MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1446: Myriad Prodigies: First Round - Valyr (4)

”To think Ylvar was actually hiding this much prowess…”

”At this point, heʼs not just a powerful fighter, but heʼs also an expert spearman and a superb mage.”

”Surely the reason why he chose mentality for one of his areas is to show us a side of him we hadnʼt seen yet, right?”

Listening to the various conclusions the audience were coming up with on his choices for the first round, Valyr could not help but inwardly let out a slight chuckle as he arrived at the area testing mentality.

”…Huh.” Once there, the young man raised his eyebrow in slight curiosity, noticing that all of the participants within the area sat on pedestals cross-legged with their eyes closed.

Briefly wondering to himself if the test for the area involved having to endure a long session of self-introspection, Valyrʼs queries were soon answered the moment a middle-aged woman appeared before him.

”Azure Spear, I presume?” said the woman, the smile on her face faintly tinged with interest.

Valyr nodded in response to the question, immediately noting the fact that her attire was different from the other attendants heʼd interacted with thus far.

Of course, the woman took note of this gaze.

”Although I may be presiding as an attendant for this area, Iʼm actually an elder of the Illusionist Guild,” she told him, which allowed the young man to figure out what he had to do for the area.

Taking note of the slight change in his expression, the woman let out a brief chuckle before giving him a brief nod. ”If your thoughts have arrived at the same conclusion, then yes. You are correct.”

”I am the attendant, the proctor, and the giver of the test of mentality.”

ʼIllusions, huh.ʼ

ʼWell… makes sense.ʼ

As her words made him faintly wonder as to what kind of illusions heʼd have to endure for the test, Valyr eventually set his thoughts aside the moment the woman began to give him an explanation.

”The test for this area is actually quite simple.” Saying these words, the woman pointed at one of the many vacant pedestals in the area.

”See that one of those pedestals there?” She briefly looked at him. ”That is where your test shall be held.”

”Around each pedestal are nine small pillars, with each one corresponding to an illusion.”

”Whenever you pass through an illusion, the corresponding pillar of that illusion will light up, allowing me to record how strong your mentality is.”

”For reference, lighting up 2 pillars gets you Bronze, 4 gets you Silver, 6 gets you Gold, and 8 gets you Platinum.”

Valyr faintly nodded in understanding. ”Do I have to make any preparations beforehand?”

”Nope.” The woman shook his head. ”Just sit cross-legged on the pedestal, close your eyes, and make sure not to resist at first. After that, the illusions Iʼve set up will do the rest.”

”How should I go about passing through the illusions?” asked the young man after that. ”Do I just have to reach the end of each illusion? Forcefully break through it? Or…?”

”Thatʼs all up to you.” The woman slightly shrugged her shoulders in response. ”All I ask is you donʼt go overboard when forcefully breaking through the illusions. It takes a lot of resources and mana to fix it, after all.”

”Got it.”

With pretty much everything he needed to know about the test already said, Valyr went ahead and made his way to one of the vacant pedestals.

Then, sitting cross-legged on its surface, he softly let out a long exhale as he closed his eyes, adjusting his state of mind as a wave of mana began to wash over him a few seconds later.

”Donʼt resist,” said the woman as she infused great amounts of mana on the pedestal Valyr was on.

Whoosh!

Following the womanʼs words to the letter, the young man soon felt both his consciousness and his senses be transported to someplace else, prompting him to open his eyes the moment he felt the sensation stabilize.

”This…”

Looking at the sight before him, Valyr inwardly thought to his previous ideas that the illusions he had to endure would involve him having to complete certain ordeals in order to progress.

Though the sight in front of him more or less confirmed, the young man was under the belief that the illusion heʼd be brought into was more or less static in nature, considering how many other participants there were taking the test.

Yet the ruined facade of Astarto Kingdom before him had smashed that notion.

”Raaaaghhh!!!”

Just as he was still trying to wrap his head around over the current situation he was thrown into, a large group of orcs stormed through the kingdomʼs walls all of a sudden, forcing the humans that remained in the kingdom to fight them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Continuing to watch the two sides fight each other to the death, an abstract feeling began to well up inside the young man, causing him to feel an immense grudge towards the orcs that had stormed the kingdom.

ʼIs this… a part of the test?ʼ

Then again, even though this feeling gave him an urge to vent it out towards the orcs before him, the young manʼs thoughts still remained somewhat detached, allowing him to view the entire scenario from a bystanderʼs perspective.

ʼIn a way, this kind of reminds me of the time I was viewing Vaughnʼs memories back in the inheritance.ʼ

Still unsure as to what he should do to proceed onto the next illusion, Valyr decided to go with the flow for the meantime, joining the ragtag group of humans in their fight to resist the orcsʼ advances into the kingdom.

However, as he continued to fight alongside the humans against the orcs, the young man gradually began to notice that the grudge he felt was being amplified over time, causing him to feel immense abhorrence towards the orcs by the time an hour had passed.

Feeling like this sensation would consume him at some point, Valyr forced himself to stop before the feeling amplified any further… only for his body to be forced to fight against the orcs even further.

ʼ…I see now.ʼ

Though the feeling threatened to take control of him at any time, a small part of the young man still remained detached from the entire situation, allowing him to finally understand what he needed to do.

ʼSince Iʼve figured it out, then thereʼs no point in staying here any longer.ʼ

As these words came to mind, Valyr forced his body to stop once more, this time being successful in his attempt.

Then, just as the humans and orcs fighting looked at him with suspicion in their eyes, the young man soon released a massive burst of energy into the area, causing the illusion to shatter.

ʼBreak for me.ʼ