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nHearing the deep voice on the other side of the door, Valyr inwardly nodded to himself as he swung the door open, closing it behind him soon after as he met up with Damian face-to-face once more.

n“Oh, it’s you,” Damian said, a light yet perfunctory smile adorning his face. After Valyr had agreed to help the village out in defending against the monster tide even though he hadn’t been part of the village for that long, he could not help but have a generally good impression of the man before him. “What is it that I can help you with?”

n“I was actually wondering if I could ask you for permission over something,” Valyr said in response, prompting Damian to raise his eyebrow.

n“Well then. That’s not something you’d hear on the daily,” Damian could not help but say. Looking at Valyr in the eye, he continued, “As long as the request isn’t too much of an inconvenience, I’ll give you the green light.”

n“It’s like this actually.” Listening to Damian’s response, Valyr inwardly let out a sigh of relief, relaying his request to the former. “I wanted to ask for your permission if I could head out of the village for a few days.”

n“Where would you be going, if I might ask?” asked Damian in response.

n“Klaus Village,” Valyr succinctly replied.

nAlthough Klaus Village seemed like a random place for Valyr to mention, this village was, in fact, the village that was situated closest to Mak’aroni Forest. According to the plan he had come up with last night, he would head out to Mak’aroni Forest in the morning and the afternoon to fight against monsters in a bid to gain XP. Then, once night fell, he would return to Klaus Village and take a rest there, repeating the process until he reached Level 10.

nOf course, Damian had no clue as to what was going on in Valyr’s mind, so it was no surprise that he shook his head after hearing where Valyr was planning to go. “Normally, I wouldn’t have minded even if you went out on a journey to the nearest city. However, with the threat of the monster tide looming over us, I don’t want to risk losing another person before the tide even starts.”

n“But…” Scratching his head, Valyr could not help but let out a light sigh. Even though he knew he had the ability to return to Astarto Village as soon as possible once he had reached Level 10, Valyr knew that Damian was thinking about his selfish request from the perspective of an entire village.

nAfter all, in an event like a monster tide, a missing person that had the ability to help out could very well dictate whether the village would live to see another day or have everything destroyed before their very eyes.

nWith that in mind, Valyr pondered over a few things he could say to make Damian agree to his request. Though, after pondering over it for a while, Valyr thought that the best way to get him to be straight to the point and come clean. “What if I told you I was heading to the village for a different reason?”

n“And that reason would be?” Damian asked, his expression solemn. However, after hearing Valyr’s words, this solemn expression was quickly replied with that of slight surprise.

n“Mak’aroni Forest,” Valyr told him. “Klaus Village is where I’ll be resting for the night, but my actual aim is Mak’aroni Forest located near it. I’ll be heading there to farm XP to raise my level to the peak of what a Rank 0 class can reach.”

n“Surely you don’t need to do that, right?” Damian could not help but ask in response. “After all, judging from the aura you’ve been exuding so far, you won’t need to farm a lot of XP for you to–”

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nJust as he was about to finish his sentence, only then did Damian realize the underlying meaning behind Valyr’s words. Taking in a deep breath to quell down the surprise he felt from this realization, a stern expression soon adorned his face once more as he asked Valyr, “Tell me, Valyr. What level are you at right now?”

nRaising his eyebrow in slight surprise, Valyr pondered over his answer for a bit, deciding to be somewhat vague with his response. “Around halfway to the peak of Rank 0, why do you ask?”

nHearing Valyr’s response, Damian’s eyes could not help but widen in shock. Looking at Valyr with great incredulity written all over his face, he calculated the level of power Valyr could exhibit if he did allow him to head to Mak’aroni Forest and reach Level 10. ‘If I let him go to the village, he’ll reach a level of power similar to those who have been in their Rank 1 classes for a while in terms of stats.’

n‘Hmm… on one hand, I could have him stay here and have him fight at the power of a near Rank 1 class holder. However, I could also have him head out and have him return to the village, fighting with the power of someone solidly in Rank 1.’𝐎𝐕𝑳𝐞xt.𝗇𝓔t

nAfter mulling over it for a bit, Damian eventually came to a decision, letting out a long sigh as he chose the decision that would allow them to save more people in the long run. “Alright, Valyr. You’re free to head to Klaus Village. However, you better make sure you return to this village before the monster tide arrives, you hear?”

n“I will,” said Valyr with a nod. However, since Damian wanted to make sure that Valyr did return before the monster tide came, he brought up his system in front of him before interacting with it for a bit, giving Valyr a quest that he literally could not refuse.

nDing!

nYou have received a new quest: Return to Astarto Village.

nAlthough Valyr had already given out his verbal agreement, he wasn’t surprised to see Damian issue him a quest, checking through its contents. All in all, what the quest told him was that he should return to the village in a week or less, lest he became ineligible to participate in the defense against the monster tide.

nAfter talking with Damian for a bit more regarding where he was heading, as well as the preparations the village and the village guards made for the upcoming monster tide, Valyr eventually took his leave, making his way to the dormitory sometime later.

nOnce in his room, he picked up the bag of materials he had bought last night and slung it over his shoulder, leaving the barracks soon after to head to the village clinic.

nTaking a quick look at the materials that were in the bag he carried, a light smile could not help but appear on Valyr’s face, making him wonder how shocked Damian and the others would be once he returned from Mak’aroni Forest. After all, by the time he returned, he wouldn’t just rival a Rank 1 class holder in terms of stats…

nHis stats would even rival that of a peak Rank 1 class holder.

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