MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1514: Myriad Prodigies: End (2)

ʼ…I think I have an idea.ʼ

Waiting for a bit in silence, Valyr soon heard Vaughnʼs voice echo in his mind once more, the latterʼs tone containing a mix of indifference and seriousness.

ʼIf youʼre wondering whether I kept my connection with the talisman I gave you all this time, then yes,ʼ said the man. ʼEven when you were unconscious, I kept the connection active, just in case something harmed you while that was happening.ʼ

ʼOf course, considering the words the Lesser Sin said to you just before she ultimately met her demise… I suppose thatʼs not what you wanted to know.ʼ

ʼYeah… but I still appreciate the thought,ʼ replied Valyr, feeling a bit warm from the concern Vaughn showed for him.

Nevertheless, that did not detract him from the information he wanted to obtain.

ʼWhat are Virtues?ʼ he asked, only to ask another question after a bit of pause.

ʼAlso, what are the Nine Realms?ʼ

At those words, Vaughn remained silent for a bit before letting out a low sigh. ʼItʼs gonna be a really long discussion if I explain it from the beginning, so Iʼll just tell you all you need to know for the meantime.ʼ

ʼWith that being said… what do you know about Sins and the Underworld?ʼ

Pondering over the question for a brief moment, Valyr decided to reveal a bit of the information he had accumulated regarding the two topics from his past life.

ʼAs far as I know… the Underworld is the organization that has control over the Sins,ʼ the young man replied. ʼDepending on how high oneʼs rank is within the organization, that person could either control less or more of their chosen Sin, which equates to the amount of power they have.ʼ

ʼThatʼs pretty much spot on,ʼ said Vaughn in return, giving the young man the feeling that he nodded in agreement. ʼThough, I should also mention that the Underworld is the only organization who could give out access to Sins.ʼ

ʼ…Which means that any person you come across with a Sin is undoubtedly a member of the Underworld.ʼ

Nodding at the manʼs words, Valyr then discussed what he knew about Sins. ʼAs for Sins… Iʼve heard that there are seven of them, with each one giving its user a unique power of sorts.ʼ

ʼDo you have any idea on what those characteristics might be?ʼ Vaughn asked, causing Valyr to ponder over it for a bit before eventually shaking his head in response.

ʼI donʼt,ʼ he told the man. ʼ…Unless being able to withstand a couple of deaths before ultimately dying is one of them.ʼ

ʼThatʼs not exactly a unique characteristic for a certain Sin… but it definitely is a characteristic all Sins have,ʼ replied Vaughn after a slight pause, confirming that Valyr more or less had a decent grasp of what the Sins and the Underworld were.

With that, he decided to tell the young man what he wanted to know.

ʼTo preface my explanation on the Virtues and the Nine Realms, you could consider them as the antithesis of the Sins and the Underworld.ʼ

ʼEach Virtue has a certain Sin they can overpower, though the same also applies vice versa.ʼ

ʼOther than the Virtues themselves having their own unique characteristics… theyʼre pretty much the same everywhere else.ʼ

Vaughn gave the young man a bit of time to digest what he said.

ʼFrom them having total control over who gets the Virtues and what level of control they could have, to the ability of being able to revive oneself from the brink of death, you could think of the Underworld and the Nine Realms as two sides of the same coin.ʼ

ʼHowever, unlike the Underworld, almost everyone in the universe considers the appearance of a member from the Nine Realms as an auspicious blessing.ʼ

ʼThough that doesnʼt mean everyone accepts all of those from the Nine Realms with open arms,ʼ he concluded.

Falling silent by the time Vaughn was done with his explanation, Valyr closed his eyes for a bit as he tried to process and digest the information he was given in his mind.

ʼSo…ʼ Feeling like heʼd gotten a decent grasp of how the two interacted, the young man eventually opened his eyes once more as he asked Vaughn yet another question. ʼI used the power of a Virtue to defeat the Lesser Sin?ʼ

ʼPretty much.ʼ Vaughn confirmed.

ʼ…And that power came from the skill I used to awaken the Shards of Defiance?ʼ

ʼItʼs a bit more complex than that, but more or less.ʼ

ʼHmm…ʼ Mulling over the manʼs responses for a bit, Valyr allowed the gears in his mind to turn for a bit before asking a question that gave focus to the other thing he wanted to know.

ʼSo… are you saying that the Shards of Defiance I absorbed from the inheritance are actually the condensed powers of a Virtue not under the control of the Nine Realms?ʼ

ʼAnd thatʼs where the a bit more complex part comes in,ʼ replied Vaughn the moment the young man had asked his question, his tone giving off the feeling that he was bitterly smiling.

ʼWhen you hear the word ʼdefianceʼ, what does it mean to you?ʼ

ʼ…To go against what is expected,ʼ answered Valyr after a bit of thought. ʼTo do something that goes against whatʼs accepted as the norm.ʼ

ʼAnd now apply that same train of thought in the situation where you were fighting against the Lesser Sin,ʼ said Vaughn in return. ʼNormally, with such a massive gap in strength between the two of you, you wouldʼve been killed by it many times over.ʼ

ʼThough you were able to shorten this gap by making up for it with multiple status buffs, that still doesnʼt change the fact that the Lesser Sin is almost 100 levels higher than you are.ʼ

ʼYet, what happened when you made use of the skill?ʼ

ʼI… turned the tables around and defeated her with ease…ʼ replied Valyr, his voice getting softer and softer until the end.

ʼWait… then…ʼ

ʼIt seems like youʼve figured it out.ʼ Vaughn let out a chuckle. ʼThe Shard of Defiance doesnʼt contain the power of a Virtue, but it does give you the power that makes it seem like you do have one.ʼ

ʼIf anything, its name already tells you what you need to know on what it could do.ʼ

ʼAnd thatʼs the ability… to defy expectations.ʼ