Chapter 595 Four Pillars: The Hunt for Key Fragments
Ding!
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[Key Fragment to the Gates of Enlightenment] (Item)
Rarity: ???
To be enlightened is to gain greater understanding. To be enlightened is to expand one's horizons. To be enlightened is to ascend to a higher state of being. To be enlightened is to encompass a portion of the world.
This fragment contains trace amounts of energy that would lead one to a place considered as a paradise of learning for many, the Gates of Enlightenment. The trace amounts of energy it radiates seems to be attuned to one of the gates, giving off the feeling of leather and string amidst all other properties. Perhaps obtaining more shards of similar energy would allow one to get a better idea of where the Gates of Enlightenment lies?
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Ignoring most of the text that made up the description of the fragment, Valyr noticed that there was a small tidbit about the key fragments that warranted a bitter smile to faintly appear on his face. 'Feeling of leather and string... is the system telling me that this fragment is made for someone that specializes in tailoring?'
Fortunately, the young man did not have to dwell much on it any further as the others had responded to his message, a couple of which made him briefly scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
"You're telling me the Key Fragment looked like a shard jutting out of the aberrations?" Vera replied to the message Valyr had sent, containing almost all of the information he had gleaned from the quest and his actions. Though the young man had replied yes to the question, he had a feeling that Vera, as well as Loreina, would take a while to send a reply back.
"Ah... so that's why I got a notification from picking up the shard earlier." With the two girls off doing their own things, Hal had sent a message of his own through the party chat, thanking Valyr for the information he had shared with them. Replying back to the message, Valyr soon asked Hal if he take a look at the fragment's description and tell him any information that seemed important.
Answering back with affirmation, the party chat had become silent as Valyr waited for Hal to read through the description of the Key Fragment he had obtained. While doing so, Vera and Loreina had sent their respective messages into the chat that they had grabbed the Key Fragments they left on the aberration, only to not respond any further after that.
"What are these Key Fragments are you guys talking about?" Certain that the three were now preoccupied with identifying the fragments they had obtained, Valyr was forced to look away from the party chat as Faulus moved closer to him. "Never mind. No need for the explanation."
"Anyways, none of the aberrations I've killed have dropped a Key Fragment yet," said the alchemist not long after.
In response, Valyr asked him, "The Key Fragments don't really drop. They just jut out of the aberrations after you kill them for you to pick them up."
"Yeah, I get that." Faulus nodded. "However, I've noticed no shard jutting out whatsoever."
"How many aberrations have you killed so far?" asked Valyr, recalling the hypothesis he had come up with before sending a message to the party chat. "Have you been keeping track?" nove-Lb)In
"Of course." Nodding, Faulus looked at Valyr with a proud grin. "I've killed 89 aberrations so far."
"Pretty good." With his eyes briefly widening in pleasant surprise, the young man gave the alchemist a satisfied nod. "Anyways, if my hypothesis is correct, you're pretty close to getting a Key Fragment of your own. Just make sure to count how many aberrations you've killed in total to confirm my suspicions."
Getting a nod of understanding from Faulus as he returned to his part of the territory the two of them shared, Valyr returned his attention back to the party chat. Seeing that the chat now had a few more messages on it, he read through all of them first before sending a response.
"I just checked through the fragment's description," wrote Hal in his message. "It says that it gives off the feeling of herbs and nature."
"The feeling my fragment gives off is different." After Hal's message was Vera's. "It says that it gives off the feeling of books and spirituality."
"Mine gives off the feeling of metal and flames," wrote Loreina in her message. "Wait a second... these feelings correspond to the four classes in our group."
"I had a feeling that was the case," said Valyr, responding to the messages of the three in one go. "With that, we've confirmed that the Key Fragments we obtain from the aberrations are attuned towards any of the four classes needed to enter the inheritance. Next, we need to find out how many aberrations do we have to slay in order to get our hands on a Key Fragment."
Obtaining messages from the others that they would keep track on the number of aberrations they had killed before obtaining another Key Fragment, Valyr soon returned his attention to the aberrations in his surroundings, keeping track of his kill count as he went through the aberrations at a slightly frenzied pace.
Though, by the time he had slain his 50th aberration after the first Key Fragment, Faulus had come up to him with an ecstatic expression, prompting him to stop his carnage as he told the man to take a look at the fragment's description.
After finding out that the fragment was attuned to the Alchemist class, Valyr then asked Faulus as to how many aberrations he had killed in total before obtaining his first Key Fragment, the answer of which made the young man slightly raise his eyebrows in surprise.
"I made sure to not skip over any numbers and check over my count twice," said Faulus with confidence, storing the Key Fragment he had gotten in his spatial bracelet. "In total, I killed 111 aberrations before getting a Key Fragment."
'That's the same number I stopped at before noticing the shard.' Mulling over the number Faulus gave him, Valyr allowed the alchemist to return to what he was doing before shifting his gaze towards the party chat. Telling the other three that one might possibly gain a Key Fragment after killing 111 aberrations in a row, the young man decided to hold off on killing more aberrations and wait for confirmation before continuing.
"Just confirmed. Got my second Key Fragment after killing another 111 aberrations," sent Hal to the party chat. Not long after, Vera and Loreina had confirmed it as well, prompting Valyr to thank the three before taking a brief glance at the sky.
Seeing that there were still a few hours before the sun began to set, the young man took in a deep breath as he looked at the aberrations with a faint grin on his face. Conjuring a series of crimson blades in one quick motion, the young man instantly knew what he had to do, recalling the thing he had done back then in the Shadow Plane to get stronger.
Which was to start a massacre.
