Hearing notification sounds resound in his mind, the smile on Valyr's face gradually grew wider and wider as Alfaera announced the titles he would rightfully obtain from clearing the quest. 'I should take a look at the effects of the titles later.'
"As the current chief of Astarto Village, as well as a member of the village's founding family, I, Alfaera Astarto, am honored to announce that I shall bestow Valyr the titles [Astarto's Beacon of Hope] and [Astarto's Light]." Once Alfaera had said these words, the entire crowd surrounding the raised platform went into an uproar, all of them chanting the new titles Alfaera had given Valyr.
Listening to the crowd chant his titles, Valyr could not help but feel somewhat embarrassed, only for it to disappear as he recalled that there was one more title Alfaera had yet to bestow to him.
Leaning closer to her, he asked her in a whisper. "You forgot to give me one more title."
"Let the crowd's excitement die down first." Alfaera responded back, whispering as well. "Conferring nobility is a rare and special occasion in this village. In fact, I've only conferred nobility to two people so far."
"Do I know who those two people are?"
"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then yes. It's those two."
"Tristan and Damian, huh," Valyr muttered in response, sparing a glance at the crowd to see if they were near to becoming silent. Seeing as they were not, he continued to converse with Alfaera a bit more, recalling what he knew about nobility.
"What rank of nobility did you confer to them?"
"The highest rank of nobility I can confer."
"And that would be…?"
"Knights."
"And your rank of nobility?"
"I'm considered a Baroness," said Alfaera in response before gesturing Valyr that they would continue their conversation later. Just as he was about to ask why, he noticed that the crowd's clamor had finally died down, allowing Alfaera to finally continue with her bestowal of titles.
"Aside from the titles I have bestowed Valyr, as a Baroness of the Astella Region, I shall now use the right bestowed upon me to confer Valyr a rank of nobility." When these words came out of Alfaera's mouth, a great portion of the crowd could not help but gasp in shock, not expecting their chief to confer nobility all of a sudden.
However, recalling the feat that the man beside her had just achieved, this shock was soon turned into understanding, which then turned into excitement as the crowd kept their eyes peeled for the conferring of the rank.
"Valyr Zeihardt, please kneel." In response to Alfaera's words, Valyr went down on one knee as he looked down at the floor with his eyes slightly closed.
"For his services towards the protection of the village during the recent monster tide, as well as his services towards the prosperity of the village through the clearing of the Astarto Goblin Den, I, Baroness Alfaera Astarto, now confer the rank of Knight to Valyr Zeihardt."
As these words came out of Alfaera's mouth, a person soon came up on the platform and handed her a sword. After that, she tapped the sword on Valyr's shoulders before allowing the man to stand up once more.
Ding!
[You have been conferred the nobility rank of Knight.]
[You have gained the title 'Knight'.]
'I guess my journey through the ranks of nobility start here.' Receiving a notification from the system regarding his third and final title from the quest, Valyr could not help but inwardly recall how the nobility system worked in Greater Beyond.
Unlike the title system, which would give one a title as long as a feat is achieved, the nobility system relied on whatever those with a higher nobility rank felt like doing. There were those who swiftly went through the ranks of nobility due to the fact that the higher ranked noble fancied them, while there were also those who were doomed to stay at the lowest rank due to the fact that the higher ranked noble abhorred their existence.
Though Valyr did not really mind if he rose through the ranks of nobility or not, he did agree to the fact that having a nobility rank was far better than having none, especially in a planet like Veldanyr where nobility meant greater access to everything.
From lowest to highest, the ranks of nobility went: Knight, Lord, Baronet, Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquis, and Duke. However, there existed ranks of nobility than Duke, which were Prince, King, Grand Prince, and Emperor. However, that relied on having a blood connection with the one with said title.
Aside from that, there were also tiers to nobility, which were separated into three: Common, Royal, and Imperial nobility. Royal and Imperial nobility followed the same progression as Common nobility, with the only exception being the precedence of the word Royal and Imperial before the rank.
Nevertheless, a person with Royal nobility was of greater importance than one with Common nobility, while one with Imperial nobility was more important than one with Royal nobility. In terms of importance, a Royal Knight was as important as a common Lord, while an Imperial Knight was as important as a Royal Lord.
Though this categorization only applied up to the rank of Duke, Valyr thought about a few quests he had come across back then that would allow him to easily upgrade his nobility to Royal nobility. 'That'll have to wait for now, though.'
After thanking Alfaera for conferring a rank of nobility to him, Valyr then headed down the raised platform, becoming the center of attention for a bit. Fortunately for him, Alfaera called for everyone's attention, prompting everyone to shift their gazes towards her once more as she opened her mouth.
"Though the bestowal of titles is now over, that does not mean I'm finished." Lightly smiling, Alfaera brought out the Subclass Change Scroll she had gotten from Valyr.
'Has she and Damian finally come to a conclusion on who should get it?' Raising his eyebrow in curiosity, Valyr watched and listened as Alfaera continued to speak.
"What I have in my hands right now is a scroll that would give one a special subclass. This scroll was found by Valyr at the end of the dungeon, informing me that it was an inheritance made by the maker of the dungeon for the sake of the village's prosperity."
"After a long period of debate on who should obtain the subclass, we have finally found the person most suitable for the subclass."
As Alfaera took in a deep breath, everyone in the crowd, including Valyr, watched with bated breaths as they wondered who Alfaera had chosen.
Letting out a light sigh of relief, the smile on Alfaera's face grew wider as she announced the person she chose for the scroll.
"Myst Verielle, head to the platform and receive your new subclass."
