As the notification sound resounded in his mind, Valyr went ahead and took a look at the notifications he had received within his mind. While looking through them, he felt a faint smile creeping up on his face as he thought that it was worth it for him to make a detour to the Zeihardt clan estate before he made his way back to the inn.
However, as he continued to look through the notifications, his expression was swiftly replaced with a frown as his attention was focused on the final notification. ‘If I remember correctly, something like this didn’t happen back when I was still a player…’
Rummaging through the memories he had from his past life, Valyr checked through all of them to see if he or any other player he had come across had experienced a similar phenomenon to what he was currently going through, which was a forced ascension.
Of course, Valyr quickly understood what a forced ascension meant, especially since the notification that talked about it gave him the information he needed to know to find out what caused it. Unsurprisingly, he had deduced the cause of this forced ascension to be the level increase reward from completing the World Quest, though coming to this realization made it all the more peculiar to him.
‘Yeah… this didn’t happen back then.’ After rummaging through all of his memories, he eventually found a couple that seemed to start off in the same way, wherein he or another player had completed a quest that had a level increase reward, even though they were already at the level limit for their rank.
However, rather than the system forcing them to undergo their ascension to the next rank, what happened instead was that the level increase reward did not apply. Instead, the reward adjusted itself and adopted part of the nature of the XP system, transforming into something that would only come to effect once the player had ascended to the next rank.
With that in mind, Valyr went through multiple possibilities in his head as to why the current phenomenon he was experiencing was nowhere to be found in his memory whatsoever. Naturally, the logical conclusion that he arrived at was that the forced ascension feature was considered a bug during the beta, prompting it to be removed before the first version of Greater Beyond was even released.
Though, just as he contemplated a bit more as to the reason why it could be considered a bug, he felt a foreboding feeling wash over his body as the ever familiar chime of the system resounded in his head.
Ding!
[Due to the user not taking the initiative, instead ignoring their current situation, the system has taken it upon itself to begin the ascension process.]
[Please select the species and the class you would like to ascend with.]
[Note: Further ignorance of the ascension process shall result in dire consequences. It is highly recommended for the user to interact with the ascension process as fast as possible.]𝞸𝐕𝑳xt.𝕔𝐎𝓂
“Mngh…” Just as he had finished reading through the notifications he had received, two small screens listing down the species and classes he could transition into had appeared before him, only for a slight wave of pain to wash over his body not long after.
Gritting his teeth in response as he endured the pain, Valyr took in a deep breath as one of the guards repeated their question to him once more, asking him as to what he was doing loitering around the Zeihardt clan estate. At first, he planned to reply to the guard’s question in order for them to not think of him as some person with malicious intent towards the Zeihardt clan.
Unfortunately, just as he was about to open his mouth to respond, yet another wave of pain far more intense than earlier coursed throughout his body, causing him to instead let out a shriek. Naturally, the guards had now become wary of Valyr, thinking that the man before them might do something rash towards them and the clan they were protecting. Fortunately for them, just as they had gripped tightly onto their respective weapons…
Whoosh!
Valyr decided to dash away in the opposite direction of the estate while continuing to endure the pain as best as he could. Seeing that, the guards only remained vigilant for a few more seconds before returning to their earlier states, making sure to note down the suspicious entity that decided to loiter near the Zeihardt clan estate out of nowhere.
On the other hand, that same suspicious entity now headed towards the inn at the highest speed he could muster, utilizing the entirety of his stats to their limits as his body went into autopilot. With the pain he felt gradually getting worse the longer he ignored it, most of the thoughts in his mind eventually turned into one unified thought.
‘Get back to the inn… and ascend!’
Though Valyr had the choice to ascend in front of the guards to alleviate his forced ascension problem, there were many reasons why he opted not to. Among those reasons, the most important one was the fact that if someone were to recognize him even in his disguise and had a highly leveled [Analysis] skill, then he was basically serving himself to the Zeihardt clan on a silver platter, giving them the information they needed to render his strengths ineffective before he could act.
With that, he continued to grit through the pain he felt, eventually arriving at the inn with blood gradually trickling out of his eyes. Ignoring the various gazes he obtained from the people that he passed by, with most of them filled with horror, Valyr eventually arrived at the room he and Wells were staying in, quickly noticing that Wells was waiting near the room’s door all this time.
“You’re finally back.” At the very instant Valyr entered the room, Wells inwardly let out a long sigh of relief. Though, just as he was about to ask what his friend had been up to throughout the day, he took note of the pained expression on his face, as well as the blood that continued to trickle out from his eyes, only to notice that blood also started to trickle out of the man’s nose as well.
With Valyr briefly gazing at him, getting the feeling that he was telling him through the gaze that he would explain everything late, Wells could only nod in response as Valyr made his way to his part of the room, sitting down on the ground before making his choice on what kind of species he would like to ascend to.
“Agh! Fuck!”