"Wait... what?"
Not expecting the third requirent of the trial to have sothing to do with one’s bloodline, it went without saying that Valyr was briefly left at a loss for words, staring at the man in front of him in silence.
Sensing that his other self had begun to receive part of the legacy from the First Myth, the young man took in a deep breath before giving Quentin a look of slight disbelief. "You said... the third requirent is to be a Herald of the Zeihardt Clan?"
The man nodded.
"That and remain oblivious towards the existence of the Trial of Crystallized Truths."
"...Why the need for ignorance towards the trial?" asked Valyr in return, having given the exact requirent a bit more thought.
As far as Valyr could rember, throughout the course of history, the Zeihardt Clan had given birth to seven Heralds, with him being the most anomalous out of all of them.
Compared to the first two requirents needed to take the trial, even having the third requirent forgo the need of being oblivious towards its existence would already make it far more restrictive.
After all, only seven people in Veldanyr would be able to fulfill such a requirent.
Though, considering that it did include the need for ignorance towards the trial’s existence, it would be more accurate to say that one only needed to fulfill one of two requirents to take on the Trial of Crystallized Truths.
Then again, the only reason why Valyr was able to fulfill the third requirent was purely out of sheer coincidence.
If the two had access to a different place that allowed them to comprehend various concepts at an even faster rate, then it went without saying that the two wouldn’t have stumbled upon the trial in the first place.
"It’s to make sure that those from the Zeihardt Clan wouldn’t be able to monopolize the rewards of the trial," said Quentin in response to the young man’s question, causing the latter to look back at him in confusion.
"But there are only seven Heralds, though?" asked Valyr in response, which prompted to forr to pause for a bit as he pondered over the entire thing.
Then, as if arriving to a conclusion, the man shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "Well, the lack in the number of Heralds isn’t my problem. After all, what I’ve told you is what the creator of the trial had explicitly told to abide by."
"Eh?" Briefly looking through the information Ataraxia was receiving through the crystal orb, Valyr soon looked back at Quentin with even greater confusion. "You’re not the creator of the trial? Even though the legacy we’re inheriting is from you?"
"I am not." The latter shook his head, letting out a low sigh. "I’ve already ntioned earlier that I’m rely the Guardian of the Sanctum of Crystallized Truths. At most, you could also call a guide towards one’s rewards."
"If you’re not the creator of the trial... then who is?" As these words left Valyr’s mouth, the gears in his mind began to turn faster and faster, coming up with various nas within the clan that would be able to achieve such a feat.
In the end, the young man settled on a being most likely to have created the trial in the first place.
Naturally, that being was none other than the one who created the Four Pillars’ Inheritance.
"...That would be ."
Coincidentally, just as he had arrived at a conclusion in his mind, a voice beside Valyr and Quentin responded to the forr’s question, prompting the two to glance in its direction to see where the voice ca from.
Whoosh!
At the exact mont they turned their heads around, the energy surrounding them began to head towards a certain spot all of a sudden, swiftly transforming into a whirlpool of energy that eventually revealed a pair of individuals.
The first one was a mature woman that had her long silver hair tied into a loose ponytail.
Though the simple gray robe she wore gave the two a glimpse into her lifestyle, that did not diminish the natural beauty and charm she gave off in any way.
On the other hand, the man beside her was a lot more familiar to both Valyr and Quentin, with the two of them looking at the man in both shock and disbelief.
"Lord!"
"Vaughn!"
Hearing one another greet the sa man before them the mont he appeared, the two could not help but look at each other for a bit, only to then smile as they began to feel a sense of kinship between them.
"It’s been a while, Valyr." Giving the two so ti to wrap their heads around the current situation, Vaughn soon responded to their greetings with a smile before shifting his gaze towards the young man.
Then, looking at Quentin, he told him, "Hopefully staying here in solitude hasn’t been hard on you, Quentin."
"I’d be lying if it wasn’t." The middle-aged man gave him a slightly bitter smile. "However, having been here for the past few millennia has definitely aided my comprehension."
"As long as I spend a bit more ti, I’ll be able to grasp a Stage 5 Concept."
Nodding at the man’s words with a smile, Vaughn then returned his attention back to Valyr, letting out a slight chuckle in the process. "I’m both surprised and not surprised that you’ve ended up at the Ocean of Crystallized Truths."
"Care to give a bit of insight as to how you ended up here?"
Spending a bit more ti getting over the shock of seeing Vaughn in front of him once more, the young man let out a soft exhale as he shrugged his shoulders. "Staying here is a reward from a tournant I participated in."
"Since I was planning to ascend to Rank 5 soon, I decided to head to this place to upgrade my concepts as much as possible," he continued, giving the man a bit more insight.
"Yet, lo and behold, the two of us inadvertently ended up going through the trial you arranged."
"How was it?" Vaughn gave the young man a slight grin. "Were the tests to your liking?"
Valyr slightly shuddered in response to the question. "I’d rather not go through any of that ever again, especially the second one. It’s like you were trying to wring us out as much as possible both physically and ntally."
"Well, think of it this way." Feeling a hint of pity after listening to the young man’s words, the man gave him a slightly apologetic smile. "By going through the second test, then you’ve shown that you have enough strength to absorb the First Myth’s legacy in its entirety."
"...Speaking of which, you ntioned earlier that the two of you ended up going through the trial I set up," Vaughn continued, his gaze eventually falling onto Ataraxia. "Is he the one that accompanied you?"
"Yeah." Valyr nodded, noticing that the expression on the man’s face had subtly changed.
"Hmm..."
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