"Well, you two are up early."
Letting out a yawn as he did a few light stretches, Valyr headed to where Hal and Vera were, wondering whether the two already had breakfast yet.
Seeing that there was no food made whatsoever, the young man shrugged his shoulders and began to make food for the three of them.
At the same time, he noticed the shocked and surprised expressions on the duo's faces, prompting him to scratch the back of his head as he wondered what they saw that made their faces look that way.
Looking in the direction the two were looking at, it did not take long for Valyr to understand what left them at a loss for words.
After all, what roamed the streets below them were none other than humans.
'As expected,' thought Valyr to himself, briefly glancing at the food he was cooking before returning his attention to the beings that roamed below.
Due to how the three had arrived at the center of the ruins during nighttime, both Hal and Vera had no clue that the opponents would be up against were none other than beings that looked like humans.
Then again, without the things he had gone through and experienced so far within the inheritance, Valyr felt like he would have reacted the same way the two were reacting at the moment.
However, he had already roamed the center of the city ruins once while obtaining information on the quadrant leaders he eventually killed.
Because of that, he already knew what kind of beings they were going to go up against.
Aside from that, the memory that he had gained access thanks to him killing the quadrant leaders allowed him to understand their soon-to-be foes at a deeper level, recalling all of the efforts Vaughn had gone through in that memory.
'Multiple aberrations and primitive humanoids had eventually led to this point,' muttered Valyr inwardly, activating [Superior Analysis] to get a better idea of what they were going to go up against.
'Feral humans, huh.'
Ding!
[Feral Human (Mythic Elite)] (Level 85)
Class: Feral Human (Uncommon)
HP: 32,120/32,120
MP: 28,920/28,920
Attack: 4,220 - 4,220
Defense: 3,212 - 3,212
Stats: 803 VIT, 1055 STR, 1003 AGI, 665 DEX, 723 INT, 723 WIS, 695 PER, 260 LUK
Skills: [Intermediate Feral Combat Arts], [Advanced Physical Damage Resistance], [Advanced Magical Damage Resistance], [Intermediate Physical Damage Nullification], [Intermediate Magical Damage Nullification], and 19 other skills.
Intents: [Intent of Combat]
Remarks: Human in appearance, bestial in nature. An experiment gone wrong. These beings contain a hint of conscience and sentience within them, yet that amount is only enough for them to further realize their primal instincts.
Reading through the remarks the system had given him on one of the beings, Valyr recalled the final experiment Vaughn did near the end of the memory.
Having gone through over hundreds upon hundreds of primitive humanoids and chemical formulas, all of that effort had eventually culminated into what looked to be a successful result.
Seeing that the primitive humanoid before the man had transformed into what looked like an actual human, Vaughn felt immense delight at the fact that his hardships were finally over.
Yet, as if the world didn't want him to achieve his goals so easily, that human soon lost his mind as it returned to what felt like a more primal state.
Through correlation and cross-referencing, the young man was more than certain that the final experiment Vaughn did yielded the first-ever feral human in history.
And with how that feral human now numbered in the hundreds, all of them roaming around the streets of the ruins' center, Valyr became even more curious over one thing.
'Was Vaughn eventually successful in creating an actual human?'
With no memory or person to answer his question, the young man eventually put the thought to the side as he let out a low sigh.
After that, he brought the two back to reality by tapping on their shoulders, telling them that breakfast was ready to be served.
Though the two still hadn't gotten over the shock the sight below gave them, Hal and Vera still forced themselves to move, grabbing themselves a plate of food.
It was only after taking a few deep breaths to compose themselves did the two return to their previous states, digging into their food in silence not long after.
While eating the food Valyr cooked for them, the two noticed how the young man seemed indifferent towards the sight below, eating his breakfast like normal.
"How… could you be so calm?" asked Hal, feeling like he had lost a great portion of his appetite from the sight earlier. "Those are humans, no?"
"In appearance." Valyr nodded, feeling like their conversation would eventually lead to a similar topic back when they met the primitive humanoids for the first time.
"If you were to use your identification skill on them, you'd see how different they are from us."
"I know. I've taken a look at their stats myself," replied Hal, his expression turning somewhat grave. "But don't you feel anything? In a way, we're reaping innocent lives, no?"
In response, Valyr softly nodded. "In a way. If we weren't here, they would have peacefully gone on with their lives, oblivious to the fact that they're inside an inheritance."
"However, with us making our presence sooner or later, they have no choice but to fight us. It's in their name. They're called feral humans for a reason."
"But still…" Hal frowned.
At this point, Hal begun to wonder whether the Valyr before him was the same person that accompanied him and the others in the inheritance.
Though, as he went along this train of thought for a bit longer, he eventually found his answer, a thought from the past surfacing in his mind.
'Of course not,' thought Hal to himself. 'Of course he isn't the Valyr that came along with you. Not anymore with all of the experiences you guys have gone through.'
'But then again… that applies to me as well.'
Recalling having a similar conversation regarding the ethics of killing beings that looked human back when they discovered the primitive humanoids for the first time, Hal let out a long and exasperated sigh.
Scratching the back of his head for a bit, he then looked at Vera, feeling that the thoughts he had were running in her mind as well.
Wryly smiling at that realization, he then looked at where Valyr sat, hoping to apologize for what could have possibly been another blunder on their end.
Though, before he could even apologize, he noticed that any traces of the young man from earlier were nowhere to be seen.
Then, not long after, sounds of fighting had erupted from below.
