MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1702: Entering Seclusion (8)

’…Hey.’

’…’

’…Valyr, you there?’

Focusing his entire attention towards pushing the 81 Phases Mana Reformation Scripture to the next level, a slight frown gradually appeared on Valyr’s face as he heard Ataraxia’s voice echo in his mind.

’…What is it?’ he asked, his tone slightly annoyed. ’I’m close to breaking through to the next level.’

Feeling confident that those words were enough to deter his other self from disturbing him for the meantime, the young man returned his attention back to the scripture after that.

However, just as he was about to start making progress again…

’A week has already passed,’ said Ataraxia, his tone containing no hint of remorse whatsoever. ’The deadline you gave yourself is up.’

Hearing his other self send a message to him even after he’d already reminded the former, it was no surprise that Valyr became a bit more annoyed at him.

After all, with just a bit more time and effort, he’d be able to push his comprehension of the scripture to another level, which would allow the quality of his mana to improve.

Though, just as he was about to lash out at Ataraxia for continuing to disturb him, the young man went over the former’s words in his head for a bit, only to then open his eyes not long after.

Taking a few deep breaths after that to calm his emotions, the latter continued to remain silent after that, sorting out his thoughts as he slowly extricated himself from the mindset he adopted while practicing the scripture.

“…My bad.” By the time he’d sorted both his thoughts and emotions out, Valyr let out a long exhale as he gave Ataraxia a look of apology.

“Wasn’t expecting myself to be that immersed in practicing,” he said, a wry smile adorning his face. “And here I thought I’d be the one reminding you if a week has already passed.”

“Don’t mind it.” Though slightly amused by the way his other self reacted to his words, Ataraxia did not dwell on the topic any further. “We’re maximizing our strengths before we ascend, after all.”

“Speaking of which, how far have you gotten through the scripture?”

“Honestly, I haven’t been keeping track.” Hearing those words, Valyr stood up before doing a series of basic stretches.

Then, feeling like he’d regained full control over his body again, the young man went ahead and conjured a small orb of Prime Azure Energy, giving his other self the opportunity to assess the changes the scripture had brought to it.

Whoosh!

Sensing that the two energies making up the energy had become harmonious with the help of the scripture, Ataraxia faintly nodded in understanding as a slight smile appeared on his face.

Continuing to examine the orb of energy, the young man soon took note of the faint yet dangerous aura contained within the Void Energy portion of the orb.

However, just as that feeling of danger continued to increase, that same aura was eventually subdued by the inherent tranquility contained within the Greater Arcana portion of the orb.

Closing his eyes for a bit as he sensed the changes happening within the orb of Prime Azure Energy, Valyr turned to look at his other self before saying, “Though I haven’t reached the third bottleneck of the scripture, I’m pretty close.”

“Around the 24th level, if my senses are correct.”

“That’s pretty good,” replied Ataraxia, recalling that his other self hadn’t entirely spent the past month practicing the scripture.

Yet, even with that, the latter was able to go from having no foundation in the 81 Phases Mana Reformation Scripture whatsoever to pushing it way past the scripture’s second bottleneck.

“How about you?” After examining his Prime Azure Energy for a bit more, Valyr eventually dispelled the orb he conjured before looking at Ataraxia with a knowing smile. “How does it feel to spend the past week in the Meltierre Killing Grounds?”

“Mind numbing, but fruitful.” As he replied to the former’s question, the latter went ahead and sent bits of information to his other self through their connection, allowing the former to get a better idea.

Going through the packets of information his other self had sent him, Valyr gradually understood why Ataraxia had given him such a response, prompting him to look at his other self with a slightly wry smile.

“Well, aside from the XP, you got [Slayer of Ascendants] out of it at the very least,” he said, reminding the latter once more that his efforts were not in vain.

Though Ataraxia faintly nodded at those words, the young man in question briefly thought back to the time he spent in the Meltierre Killing Grounds.

Thanks to him informing Mystia of his intentions to grind XP beforehand, it was no surprise that the fees needed to enter the Killing Grounds were waived once more.

With preferential treatment by the establishment on top of that, the young man was able to maximize the amount of XP he gained while also working on obtaining one of the titles his other self had.

At the same time, he used the time he spent while at the Killing Grounds to assess the limits of the enemies both he and his other self could fight.

After all, unlike [Slayer of Ascendants], which only required monsters that were of increasingly higher tiers, to obtain [Apex Hunter], he would have to defeat an enemy that was at least two class ranks higher than him.

Fortunately, with a bit of questioning, Ataraxia was able to confirm that the strongest monster he and Valyr could face in the Killing Grounds was at the peak of Rank 6.

Unfortunately, unlike Valyr, though his current strength allowed him to fight against peak Rank 5 class holders without much issue, the same could not be said for beings that exceeded that level.

’…Then again, I suppose his ability in that area is mostly thanks to the firearm he forged,’ thought Ataraxia as he glanced at Valyr, recalling that the latter relied on the firearm for most of his fights against Myth-level beings.

’…Well, that and some insane buff stacking.’

“Anyways…” Dispelling his current train of thought with a shake of his head, the young man looked at his other self with a calm expression, only for a smile to appear on his face not long after.

“Shall we finally ascend?”

Hearing those words, Valyr faintly nodded, a smile slowly appearing on his face as well.

“With how much time and effort we’ve spent just to prepare for it…”

“It would be stupid for us not to.”