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nOnce he had finished going through his daily morning routine, Valyr made his way to the cafeteria and ate a bit of light breakfast. After that, he made his way to Damian’s office, the thoughts he had come up with last night lingering in his mind.

n“Come in.” Hearing the ever familiar voice on the other side after knocking on the door, Valyr let himself into the room, with Damian watching him enter as he seemed to be doing nothing for the day. “So, what brings you here, Valyr? Does it have something to do with the Reinforcement Elixir?”

nIn response to the question, Valyr shook his head. Nevertheless, it did make him think of the progress the two had made regarding the elixirs since he had introduced them to him.

nFor one, both Tristan and Damian had already ingested one vial each of the two elixir types, with the notifications they received supporting the claim Valyr made back then. With this renewed confidence, they asked Vera if she could concoct more of the Basic Reinforcement Elixirs, to which she replied that they would have to pay for her time.

nThough her response was a far contrast to how she responded to Valyr’s request back then, Tristan and Damian did not mind forking up the cost since she was the only one among them who had the skills and the knowledge to concoct the elixirs. When Valyr and Tristan met up yesterday thanks to the former’s forging spree, Valyr was updated on the progress of the two regarding the elixirs, being told that they were already about halfway to obtaining the passive skill.𝒐𝒱𝑙xt.𝑐𝚘𝓂

nRealizing that his train of thought had meandered off to another path as he stared out into nothingness, Valyr lightly coughed as he looked back at Tristan, recalling all of the thoughts he pondered over last night. With that, he went ahead and told Damian the thought that needed the latter’s help the most. “I actually came to here to ask if it was possible to get a skill from the contribution point shop from you?”

nIgnoring the fact that Valyr seemingly blanked out for a minute or so, Damian nodded in response to the question. “Considering that you headed straight to me, I presume it’s a skill that needs you to be at the Guard Leader rank to be able to buy it, right?”

nSeeing Valyr nod at his question, he nodded back before opening up a screen before him, perusing through the list of skills in the contribution point shop. “Well, in comparison to what you’re doing for the village’s future with the knowledge of the Reinforcement Elixirs, helping you get a skill from the shop is only a drop in the bucket.”

n“But of course, for the sake of fairness, you’ll have to fork up the points needed to buy it. All I’m doing is helping you bypass the prerequisite,” he soon added, to which Valyr nodded in agreement. “So, what skill are you planning to get?”

n“The Serpent Steps Movement Style,” Valyr said in response, recalling making up his mind on getting this skill last night. With how his current combat style and the movement style he was going to get both had the same first word, one might be inclined to think that the two skills were connected somehow.

nWell, if one were to think that way, then they would be correct.

nIn fact, Valyr could vividly remember that the Serpent Spear Combat Style would only show its true colors when used in tandem with the Serpent Steps Movement Style, allowing the user to not only move like a serpent, but attack like a serpent at all. With the two skills working together, its might was comparable to most Uncommon grade combat styles, and even a couple Uncommon grade combat styles.

nThe might the two had together was the reason why Valyr had chosen to obtain the skills in his past life, with the subclass that was related to it being a bonus. Then again, the fact that the skills had a set upgrade path was also a bonus.

nHearing Valyr’s choice, Damian asked him one more time if he was certain of his choice before nodding. After that, while interacting with the screen before him, he told Valyr to give him the contribution points needed to buy the skill. Of course, with most of the contribution points Valyr got as a reward from the monster tide, he had more than enough to cover the cost of the skill, prompting a notification to appear on a screen in front of him not long after.

nDing!

n,c You have gained the active skill ‘Serpent Steps Movement Style’.

n“Did you get the movement style because you have the accompanying combat style?” Closing up the screen before him, Damian looked at Valyr and asked this question. In response, Valyr lightly nodded as he closed the screen in front of him as well.

n“Well, it’s definitely a good combination to have, that’s for sure.” Seeing Valyr nod at his question, Damian took it as a cue to continue talking. “Then again, I do find it peculiar that you’ve only decided to grab the movement style now and not back then, even though you also had enough contribution points to buy it back then.”

n“In fact, I think I wouldn’t have minded giving it to you as a gift after the monster tide if you asked.” With this thought in mind, he looked at Valyr with slightly narrowed eyes, finding the thought suspicious, yet at the same time feeling as if there was something more to it.

nFeeling as if Damian wouldn’t let the matter pass that easily, Valyr bitterly smiled in response, deciding to be completely honest about it. “Well… it completely slipped past my mind at the time.”

n“Then again, if I did think of getting the movement style back then, I still wouldn’t have gotten it since I didn’t want to abuse your kindness,” he continued. “Plus, I think I would stand out too much if I got two Special Skills while I was still Rank 0.”

nListening to Valyr’s words, Damian could not help but be confused by the former’s final statement. Nevertheless, he more or less understood where he was coming from, though that came at a cost of slight mental gymnastics. Nodding sometime later, he then focused his attention on Valyr once more, noticing that the latter didn’t seem to have any intentions of leaving the office just yet. “Is there something else you want to tell me?”

n“There is.” Valyr nodded. “I’m heading to Clossbay City for a while to do some things. Just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

n“The heads-up is always appreciated.” Damian nodded back before telling Valyr that he was free to take as much time as he wanted. In response to that, Valyr asked him if it was possible for him to inform Tristan of what he had told him, eliciting a light chuckle to escape Damian’s mouth as he nodded soon after.

nWith that, Valyr thanked Damian and turned around to leave the office. Though, just as he was about to do so, a thought popped up in Damian’s mind as he recalled something that had something to do with Clossbay City, prompting him to stop Valyr from heading out any further. “Ah, wait just a second, Valyr. I just remembered something.”

n“You’re heading to Clossbay City, right?” Damian asked for clarification, to which Valyr nodded in response with a hint of puzzlement. Seeing the latter nod, he then opened up his screen and interacted with it a bit as a notification appeared in Valyr’s mind soon after. “Since that’s the case…”

nDing!

nYou have obtained the three star mission: The Clossbay Killer.

nWould you like to accept the mission?

n“…could you do this mission for me?”

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