“He really didn’t let me leave until I added him to my friend list…” Slowly making his way back to the inn where he and Wells were staying, Valyr let out a low sigh as he briefly turned his head back to look at the Spearman Guild’s building, being reminded of the happenings that occurred between him and Noel just as they had gotten out of the Shadow Plane.

…

“Pardon?” Though Valyr understood the reasoning behind the old man wanting to add him to his friend list, the young man still found it somewhat confusing. After all, unlike Julian, who gave him a friendly vibe from the get-go, Noel still felt somewhat distant from him, even though they joked with one another from time to time.

Though, if Valyr thought about the exact reason why he felt it was weird for him to add someone like Noel to his friend list, then it would be due to the disparity in their age. He could still find ways to foster a better relationship with a middle-aged man like Julian, even more so with his relaxed personality.

But if he were to replace Julian with Noel…

“What pardon? Is your friend list already full or something, brat?” Surprisingly, Noel took slight offense at the question, slightly frowning in response. Taking note of this, Valyr quickly clarified to the old man that he was just surprised that the latter would even suggest adding someone like him to his friend list.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for your friend list to be full thanks to your position and power, Elder Noel?”

“Bah! Those people have to earn the right to be on my friend list.” Hearing Valyr’s question, Noel scoffed. “Aside from that, the only other reasons why people are on my friend list are: they owe me something, I owe them something, my friendship with them goes a long way back…”

“…or in your case, they’ve piqued my genuine interest.” Finishing his explanation then and there, Noel soon brought up a screen in front of his field of vision, interacting with it for a bit before shifting his gaze towards Valyr.

Ding!

Noel Voragine (Lvl. 85) has sent you a friend request. Would you like to accept?

“You better accept it, or else I’ll make sure you won’t be able to complete that subclass promotion quest of yours.” Hearing a notification sound resound in his mind, Valyr already knew what kind of notification he had received.

Though, just as he was about to decline out of respect to the old man before him, the young man swiftly changed his mind after he had heard what Noel said, in fear that the latter might truly act upon it.

Ding!

You have added Noel Voragine (Lvl. 85) as a friend.

“Good. You listen well.” Obtaining a notification from his system that the young man had added him as a friend, Noel beamed a grin at the young man, telling the young man soon after that he could now leave and get some rest. In response to those words, Valyr blankly stared at Noel for a bit before nodding, leaving the confines of Noel’s room and the Spearman Guild not long after.

…

“Well, it’s not all that bad I guess.” Briefly shrugging his shoulders in response to what he had recalled, Valyr thought about how adding Noel to his friend list set a precedent for other possible people he could add to his friend list. “Since Noel was fine with it, I guess I could also add Julian to my friend list once I pass by the Blacksmith Guild.”

“Then again, I still regret the fact I didn’t add Riekan when I had the chance to.” Letting out a faint sigh, the young man thought about the guy he had interacted with at the end of the Astarto Goblin Den, only to then recall that there was a chance they would meet again thanks to the necklace the person had given him.

𝒩𝑜𝓋𝓵𝐞xt.𝔠𝑂𝐦

“Speaking of which, would it have been possible to add An’xhur to my friend list?” After recalling Riekan, he then shifted his thoughts to An’xhur. Pondering over it for a bit, he then thought it probably wouldn’t have been possible, considering that the Sage of Erudition was already a small portion of its original soul.

“In any case, it’s definitely been a long day.” With this thought in mind, Valyr continued to walk through the streets of Algerie City, eventually finding himself at the room he and Wells were staying in.

…

“Well, well, well… look who finally came back.” Sensing that the door to their room was being opened, Wells swiftly became vigilant, only to then relax once he found out that it was Valyr who had opened it. Letting out a faint sigh, he looked at Valyr with a slight frown. “You definitely took your time to come back here.”

“What can I say? I had a lot of things on my plate.” In response to Wells’ complaints, Valyr laughed it all off, apologizing to the former soon after for being away longer than expected.

“Oh? You’ve gotten stronger while I was gone.” After Valyr had finished apologizing to Wells, the two of them began to talk about some of the things the other side had been doing during the past few days they were apart, only for Valyr to notice something different about his friend.

“That may be the case, but I could say the same to you.” Though slightly happy that his friend had noticed the change he had gone through, that happiness was swiftly replaced with shock as he noticed his friend undergoing through the same change as well. “Did you already reach the peak of Rank 2 or something?”

“Yeah, I did.” Nodding in response to the question, Valyr soon followed up with a question of his own. “And I’m guessing you’ve finally reached the peak of Rank 1?”

“If you put it that way, it sounds like I’m trying to catch up to you.” Though Wells nodded in response to Valyr’s own question, he thought that there was more to Valyr’s words hidden between the lines. “Then again… I probably am.”

At those words, Valyr let out a bit of laughter, causing Wells to let out some laughter as well, allowing the atmosphere in their room to lighten up. With that, the two of them caught up with one another on the progress each side had made during the past few days, with Valyr sharing tidbits of information to Wells that made the latter made his mouth open agape.

Conversely, Wells had also shared a few things with Valyr that made the young man’s mouth open agape as well.

With how much energy Valyr had wasted throughout the past few days, Valyr decided to hit the hay early, lying down on his bed to get some shuteye after eating a light meal for dinner. Though, just as he was on the brink of wandering off to dreamland, a certain thought eventually popped up in his mind.

‘Now that I think about it…’

‘Where did the boars go?’