Whoosh!
Although Noel had swung his spear upwards in a similar fashion to Valyr, perhaps even a bit sloppier than the latter, the wave of dark energy that had been generated by the movement was at least five times as large than the one Valyr had generated with his skill.
Aside from that, as the wave continued to move, it continued to grow larger, at some point covering at least a third of Valyr’s field of vision. With that, it was no surprise that Valyr felt a great amount of dread once he realized that the large wave Noel had sent out was heading in his direction, the wave emanating the feeling that it devoured everything that came across its path and assimilated it with the darkness.
Fortunately, just as the large wave was only around 50 meters away from where Valyr stood, the wave of dark energy quickly dissipated into thin air, prompting him to wonder if the hundred meter tall waves of dark energy had almost come close to enveloping him in the first place.
Aside from that, just like how the wave he had generated through [Tide of the Dark Night] had left a trail of darkened ground wherever the wave went, the wave Noel sent out had darkened the ground that it traversed as well. However, unlike the darkened ground Valyr obtained from his wave, the resulting ground from Noel’s skill was pitch-black, making it seem that the ground that separated him from Noel was instead a vast expanse of pure nothingness.
Nevertheless, after seeing Noel unleash more or less the same skill he had in action, the level of eagerness Valyr had towards obtaining the Shadow Serpentine Lancer subclass had gone way past its peak. At the same time, his curiosity towards the level that existed beyond Shadow Serpentine Lancer had reached its peak as well, with the only clue he could go off on was the name of the combat style Noel had used before unleashing the same skill.
“[Abyssal Serpent Style]…” Valyr muttered to himself, pondering over what rarity such a subclass would be at to give such a skill that sounded overbearing. “Surely such a subclass wouldn’t just be Epic grade, right?”
“So, what do you think?” However, before he could obtain some sort of conclusion to his query, Noel had appeared before him, asking him a question with a proud smirk on his face. Though a slight frown briefly appeared on Valyr’s face since he was interrupted, this frown quickly disappeared as he recalled the sight Noel had shown him earlier.𝗈𝒱𝓁xt.𝒸𝔬𝑚
Of course, the first thought that came to his mind was that the power Noel had unleashed was incredibly overbearing, feeling as if the wave of dark energy he had seen earlier was the harbinger of death. With that, the way Valyr looked at Noel had changed slightly, thinking of the old man before him as the definition of a one-man army.
However, as he continued thinking about how destructive and powerful the skill Noel had unleashed earlier was, a question eventually popped up in Valyr’s mind, causing him to look at the man in front of him before asking, “How could you unleash so much power even though you’re so old?”
“Hey!” Unsurprisingly, Noel smacked Valyr at the back of his head, making the latter feel as if he would go unconscious at any moment from the strength behind it. Thankfully, that feeling quickly disappeared, forcing Valyr to instead endure the pain from the smack as Noel looked at him with a slight frown.
“How rude,” Noel said at the very moment Valyr looked back at him. “I might look old, but I’m only 82 years old, you know?”
‘Isn’t that already old, though?’ thought Valyr to himself, wondering if it was wrong for him to call the man old in the first place. Fortunately, Noel’s next words gave him the answer to that question.
“Sure, being 82 might sound old to you, but I still have over 300 years left, you know?” said Noel not long after. “If anything, I’m still at the prime of my life.”
“Is that so…” At first, Valyr found it odd for Noel to mention that he still had over 300 years left to live on the planet, only to recall the conversation he had back then with Riekan, recalling that the man had already lived for over 300 years. With that, he made a mental note to head to the city’s library sometime in the future to find out how one could extend their lifespan.
After all, even he wanted to live longer.
“Anyways, we’ve gotten off track. What do you think of the skill I unleashed earlier?” After a bit of silence between the two, Noel asked the question once more, clarifying what he meant this time. In response, Valyr told him that he had never seen such a destructive skill before, making the man before let out a brief cackle in agreement.
“You’re definitely right in that regard.” Noel looked at Valyr with a smile. “In fact, the current subclass I have is considered one of the top subclasses in terms of how destructive the skills are.”
“Of course, the strength one gains from it is nothing to scoff at either,” he continued, the smile on his face turning into a smirk. “In fact, if you became a Shadow Serpentine Lancer at this moment, that last skill you unleashed earlier would instantly become at least twice as powerful.”
“Then again, as I’ve said earlier, becoming a Shadow Serpentine Lancer is only the beginning for you. If you obtain the subclasses beyond Shadow Serpentine Lancer, then even a tenfold increase in your combat power wouldn’t be far-fetched.” At this point, Valyr was slightly annoyed that Noel still did not mention what the levels above Shadow Serpentine Lancer were. With that, he went ahead and voiced out his slight annoyance as he asked Noel what the levels beyond Shadow Serpentine Lancer were.
“I was just about to get to them, actually,” replied Noel in response with a chuckle, which only made Valyr more annoyed than before. Nevertheless, the latter suppressed the annoyance he felt once the man before him started explaining.
“The Shadow, the Void, and the Abyss. These three things correspond to many things in the path you would take as a future Shadow Serpentine Lancer, but mainly, they refer to the type of energy you wield at that subclass.”
“The Shadow refers to Shadow Energy, which is the main type of energy used by those with the Shadow Serpentine Lancer subclass,” said Noel with a calm expression.
“A tier above would be the Void, which refers to Void Energy. Of course, this type of energy is used by the Void Serpentine Lancer subclass, the level above the Shadow Serpentine Lancer.” After saying these words, a light grin appeared on Noel’s face. “Of course, there’s one more level above that.”
“And that level corresponds to the Abyss. Abyssal Energy is what an Abyssal Serpentine Lancer would make use of in combat.”
“And that’s the level that I’m currently at.”