Whoosh! Whoosh!
"I'm beat." Being the first to get out of the rift, Valyr laid down on the ground as he let the cold air blowing throughout the room caress his entire body, feeling his physical and mental exhaustion disappear with every passing second.
"I did tell you not to push yourself so hard, brat." As for Noel, he let out a low sigh as he got out of the rift, slowly shaking his head as he dismantled the magic circle powering the entrance to the Shadow Plane. "In any case, are you finally used to your new subclass?"
"More than used to it at this point, Elder Noel." In response, Valyr beamed a grin. "With how much fighting I've had to do in the Shadow Plane during those past couple of days, you could even say that it's a natural extension of myself at this point."
"Truly crazy," murmured Noel as he sat down on his bed, his mind recalling all of the fighting he had seen Valyr engage in during the time they were in the Shadow Plane.
Though it seemed like the fight between Valyr and Juvenile Shadow Serpent took up quite a large chunk of their time in the Shadow Plane, the total amount of time it took for the two to search for a Shadow Serpent and kill it was roughly three hours. With that, after taking a small break, the young man still had roughly two days to do whatever he wanted in the Shadow Plane before he had to leave no matter what.
Thus, as a response to break the silence between them after the old man had given him his new subclass, Valyr suggested that he fought against the creatures of the Shadow Plane to get used to his new subclass, which Noel unsurprisingly agreed to. After all, if the young man were to fight creatures here rather than fight creatures out in the real world, the young man would be effectively killing two birds with one stone.
For one, he would be gaining experience with his new subclass, finding out the limits of the subclass, as well as the limits of his body under the new subclass. Aside from that, he would also be gaining Shadow Energy from killing the creatures, something Noel made sure to happen every time the young man wanted to fight.
Taking only the most necessary of breaks as he sustained himself on health, mana, and stamina potions in both his and Noel's spatial bracelet, Valyr had killed about five thousand creatures in total, which allowed him to break through bottlenecks for his Shadow Energy stat multiple times.
At the moment, the young man's Shadow Energy stat was at 89 points, allowing the status boost effect from [Shadow Energy Mark] to now be incredibly noticeable.
"As I've mentioned earlier in the Shadow Plane, there's no need to obtain a quest from me in order to improve your subclass to the next rarity." After the two had taken a sufficient break under the room's cold air, Noel broke the silence as he looked at the young man still lying on the ground. "As long as you meet the amount and quality of Shadow Energy needed, your subclass will naturally improve."
"A thousand points in Shadow Energy and 3rd Cleansing grade in quality, right?" asked Valyr in response, wanting to make sure that he remembered the man's words correctly.
"Correct." Fortunately, he did, eliciting Noel to nod in agreement. "As long as you reach that amount and that quality of Shadow Energy, your Shadow Energy will undergo a transformation, turning into Void Energy and allowing you to ascend to the subclass' next rarity."
"Of course, with you being the first Shadow Serpentine Manalancer in the world, I have no clue whether or not the requirements to ascend to the next rarity shall remain the same or not," added Noel soon after. "However, I shall pray to the heavens that it does remain the same."
"I definitely hope it stays the same." Valyr nodded in agreement, deciding to stand up after peering through the room's large windows.
"In any case, thank you very much for your guidance, Elder Noel." Seeing that the sun had already set, the young man decided to say farewell to the elder, giving the latter a respectful bow. "I shall find a way to repay you for this in the future."
"The only repayment I need from you is for you to reach the same level as I did," said Noel with a smile, gesturing to Valyr that he was free to leave. "Naturally, if there ever comes a day that you touch upon the concept of Chaos, I'll be more than content with life."
"Oh, I almost forgot," added the old man at the very last minute. "Since you now have proper control over Shadow Energy, you can open an entrance to the Shadow Plane on your own at anytime. There's no need for you to find me to enter it anymore."
"I'll definitely keep that in mind, Elder Noel. Farewell for now." Saying farewell to Noel once more, Valyr finally left the Spearman Guild, roaming through the streets of Algerie City at a brisk pace before arriving at the inn where he and Wells stayed in a few minutes later.
…
"So, how was the tournament?" At the very moment he had entered the room they stayed in, Valyr instantly heard a question come from Wells, whose expression was currently that of a slight frown.
"It was good," replied Valyr with a slightly apologetic smile, knowing that his friend was concerned for his safety. "Thanks to it, I'm now the leader of the party for the upcoming inheritance."
"Is that so?" With a slight frown still adorning his face, Wells raised an eyebrow as he looked at his friend from head to toe. "Why's your armor mangled, then?"
"About that…" Hearing Wells' question, a wry smile appeared on Valyr's face as he recounted what had happened in the Shadow Plane, omitting details that he knew Wells would not react kindly to.
"So that's why I felt like you've gotten stronger." However, rather than ease up after hearing Valyr's explanation, the frown on Wells' face became deeper as it now showed a hint of concern. "But that doesn't mean you don't need to take breaks."
"And that's exactly why I plan to take it easy for the remaining days up to the day where I enter the inheritance." Fortunately, Valyr's next response did, prompting Wells to inwardly let out a large sigh of relief as a smile now replaced the frown.
"Oh, thank the heavens."
Chuckling in response to Wells' reply, Valyr's expression soon turned into that of slight curiosity as he noticed that the aura surrounding Wells had gotten considerably stronger compared to when he had felt it before he left for the tournament.
"Wells, is it me… or have you gained a few levels?" Hearing this question from his good friend, Wells let out a bit of laughter as a mysterious smile appeared on his face.
"Hmm… I don't know. Why don't you check it for yourself?"
Whoosh!
Just as Valyr was about to nod in agreement to his friend's suggestion, the young man was swiftly bombarded by the entirety of Wells' aura. Within its radius, he felt that the aura gave him a familiar feeling, but he was not sure where that familiarity came from.
"Ah."
Coincidentally, that was the exact moment when it hit him.
"You ascended."
