Sirius' office.
"Ylvar isn't the person I think of him to be?" Listening to the words of the man before him, Julian scratched the back of his head, wondering what kind of perspective the man was going to take. "What do you mean by that?"
"You should really listen to this one, Julian." Seeing how nonchalant Julian was during their conversation, Sirius could not stop himself from letting out a sigh. "As a good friend, even if it's mostly for business, I look out for your safety. Julian, that Ylvar has a hidden identity you don't even know."
"What hidden identity?" Finally understanding what Sirius was hinting at, Julian decided to drop all pretenses and showcase his knowledge to the man. "The fact that Ylvar is actually Valyr Zeihardt?"
"Yes, exactly!" Hearing Julian's words, Sirius profusely nodded in agreement. "Ylvar is actually Valyr Zeihardt! He's been hiding as… wait…"
"You knew?"
"How could I not?" Seeing the confused yet surprised look on his friend's face, Julian did not whether to laugh or continue taking on a serious expression. "As one of the higher-ranked leaders of the Blacksmith Guild, I need to make sure that no malicious people enter our class guild. With that in mind, even false identities are checked in great detail."
"Of course, due to the sensitive nature of the young man's identity, I've decided to have the false identity stay," he added. "After all, only bad things would happen if this kingdom's Zeihardt clan caught wind of him being here."
'Then again, I never expected the kid to be so courageous to share his real identity with the Blacksmith Guild,' thought Julian to himself as he said these words. Though, if he knew that Valyr had shared his real identity just because he did not know his name had possible consequences to it, it went without saying that Julian might faint from shock.
"So, you know, huh." As he listened to his friend's explanation in silence, Sirius eventually nodded in agreement, feeling that the man's words made sense.
"Does anyone else know about this?" asked Julian as he realized something, looking at Sirius with a slightly cold expression. "Ylvar being Valyr, I mean."
"I have sworn a mana oath with the Imperial Alchemist to not divulge any information about the young man's true identity to anyone else, except for other people that knew of his true identity already," replied Sirius, understanding the man's worries. "Now that I think about it, that's probably why the Imperial Alchemist told me that it was fine for me to share the information with you."
"In any case, the fact that you know about it already saves me the trouble of having to explain to you his identity and head straight to the predictions the Imperial Alchemist had given me," said the man not long after, catching Julian a bit by surprise.
"Wait… the Imperial Alchemist can see the future?" asked Julian, to which Sirius nodded in response.
"Even I was surprised when I first heard it," replied Sirius, taking a hint of delight at his friend's surprised expression. "However, I did confirm it with a couple of people I trust from the clan. They say that the Imperial Alchemist is also known as one of the empire's greatest imperial advisers to ever leave, having a subclass that allows her to see into the future."
"And… I presume this prediction has something to do with Valyr?" Putting two and two together in his mind, it did not take long for Julian to get to the crux of the matter, with Sirius nodding in agreement.
"That is indeed the case." Sirius let out a faint sigh before taking in a deep breath. "According to her…"
"Valyr will become the reason for humanity's downfall."
…
Ding!
As Mystia had reached the conclusion of her explanation, a notification sound resounded within Valyr's mind, prompting him to command the system to bring up the notification screen before him.
'How many more layers are there to this identity of mine?' Reading through the notifications he had received, a wry smile eventually crept up onto the young man's lips, inwardly letting out a sigh as he brought up the description of the skill he had obtained.
[You have gained an important piece of information regarding your true identity.]
[The skill 'Royal Blood of the Chosen' has transformed due to the piece of information you've gained. The skill's name has been changed to 'Ancestral Blood of the Zeihardts'.]
[Only a few steps remain before you truly find out who you are. Nevertheless, many things shall remain to stand in your way as you try to seek for it. Surpass all of those, and all the shackles that have been binding you thus far will finally be removed at last.]
Ding!
————
[Ancestral Blood of the Zeihardts] (Lv. MAX)
Rarity: Mythic+
The founder of the Zeihardt clan is said to be a being of his own caliber, having the ability to wield great amounts of strength, as well as limitless stamina and vitality. As a descendant of the founder, you have inherited a greater portion of the man's blood compared to your peers, becoming known as a Herald of the clan.
However, rather than inherit just a greater portion of the man's blood, you instead have inherited not only the entirety of your blood, but also his strength, stemming from your connection with the man as part of the Zeihardt Imperial Clan.
Because of this, you are able to wield a level of strength that far surpasses any Herald to have ever lived in history, becoming a Harbinger. If anything, the only being capable of having a strength on par with you being the ancestor of the Zeihardt clan, Otto Zeihardt itself.
Though such information is unknown to many at the moment, this information shall eventually spread like wildfire through the continents, causing you to become a target for everyone to befriend with, or for everyone to kill.
Naturally, such a conclusion depends on your future actions.
This skill increases all of the user's stats by 15%. It also increases the user's maximum HP and MP by 20%.
Note: A thin curtain is the only thing stopping you from discovering your true identity. Rise through adversities and figure out what your true purpose is. Once you do, the truth shall be revealed and you shall be set free, Harbinger.
'A 5% increase to all of my stats, as well as my HP and MP…' Looking through the upgrade his passive skill had gone, Valyr could not help but think that such a massive increase in power was quite absurd if it could be obtained through gathering more information about himself.
Nevertheless, with how he did not much about the Zeihardt clan until he had been given a second shot in life, it also made sense that the system had done it this way.
Closing up the screens he had brought up, Valyr took in a few deep breaths as he made it seem like he had been pondering over the information he had just heard from Mystia. Then, after a while, he eventually asked her a question that continued where their conversation had left off.
"Are you sure that I'm the seventh Herald? Are you sure that I'm the Harbinger the ancestor was talking about?" he asked. "After all, hasn't there only been six Heralds throughout the history of the Zeihardt clan?"
"You've read up quite a bit on the history of the Zeihardt clan, I see," responded Mystia after a bit of silence. "In any case, though it is true that there have only been six Heralds throughout the clan's history, it is considered that the ancestor of the Zeihardt clan is a Herald and a Harbinger, thus making you the seventh Herald."
"As well as the second Harbinger," Mystia added at the very last minute.
"If that's the case, is there anything that happens that signifies that I'm the second Harbinger? I don't really feel anything different from how I was earlier." Though the system had confirmed that Valyr was indeed the Harbinger she was talking about, the young man would not let anyone else but himself know about this for the meantime, deciding to take advantage of the fact that she could not see the changes he had gone through in person.
"Are you sure that I'm the seventh Herald? Perhaps the ancestor was counting to seven from the Herald that came after him and not himself."
"Eh? You don't feel anything different?" Asking a question of her own back, Mystia's tone was that of slight shock. "According to the prophecy Otto had given, a Harbinger would undergo through a great increase in strength after finding out this information."
"Nope," said Valyr, blatantly lying through his teeth. "I seriously don't feel anything at all."
"Was our decryption wrong?" After hearing Valyr's response, Mystia began to doubt the effort she and others had put a great amount of their time in. "Did we possibly misread some of the text written on the passage? Have we been reading it from the wrong direction all this time?"
"Er… I have a question." Though Valyr slightly felt guilty at the fact that he made Mystia feel like all of her work was for nothing, he placed this feeling at the back of his head and suppressed it for the meantime, reminding himself to tell her that him being a Harbinger was true once he had gotten a bit stronger.
"What is it?" Still stressed over the fact that their decryption might be wrong, Mystia responded back in a slightly angry tone, only to calm down once she recalled she was still talking to Valyr.
"If you don't mind…" Twiddling his thumbs, the young man asked her a question.
"Could you tell me what these items you gave me in more detail?"
