𝒐𝑽𝐿xt.𝑐𝑜𝚖
Just as the three were about to celebrate the fact that the dungeon near the village had finally been conquered, their immediate surroundings started to madly quake all of a sudden, prompting the three of them to look around to see where the quaking was coming from. As for Valyr, though he felt a bit of panic at first, this panic quickly subsided as he realized what was happening, a light smirk adorning his face.
Bang!
Out of nowhere, a sufficiently loud explosion happened within the cave, causing Damian and the others to look in the direction of the cave as the quaking increased in intensity. Eventually, the cave could not handle the quaking anymore, caving in on itself as the large cave swiftly turned into a tall pile of rubble.
Whilst that was happening, Valyr quickly noticed that, slightly far away from the cave, a man with a familiar appearance was in the midst of flying away.
Feeling as if someone was looking at him, that man turned around to look back, only to notice Valyr staring at him with a smile before nodding. In response, the man let out a light peal of laughter before nodding back, mouthing a few words at Valyr as he proceeded to fly farther away from Valyr’s field of vision.
“May we meet again,” Valyr softly muttered to himself the words the man had mouthed to him, lightly chuckling before he returning his attention to the three, who had finally recovered from the shock that the cave’s collapse had brought to them.
“Why did the cave collapse all of a sudden?” Tristan could not help but ask sometime later, proceeding to look at Valyr as he had a feeling that the latter knew what was happening.
In response to the question, Valyr lightly shrugged his shoulders as he gave them a plausible answer. “Perhaps the cave collapsed in on itself since the dungeon was finally cleared. After all, the cave was housing the dungeon, no?”
After listening to Valyr’s answer, the three looked at each other for a bit before nodding in agreement, thinking that his answer made sense. Though, this answer only increased the excitement they felt at the fact that the dungeon had finally been cleared, wanting Valyr to narrate to them how his fight with the final boss was like.
Chuckling, Valyr nodded as he told them that he would narrate what had transpired in the dungeon while they made their way back to the village. Fortunately, the three of them agreed, seeing that it was going to become night time soon.
With that, Valyr went ahead and narrated his experience in the dungeon as best as he could, adding a few flourishes here and there to make the story more engaging. Unsurprisingly, the three of them were engrossed in listening to the story, imagining themselves as the ones attempting the dungeon.
Of course, while narrating the story, Valyr omitted the part where he had faced against a Level 40 being at the very end, as well as the part where he met the creator of the dungeon and gained rewards far better than the items the pedestals in the room before the boss room could ever give him.
Nevertheless, hearing about how the final boss actually had three forms instead of two made the three look at Valyr with concern, only for this concern to be further intensified once Valyr mentioned that the final form summoned the two mini-bosses as minions.
Noticing the expression of concern on their faces, Valyr could not help but let out a peal of laughter as he told them to stop where they were at the moment, being around a third of the way remaining to reaching the entrance of the village.
Curious as to the reason why Valyr decided to stop their trek back to the village, Valyr went ahead and rummaged the Subclass Change Scroll he had received from Riekan out of the bag and brought it out in the open for the three to see. “Do all of you have [Analysis]?”
With the three of them nodding in response to the question, Valyr then told them to identify the scroll he was holding, causing the eyes of the three to pop out of their sockets from the sheer shock the Subclass Change Scroll brought them.
Sure, all of them knew what subclasses were, with Tristan even having a subclass that was Rare grade. However, a scroll that would give them a subclass that started at Rare grade and had the ability to reach Legendary grade in the future? Never once in their lives did they expect they’d come across something like this.
Though, just as they were about to ask if this scroll was an item Valyr obtained as a reward for clearing the dungeon, Valyr interrupted them before they could even ask, telling them to listen up to what he had to say.
“After I cleared the dungeon, there was a corridor that led to a small room. In that room was an old book placed on top of a pedestal, as well as the scroll I’ve shown you on another,” Valyr said, whipping up a good backstory as to how he got the scroll on the spot.
“Naturally, after identifying the scroll, I instantly became ecstatic. After all, who would pass up on the chance to obtain what was basically a Legendary grade subclass?” As he said these words, the three nodded in agreement. “However, just as I was about to grab it, I decided to take a look at the book and read through its contents.”
“What did you find out from the book?” With her interest piqued, Alfaera decided to ask.
“The book told me that the dungeon contained an inheritance that was solely made for the purpose of helping Astarto Village prosper,” Valyr said in response, causing the three of them to look at each other as looks of understanding soon came across their eyes.
“It seems you’ve arrived at the same conclusion as me.” Of course, Valyr noticed the change in their expressions, nodding as he raised up the scroll once more. “The inheritance the book mentioned is exactly the scroll I’m currently holding.”
“In it, it said that the scroll should go to the village chief, or to a sword user that was loyal to the village and would help the village weather its tides no matter what,” said Valyr not long after, focusing his gaze on both Alfaera and Damian.
“Now, the three of you know that I’m no sword user. I specialize in wielding the spear.” As he said this, a bitter smile was plastered on his face. “Though keeping the subclass for myself was tempting to the point that I thought it would be fine to change to a sword as my main weapon, I eventually decided against it.”
“For one, although I am thankful for the help Astarto Village has given me, allowing me to become who I am today, I’ll eventually leave the village for good.” Hearing these words, a hint of surprise appeared on Tristan’s face, while Damian and Alfaera nodded in response.
“Aside from that, I thought that it would simply take too much time for me to learn the sword from scratch. I’d rather find a subclass that increases what I can already do with the spear and work from there.” With that, he eventually asked the question that was weighing on the three’s mind at that moment.
“Now… Alfaera. Damian.”
“I know the answer to this question is hard, but…”
“Who should I give the scroll to?”