Returning to the fire pit, Valyr grabbed another plate of food for himself before digging in.
At the same time, the two sat close to the young man, wondering whether or not to talk about their next steps in greater detail.
After all, the goal of completing what was needed to enter the Gates of Transcendence was incredibly broad in scope.
Were they going to check the objectives of the quest first? Were they going to talk about where they were going to complete the objectives?
Such thoughts lingered within Hal and Vera's minds as they watched Valyr savor each and every bite of food he had taken.
In the end, the two decided to bring up the topic some other time after looking at one another, noticing that the leader of their now smaller group seemed intent on getting his moment of silence.
With that, the trio talked about other topics for the meantime to pass the time, thinking of the most interesting topics in order to bring some joy into their conversation.
Though it had not been long since Faulus and Loreina left the group to return to the outside world, the atmosphere surrounding the trio had already turned somewhat gloomy.
Nevertheless, by the time the three of them had devoured all of the food Valyr had prepared for what was initially five people, there was no trace of the gloomy atmosphere whatsoever.
Of course, the trio still felt a bit melancholic since they had been separated from two of their comrades.
Yet, they chose the option to push onward.
"Say, Valyr." While the three were in the midst of cleaning the area, Vera struck a conversation with the young man. "Now that I think about it… it's kind of weird."
"What is?" Hearing Vera's words, the young man looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"How you know about what's going on in the outside world even though we're still in the inheritance," replied the young woman, her expression somewhat calm.
"I did mention earlier that it had something to do with the final trial I got," said Valyr back, inwardly letting out a low sigh. "Though they were there as opponents, they also did not hesitate to tell me about what's going on in Veldanyr."
At that, Valyr decided to explain in greater detail what he had told the four earlier.
In his explanation, he explained to the two that the Trial of Nine Stars that he and Hal took was just one giant trial that was split into three smaller trials consisting of three opponents each.
He then mentioned that the opponents at the earlier sub-trials were only an image of the actual being they were fighting against.
After that, he then told them that once they had passed a certain point in the trial, they would instead fight against a clone of sorts of the actual being.
"Unlike the earlier opponents, which are called memory images, these opponents are instead called memory extensions," said Valyr, realizing that the two had become engrossed in his explanation at some point.
"That change in word alone already tells you all you need to understand why I know what's going on between the orcs and the humans outside."
"Speaking of which…" While he was explaining the difference between the two kinds of opponents, Valyr recalled a certain memory during the Trial of Nine Stars.
"I actually fought against one of the opponents you got, Hal," said Valyr, piquing Hal's interest. "Ever heard of Nila Hephaista?"
"Nila…" murmured the latter in response as the gears in his mind turned. Eventually, as if a light bulb had flashed on in his mind, Hal looked at Valyr with realization as he faintly nodded.
"She told me while we were fighting that you had a unique Intent of the Blade." Valyr grinned. "Guess I have to congratulate you on finally comprehending an actual Intent."
"And here I thought I would have been able to keep that a secret until I left the inheritance." Looking as if a giant secret of his was revealed, Hal looked at Valyr with a wry smile.
Seeing Vera on the side looking at him in disbelief, the man let out a brief chuckle before returning his attention to the young man. "Did she say anything else about me?"
"Not really." Valyr smiled back. "As a matter of fact, all I told you so far was all she told me about you."
"I see." Hal nodded, only to smile not long after. "Guess that means I've gotten the attention of an extremely important person, then."
After delving a bit more into the topic regarding Valyr's opponents in the Trial of Nine Stars, the trio eventually returned to their initial topic, which had something to do with the skirmish between humans and orcs.
Hearing that the small skirmish between the two races had ballooned to envelop multiple human kingdoms at once, Hal and Vera instantly had grave expressions on their faces.
For a second, the hesitation they buried earlier had even shown itself once more, their expressions seemingly showing that they wanted to return to the outside world just like the others.
Though, after Valyr mentioned to the two that the Meltierre Empire was going to make a move of their own against the orcs, their urges to return to the outside world had mostly disappeared.
But that did not mean that they pushed such thoughts to the side in the meantime.
Instead, with them now gaining the knowledge that their strengths and skills could not help the humans in their fight against the orcs, Hal and Vera subconsciously spurred Valyr towards completing the objectives to enter the Gates of Transcendence.
Though a hint of annoyance appeared on the young man's face after realizing this, Valyr eventually acquiesced, considering that he had spent a lot of time resting while in the trial grounds.
With that, by the time the sun had begun to set within the inheritance, the trio stored all of the items making up the temporary camp as they headed to the only destination left that they hadn't fully explored yet.
The center of the city ruins.
