, then took out the remnants of the Book of Mavikart and began to make contact. However, although he was mentally prepared, after just two minutes, the 130,000 experience required to level up from Level 27 to Level 28 was finished. When the 'System Prompt' sounded, the speed of leveling up even startled Brand himself; it was faster than taking a rocket, eerily unreal.

He forcibly suppressed the excitement and shock in his heart. Watching the experience bar soar was truly an amazing feeling, almost making Brand want to leap up and dance. However, after experiencing so many things, he maintained his basic calmness, took a deep breath, and continued to channel the guiding power into his own rules. Five minutes later, he gained 170,000 experience.

The Mercenary Level increased to Level 29. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Ten minutes later, 220,000 experience, the Mercenary Level increased to Level 30. Leveling up three levels in half an hour seemed dreamlike and somewhat unrealistic. Brand took a look at the black glow in his hand, and even after consuming nearly 500,000 experience, it had hardly reduced in size, suggesting that the power of the remnants of the Book of Mavikart might be greater than he imagined, causing Brand to tremble slightly once again.

After reaching Mercenary Level 30, Brand did not rush to proceed further, instead heading to the centaur's warrior district to consult with the warrior master there about combat skills. Naturally, he wasn't going there for idle chat, but because when a pure profession reaches Level 30, he can learn a relevant core skill. Professional exclusive skills can be honed to Master Level using Skill Experience, but core skills of a profession must require a certain degree of proficiency in a profession before they can be learned. This proficiency is generally at Level 30, 40, and 60, and beyond Level 60 is another concept, involving the series of quests related to the Element and Perfect Body, which Brand temporally set aside from consideration.

Brand had visited the Green Tower before and was familiar with the Green Tower after the Wolf Calamity. Sure enough, he found the warrior master named Zong Ti in the centaur's warrior district. Zong Ti, from the outside, looked no different from a typical centaur, but the truth was that he had half devilish blood from the River of Scorching flowing through him. Among the warrior master NPCs scattered across Vorn, he was not particularly outstanding, but Brand clearly knew that the combat skills he taught included two very powerful skills.

The first is called Puncture Strike, which can be said to be one of the warrior's strongest skills among low-level skills, even surpassing some intermediate skills, and also has a chance to deal double damage with a critical hit, making it one of the core skills of an early-stage warrior.

The second skill is even more bizarre. In fact, this skill can only be used once and won't be added to the skill list. Called Bloodline Awakening, it's one of the demons' Talent Abilities, which, when applied to players, simply means resetting Skill Experience, or what's commonly known as point reset.

In fact, this was also the only opportunity for players to reset points before they could obtain Meditation Incense early in the game.

...

(PS: Some classmates asked about Head Wolf Aisis, of course, Aisis is not gone yet, and the Demigod's Slumber is not that easy to awake from. Head Wolf Aisis is a main quest in the past game experience, and the final boss of the Wolf Calamity (worldwide); it will be mentioned later.

Additionally, someone asked about the update resumption. Actually, resumption is inevitable; for me, it's just a bottleneck issue. Specifically, I will talk about it with everyone when I have time. In short, I have thought it through now, and it can be said I've achieved a breakthrough.) (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)