'Wait… what Intent?'
Though most of his attention was still on pushing [Soul Unification] to 50%, Valyr could not help but give his other self a second glance after hearing what the latter was planning to do.
'I said what I said,' replied Ataraxia, not surprised that the former would react that way. 'I'll be sacrificing [Intent of Tranquil Winds] while using the skill this time around.'
'…You sure you wanna do that?' asked Valyr in return, briefly stopping his control over [Soul Unification] after it had reached 30%. 'That's a Legend Grade Intent, you know?'
'Which is exactly why I don't mind sacrificing it this time around,' said Ataraxia, looking as if he'd long made his mind up on the matter. 'Think about it for a bit, Valyr.'
'A 1st Grade Intent would double the effects of the Attack stat coefficient,' he continued. 'If I used that through [Descent of the Arcane Supreme], I'd gain access to 1st Grade Force, which would increase that boost to triple.'
'Now, take that situation and replace the 1st Grade Intent with a Legend Grade one.' He looked at his other self for a brief moment, letting the thought marinate in the latter's mind.
'From what I found out during the Realm of New Horizons, a Legend Grade Intent increases the efficacy of the Attack stat coefficient by 20% more than a 1st Grade Intent.'
'Though it may not seem like much, what if it were upgraded to a Force? If we apply the same rules that happen to Intents once upgraded to Forces, wouldn't that mean I'd gain a 240% boost to my Attack stat coefficient if I sacrificed it?'
As those words left his mouth, the young man could not help but feel like there was a problem with his current train of thought.
After all, if that were truly the case, then that meant a Force of that caliber would be incredibly close to reaching the strength of a Stage 0 Concept.
With that in mind, Ataraxia closed his eyes for a bit as he gave himself some time to think.
Continuing to keep an eye on the progress of [The First Gunslinger's Patience], the young man opened his eyes once more as he looked at Valyr.
With a different perspective on the current topic, he told the latter, 'Okay. It's more likely that the boost it would give wouldn't be that much higher than what a 1st Grade Force would give. After all, a Stage 0 Concept gives a 250% boost to both Attack and Defense stat coefficients.'
'However, I'm pretty sure the result would still exceed the 200% figure,' he added, the confusion he felt earlier slowly being replaced with confidence.
'After all, upgrading something that already exceeds the bounds of an Intent would surely yield something that exceeds the bounds of a Force, no?'
Whoosh!
Just as he had finished saying those words, Ataraxia felt that the flintlock had finally reached its maximum charge, prompting him to give his other self a faint nod.
In response, although Valyr still had a lot to say about the train of thought the former shared with him, the young man decided to place those thoughts at the back of his head for now.
After all, they still had an Elder Wyvern to kill.
'[Soul Unification: 50% Fusion].'
Swoosh!
Deciding to ignore how much energy was being consumed by the skill for now, Valyr went ahead and pushed the skill to the extent the two had agreed upon, causing the two to feel as if they had finally removed a shackle limiting their bodies.
Pushing [Maximum Arcane Liberation] to its limits in response, Ataraxia soon felt the strength coursing throughout his body reach greater heights, only for it all to coalesce into an aura that caused their immediate surroundings to faintly ripple.
"What the…"
Continuing to watch the two prepare from afar, both Mystia and Hath were left at an utter loss for words after sensing the strength currently emanating from the two young men.
"Are you sure these two have only ascended to Rank 5 recently?" Focusing his attention on Ataraxia for a bit, Hath soon looked at Mystia with a raised eyebrow. "From what I can sense… they're already gone past that threshold."
"I wish I was lying, but they truly did ascend to Rank 5 just recently," answered the latter, her eyes widening in surprise after sensing the aura emanating from the two grow stronger.
"…I guess this is why they were confident enough to fight a Rank 7 Elder Wyvern."
Being Myth-level beings themselves, both Mystia and Hath knew that their strength was far above what was possible for a Legend to achieve.
After all, not only did they have control over Concepts and Legacies, they also had Armaments and Domains that they could train in that would give them access to greater power.
With that in mind, even though they appreciated how courageous both Valyr and Ataraxia were, the two were under the impression that they had already lost the fight before it even began.
Yet, now that they had witnessed what the two could achieve firsthand, the two could not help but look at each other for a bit before uttering out the same word.
"…Monsters."
Swoosh!
'I'm pushing [Soul Unification] to 100%.'
Oblivious to what Mystia and Hath were talking about, both Valyr and Ataraxia were still preparing the shot that would hopefully kill the Elder Wyvern.
'Wouldn't that attract the attention of the Elder Wyvern, though?' asked Ataraxia as he gave his other self a doubtful glance.
'As if [Descent of the Arcane Supreme] wouldn't attract it in the first place,' said Valyr in response, only to then start pushing [Soul Unification] to the triple digits.
Ignoring how much faster their energy was being sapped by the second, Valyr had a slight smile on his face the moment he pushed [Soul Unification] to 100% fusion.
Though, just as he was about to revel in the great amounts of strength coursing through their bodies, this action of his had finally caught the Elder Wyvern's attention.
Grrrrooooaaarrrr!!!
Letting out a roar filled with rage, the Elder Wyvern began to head in their direction, hoping to crush the two beings that had intruded upon its territory.
However, before it could even take its first step…
Ataraxia finally made his move.
