Clossbay City.
Within one of the well-furnished houses lining up the main street that led to the heart of the city, a well-dressed Arcenne paced back and forth in the living room in slight anxiety, feeling a hint of regret at the fact that she had sent out a letter to her family for an unimportant reason.
However, once she recalled the reason behind her writing it, as well as the letter’s contents, this feeling of regret quickly disappeared, transforming into a feeling of anxiousness as to whether the other side would take the time to respond.
As she had promised Valyr when he had undergone through his tests at the combat training hall, she was going to tell those from the Zeihardt noble clan of the feats Valyr had achieved in the combat training hall.
Though, as she had no direct contact to any members of the Zeihardt noble clan, she used the connections she built up in her own clan instead, telling them through the letter if they could inform the Zeihardt clan about one of their talented clan members.
“It’s almost been a week since I sent out that letter…” Arcenne muttered to herself, taking in a couple of deep breaths to calm her nerves. “Surely the response letter they sent should arrive anytime now, no?”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Coincidentally, just as she had uttered these words, a few knocks resounded from the door, prompting Arcenne to head towards the door in slight anticipation, wanting to see the response her family had given to her. However, rather than being greeted by a messenger carrying her family’s response letter, she was instead greeted by a middle-aged man in slightly formal clothes, with some of his facial features being quite similar to Arcenne’s.
Seeing the person in front of her, Arcenne’s eyes could not help but widen in surprise as she took a few steps back. Then, soon after, a large grin adorned her face as she embraced the man before her. “Father!”
In response to the embrace, Aster could not help but let out a light peal of laughter before reciprocating the embrace back. “Oh, how I’ve missed you, Arcenne.”
Eventually, the two of them released their hold of each other as Arcenne led her father towards the living room. While her father made himself comfortable as he sat on the large yet plush sofa, Arcenne made her way towards the kitchen, bringing out a small tray of snacks and drinks for her father to consume a few minutes later.
As Arcenne placed the small tray on the table in front of the sofa, a light smile was plastered on Aster’s face. “To think half a year has already passed since I’ve sent you to this city. You’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you.”
“The same could be said to you, father.” Arcenne smiled in response. Though, her expression turned solemn soon after as she opened her mouth once more. “Although I’m glad to see you again, it’s quite odd that you’ve personally come here to Clossbay City. After all, it takes quite some time to arrive here from Astella City. Plus, the contents of the letter I’ve sent are mostly unimportant, no?”
“To you, it might seem unimportant since your reasons for writing it are different.” Aster nodded in agreement, to which Arcenne nodded in response. “However, the letter you’ve sent has far greater repercussions than you’d think.”
“Tell me, Arcenne.” With a calm expression, he asked his daughter. “Have you truly come into contact with a Zeihardt in this city?”
“Yes.” Arcenne nodded, her eyes faintly twinkling as she recalled the happenings that had occurred almost a week ago. “Although he was Rank 1, his proficiency with the spear has already reached the Adept stage, while his overall combat proficiency has already reached the Elite stage. As far I know, only a select few from the Zeihardt clan has that kind of monstrous talent.”
“And you would be correct to think that.” Aster nodded in response. “However, none of those have a good reason to come to this city to have their tests done. As my daughter, I’m certain you already know why.”
Hearing her father’s words, Arcenne could only nod.
“Are you sure the man you’ve met was a Zeihardt?” After a bit of silence, Aster looked at his daughter and asked, to which Arcenne profusely nodded.
“I swear to the ancestor of our clan that the man I’ve met was a Zeihardt,” Arcenne said in response. “After all, the eyes of a Zeihardt can’t be mistaken.”
“The Zeihardt’s silver irises…” Muttering these words, Aster’s expression could not help but become solemn, seemingly pondering over something. After a while, he looked back at his daughter. “Is that man still in the city?”
“Unfortunately, that man has left the city almost a week ago,” said Arcenne in response, leading Aster to slightly shake his head. Though, his slight disappointment was swiftly replaced with expectation as he heard his daughter’s next statement. “However, from what I’ve gathered, that man has only left the city to complete some urgent tasks. He’ll return sometime in the future with great certainty, so if you want, you could stay here for the meantime.”
“There’s no need.” Aster declined his daughter’s offer, standing up from the sofa as he made his way to the door. “The fact that I know he’ll be returning to this city is enough for me.”
Opening the door to leave, he looked at his daughter one last time. “Before I return to Astella, have you ever caught his name perchance?”
“He did tell me his name.” Arcenne nodded. “If I remember correctly, he said his name was Valyr.”
Slam!
At the very instant his daughter was finished talking, Aster unhesitatingly slammed the door shut, his expression turning grim as he made his way back to the living room. Sitting on the sofa, he took in a few deep breaths before looking at a somewhat confused Arcenne with a smile.
“Change of plans,” he told her. “I’ll be staying here till he returns to the city.”
Hearing that, Arcenne squealed with joy, embracing her father as she was glad that they could spend more time together. In response, the grim expression on Aster’s face disappeared as it turned into that of doting, letting out a chuckle as he embraced her back soon after.
…
Whoosh!
Just as the disembodied voice’s words resounded throughout the room, an old looking book and a shard that looked like glass appeared a small distance away from where Valyr was, prompting the man to stand up and take a look at what had just appeared.
Once he had taken a closer look at what he had gotten, a grin could not help but appear on Valyr’s face as he picked up the shard, placing it into his bag where the two other shards he had grabbed earlier were. “And that makes this the third Dungeon Key Fragment.”
“As for the book…” Picking up the book from the ground, Valyr stared at it for a bit before wiping off the dust that seemed to have gotten stuck on its surface. Getting a clearer view of the book’s design, his heart started to beat wildly all of a sudden as a possibility popped up in his mind, deciding to confirm whether his thoughts were true or not with [Analysis].𝑜𝒱𝓵xt.𝒞𝑶𝓜
Ding!
Reading through the description written on the screen in front of him, his heart started to beat even wilder as the possibility he had thought of was verified to be true, feeling quite giddy as he realized then and there that he had truly obtained a dungeon skill book.
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[Dungeon Skill Book] (Item)
Rarity: Epic
Prerequisites: Rank 1 class, affinity towards the Fire element, 50 INT or greater
A skill book obtained from the dungeon ‘Astarto Goblin Den’. If the person who owns this book meets the necessary prerequisites, they would be able to obtain the Common+ grade skill [Basic Crimson Flame Manipulation].
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Ding!
[Would you like to use this skill book?]