“…So? What did he send?” By the time the two of them had returned to the village proper, the screen in front of Tristan’s field of vision disappeared, prompting Damian to go ahead and ask his friend about the conversation he and Valyr had.

“He didn’t forget.” In response to the question, Tristan looked back at Damian before beaming a smile at the man, causing the gears in the latter’s mind to turn for a bit before beaming a smile as well. “He asked me when the monster tide would appear, so I told him that it would appear a few days from now.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t forgotten about it,” said Damian in response as the two of them made their way to the village inn to get some brunch. “But don’t you think it would be inconvenient for him? After all, he might be at some place that’s far away from the village.”

“That may be true…” As these words came out of his mouth, Tristan nodded in agreement. Though, as time passed, a grin gradually crept up onto his lips. “But aren’t you curious how strong Valyr has gotten since the last time we’ve seen him?”

“…” In response, Damian remained silent as the two continued to walk to the inn, with Tristan grinning all the while. Eventually, just as they were about to enter the inn, Damian looked at the man beside him before briefly scratching his head in slight frustration.𝞸𝐕𝑳xt.𝕔𝐎𝓂

“Why the hell did you have to make me think about it? Now I can’t help but be curious.” Hearing Damian complain under his breath, Tristan let out a soft chuckle as the two of them placed their orders.

“Of course, all this curiosity would be useless if he didn’t come.” Taking in a few deep breaths after they sat down, Damian was able to return his emotions to the way it was before. “Did he tell you that he’d return to the village before the tide erupts?”

“Pretty sure you already know the answer to that since you saw me chat with him for a bit.” In response, a relaxed smile adorned Tristan’s face as he opened his mouth.

“Naturally, the answer is yes.”

…

Algerie Kingdom.

“Thank goodness they haven’t started yet.” Closing up the screen in front of him, Valyr inwardly let out a long sigh of relief after getting a message from Tristan that the monster tide still hadn’t erupted yet. With that, it did not take long for him to sort out his thoughts and affirm to himself that he was going to head to the village to keep his promise.

Though, as he thought about the amount of time it would take for him to reach Astarto Village, Valyr eventually frowned. “I took around half a week to go from the village to Clossbay City on carriage. Then, it took around the same time for Wells and I to reach Algerie Kingdom from Clossbay City.”

“In short, if I head out right now and go on carriage, I would only be able to arrive at the village around a week for now.” Slightly scratching his head as he mulled over the situation, Valyr thought out loud. “Even if I remove a day from the travel time if I don’t stop by Clossbay City along the way, the monster tide would long be over by the time I get there.”

“I think I’ll have to ask Braum and the others about this.” Making up his mind on what he was going to do, Valyr stood up from the floor before proceeding to do a bit of light stretching, alleviating the slight pain he felt after sitting cross-legged for too long. After that, he made his way to the bathrooms, checking in on Wells along the way, only to see that the man had activated Technique Introspection once more.

Once he was finished showering and changed into a fresh set of clothes, he stopped by where Wells was sitting cross-legged before posing a question to the man, knowing that he could hear him. “I’m heading back to Astarto sometime around tomorrow to help them defend against the monster tide. Wanna tag along with me?”

In response to the question, Wells gradually opened his eyes before contemplating over the suggestion in silence for a bit. Eventually, a slightly apologetic smile appeared on his face. “Is it fine with you if I don’t come along? I’m actually close to evolving my main spear skill to the next grade.”

“No worries.” Valyr nodded in response, not minding Wells’ refusal at all. “I just thought it would be rude of me to not offer you the chance of heading back to the village in the first place. In any case, tell me more about your upgraded skill once I get back, okay?”

“I appreciate the gesture, and I will.” Nodding back, Wells took in a few deep breaths before returning to his introspective state, the apologetic smile on his face eventually disappearing around a minute into closing his eyes.

“Guess I’ll be doing this all on my own.” Muttering these words to himself, Valyr turned around and made his way to the door, activating the chat function to send a message to Braum that he was going to meet up with him at the Imperial Production Guild’s entrance. Obtaining a response from the latter that he’ll be waiting for him, Valyr went ahead and activated Enhanced Polymorph before proceeding to head to where he and Braum would meet up.

…

“Hey, Braum. It’s me.” Waving at the man dressed in dull gray armor waiting by the entrance of the Imperial Production Guild, Valyr moved closer to the man before briefly deactivating Enhanced Polymorph, allowing the man in front of him to recognize who he was.

“You’ve grown stronger.” Nodding back in response, Braum was about to greet Valyr, only for him to notice that the aura Valyr was exuding had become significantly stronger. With that, the man pondered over multiple possibilities as to how Valyr’s aura could improve in just a day, eventually coming up with the possibility that seemed to be the most likely case. “Ascended?”

“Also finally got a subclass.” In response, Valyr nodded, to which Braum congratulated him on achieving both. “Anyways, I’ve got a couple of things to talk to you with. But before I go over those…”

“Were you able to procure the items I asked for yesterday?” As this question escaped Valyr’s mouth, Braum went silent for a bit. Eventually, the man nodded before giving Valyr a confident smile.

“Fortunately, I was able to do so.”

“Follow me.”