Chapter 1026: Imparting Strength
Chapter 1026: Imparting Strength
After getting a message back from Julian, telling him that he'll take care of it, it was only then did Valyr return his attention back to Damian.
Thankfully, it did not take much longer for the man to recover from the sadness he was
feeling, thanking the young man for keeping him company as he looked at him with still slightly teary eyes.
Taking in a deep breath, he then wiped the tears off his eyes as he stood up from his desk, only to look at Valyr straight in the eyes.
"I plan... on making amends," said Damian after a bit of thought, his expression slightly nervous. "I don't know if they'll accept it since I've distanced myself from them for so long..."
"But will you... can you accompany me?"
In response, Valyr merely smiled, opening the door that led them out of the office in the process.
"Of course."
With that, the two decided to make their way to the cafeteria first, with Damian talking about how they were the first group of people he needed to make amends with.
"After all, I'm the leader of the guards," said the man as he walked beside Valyr. "The worst thing a person in my position can do is to be out of touch with those I manage."
As Valyr nodded in response to the man's words, he then initiated a conversation with the man, hoping to ease his nervousness for a bit.
Fortunately, the chat worked as intended, allowing Damian to slowly return to how he was before.
Then again, there were still some things that remained the same thanks to the existence of the mark.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As they walked through the corridors of the barracks, various rodents and vermin began to rush towards Damian all of a sudden, prompting Valyr to prime his energy with the intent to dispose of them.
Though, before he could even dispatch a bit of his Prime Azure Energy, Damian had already made his move, releasing a small amount of mana that turned into a dagger that killed all of them in one hit.
Watching the small dagger of mana whiz around their feet as they continued to walk, Valyr was briefly reminded of the time the same phenomenon happened to him.
However, unlike Damian, who seemed to have used the opportunity to push his control over mana to a higher stage, he flooded the ground around him with a ring of crimson flames.
'I wonder if I could incorporate that into the Four Azure Paths,' thought the young man to himself, eventually pushing the thought aside.
With Damian swiftly making work of every pest that aimed to kill him, it did not take long for the two to arrive at the cafeteria, being greeted by the sight of the guards continuing to share stories while they were away.
Naturally, all of them went silent after seeing Damian stand beside Valyr, recalling that their leader had changed these past few months.
Yet, as if he was oblivious to what was going on in their minds, Valyr took the initiative to start the session of storytelling once more.
Embellishing the experiences he'd gone through in the various cities he'd visited, it did not take long for Damian to warm up and tell his own stories as well, eliciting a smile to appear on Valyr's face as he let the man take center stage.
Of course, everyone there was left at a loss for words after seeing Damian partake in what everyone thought he was avoiding all this time.
Fortunately, the longer they listened the man's stories, the more the guards began to realize that...
The leader of Astarto's guards had finally come back.
With that thought beginning to blossom in their minds, a few of the guards eventually mustered up the courage to mingle with Damian once more.
Then, seeing that Damian had interacted with them as if the past few months hadn't existed, more and more of the guards became proactive, allowing the atmosphere of the cafeteria to become lively yet again.
Watching Damian enjoy himself around the company of the guards, Valyr looked around, only to see that Leon and the other two were looking at him with smiles.
Noticing that they were mouthing a couple of words to him, the young man focused his attention on them, grinning after understanding what they were trying to say.
"Thank you."
"Thank you for bringing Damian back."
"You're welcome," mouthed Valyr back at the three, allowing them to fully savor the atmosphere that would seemingly return to their barracks for good.
Of course, with Damian having many people he wanted to make amends with, the man eventually decided to stop his storytelling for the meantime, wanting to take a proper step forward by making the most out of the day.
With that, the man promised that they'd continue their storytelling once he got back, only for one of the guards to ask him a question in response.
"Are you... are you finally back?"
For some time, the guard's question confused Damian whilst he was making his way out of the cafeteria.
Fortunately, just as they were about to leave the barracks for the meantime, the question eventually clicked in the man's mind, prompting him to look back at the guards with a faint
smile.
"It might take a while to get used to... but yes." Damian nodded.
"I think I am back."
As the cheering and hollering of the guards echoed throughout the corridors they walked through in response, the two eventually left the barracks, slowly making their way to
Astarto's town hall.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With Damian's mark taking effect once more, it was no surprise that the two were surrounded by rodents and vermin of various shapes and sizes yet again.
However, just as Damian was about to conjure a dagger of mana to take care of the nuisance around the feet, Valyr had made his move beforehand, conjuring a small bolt of dark blue energy to vaporize the rodents out of existence.
Swoosh!
Seeing as how even making contact with the dark blue energy caused them to disappear, Damian's eyes slightly widened in surprise, looking at Valyr with a bit of awe. "How... have you gotten so strong?" asked the man, only to notice that the faint aura Valyr was exuding felt similar to his. "Wait... you've already ascended to Rank 4?"
"Just before I came to talk with you," replied Valyr in response with a smile, only to proceed conjuring more bolts of Prime Azure Energy to take care of the side effects of Damian's mark. Seeing as if a force field had been made around the two that blocked any vermin from reaching them, Damian's eyes widened even more, considering how he'd only been able to control a dagger of mana that well because he was forced to practice.
Because of that, it did not take long for a certain question to escape the man's mouth as he looked at Valyr with a gaze burning with motivation. "Is it possible for you to help me
become as strong as you?"
"Well..." Thinking about everything he'd gone through to get to his current point, Valyr briefly had a wry smile on his face. "It's a bit more difficult than you'd think."
Though, just as he was about to explain to Damian the various things he'd done to obtain his current strength, the system decided that it was the perfect moment to give him a couple
pieces of information.
Ding!
[A being yearns to emulate the strength you exhibit.]
[You have not met the minimum qualification of forming a Legacy.]
[However, you have become an Origin, allowing your qualification to surpass that of someone
who has formed a Legacy.]
[You have obtained the ability 'Power Impartation'.]
Though he continued to walk beside Damian along the streets of Astarto, Valyr focused all of
his attention on the series of notifications that popped up in his mind, only to be reminded of an ability he'd somewhat neglected in his past life..
'The power to give other people classes and subclasses based off my powers...'
As this thought came to mind, Valyr was reminded of the first subclass he'd obtained from
Noel. After that, he was reminded of the upgraded subclass the same person had given him, as well as the modified subclass the Serpent Maiden had given him because of his feats.
He also recalled the time Vaughn had given him his First Blacksmith class, causing Valyr to briefly clench his fists in excitement.
"Uh... are you alright?" Oblivious to the excitement Valyr was feeling, Damian looked at the young man with slight concern, noting that the young man had suddenly stopped in his
tracks.
"Ah, my bad. I was thinking about something." Luckily, it was around that time Valyr fully recalled the ability he'd been given, causing him to look at Damian with a faint smile as they
eventually continued walking.
"Anyways, you asked me if I could help you become stronger, right?"
"Yeah." Damian nodded after a bit of pause. "If you could, that would be great... but I'd also
understand if you reject my request."
"It's fine." Valyr shook his head as he looked at him with a reassuring smile. "It won't take
much time anyway."
'Plus, it'll let me see how far I can push the ability this time around.'
With that in mind, the two continued to chat as they walked through the streets of Astarto, only to stop as they arrived in front of the town hall around 10 minutes later.