Allowing himself to immerse in his own thoughts, Valyr pondered over everything he had done so far to get to where he was right now, eventually wondering about something that he should have asked himself in the first place.
'Is there some greater reason behind why I was reborn to a time before Greater Beyond had begun? Why I was reborn as an NPC?'
Going over through every action he had done in the past, Valyr eventually thought that each of his actions had caused a slight change to happen to the storyline, with some of them being less pronounced than the others. Then again, that was due to the possibility that the small action would only cause a change at a point far into the future, which Valyr had a certain feeling that it would happen at that point in time.
A great example of an action he had done in the past that might have some great repercussions far into the future was him introducing the existence of Basic Reinforcement Elixir to Damian and Tristan, and by extension, the entire Astarto Village. As far as he could remember, it took a long time for players to stumble across the existence of Reinforcement Elixirs in the first place, with the first few players to come across it having discovered their existence at large cities and core cities.
After discovering Reinforcement Elixirs, players began to use these elixirs en masse, with the NPCs from the towns and villages eventually asking the players about it at some point. It was only then did the NPCs from these smaller settlements begin to use Reinforcement Elixirs en masse as well.
A point that was originally supposed to happen around half a year into Greater Beyond's first version.
A point over one and a half years into the future.
On the other side of the spectrum regarding actions that caused changes to the currently storyline was the World Quest he had obtained quite some time ago from Aster, which pertained to the storyline of Greater Beyond's first version.
Though it could be considered that its effects would only become truly pronounced once the storyline was at full swing, after reading through the quest's description, gaining information from others, as well as a bit of self-contemplation, he had come to the realization that the change the World Quest had on the storyline was, in fact, far greater than he thought.
Unlike his initial thoughts where he thought that completing the World Quest would only have a greater effect once the first version of Greater Beyond were released, Valyr had a feeling that the progression of Greater Beyond's first version as a whole would be dictated by his progress on this World Quest. There was the possibility that the storyline would remain as is, yet there was also the possibility that the storyline would become worse.
Of course, there was also the possibility that the storyline would be complete even before the first version could even begin.
Briefly scratching his head at the speculation rabbit hole he had gotten himself into, he decided to stop his train of thought there and then, conversing with Sana for a bit more after that before eventually falling into a deep slumber.
…
"I guess it's time to head back to where it all began." Scratching his head as he gave his consciousness time to acclimate to its current surroundings, Valyr let out a faint sigh as he got out of bed, quickly going through his usual morning routine before leaving the inn, heading to a nearby restaurant not long after for a light breakfast.
While he was in the middle of eating breakfast, Valyr brought up a screen containing the chat function in front of him, sending a message to Braum to ask if the man was already awake. Surprisingly, it did not take long for him to obtain a response, with the man asking him why he had decided to send a message to him at such an early time.
Taking a bite of the meal he had ordered, he swiftly sent a reply back to Braum if he could help him enter the Underground Transport Network, only to mention the Nascent Wyvern Armor set he had left at the workshop not long after. Fortunately, Braum had the ability to read between the lines, prompting the man to respond to the first topic that he was fine with him doing so, while he responded to the second topic that he would bring the armor set along with him, as well as a spatial bracelet that Valyr could borrow, which could fit the entire armor set inside it.
With a grin gradually creeping up onto his face, Valyr finished the remainder of his meal before sending a response back to Braum, thanking him for his help as he told him that he was already on his way to the Imperial Production Guild.
And thus, he activated a great chunk of the agility he had, increasing the pace at which he made his way to the Imperial Production Guild, arriving at the place only a few minutes later.
…
"I thought you'd take a bit longer, actually." Waving back at Valyr, Braum quickly gave the spatial bracelet he had mentioned in his messages to the young man, prompting the latter who had [Enhanced Polymorph] to grin in response before wearing it around his wrist. "For some reason, you don't strike me as a morning person."
"I've just gotten used to waking up early." Valyr shrugged his shoulders in response, taking notice of Braum's current get-up, which looked far more casual than the previous times he had seen Braum in the past as the man wore a plain white t-shirt and dark gray pants. "Anyways, shall we go?"
"I'll lead the way." Nodding in response to Valyr's statement, Braum proceeded to walk in front of the young man as the two of them roamed the streets of Algerie City. Along the way, Braum explained to Valyr the various rules surrounding the Underground Transport Network, as well as the various unwritten rules people had come to accept once one was inside the place.
Fortunately, it did not take long for the two of them to arrive at a spot that contained an entrance to the Underground Transport Network, which looked like a slightly decrepit house on the outside. However, once Braum uttered out a few words to the old man who had opened the door for the two, he and Valyr were soon allowed entry to the depths of the Underground Transport Network, with the latter feeling a hint of nostalgia after returning to a place he had frequented in the past.
"Just head to any one of the dark-robed people you see that aren't attending anyone else and they'll take care of the rest." While taking in the sight of the Underground Transport Network he was in, Braum said a few things to Valyr, prompting the latter to nod in response, only for him to bid farewell to the man not long after as the former told him that he had already done his part.
Watching Braum's silhouette gradually disappear from his field of sight, Valyr took in a deep breath before making his way to one of the dark-robed people Braum had mentioned.
"Destination?" The dark-robed person Valyr had gone to looked up at him as the man posed a question.
"A few kilometers near the Astarto Village gates." Valyr faintly nodded at the dark-robed person in response.
"One way?"
"Round trip."
"That'll be five platinum coins."
Though he felt a bit of pain at having to part with such a great amount of money in his current situation, Valyr nevertheless gave the dark-robed man the amount he had asked, causing the latter to nod in response as he gave Valyr a small medallion with intricate carvings on its surface soon after. "Once you're ready to head back to this place, just infuse a bit of your mana into the medallion I've given you."
"Now, step on the circle you see in front of you."
Nodding in response, Valyr did what he was told, positioning himself at the center of the magic circle beside the dark-robed man. After a bit of back and forth between him and the man, the latter eventually nodded in satisfaction before infusing a great portion of his mana into the circle, causing Valyr's body to disappear from the place not long after.
"Safe travels."
Whoosh!
