"Mngh…" Feeling like a considerable amount of time had passed since he fell unconscious, it took a while for Valyr's consciousness to rouse from slumber. Gradually sensing the great changes to his body brought about by the ascension, it took a while for the young man to finally come to.
Though, once the young man opened his eyes as he sat upright, he was greeted by the sight of the other four, with most of them looking at him with slight frowns on their faces. Tilting his head in slight confusion, Valyr scratched the back of his head as he thought about multiple possibilities. "Was I the last to awaken?"
"You were," Faulus responded in a solemn tone, his gaze focused on Valyr's every movement.
"How much time has passed since we all went through our ascensions?" asked Valyr not long after.
In response, Vera replied, "According to the others, it's been about a day and a half since then."
At those words, Valyr briefly sucked in a breath of cold air. After all, with the time difference that existed between the inheritance and the outside world, that meant three weeks had passed in the outside world while he was unconscious.
Nevertheless, such a feeling gradually disappeared as he had a strong feeling those in the outside world expected them to take far longer than three weeks, considering that the Four Pillars' Inheritance had already been opened many times in the past.
"So, what's made everyone gather around me?" Though he felt like the reason most of the four were frowning at him since he had taken the longest to wake up from the ascension, Valyr also had a feeling that something else about him was the cause.
Fortunately, the young man quickly obtained his answer as Hal let out a low sigh. "When were you going to tell us you were using a disguise skill all this time?"
'Shit.' At those words, Valyr knew that he had messed up, even though he had no intentions of doing so. Pondering over the possible things he could do to fix the situation, the young man was reminded of his forced ascension to Rank 2, wherein his disguise skill had been disabled due to him falling unconscious. Though, unlike the current situation, Wells had already seen his true identity.
Seeing that the atmosphere around them had become awkward amidst the silence, Faulus spoke up. "Who are you, really? Are you really the Ylvar we know?"
Letting out a low sigh, Valyr nodded. "I am. I was the one you guys interacted with during the tournament."
"Though, as to why I've been hiding my true identity all this time…" As these words came out of his mouth, the young man made up his mind to come clean to the others, trusting in his gut instinct that the others won't betray him. "Have you heard of the name Valyr Zeihardt before?"
"Isn't that the name of that one member the entire Zeihardt clan has been searching the whole continent over?" Faulus nodded in response, answering in a straightforward manner. Thankfully, even though the others had realized what Valyr meant by his words before him, it did not take long for him to realize either, looking at the young man with disbelief.
"Wait… you're Valyr Zeihardt?"
Valyr nodded with a bitter smile. "That would be me, indeed."
"In fact, our last-minute guest Vera here also knows of my true identity," added the young man soon after, prompting the three to look at the only one among them that did not react that greatly.
"It's a long story…" Glaring at Valyr for a bit, Vera began to talk about how the two of them had met each other back at Astarto Village. Then, after she was done telling her side of the story, the young man gave the others a bit more information as to why he was in hiding, such as the fact that one faction of the Zeihardt clan was hellbent on finding him.
Naturally, he did not tell the four information that they did not need to know, such as him being a Herald.
Or, after finding out from Mystia, a Harbinger.
"I'm going to take a while to get used to your true identity…" By the time Valyr was finished explaining the entire situation to the three, Faulus, Hal, and Loreina looked at each other in silence. However, after a while, Faulus eventually spoke up, looking at Valyr with a low sigh. "Then again, that does not change the fact that you've been lying to us."
"I do admit that I'm in the wrong for that since we'll be exploring the inheritance as a group." Valyr nodded in agreement as he apologized to the three. "After all, if there's one thing that's incredibly important in exploring places like these as a group, that would be the trust each person has for one another."
"However, all of the skills I've shown you during the tournament are all real. I'm still a blacksmith through and through," continued the young man. "I seriously hope this does not deter us from working together throughout this journey."
"Well, you did have to hide your identity for a good reason." Surprisingly, Hal was the first one to accept Valyr's apology. "The fact that you did not hesitate in admitting your wrongdoings just reinforces my belief that you're better suited to lead this group than I am."
"Though, I would definitely like to have a rematch with you someday." At these words, Hal let out a chuckle, to which Valyr smiled in response before chuckling as well.
"I'd have to agree with Hal on that one." Loreina nodded in agreement. "Then again, I have a feeling you wouldn't have told us about your true identity if it came down to it."
Valyr nodded in response. "The less people know, the better."
"Right." Loreina nodded back. "However, even if it was unintentional, you still showed no hesitation in telling us what we needed to know. That alone has earned my respect."
Seeing that the other two had accepted the situation for what it was, Faulus was left with no choice but to accept the situation as well. "Ah, whatever! We'll only be spending more time here if we mull over this problem for longer anyway."
"But you better teach me a thing or two on how to fight properly…" Unexpectedly, after shouting out his first couple statements, the young man's voice turned meek as he looked at Valyr while twiddling his thumbs.
"I will." Seeing Faulus' expression, Valyr let out a bit of laughter, glad that his true identity did not affect the bond the four had made during the tournament too much. With that, he looked at Vera, who looked back at him with a smile and a nod.
Nodding back at Vera, Valyr took in a deep breath before standing up, gazing at the vast landscape in front of them. "Alright."
"Let's start planning out what we need to do."
