Letting out a yowl of pain all of a sudden, Valyr swiftly fell to the ground as he released his grip over the metal spear, writhing and contorting in many different ways to try and alleviate the pain. As for Noel, he looked at the sight before him with a blank expression for a bit as his mind was still in the process of understanding what was happening.

Fortunately, it did not take long for Noel to realize what was going on, thinking to himself that something related to the innate skill had triggered within Valyr, which prompted him to take out a small pill from his spatial bracelet. “Here, drink this pain alleviation medicine.”

“Aaaagggh…” Even though the young man still continued to writhe on the ground in pain, Valyr tried his hardest to control his body, grabbing the pill of pain alleviation medicine from Noel’s hands before proceeding to ingest it. Surprisingly, at the very moment he had done so, the pain he felt all over his body gradually subsided, slowly allowing Valyr to take in a few deep breaths to compose himself.

However…

“AAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!” As if it was an act of retaliation to the pain alleviation medicine he had ingested, the wave of pain Valyr felt slammed harder than ever before, causing his body to writhe and contort in more exaggerated positions than earlier.

“But I’m sure I gave him pain alleviation medicine…” Now feeling worried for Valyr’s safety, Noel took a look at his spatial bracelet to see if he had indeed grabbed a pill of pain alleviation medicine, to which it did not take long for him to confirm. Closing his spatial bracelet as he wondered whether or not to give him a stronger dosage of the medicine, Noel’s eyes were quickly attracted by something on Valyr’s body.

Something glowing.

Though it was only faint, Noel noticed that Valyr’s back started to glow a faint crimson all of a sudden, prompting him to try and take off the chestplate the young man was wearing, hoping to see if it would alleviate the pain Valyr was experiencing, as well as find out where the glow was coming from.

‘This…’ By the time the old man had taken off Valyr’s chestplate and moved it to the side, he was left silent, his gaze entirely focused on what he saw on Valyr’s back.

Thanks to the faint crimson glow it had, what he saw was able to pass through the shirt Valyr wore, which was a mark of a spider surrounded by an intricate magic circle. Just as he was about to ponder to himself as to where the young man had gotten the mark, the glow the mark gave off started to intensify as a strand of crimson energy soon came out of the mark on Valyr’s back.

Whoosh!

At great speeds, the strand of crimson energy made its way to the metal spear Valyr was previously holding, corrupting the spear as Noel felt a ferocious and tyrannical aura emanate from it. Concurrently, the metal spear underwent a drastic change in appearance as veins of crimson spread throughout its entire shaft, while the tip took on a more aerodynamic shape, reminding the old man of how spider legs looked.

Eventually, once the metal spear had finished undergoing its corruption, the glow that the mark on Valyr’s back gave off started to dim down, which brought along the wave of pain that the young man experienced. With that, the young man was finally able to breathe once more, while Noel went ahead and picked up the metal spear that had absorbed the strand of crimson energy from the mark on Valyr’s back.

“Superior Analysis.”

Ding!

————

Corrupted Metal Spear (Level 20)

Rarity: Uncommon

Weapon Bond: None

Foundation Tier: None

Ascension Tier: None

Attack: 62 – 103

Forge Quality: Average

One of many spears mass produced by a blacksmith to be used by members of the Spearman Guild. Boasts great rigidity, strength, and flexibility due to the alloy used to make the spear.

Has been corrupted by the vengeful energy of the Tidemother. Because of this, the spear contains a greater level of power when compared to other spears, though it comes at a cost.

Remarks: It was a good spear.

————

“I guess… there’s more to it than it seems.” Scratching his head as he finished reading the description of the metal spear, Noel let out a low sigh as he decided to chuck the corrupted metal spear into his spatial bracelet for now as he waited for the young man to recover from the pain he had experienced.

“Haah…” Taking in a few deep breaths while he gave his body time to recover from the pain, Valyr gradually sat upright on the ground, only for the effects of the pain alleviation medicine he had ingested earlier to finally kick in.

Letting out a faint sigh of relief, Valyr then took in a few more deep breaths, eventually noticing that Noel was looking at him. Looking at the old man’s expression, it gave him the feeling that he had a lot of questions to ask him, to which Valyr responded that he still needed a bit more time to recover.𝒪𝗏𝗅xt.𝕔𝒐𝐌

After a few more minutes of sitting on the ground, Valyr finally told Noel that he was ready to answer some questions, adorning a bitter smile on his face as he asked the old man, “You’re curious about the mark on my back, right? Elder Noel?”

“Well, who wouldn’t be in that kind of situation?” Though Noel had a solemn expression on his face, there was still a faint hint of concern on it, inwardly wondering whether the young man was truly okay. “In any case, are you really fine with talking? You could still rest a bit more, you know?”

“The pain alleviation medicine has taken away most of the pain that was left from that experience,” said Valyr in response, slightly shrugging his shoulders. “In any case, it’ll eventually fade away the more I move about.”

“Hmm… before I begin my explanation, would I be able to trust you to keep this information a secret, Elder Noel?”

“If you want, I could swear a mana oath.”

“Hmm… how about you do that later, Elder Noel? Let the information I’m about to give you be the judge of whether or not it is worthy of such an oath.”

“Well… if you insist.”

“Alright, so it all begins in…”