Whoosh!
Just as the monotonous voice was finished talking, a small jet-black shard appeared a fair distance away from the young man, emanating an aura that he had become more than acquainted with thanks to a certain incident.
Taking some time to recover from the shock he felt, Valyr soon moved closer to the shard floating in the air, being reminded once more how the shard looked like a random piece of glass.
Then again, recalling how that piece of glass had allowed him to tap into an unworldly level of power, the young man took in a deep breath as he calmed himself down.
'What would happen if I were to absorb another shard?' Using [Superior Analysis] to ascertain that the shard before him was indeed another Shard of Defiance, Valyr began to wonder whether there were any downsides to having two shards instead of one.
After all, one shard had already allowed him to enter an ethereal state, only for him to become more than exhausted once it had run out.
There was no doubt in his mind that two would undoubtedly make that state stronger should he ever enter it again. But at the same time, it make him wonder…
Rather than being exhausted, would it now leave him severely injured?
In the end, the young man dispelled all of the negative thoughts in his mind as he let out a sigh.
Staring at the dark shard once more, he reminded himself that the Gates of Awakening wouldn't give a reward that was detrimental to him, considering how all of his rewards so far had only given him great benefits.
With that, he steeled his mind as he sent out a couple of mana tendrils towards the floating shard.
Seeing that the tendrils were tightly wrapped around the shard, the young man prepared himself for what was to come as he recalled all of the mana tendrils back to him.
Whoosh!
Unsurprisingly, the shard moved similar to how the first shard did, barreling towards Valyr at breakneck speeds as it headed directly for his forehead.
"Ngh!"
Utilizing its sharp edges, the second shard begun to embed itself deeper into its forehead, causing waves of pain to radiate throughout the young man's body.
However, rather than fall unconscious from the pain, Valyr forced himself to stay awake, instantly feeling a wave of relief once the second shard had gone to the other side.
Wondering where it had gone, he then focused his vision inward, only to see that the second shard was heading to where the first Shard of Defiance was.
Swoosh!
At the very moment the two shards met, the two began to rotate around one another as they began to emanate a unique energy.
Feeling a hint of the ancient aura from this unique energy, Valyr watched as the two shards slowly moved closer to one another, eventually fusing into a larger shard that briefly infused his entire body with that ancient aura.
Savoring the feeling in the hopes of finding clues to return to that ethereal state he once entered, the young man wryly smiled after seeing that he had made no headway whatsoever.
Inwardly letting out a faint sigh, he soon focused his attention towards the now larger Shard of Defiance, activating [Superior Analysis] to see if anything about it had changed.
Ding!
[Shard of Defiance] (Item)
Rarity: ???
The seed of chaos.
The sign of rebellion.
The wishes of a being aiming for greater change, crystallized for eternity.
Many of its kind exist throughout the planet. However, only a few could fuse them together and not succumb to its whispers.
Needs the user to have comprehended a 1st Grade Intent. Needs the user to have reached Rank 5.
Using this item increases the user's Authority stat by 1 point.
"Huh." Returning his attention outward, Valyr's eyes slightly widened in surprise as he read through the item's description.
Though the description stayed more or less the same, there were still a few things about it that had changed.
For one, the requirements needed to make use of the shard had been significantly lowered. What previously required a Legend to activate now only needed a Rank 5 Epic with an incredibly strong Intent.
Which definitely more than doable with Valyr's accumulated experience.
Aside from that, a few additional lines had been added, informing the young man that more Shards of Defiance existed somewhere.
Seeing that an additional shard drastically reduced the requirement needed to make use of it, Valyr had more than made up his mind to find more of the shards if possible.
However, there was another line added to the description that had piqued his interest, reminding him of the short phrase he had heard whilst he was in that ethereal state.
"Break the chains," Valyr muttered, to which the shard responded by rattling about for a bit.
Slightly panicking after sensing that the fused shard was releasing its ancient aura once more, the young man sighed out in relief after the shard returned to normal.
It was also around that time that the monotonous voice continued with its monologue, informing Valyr that he had more rewards he had yet to go through.
'For your fourth reward, the Gates of Awakening have decided to awaken more of the potential you've already realized, finally allowing them to take on a tangible form.'
At that, a cloud of golden and iridescent energy appeared in front of the young man out of nowhere.
Whoosh!
Without any warning, the energies making up the cloud went through all of Valyr's orifices, instilling him with the feeling of greater strength.
At the same time, he felt his mind grow even clearer, making him wonder for a bit whether he still had [Zen] activated.
Though, after looking through the series of notifications he had just received, he found out that it was not the case.
Instead, it was something better.
Ding!
[You have gained 10 points of Might.]
[You have gained 10 points of Tranquility.]
[You have gained 10 points of Vigor.]
[You have gained 10 points of Mana Purity.]
…
[By accumulating over 25 points of Might, you have obtained the active skill 'True Rage'.]
[By accumulating over 25 points of Tranquility, you have obtained the passive skill 'Zen'.]
[Due to the user already having the skill 'Zen', the two skills have fused together, allowing the original skill to evolve to Epic+ grade.]
[The skill 'Zen' has evolved to 'Zen: First Lotus Step' due to the change in grade.]
