Though Hal and Vera were under the notion that Valyr had just woken up earlier to fight against the feral humans, reality was more different than their initial thoughts.
For one, it had been over half a day since Valyr left the two on their own to head to the Gates of Awakening.
On top of that, he had spent an entire month within the Realm of Myriad Experiences polishing his skills.
'I've gotta say… that was some lucky coincidence.'
Placing a pot on top of the fire he was managing, Valyr thought about how he had been transported out of the Realm of Myriad Experiences an hour or so after the sun came up.
Due to the mechanics of the place, rather than be transported out of the entire Gates of Awakening altogether, Valyr was instead transported back to the entrance of the Realm of Myriad Experiences.
Then, after taking a peek through a rift to see what time it was back in the inheritance proper, the young man utilized almost all of the movement skills in his arsenal to return to the courtyard at record time. Not long after, he appeared at the base of the building that served as their temporary camp, bitterly smiling as he thought about how he had yet to claim his final reward.
'Then again, the voice did assure me that I could still enter the Gates of Awakening since I've yet to claim that reward, as well as the entirety of my reward from the Realm of Myriad Experiences,' thought Valyr to himself before focusing his attention on the task before him.
Of course, while his hands were occupied by him making breakfast for the three of them, his mind continued to wander off, thinking about all of the things he had done back in the Gates of Awakening.
More specifically, the skills he had decided to polish while in the Realm of Myriad Experiences.
Unsurprisingly, the young man had chosen to polish his mastery over his spear and his magic manipulation, spending quite an insane amount of time on what was basically monotonous work.
Nevertheless, the results spoke for themselves, with each movement of either the spear or mana giving him great insight on where he could improve.
With that, both [Advanced Spear Mastery] and [Advanced Magic Mastery] had reached Level 30 as the bottlenecks that would've usually needed Skill Keys were broken through with sheer perseverance and insight.
'One could choose to raise the level of the skills themselves alongside mastery, replacing the need for Skill Keys and other resources to upgrade skills with hard work and perseverance.'
Recalling the words spoken by the voice the very moment he entered the place, Valyr let out yet another chuckle as he went over the other skills he had focused on while in that barren ground.
"I also focused on all the Arcane Shadow Serpent skills if I remember correctly," muttered the young man to himself, only for the Shadow Energy and mana thrumming as it circulated around his body to act as confirmation.
Then again, with how the Arcane Shadow Serpent skills formed the core of his combat style, it only made sense for him to focus on all of them after working on fortifying his foundations.
In fact, [Advanced Combat Mastery] and [Advanced Weapon Mastery] had also gone up by quite a few levels thanks to him constantly swinging his spear within the Realm of Myriad Experiences, reaching the skills' second bottleneck without a problem.
The same could be said for [Intermediate Spellcasting] and [Intermediate Incantation] with how often he used magic within the place, raising both to the Advanced stage as both of them arrived at the first bottleneck.
Though, if there was one thing he didn't expect to gain levels while in the Realm of Myriad Experiences, it was [Intermediate Shadow Energy Manipulation].
Without him intently focusing his attention on the skill at all, the skill had ascended to the Advanced stage as well, stopping at just halfway to the second bottleneck by the time the month he had allocated was up.
'Well, with how much Shadow Energy I use in all of the Arcane Shadow Serpent skills, I guess it makes sense that the skill would also improve,' said Valyr to himself inwardly.
All in all, he was more than satisfied with the progress he had made in that single month, feeling a hint of regret at the fact that he couldn't stay for longer.
Nevertheless, with how a single month within the Realm of Myriad Experiences meant that he would only disappear from the inheritance proper for roughly half a day, Valyr was already drafting a few plans and ideas in his mind on how he could make it work.
'With how exploring the True Blacksmith Archive took up a good chunk of that time, I could probably even stay within the Realm of Myriad Experiences for two months and both Hal and Vera would be none the wiser.'
With that thought in mind, the young man continued to adorn a smile on his face as he served breakfast for the three of them, chatting about various topics as they indulged in their morning meals.
After that, both Hal and Vera readied themselves to head down the temporary camp to fight against the feral humans, feeling a hint of pressure from Valyr's earlier words.
Wishing them the best of luck, Valyr watched the two head down the building before finding a suitable spot for them to fight against feral humans.
Seeing the two in control of their fight's tempo, the young man decided to take a quick nap, recalling that he had only spent a bit of time within the Realm of Myriad Experiences getting some actual rest.
Around an hour later, Valyr woke up from his short slumber, rubbing his eyes as he took a look at how far the two had gone.
Faintly smiling as he noticed the two taking a short break, the young man did a few light stretches before heading down the building on his own.
Thud.
Swiftly casting a Wind-based spell to cushion his fall, Valyr stared at his surroundings for a bit before grinning.
"I'll use the arquebus some other time."
"For now… time to see what kind of improvements the Realm of Myriad Experiences has given me."
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