Chapter 997: Butterfly Effect
As those names left his mouth, Valyr was surprised to see the three still at the rear lines.
After all, from what he could recall from the monster tides he previously participated in, the three would usually be at the frontlines around this time, especially after he'd heard from Claire that they were already fighting against the third wave.
'It won't be long till the monster tide ends, it seems.' With that thought in mind, the young man looked at the three in detail, noticing that the equipment they had were a cut above even the majority of the people in the dining area.
Aside from that, he noticed that the three were giving off an aura that surpassed most of the people within the vicinity, prompting him to wonder what the three had gone through while they were away.
"Eh?" Hearing their name be called all of a sudden, Leon and the other two shifted their gazes towards the voice that called them, only to be left at a loss for words at the man that was coming closer to them.
"Are my eyes deceiving me right now? Or am I dreaming?" Rubbing his eyes a couple of times to see whether the sight before him was an illusion, Leon was eventually forced to accept reality after asking Jonas beside him to pinch him as hard as he could.
Though he felt immense pain from how hard Jonas pinched him in the cheek, that did not diminish the excitement Leon felt at having a familiar face see them after what felt like so long.
"Mind if I sit with you guys?" Seeing that all of them were excited to see him, Valyr inwardly let out a faint sigh of relief.
At the same time, he felt a hint of guilt towards the three, recalling that he had not given them a heads-up on his departure to Clossbay back then.
Fortunately, it seemed like the three had forgiven him and let bygones be bygones, instead looking at Valyr with all smiles as the three motioned for him to sit beside him.
With how excited they were to see Valyr again, it went without saying that the four eventually began to mesh together just like back then, causing the young man to recall the times he would patrol the village alongside the three.
Finishing the meal he ordered within minutes, the young man let out a satisfied burp before looking at the three. "So, how have you guys been while I was away?"
"As you can see, we're doing quite well for ourselves," said Leon in response, slightly puffing out his chest in pride. "In fact, we've already become guard captains."
"Really?" At those words, Valyr's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the three, feeling glad that they were able to make a name for themselves. "Is it because of the strength you guys have now? Or is it the other way around?"
"A mix of both," replied Jonas, making Louie and Leon look at each other for a bit before nodding in agreement.
"Sometime after we heard you left the village, Damian decided to give something called reinforcement elixirs to those that had done great service for the village throughout the years."
"At the same time, he made those same reinforcement elixirs available to every guard through the contribution point store, prompting most of the guards to wonder what was so special about it."
"Fortunately, all of us had been designated as people who had done great service during that time, so we got some of the reinforcement elixirs for free."
"Imagine our shock when we found out it increased almost all of your stats by a point per vial," said Leon with emphasis near end, to which the young man responded with a slightly surprised expression.
However, deep inside, he was amused at the story they were telling him.
After all, he was the one who'd introduced the concept of reinforcement elixirs to the village in the first place.
With Tristan and Damian being the first two recipients of reinforcement elixir, it went without saying that they eventually figured out how beneficial it was to have everyone in the guards make use of it.
And thus, the young man was not surprised when he heard that all of the guards including the three went on a frenzy to obtain the reinforcement elixirs for themselves, eventually amassing 10 of each to unlock its corresponding skill.
With that, the three continued their story, talking about how the reinforcement elixirs increased the combat strength of the former village by leaps and bounds, allowing Astarto to smoothly stabilize as a town due to the confidence they had in their strength.
"To be honest, it wouldn't be far-fetched for us to claim that those reinforcement elixirs are the main reason why Astarto is what it is today," said Leon, to which Jonas and Louie nodded.
Surprisingly, some who were unintentionally eavesdropping on their conversation also nodded in agreement, prompting a faint smile to appear on Valyr's face.
"Of course, your contribution of clearing that dungeon is greater than that," continued the man, only to give Valyr a knowing smile. "Wouldn't you say so as well, Tidebreaker?"
"Tidebreaker?"
"Wait... he's the Tidebreaker?"
"The Tidebreaker's back?"
"Did someone say Tidebreaker?!"
Unexpectedly, after Leon mentioned Valyr's old title, a great portion of the people within the dining area shifted their gazes towards Valyr as their expression ranged between curiosity, interest, and excitement.
Taking note of the gazes he was getting, a bitter smile appeared on Valyr's face as he looked back at Leon.
Though, before he could do anything about the current situation, a horn blared throughout the dining area, prompting almost everyone in the dining area to stop what they were doing and head outside the walls.
Naturally, Leon and the others also began to make their way outside the walls, causing a hint of confusion to appear on the young man's face.
"What does the horn signify?" Knowing that it would be better to follow what everyone was doing, Valyr followed behind the three as he asked them for more information.
"It's basically an announcement that tells everyone that signed up for the defense to head to the frontlines," replied Louie, only for Jonas and Leon to add a bit more information after
that.
"Is it because the frontlines currently out there are having trouble?" asked Valyr after listening to the three.
"Sometimes, it's that." Leon faintly nodded, only to smile soon after. "However, the sound of the horn in that case would be worse than the one you just heard."
"With that in mind, the meaning of the horn you just heard earlier..." "Is a sign for every combatant to go all out against the monster tide."
-
Grraaaaoooo!!!
Roooaaarrrr!!!
Awoooooo!!! ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Hearing the cacophony of roars and howls coming from the opposite side of the battlefield, a majestic sight full of combat soon appeared before Valyr's vision, causing the blood coursing through his veins to thrum with excitement.
Watching how most of those participating in the defense had no problems dealing with the monsters of the current wave, a faint look of surprise appeared on Valyr's face.
'There's only a couple of waves until the monster tide ends, yet Astarto has grown to the extent that even that doesn't affect them?'
Being reminded once more of how much Astarto had changed while he was in the inheritance, Valyr eventually separated ways with Leon and the others after making a promise to catch up
with them once the tide was over.
After that, he made his way to where Alfaera and the others were, seeing that they were acting as the heart of the massive defense formation.
"The tide's coming to an end, no?" Making his presence known to the others by briefly flaring his aura, Valyr initiated a conversation with the others by asking a question.
Of course, due to how much difference there was between them in terms of strength, the question he asked was left unanswered for the meantime as everyone froze up from the
terrifying aura they briefly sensed.
Thankfully, a quick look behind their backs was enough to dispel the dread and fear they felt, with Alfaera letting out a sigh of relief as she looked at Valyr with a slight frown. "Could you not do that next time? I was in the middle of planning what we'd do for the next wave."
"My bad." Seeing the anger in her eyes, Valyr quickly apologized to her and the others, making a mental note to not use that action for no reason as a means to catch other people's attention in the future.
After calming down Alfaera and the others, Valyr soon recalled the woman's response to her actions, deciding it to combine it with the question he had earlier. "Anyways, can't we just have all of our strongest combatants head down to the battlefield?"
"From what I heard, we're close to clearing the third wave," continued the man. "Just two
more waves left, no?"
For a while, Alfaera and the others looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what
Valyr was getting at.
Thankfully, it did not take long for one of them to put two and two together in their minds,
prompting Tristan to respond to Valyr's suggestion. "Do you think we're up against five
waves in this monster tide?"
Hearing those words, it was Valyr's turn to have a look of confusion on his face, only for him to soon understand what was going on. "Wait... are we not?"
Recalling all of the information he'd obtained from Claire and the others on his way here to
the frontlines, it was only then did everything click in place as he thought about the question
Tristan asked him.
Because of that, it was no surprise that Valyr had a grim expression as he listened to the man's
response after shaking his head.
"Well, it used to be five waves." "This time... we're up against nine."
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