Chapter 708 Four Pillars: Preparations for Awakening

Chapter 708 Four Pillars: Preparations for Awakening

Whoosh!

"I'm back."

Appearing at the center of the temporary campsite he and the others had set up at the periphery of the south district, a faint smile appeared on Valyr's face as he thought about the gains he had made within the Gates of Enlightenment.

Ding!

Though, just as he was about to get a bit of rest before proceeding to take the trials, a notification sound went off in his mind all of a sudden.

"Hmm?" Raising his eyebrows in curiosity, the young man took a seat around the fire pit as he brought up the notification screen.

Then, after reading through the notification he had received, a wry smile appeared on his face.

"Well, with how much I've obtained from the Gates of Enlightenment this time around, I guess it would only make sense."

[Your Entrance Token to the Gates of Enlightenment has been nullified.]

Thinking about the many things he had retrieved from the Enlightenment Material Cache to the Intent Seeds he had improved thanks to the Chambers of Enlightenment, Valyr wondered whether or not the Gates of Enlightenment had gotten a bit angry due to his actions.

Wryly smiling at the thought, he soon discarded the idea, instead thinking that the entrance token was originally a one-time use token.

After all, between the two, the latter made more sense.

"I'm guessing there's no need to further increase my authority within the Gates of Enlightenment, then," muttered the young man as he closed the screen.

"Of course, that's only for the meantime."

"After all, that doesn't mean there's no more chance to return to the Gates of Enlightenment in the future."

Taking a quick look at his quest screen, only to see that he could still opt to repeat the primitive humanoid quest again, Valyr swiftly closed it as he felt his stomach start to grumble.

"Guess I should eat first before entering the Gates of Awakening's trials."

At those words, the young man began to start a fire in the pit as he noticed that it was beginning to get dark.

Somewhat surprised that he had stayed for less time in the Gates of Enlightenment than he initially thought, Valyr swiftly whipped up a plate of dinner for himself, eating it with great gusto as he wondered how the others were doing.

"They're probably stuck in the fourth trial, or are currently taking on the fifth trial out of nine."

Taking the last bite of food he had whipped up for himself, Valyr took a brief look at their party chat, only to see no new messages from the other four.

Feeling somewhat concerned as to how the others were faring, the young man decided to send a message into the party chat.

Yet, even after a few minutes had passed, there was no response to his question from the others whatsoever.

"I'm sure they can take care of themselves," said the young man with a low sigh, deciding to prepare himself as best as he could for the Gates of Awakening's trials.

"Speaking of which... it's night time, huh."

Whilst thinking about the things he needed to prepare for the trials, a thought suddenly popped up into the young man's mind as he stopped in his tracks.

Then, taking a quick look at a certain screen, he then began to bring out the items making up his temporary workshop as he took out his arquebus from his new spatial bracelet.

"[Breath of Beginnings]."

Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!

Armed with his forging artifact, the young man began to reforge the arquebus he had painstakingly forged in the past, allowing its properties to ascend to yet another level.

With the sound of metal clashing against the metal echoing throughout the area for quite some time, Valyr eventually put his hammer to the side with a satisfied smile, using his identification skill on the arquebus at the very first moment he could.

Ding!

————

[(+10) Primitive Arquebus Prototype] (Level 55)

Rarity: Rare

Foundation Tier: 1st Tier

Attack: 8,073 - 13,455

Cooldown: 15 seconds (10.5 seconds)

Forge Quality: Exceptional

Additional Attributes:

> STR + 41

> DEX + 78

> PER + 32

Considered to be the next step on the path of ranged weapons... description has been omitted.

<Innate Skill 1: Full Burst - Allows the user to infuse mana into the weapon, combining with the gunpowder used to load the weapon to create a devastating amount of damage. Deals 200% of the user's Attack stat as damage. Cooldown: 2 minutes. Cost: 1,500 MP.>

<Innate Skill 2: Extended Charge - Allows the user to ignite the gunpowder within the barrel beforehand, accumulating the firepower within the ignition through the use of mana. The longer the user stores the firepower within the barrel, the greater the effects are.

Allows the user to extend the charge of the attack by 10% to 300% of the weapon's base cooldown time. Depending on the duration, the attack coefficient of the weapon increases by 5% to 150%. Cooldown: None. Cost: 500 - 10,000 MP.>

Remarks: The first of its kind, reforged to reflect a greater future.

————

"Damn." Letting out a whistle in response to the innate skill his arquebus had obtained, Valyr began to read through the description of the innate skill in greater detail, only for his eyes to widen in slight surprise.

"I know [Extended Charge] is a staple innate skill for similar firearms in the future, but this is the first time I've seen the Attack coefficient boost reach this high."

"Is it because this is the first ever firearm to exist in this planet?" asked the young man to himself, incredibly eager to try out the new skill's effects.

With that, he began to move a bit deeper into the south district with the arquebus in tow, eventually finding a lone primitive humanoid as a target.

"Haah..." Taking out the other items needed to arm the arquebus for firing, Valyr went through all of the steps necessary before positioning himself in a way that allowed him to obtain a direct line of sight towards the lone primitive humanoid.

Then, with a deep breath, he activated [Extended Charge], igniting the gunpowder he had put within the barrel before coating it with mana.

Rumble...

With every passing second, Valyr felt the force gradually build up within the barrel, causing a curious smile to appear on his face.

Eventually, the young man hit the limit to [Extended Charge] at some point, which meant that he was more than ready to fire the arquebus at the primitive humanoid.

Though, just as he was about to release his grip over the mana and let the built-up force expand on its own, a sudden thought popped up in his mind at that very moment.

"[Full Burst]."

With the young man acting on impulse, he imbued more mana into the arquebus as he wondered whether or not the shot would eventually come out on the other side.

Fortunately, the outcome was far better than he initially expected as he witnessed a faint blue bullet whiz through the night sky.

Bang!

'-369,850!!!'

Staring at the dark red six-digit figure that appeared above the primitive humanoid's head, Valyr's eyes widened in great disbelief as he was briefly left at a complete loss for words.

"..."

"For the love of all that is holy."

"..."

"That's over 300,000 damage..."

"..."

"If I could already deal that much damage with just two skills..."

"How high would it get when I go all out?"n--O/)v-.e)(l/-b.-1(-n

"..."

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out."