"How did you do?" Arcenne repeated Valyr's question back at him before looking at Gabriel for a brief moment. Then, looking back at Valyr, she replied, "You reached the 29th wave while still at the beginning of Rank 1. Is that enough of an answer?"
"More or less." Valyr grinned in response before letting out a chuckle, though he was still in the midst of catching his breath. Nevertheless, even though he was tired, he was quite content with what he had achieved so far, much less to say what he could do in the future if he raised his levels and equipped proper equipment.
'Speaking of proper equipment, if I had a set of light armor on that boosted my stamina, I would have probably been able to get past the 30th wave without a problem. It's quite unfortunate that, even though the stamina I have at Rank 1 is far greater than what I had at Rank 0, it's still lacking in areas like these.' Though he had this thought in mind, Valyr did not voice out. After all, what he had done just now was already mind-boggling to both Arcenne and Gabriel.
Even he knew that.
With that, he focused on recuperating his energy, eventually feeling a hint of soreness and pain in some areas. Noticing this, he went ahead and activated [Inferior Heal] a couple times, quickly feeling some of the soreness and pain go away as he let out a sigh of relief. Then again, with the immense exhaustion he felt, it would still be a while before he would be able to move again.
Fortunately for him, Gabriel offered him a Lesser Stamina Potion while he was in the midst of recuperating, which Valyr swiftly thanked him for. Hearing Gabriel chuckle in response as he waved his hands in nonchalance, Valyr went ahead and emptied out the vial, feeling the speed at which his stamina regenerated significantly increased.
Within seconds, he had enough energy to sit upright. By the time a couple minutes had passed, he already had enough energy to stand up and move around. Of course, it was nothing in comparison to the Greater Stamina Potion Arcenne had given him, which filled him up with stamina within seconds.
Nevertheless, Valyr thanked Gabriel once more for giving him the Lesser Stamina Potion, to which Gabriel replied that he was the one thankful since he had witnessed the appearance of a Rank 1 Combat Elite with his own two eyes. Since she had decided to wait for Valyr to return to a condition where he could move around at the very least, Arcenne was there as well, who nodded in agreement with Gabriel's words.
Giving the now empty vial back to Gabriel, Valyr bade farewell to Gabriel as he aimed to head back to the main lobby to obtain the titles he had worked for. Though, just like what had happened earlier to him during Arcenne's test, Valyr was stopped by Gabriel as the latter asked him a question.
However, it was a question that neither him nor Arcenne expected.
"Before you leave, would you be interested in becoming a combat instructor for the Clossbay Combat Training Hall?"
Naturally, Valyr instantly declined, his mind currently occupied with the titles and the dungeon he had to clear back in Astarto Village. "I apologize, but I decline since I'm not from this city. With the time it takes me to get to where I live to here, I wouldn't be able to teach others about combat everyday."
Thinking that this would be the end of their conversation, Valyr turned his head towards the exit, only to be stopped once more by Gabriel's words. "You don't really have to teach others every day. You could just come any day you feel like and the training hall shall compensate you for your time."
At this point, Valyr could not help but look at Arcenne beside him, who could only look back at him with a shrug of her shoulders. Though she was more or less acquainted with the man, Arcenne had not seen this side of Gabriel before, which was why she did not know what to tell Valyr.
Thankfully, Valyr had an inkling of a feeling of why Gabriel was persuading him to become an instructor at the training hall. 'I guess Gabriel wants me to become the poster child of the combat training hall since I'm a Combat Elite at Rank 1. Then again, it wouldn't be surprising if the training hall gains an influx of people with that kind of . I wonder if he's part of the core staff of the training hall?'
'Unfortunately, even if the pay is good, I don't really have a need for that much money… yet.' With that in mind, Valyr ended the conversation between the two of them, telling him that he would think about it as he and Arcenne left the room before Gabriel could even say anything back.
While heading to the main lobby, Valyr went ahead and asked Arcenne what that was all about, to which the latter replied that it was the first time she had seen the man act that way. Thinking that his idea from before would be the most plausible reason for his offer, Valyr stopped his train of thought there as he lined up at one of the counters, queuing up normally while Arcenne waited by the side.
After waiting for a few more minutes, Valyr had finally arrived at the front of the counter, with the attendant on the other side asking what they could do to help him. In response, he told them that he was here to certify the results he had obtained from the tests he had just taken.
Nodding, the attendant went ahead and brought out a thin tablet, which they infused with a bit of their mana soon after. Looking at the tablet for a bit, the attendant jotted down a few things before telling Valyr to wait as they headed to another part of the training hall. After a couple minutes of waiting, the attendant returned with a rectangular plate of metal, giving it to Valyr with a bit more politeness behind their actions.
Though he noticed this slight change, Valyr ignored it for the most part, receiving the rectangular metal plate with both hands as he thanked the attendant for their help. After that, he left the counter as he took a look at what was on the rectangular plate.
On the very top was the emblem of the Clossbay Combat Training Hall, which was a small aegis with a dragon engraving on its surface, and a sword and a spear going through its middle in an X-shaped pattern. Below that was his name, his class rank, and then the levels of prowess he had gotten tested in the hall so far.
Ding!
[Due to the feat you have achieved, you have gained the title 'Spear Adept'.]
[Due to the feat you have achieved, you have gained the title 'Combat Elite'.]
Coincidentally, just as he had read through the part of the plate that mentioned his levels of prowess, the system responded by giving him the notifications he wanted to obtain regarding the titles that came along with the tests. Unsurprisingly, once he had read through it, Valyr let out an inward sigh of relief as the only thing he needed to do in order to be ready to tackle the dungeon was to reach Level 15.
With that in mind, he placed the rectangular plate in his pocket as he headed to where Arcenne was. "Say, Arcenne. Do you know where I could get a ton of XP in this city in a short amount of time? Like… do you know a dungeon or anything like that?"
"A place where you could get XP…" Hearing the question, Arcenne pondered over it for a bit as she rubbed her chin. "The closest dungeon to the city would be around a couple dozen kilometers away from here, and it's a dungeon made for those at least Level 20."
Naturally, when Valyr heard that, he made a mental note to take a detour to Mak'aroni Forest to gain the levels he needed before returning to the village, reminding himself to make the journey back to the village later this day. However, Arcenne's next statement quickly dispelled that notion.
"Then again, there's always the option of heading to the Experience Pit."
"…the Experience what now?"
