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nKnock. Knock. Knock.

n“Come in.” Hearing the deep voice on the other side of the room, Valyr inwardly let out a sigh of relief as he entered, coming face to face with the leader of the village guards once more.

nAlthough Damian had a slight frown on his face, considering that no one would knock on his office door at this hour, this frown quickly disappeared as he looked up to see who had knocked. In fact, a calm expression had replaced this frown, soon nodding in approval. “I see you’ve changed into the uniform. It fits you quite well.”

n“Thanks,” replied Valyr with a light smile.

n“I suppose you came here to ask me a few questions regarding the night patrol, right?” Damian asked after a moment of silence. Seeing Valyr nod in response to the question, he nodded back as he continued, “Well, for one, you’ll only have to patrol until it turns midnight, or once the moon reaches the zenith. After that, you could return to the barracks and head to sleep. Or if you still feel restless once you get back, do whatever the hell you want.”

n“I’ve already mentioned to you earlier that those who decide to participate in the night patrol gain more contribution points and merit points compared to those in the day patrol,” he continued. However, just as he was going to continue explaining more things about the mechanics of the night patrol, he could not help but sense that Valyr had gotten a bit stronger.

nWith that in mind, he could not help but stand up from his seat before walking around Valyr, the latter slightly confused as to what he was doing. After a bit of circling, he stopped in front of Valyr, his eyes slightly widened in surprise. “Well then. Color me surprised. It seems you’ve been busy since the last time we’ve seen each other. And that’s only been a few hours ago.”𝒐𝒱𝐥xt.𝒸𝗈𝕞

n“Yes.” Even though the man in front of him said he was surprised, Valyr could not bring himself to believe that, considering the former’s somewhat indifferent tone. “I’ve been practicing my skill with the spear after we parted ways. After that, I went outside the village to gain a bit of experience. I only came back to the village just recently, actually.”

nAs he said this, he decided to keep the fact that he had obtained Basic Spear Mastery to himself for now. After all, such a thing was already unbelievable to hear, even more so if it came from someone like him, who was only Level 1 not long ago.

nNodding in satisfaction, Damian placed his hand on Valyr’s shoulder before giving him a thumbs up. “That’s how a village guard should act, always finding time to improve themselves to protect the village far better.”

n“Though, since you mentioned that you’ve only just recently returned to the village, I’d suggest you opt out from participating in the night patrol today and take a rest,” he continued, his eyes showing a hint of concern as he looked at him. “After all, the human body can only withstand so much.”

n“Don’t worry, sir Damian. I know my limits,” said Valyr in response as he thumped his chest. However, not long after, a faint sound resounded throughout the room, telling Damian otherwise.

nRumble…

nOut of nowhere, Valyr’s stomach started to grumble, prompting an awkward smile to appear on his face. In response to that, Damian raised his eyebrow for a bit before letting out a light sigh. “Well, everyone’s responsible for their own choices, so I can’t really dissuade you if you still want to participate. Just make sure to grab something to eat before heading to the entrance.”

nAs Valyr nodded in response to his advice, Damian returned to his seat before a screen appeared in front of him. Tapping a couple of things on the screen, he then looked at Valyr, who received a notification from the system not long after as he opened up his screen.

nDing!

nYou have received a new quest.

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nNight Patrol

nDifficulty: E

nAs a guard of Astarto Village, you have been tasked by the guard leader, Damian Waters, to patrol around the village at its most precarious period, the night. Although not much happens during this time, it’s still highly advisable to remain vigilant.

nQuest Rewards: 20 contribution points (Astarto Village Guards), 10 merit points (Astarto Village Guards), 25 XP

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nWould you like to accept the quest?

nSeeing the prompt at the very bottom of his screen, Valyr quickly accepted it as he soon bade his farewell to the man before him, leaving the latter on his own not long after.

nAs for Damian, after watching Valyr’s silhouette gradually get farther from the door to his office for a while, he returned to his seat, focusing his attention back on the documents laid out on his table. As to what was going on in his mind at the moment, only he knew.

n…

nFollowing the advice given to him, Valyr made a quick detour to the barracks’ cafeteria, grabbing a light meal that made him feel full for the meantime. After that, he made his way to the entrance, noticing that three other people were already there, seemingly waiting for something.

nHearing a bunch of footsteps gradually get louder from behind them, one of the three guards at the entrance turned to look back, quickly noticing Valyr get closer. Seeing that, the man waved at Valyr as a greeting, prompting the latter to wave back, albeit sheepishly.

n“I haven’t seen your face around these parts before. You a newcomer?” the man asked, to which Valyr nodded in response. “Yeah, I just enlisted as a village guard a few hours ago.”

nJust as Valyr said those words, one of the other guards could not help but look at him with a smile. Then, placing his hands on Valyr’s shoulder, he let out a cackle. “I had a feeling Damian would accept you in a heartbeat. In any case, glad to see you again!”

n“Hmm?” Hearing a somewhat familiar voice, Valyr redirected his gaze towards the person who just talked, eliciting a light smile to appear on his face as he thanked the man before him. “Ah, glad to see you as well, Leon. Thanks for giving me the directions to Damian’s office.”

n“No problem, no problem! After all, it’s always great to have more people protecting the village,” replied Leon with a grin.

n“Anyways, I’ll save the banter for later,” he said not long after, his joyous expression instantly becoming stern. “For now, I’ll just do basic introductions since we have to start our night patrol pretty soon.”

n“This man right here is Jonas. His specialty is fighting with the longsword. Specifically, the one around his waist,” he said, placing his hand on the shoulder of a tall, lanky man with short reddish-brown hair. “As to why he’s only good with that specific longsword, no one knows.”

n“As for the one who waved at you, his name’s Louie,” Leon said not long after, placing his other hand on the shoulder of a slightly hefty man with his black hair tied up into a ponytail. “He’s actually pretty good at tracking people.”

n“And last but not least, there’s me, Leon.” Pointing at himself, he concluded with a light smile, “My specialty is taking hits. So, if you ever get yourself into a bet where one side needs to endure the most hits, I’m your man.”

n“You can introduce yourself to us later after we finish patrolling,” he said soon after, noticing that Valyr was about to open for mouth. “For now, since it’s just the four of us patrolling this time around, we’ll naturally have to split the village into four sections.”

n“Well, since you’re the newcomer, how about you patrol over the southeast section?”

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