'So… how do you feel?'
By the time Ataraxia was done reading through all of the notifications, Valyr asked him this question with a slightly raised eyebrow.
'Stronger than ever before,' replied the former without hesitation. 'Feels like my overall strength has gone up by 50% just from all of those titles.'
'Really?' Hearing those words, Valyr raised his eyebrow even higher, the gears in his mind starting to turn.
'But even though I feel a lot stronger than before, there's still a question I want answered,' said Ataraxia soon after, his brows slightly furrowed.
'How the hell did I deal that much damage?'
'Well, one thing's for sure,' said the former after closing his eyes for a bit. 'The fact that you landed a Fatal Hit makes up a good chunk of why the damage got that high.'
'I know.' Ataraxia nodded at that. 'But without the boost from the Fatal Hit, I'd only be able to deal like 5 million damage at most.'
'Although that doesn't seem like much, compare it to the damage I dealt to the Blazing Direwolf we killed earlier.'
Getting an idea of what his other self was trying to say, Valyr faintly nodded as he followed the former's train of thought.
'You dealt roughly 3 million damage to it with a Brutal Hit,' he said. 'Without a Brutal Hit, that would only amount to around 600 to 700 thousand damage.'
'Even if you factor in how much my stats have gone up, and how I currently have control over something beyond a Force, a jump of over 4 million damage shouldn't be possible,' said Ataraxia in response. 'At most, those would allow it to go up to around 2 million, perhaps 3 million damage.'
'With that being said, where did the remaining 2 million or so damage come from?'
As the facts were now laid out in front of him, Valyr slightly frowned as the gears in his mind began to turn faster and faster with every second.
Fortunately, one quick glance at the flintlock was enough for him to figure out what made such a high amount of damage possible in the first place.
'It's the skill,' said Valyr in realization, reminding Ataraxia of what [The First Gunslinger's Rage] was capable of through their connection. 'You triggered the skill's low chance of tripling damage.'
Hearing the young man's explanation, Ataraxia immediately knew that this was indeed the reason behind the insane amount of damage he dealt.
Yet, at the same time, he could not help but find the entire thing absurd.
'I tripled my damage through the skill… and landed a Fatal Hit on top of that?' asked Ataraxia, his tone that of slight doubt and disbelief.
'Pretty much.' Valyr could only shrug in response, understanding what was going on in his other self's mind. 'I know it sounds absurdly lucky, but I really feel like that's what happened.'
'…'
Falling silent after that, Ataraxia soon let out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head.
'Since I've finally gotten my hands on [Apex Hunter], what next?' Deciding not to think about the absurdity of the matter any further, the young man returned the topic of their conversation back to what they'd be doing next.
'Say… how much time do you have left until [Descent of the Arcane Supreme] deactivates?' Expecting his other self to bring up them leveling up to the peak of Rank 5 for good, Ataraxia was slightly caught off guard when he heard Valyr ask him a question instead.
'Er… a minute and a bit. Why?'
'…It's probably doable, then.'
'What's doable?'
As this question left Ataraxia's mouth, the young man watched as his other self began to load the flintlock up for another shot.
Although this action confused him at first, his eyes soon widened in realization as he understood what his other self wanted to do.
Noticing the slightly surprised gaze Ataraxia was giving him, Valyr turned back to look at him before letting out a chuckle.
'You think we could kill another Rank 7 being before time's up?'
…
"…I must be seeing things, right?"
Although the two had seen from afar how effortless both Valyr and Ataraxia had killed the Elder Wyvern, Mystia and Hath still could not believe what they had seen.
"Did they… did they actually deal that much damage to it?" asked Hath, his eyes still wide open from the shock the sight gave him. "That didn't say 55 million damage, right?"
"That… was definitely 55 million damage," responded Mystia after spending a bit of time to compose herself.
Letting out a soft exhale not long after, she glanced at where the two young men stood before shifting her gaze towards the Elder Wyvern on the ground.
"Though you could say luck was on their side this time around, even if it wasn't, it probably would've just taken them another shot to kill the Elder Wyvern," she said. "However, that's not the part that surprises me."
"If Valyr were the one to have done it, then I wouldn't have been surprised at all," Mystia continued. "After all, I've received reports that he fought against a peak Rank 7 being… and won."
"…He did?" Not knowing this information about Valyr, it went without saying that Hath was left dumbfounded after hearing that. "Then, does that mean…?"
"And that's the surprising part." Mystia shook her head, understanding what Hath wanted to ask. "Ataraxia has no record of doing the same thing at all."
"Yet, not only has he done something similar to what Valyr did in the past, but he also did it in a way that's more terrifying."
"…Where did you find these two?" Though multiple other questions about the two and what they did continued to linger in his mind, Hath decided to ask what he felt was the most important question.
"I'm guessing you want to see if you could find another person from their place that's as strong as they are?" asked Mystia in return, her eyebrow slightly raised.
Hath nodded. "Though I've come across my fair share of talented beings at the peak of Rank 5, from what I've seen, these two are way above the rest."
"With that said, as long as another person of their caliber comes and stays in the Infernal Badlands, then I'm sure it won't be long until humanity gains another territory they could truly call home."
Feeling like the man's reasoning had merit, Mystia thought about telling Hath the place where she had first made contact with Valyr.
Though, just as she was about to tell him what he wanted to know, the young duo had appeared within the barrier once more, with Valyr asking Hath a question that left both him and Mystia at an utter loss for words.
