Chapter 1793: Rewards Long Overdue (1)
After hearing how the two of them were related, Valyr could not help but remain silent for a while from the shock he felt.
"You’re... younger?" he asked Xervei after some time, taking in a deep breath to compose himself in the process.
The man in question nodded.
"And you’re... older?" asked the young man to Florentine after that, prompting the latter to nod in return.
"..."
"...Huh."
Seeing that the two before him thought of it as normal, the young man could not help but sit on the ground after that as he tried to wrap his head around the entire thing.
Fortunately, it did not take long for him to regain his bearings.
"Sorry about that," said Valyr to the two after letting out a slight exhale. "Was just surprised, that’s all."
"To be honest, at first, I thought the two of you were siblings after hearing you two share the surname," he continued soon after.
"We get that a lot more often than you’d think." Hearing those words, Xervei could only respond with a slightly wry smile.
On the other hand, Florentine looked as if she had just received the greatest compliment in the world.
"Though you may not look like it, you have quite a way with words," she said, a satisfied smile plastered across her face. "However, that doesn’t mean I’ll forget what you did that easily."
’The thought never crossed my mind, though?’ muttered Valyr to himself after that, causing him to scratch the back of his head in response.
"Forget what he did?" As for Xervei, he looked at Florentine with a raised eyebrow after hearing her words. "Did he do something to you?"
"...Not in that manner." Realizing that her earlier words could be misinterpreted into something else, a faint red colored the woman’s cheeks as she clarified herself. "It’s just that he didn’t come to the Shadow Plane the moment he reached the peak of Rank 4."
"The peak of Rank 4...?" At first, Xervei did not get what Florentine was hinting at.
Fortunately, a couple of brief glances at Valyr was enough for him to jog his memory, prompting everything discussed so far to click into place within his mind.
"...You’re the one that created Prime Azure Energy?" asked Xervei after that, a hint of disbelief evident in his tone.
"The one and only," said Valyr as he nodded, only to then summon a wisp of Prime Azure Energy for the two to see.
Whoosh!
Compared to the time where he had just stumbled upon the creation process of Prime Azure Energy, the wisp of Prime Azure Energy he had just conjured gave off a far more terrifying aura.
Thanks to his other self becoming an Emissary of the Arcane, he had gained access to the 81 Phases Mana Reformation Scripture, giving him the opportunity to improve the quality of his mana from a more systematic standpoint.
Though he and his other self only had access up to the 27th level of the scripture, he was already able to push his understanding of the scripture to the 24th level, improving the quality of his mana to a level where it stood on par, if not above his Void Energy.
Add on the fact that his strength had gone up by two class ranks since then, it was no surprise that the wisp would attract the interest, as well as the shock of both Xervei and Florentine.
"Is this still the same Prime Azure Energy from back then?" Sensing the immense might contained within the wisp, Xervei could not help but look at the young man as he asked him a question.
"More or less." The young man nodded, moving the wisp around the three of them a bit more before eventually dispelling it. "The only difference from back then would be the fact that the energies making it up have gone up a tier in quality."
At those words, Valyr went ahead and summoned yet another wisp of Prime Azure Energy for the two to see.
However, unlike before, he allowed the Prime Azure Energy to break down into its constituent energies.
"Void Energy!" exclaimed Xervei out of shock.
"Arcana!" said Florentine not long after, the shock on her face greatly evident.
Seeing the shock on their faces, a faint smile appeared on the young man’s face as he soon dispelled the wisp he had summoned.
After that, silence surrounded the three of them, with both Xervei and Florentine falling into a bit of pensive thought.
"...I understand that you’d be able to grasp Void Energy with how you can enter the Shadow Plane," said the former after some time, only to then give the latter a brief glance.
Nodding in agreement with Xervei’s words, Florentine continued where his question left off. "But... how were you able to gain control over Arcana?"
At those words, Valyr merely remained silent.
After all, he had no reason to explain to them.
"Ahem..." Seeing that the gaze the young man gave them now felt a bit unkind, it did not take too long to understand that both he and Florentine was asking a bit too much with their prior question.
With that, he cleared his throat as he allowed the latter to lead their current conversation.
"Let’s get back to the main topic, shall we?" she said as she let out a chuckle.
Then again, to Valyr, this chuckle sounded incredibly forced after the previous sequence of events.
Seeing the young man nod at her question, Florentine inwardly let out a faint sigh of relief as she gave Xervei a brief glance.
Understanding what she wanted him to do, the man faintly nodded as he opened his mouth. "Since Florentine brought you here, I suppose it’s time for me to give out the rewards that we’ve promised to give you once you’ve reached a certain level of strength."
The young man faintly nodded in response, his eyes glistening with anticipation
"Though the fact that you didn’t come here the moment you reached the peak of Rank 4 is a bit lamentable, your current level of strength gives me more than enough reason to not pursue the matter any further."
"Now, let me bestow upon you the first set of rewards that you rightfully deserve," said Xervei after that, extending one of his hands out towards Valyr as it began to give off a nebulous light.
But, before he could even give Valyr his first reward from the set, Florentine raised her hand all of a sudden.
"Now wait just a second, Xervei."
