'Now where have I heard that kind of thing before?' As Valyr listened to Faulerei's explanation of what the Four Pillars' Inheritance contained, a thought surfaced in his mind after he heard the elder mention that the inheritance had technology from a highly advanced civilization that did not rely on mana. Unsurprisingly, as someone who had been part of a similar kind of civilization in his past life, Valyr was inclined to think that Faulerei might perhaps be talking about Earth.
However, as Faulerei continued explaining more and more about the civilization that soared the skies of Veldanyr's past to him, the thought of the civilization being Earth gradually disappeared from his mind. Nevertheless, he inwardly grinned at his words, considering that the man had confirmed one thing he was still unsure of.
'The inheritance truly contains highly advanced technology. Plus, it's the path of technology I wanted to take as well.'
Though he believed in the explanation Braum had given to him in the past back when they were still at Clossbay City, there was still a small part of him that doubted it. After all, the only other reference he could work around was Aster's brief mentioning of the inheritance. Fortunately, Faulerei, as someone who had gone to the inheritance himself, was able to dispel that doubt, telling him more or less the same things Braum had told him, but just in greater detail.
'Since Elder Faulerei mentioned that the civilization inside the inheritance had the ability to explore the world beyond their own, then it wouldn't be wrong to assume that I could possibly reach the Space Age on the Technology Tree's Innovation branch.' As this thought formed in his mind while he continued to absorb Faulerei's narration of the inheritance's insides, Valyr pondered over the amount of Technology Points he would have needed if he had not come across the Four Pillars' Inheritance.
As the level of technology that existed in Veldanyr was up to the Middle Ages at most, that meant that the Innovation branch would pose no problems to Valyr if he were to advance his knowledge of technology up to the end of the Middle Age. However, if he wanted to advance his knowledge to the era of technology that came after that, the amount of Technology Points he would need just to unlock the advancement would be many times more than the cost of unlocking and upgrading an advancement from the Middle Ages to its max level.
And it only worsened the farther one went.
Of course, there were ways to circumvent the problem of having to fork out more and more Technology Points to get farther on the Technology Tree's Innovation branch, with Valyr exploring the Four Pillars' Inheritance being one of those solutions. Nevertheless, no matter what kind of method was used to circumvent the problem, they all boiled down to one thing.
Introducing one to a level of technology far greater than what existed on their planet.
Deciding that he had delved more than enough into his train of thought, Valyr placed the matter at the back of his head for now as he gazed at Faulerei, who seemed to be nearing the end of his narration regarding the Four Pillars' Inheritance.
"All in all, the Four Pillars' Inheritance would definitely widen your horizons regarding what's possible without mana, Herald," Faulerei said to him. "It is one of, if not the most important reason why one should enter the Four Pillars' Inheritance. Aside from the rewards one might obtain through the inheritance's trials, of course."
"For people like the Herald, who are still at the lower ranks, even a single reward from the inheritance is enough to make one stand head and shoulders above one's peers," he continued, only for his eyes to slightly widen in realization as a thought surfaced in his mind.
"Speaking of which, I would like to notify the Herald in advance that the guild would hold a small test of strength a week before the inheritance opens in order to make sure that the candidates that have been chosen are strong enough to delve the inheritance on their without worries." As these words came out of Faulerei's mouth, a question quickly popped up into Valyr's mind.
"Is there any specific reason behind the test?" Valyr raised his eyebrow in curiosity, with Faulerei responding to his question with a nod.
"Safety," mentioned Faulerei as if it were a matter of fact. "Though it's theoretically possible for a candidate at the beginning levels of Rank 1 to enter the inheritance and leave it unharmed, it's more likely for that candidate to die from one of the inheritance's trials. From what we've obtained from the people that explored the inheritance in the past, the bare minimum level of strength one would need to have is the ability to fight a being at the peak of Rank 1."
"I see." Nodding in response, Valyr wondered how much of a gap he could now surmount with his current level of strength, considering that he had been victorious in fighting a person near the middle levels of Rank 2 while only being at the later levels of Rank 1. "So, if I'm getting this correctly, it's just to see if all of the candidates have the strength of someone at the peak of Rank 1 and above?"
"That would be correct, Herald." Faulerei nodded. "However, for the current line of candidates appearing to enter the upcoming inheritance, which includes you, the test is nothing more than a mere formality. After all, for the upcoming inheritance, all of the candidates that would enter were confirmed to have a True Prodigy-level variant class of their respective fields."
'Hmm?' Listening to Faulerei's words, Valyr raised his eyebrows in interest. As someone who now knew the requirements to become a True Prodigious Blacksmith, he knew how hard it would be for other people to stumble upon the class if they did not know what they were doing. With that, he wondered if the other people that would be entering the inheritance alongside him had come across the class in the same way he did, or if they were nurtured to take on that class.
'I definitely wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.' With the thought lingering in his mind, a bitter smile briefly lingered on his face, thinking about how all of the information needed to unlock a Mythic class was handed to the others on a silver platter, just because their circumstances were better than his. 'Then again, who knows?'
"Aside from that, I must also remind the Herald that if you plan on ascending to the next rank within the next few days, I highly encourage you to not exceed the peak of Rank 2, if possible." Seeing that all of Valyr's questions regarding the previous reminder had been answered, Faulerei went ahead and continued with the second reminder that came to his mind, prompting Valyr to ask yet another question.
"Is the reason similar to the previous reminder you mentioned?"
"Somewhat." In response, Faulerei nodded, albeit with slight uncertainty. "Unlike the previous reminder I've mentioned, which was only something we've obtained after collating all of the information those who had delved the inheritance in the past had given us, the fact that the inheritance does not accept any being beyond the peak of Rank 2 was quickly found out."
"If any being beyond the peak of Rank 2 decided to try and enter the inheritance's entrance, a thick barrier would swiftly form between them and the entrance, barring them from entry," he continued. "Of course, such a thing would pose no problem if one were still at the peak of Rank 2 and lower. The inheritance would not bar them from entering in any way, with the only exception being the fact if the person did not have one of the four classes needed to open the inheritance."
Though Valyr was curious at first as to how the elder knew that he could ascend to the next rank at anytime, this question in his mind was swiftly dispelled as he remembered that there were multiple ways to find something like that out, [Analysis] being one of those multiple methods.
Nevertheless, once Faulerei had finished his explanation regarding the second reminder he had given Valyr, the latter nodded once more in response, committing the former's words into memory as he made a mental note to not ascend to Rank 3 for the next month.
After all, it would be a shame for him to lose what he considered the easiest way to unlock advancements that not even the planet normally had access to.
'Then again, if I did have to ascend to Rank 3 for some reason and forfeit my chances of entering the inheritance, I still have another way to do the same thing,' Valyr thought to himself, inwardly letting out a sigh the more he thought about it. 'However, I'll have to wait for the public version to release first.'
'And that's still a year from now.' Inwardly letting out yet another sigh in response to this thought, Valyr refocused his attention towards Faulerei and the other elders, noticing that a few of them were engaging in a hushed conversation, including Faulerei himself.
Fortunately, their conversation did not last for long as they swiftly returned their gazes back to Valyr as Faulerei opened his mouth. "Since I've more or less covered the first topic of our meeting, let us now move onto our second topic."
"However, before we begin, I would like to ask the Herald something."
Gazing at Faulerei, Valyr tilted his head a small bit in curiosity as he asked, "What is it?"
In response, a question escaped Faulerei's mouth.
"Do you have any idea of what's going on within the Zeihardt clan at the moment?"
