Chapter 1008: Meeting the Alltide (2)
Chapter 1008: Meeting the Alltide (2)
Though Valyr had heard the Alltide mention the word ‘successor’ to him before, the young man did not think that the being in front of him was serious.
After all, he was only at the peak of Rank 3, while the Alltide was a Divine-level being according to Vaughn and Sellifer.
Sure, he may have the ability to fight against newly ascended Myths if he were to go all out, but how could that level of strength compare to the strength of a being who’d achieved divinity?
With that in mind, Valyr was left at a loss for words when the Alltide mentioned the word once more, causing the young man to fall into confusion as various thoughts crossed his mind.
Shaking his head to discard the tangential thoughts in his mind, Valyr decided to ask the Alltide the same question from before. “Why me?”
“Why not you?” In response, the Alltide let out laughter, as if he were expecting the question all this time. “Sure, you may be a bit rough around the edges here and there, but you meet all of the criteria I have in mind for a successor to the title of the Alltide.”
“For one, your strength is well above even those considered as prodigies at your level,” the Alltide explained with a smile. “Though you’re just at the peak of Rank 3, you’ve shown yourself to stand your ground even against foes that are considered Legend-level.”
“In fact, I have a feeling that fighting against those at the Legend-level isn’t your limit.” Inwardly shuddering from the feeling of being read like an open book, Valyr continued to listen as the Alltide listed down more reasons why he chose the young man as his successor. “Aside from your overwhelming strength, you’ve also shown yourself to have a good head.” “Making use of everything within your surroundings to your advantage, even going so far as to conceal some of them to increase your advantage even more…” Saying these words, the Alltide let out a chuckle.
“Frankly, I was surprised you were able to create a true arquebus. The last time I saw that thing was at least tens of thousands of years ago.”
“I suppose you got your hands on the blueprint during that time I couldn’t track you,” murmured the being to himself, causing Valyr to briefly widen his eyes in response.
Though the Alltide continued to list down reasons as to why he’d chosen Valyr as the successor to his title, the young man did not listen to any of them anymore, especially after hearing that he was being watched by the Alltide this entire time.
Because of that, the Alltide continued speaking for at least a few more minutes, gazing at Valyr as if he’d found a diamond in the rough. “And that’s why I chose you as my successor. Surely all of that would convince you that my judgment is correct, no?”
In response, Valyr nodded, causing the Alltide to grin as if he’d never grinned before.
Of course, realizing that the Alltide had not only basically led him to his current situation, but also kept an eye on him throughout most of his journey so far, Valyr had already made up his mind on what he’d do next.
With that, he discreetly infused a bit of his energy into the talisman he’d brought out earlier. At the same time, he decided to continue the conversation with the Alltide, wanting the latter to believe he’d accepted the Alltide’s proposal as he asked, “What would I get as your successor?”
“A lot of things, naturally.” Incredibly glad that his efforts had finally come to fruition, the Alltide did not hesitate to tell Valyr all of the benefits that came with the position beforehand.
“First and foremost, the greatest benefit you’d get as my successor would be the mark on your back.”
Whoosh!
As the Alltide began to release energy into the space they were in, Valyr began to feel the mark on his back wriggle in response to the energy.
Though, rather than feel immense pain from the mark wriggling, the young man instead felt as if the mark was pulsating wave upon wave of energy that relaxed his entire body.
“The Mark of the Alltide. It’s called that for a reason,” said the Alltide, focusing his attention on the energy he’d released. “In short, it’s a mark that I can control to be whatever I want.”
“To those I deem my foes, the mark can become the most stubborn curse that would haunt them to the ends of the earth.”
Whoosh!
“Of course, to those I deem worthy enough of my support, the mark can become the greatest strength they could ever have.”
“See for yourself.”
Ding!
Hearing a notification sound go off in his mind the moment the Alltide finished his words, Valyr went ahead and brought up a screen in front of him.
[The Alltide is modifying your Mark of the Alltide (Tier I).]
[They have deemed you as an existence worthy of their support.]
[Thanks to the Alltide’s actions, Mark of the Alltide (Tier I) has been modified to Blessed Mark of the Alltide (Tier III).]
Seeing that the mark had gone up by two tiers just from the simple actions of the Alltide, Valyr’s eyes slightly widened in surprise as he decided to bring up the modified mark’s description.
With his expectations towards the modified mark somewhat low due to how easy the Alltide made the change, the young man was left at a loss for words when he found out that it was the curse he’d come to know so far, but was beneficial in many more ways than one.
Just like the curse, all monsters within a set radius around him would be affected by it. However, rather than unconditionally setting their sights on killing him while having their strengths raised by a tier, the monsters within the radius of the modified mark would instead have their strengths lowered.
Due to the modified mark being two tiers higher than his curse, the radius and the effect was many times stronger than before, with the modified mark even assuring Valyr that he’d gain the full reward of the foe he killed even with its strength lowered.
Aside from that, it boosted the amount of XP he gained, as well as the upper limit as to when the Damage Reduction System would nullify all damage he did.
If another person were in Valyr’s shoes, it went without saying that they would accept this modified mark wholeheartedly, becoming the successor that the Alltide was looking for. Though, feeling as if he’d seen a glimpse of the Alltide’s true nature through their interaction so far, the young man knew that accepting it would probably bite back at him in the end.
“Any other benefits to becoming your successor?” Calming himself down after going through the modified mark’s description, Valyr decided to ask the Alltide for more information.
“Well…” In response, the Alltide briefly scratched the back of his head. “Most of the remaining benefits would only come once you ascend to the Myth level.”
“Oh, I know! How about I give you control over all of the Tidemothers throughout Veldanyr?
Isn’t that enough to show you how much I want you to be my successor?”
“It’s definitely more than enough.” Valyr nodded in response, causing the grin on the Alltide’s face to become wider.
Yet, the next words to come out of his mouth broke that grin in an instant.
“But I refuse.”
“Huh?” The Alltide was confused. “You refuse? You refuse to have control over the
Tidemothers?”
Feeling as if he’d understood what was going on in Valyr’s mind, the Alltide regained his smile as he replied, “I see… You’re looking at things in the long term. Yeah, I understand.”
“No… you don’t,” said Valyr with a shake of his head. “I’m not refusing that.”
“I’m refusing to become your successor.”
“You refuse… to become my successor?” Wondering whether he’d heard correctly, the Alltide seemingly froze in place for a moment as the gears in his mind began to whir.
Then, as if he’d finally processed what he’d heard, the expression on his face drastically
changed to that of indifference.
“Ah… is that so?” The Alltide’s eyes began to glisten a crimson red, only to turn a deep black the moment he charged towards the young man.
“Then, I have no use for you.”
“Perish.”
||
Swoosh!
Clang!
“…..?”
“I thought you’d already gotten over it after failing so many times. I’m quite disappointed
you haven’t moved on, Clazarek.”
“…Vaughn.”
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