Whoosh!
"…Alright." Closing his eyes for a bit to give himself a bit of ti to adjust to his other self once more, Valyr took in a deep breath as he brought up a screen in front of him.
Ding!
"About two days and a half." Double checking to see how much ti he could spend as Valyr Zeihardt this ti around, the young man softly let out a sigh of relief before making his way back to where Mystia was.
At the sa ti, the words she said to him earlier began to linger in his mind.
"What did she an when she said she had sothing I'd need for the future?"
Knowing that he'd obtain the answer to his question sooner or later, Valyr faintly shook his head as he decided to set the question aside for the anti.
…
"I'm glad you could make it."
Once he arrived at the spot he previously waited at, Valyr went ahead and knocked on the door, which prompted Mystia on the other side to open the door and greet him with a kind smile.
"What can I say? You've gotten curious," replied the young man with a slight chuckle, making sure that his actions and words made it seem like he hadn't just talked with her a few monts earlier.
"Don't worry." Mystia let out a slight chuckle of her own, asking him to sit on the chair opposite hers. "I won't withhold any information from you. After all, I'm the one who asked you to co here."
Nodding in response to her words, Valyr allowed the gears in his mind to turn for a brief mont before asking her a question. "You told Ataraxia that you might have sothing I might need for the future?"
Hearing those words, Mystia looked around for a bit with a bitter smile. "Well… yes and no."
"Hmm?" Valyr raised his eyebrow at those words, beginning to get the feeling that there was sothing off with her response.
"Well…" At first, Mystia continued to give the young man a smile as her mind worked on overdrive coming up with an explanation that would satisfy the latter.
However, as she gradually felt more and more pressure from Valyr's gaze, she eventually let out a low sigh and confessed. "The truth is… I don't actually have anything like that."
"…Figured as much," said the young man in response, briefly showing a hint of disappointnt in his expression.
Though he did get the feeling from their conversation earlier that Mystia told his player self those words just for the sake of having him et her, the young man decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
After all, she was not just the Imperial Alchemist of the ltierre Empire, but also the Saintess of the Mystic Plane. With how much power she wielded and knowledge she had, it wouldn't be surprising if she really did have sothing that he might need for the future.
'It would definitely be a pleasant surprise if she gave sothing that improved my Intents… or perhaps a special skill that I might need for the upcoming war,' thought Valyr to himself, only to then quickly brush the thought aside.
Softly shaking his head in a bid to discard the errant thoughts filling his mind, the young man took in a deep breath as he looked at Mystia with a calm expression. "So, what's your actual reason for asking to co here, Miss Mystia?"
"Well…" Seeing as Valyr was giving her an opportunity to move on from their current topic, Mystia briefly gave him a look of gratitude as she took in a deep breath to compose herself.
"I don't know if Ataraxia sent you information about the upcoming Myriad Prodigies Tournant."
"He ntioned a few things to about it," said the young man with a slight nod. "He said it had sothing to do with a spy infiltrating the tournant?"
"To be more specific, a spy infiltrating the tournant as its host," Mystia clarified.
"Although the empire still doesn't have fully concrete evidence that the person is indeed a double agent for the other races, our reconnaissance teams have already collected a few key pieces of information to confirm that they're a spy with about 80% certainty."
"And I'm guessing the empire is only lacking that remaining 20% to arrest that person once and for all?" asked Valyr, to which she nodded in response.
"Which is why I asked your student if he wanted to cooperate with in the upcoming Myriad Prodigies Tournant," said Mystia, prompting Valyr to nod in understanding.
Though, just as he thought that the topic would end there, the woman in front of him soon continued to say a couple of things that caused him to raise his eyebrow.
"However, even though it wouldn't be a problem if he were to be the only insider for the empire in the upcoming tournant, the plan would only have a greater chance of success if there was soone else who could do the sa task as him."
"Wait…" Of course, with a bit of ntal gymnastics, it did not take long for Valyr to understand what Mystia was trying to tell him. "Is this the reason why you wanted to co here?"
"Yes." Mystia faintly nodded, her expression showing a bit of guilt. "I wanted to ask you personally if you could work alongside your student to collect more information on the alleged spy during the tournant."
"Well…" Unsurprisingly, Valyr began to frown the mont those words left Mystia's mouth. "Let first clarify that I'm not rejecting the idea outright. I do think it's a good idea to have a back-up plan just in case. However…"
"However…?"
Valyr scratched the back of his head after that as he gave her a slightly bitter smile. "Let's just say that it would be difficult for to work alongside Ataraxia during the tournant."
Although he did have a way to make sure that both he and his player self would be able to participate at the sa ti, the fact that [Soul Split] had a limited duration still existed.
Though its duration was definitely far longer than before compared to when he first got the skill, the young man had a feeling that the duration the skill gave him wasn't long enough for him to maintain the illusion that the two of them were two different people.
Of course, that was under the condition that the difference in their levels remained the sa up to the date of the tournant itself.
If Valyr were to focus on leveling up Ataraxia to around the peak of Rank 3 or to even the sa level as him before the tournant began, then he was certain he could pull it off with no worries.
However, another problem still plagued him if he were to do that during the tournant.
'Even though it's already been a while since I got it, I still haven't tried using [Soul Split] yet,' thought Valyr to himself, inwardly finding the problem quite absurd. 'Aside from that, I think I won't be able to have both bodies do different things at the sa ti.'
While Valyr was looking at the problem from the perspective of having to juggle two different things at the sa ti, Mystia interpreted his response to her request from a different perspective.
"You won't go unrewarded, that's for sure," said Mystia, inwardly hoping that those words would be enough to rope Valyr into agreeing.
"Just so you know, I've given your student a few sets of elixirs in exchange for his cooperation. Naturally, I'll do the sa thing for you."
"Heck, I wouldn't even mind if you requested anything else than an elixir if it ant you would agree," added Mystia at the end, thinking of it as a hail Mary of sorts.
"…Anything, you say?" Though he already talked himself into accepting Mystia's request and try his best after hearing he could obtain more elixirs from her, Valyr imdiately changed his mind the mont he heard the last sentence that left her mouth.
"Well… not exactly anything," Mystia clarified. "However, if it's sothing I can achieve with the authority and power that I have, then I'll try my best to fulfill it."
"Is that so?" With her words acting as confirmation, a faint smile began to appear on Valyr's lips as a certain train of thought popped up in his mind.
"Would it be possible for you to get your hands on the parts of an Ancient Wyvern, then?"
"An Ancient Wyvern…" Not expecting Valyr to make such a request, it was no surprise that Mystia looked at him with widened eyes as the gears in her mind continued to turn.
Feeling like he'd gone a bit too far with his request, the young man was just about to change his request, only for her to give him a firm nod. "I think… I can fulfill that request."
"…Really?" asked the young man, being the one in disbelief this ti. "I was about to change my request to other rare materials instead, you know? Isn't an Ancient Wyvern really hard to find?"
"It is." Mystia nodded in agreent. "But it's not like I don't have my own ans of getting those items."
"Then again, the question still remains." She looked at him directly in the eyes. "Will you cooperate with and your student during the upcoming Myriad Prodigies Tournant?"
Knowing that it would be far more difficult for him to get his hands on the parts of an Ancient Wyvern than train how to use [Soul Split] effectively, the young man eventually let out a sigh as he gave Mystia a firm nod.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do."
"Great." With Valyr finally accepting her proposition, Mystia felt as if a great part of the burden weighing down on her shoulders were removed.
"Oh, right." With that, she showed no hesitation with her next request, which caused Valyr to look back at her with a blank expression.
"Since you and your student are going to be working together from now on…"
"Could you have him co here?"
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