After Noel mentioned that the final method to improve his Shadow Energy was to kill a Shadow Serpent, Valyr's eyes widened for a bit in surprise. Though, not long after, his expression returned to normal as he inwardly facepalmed, thinking to himself as to how he had not gotten to that conclusion before.
After all, since absorbing an orb of Shadow Serpent Essence allowed him to gain access to Shadow Energy, then it would make sense that killing a Shadow Serpent would also work as well.
"Now that I mention it, I just remembered that these three are also the methods one would have access to in order to become a Shadow Serpentine Lancer in the first place," Noel said sometime later. "Of course, that's considering they didn't have [Shadow Serpent Combat Style] and had access to Shadow Energy before obtaining the subclass like you did."
"In fact, it could be considered as a requirement to obtaining the subclass in the first place," he continued. "Either way, I'm going off on a tangent here. Those are the three methods that you could choose to use if you want to improve your Shadow Energy to eventually become a bona fide Shadow Serpentine Lancer."
"How did you gain access to Shadow Energy in the first place?" Rather than ponder over the three choices he was given, Valyr was instead curious as to how the old man before him became a Shadow Serpentine Lancer in the first place. With that, Noel briefly raised his eyebrow in slight interest.
"Are you going to choose your method based on how I became a Shadow Serpentine Lancer?" Noel let out a soft chuckle. "Well, what if I told you I obtained the subclass I currently have now as an accident?"
In response to those words, Valyr remained silent, though the expression on his face was enough for Noel to know that he wanted to learn more about it.
"A long time ago, I had a Spearman-based subclass that I was incredibly satisfied with," Noel started narrating. "It had all of the abilities that I wanted, the stats that I wanted to grow stronger in, all in all, I was just satisfied with having it, considering that it was of a significantly high rarity."
"Note that this happened at a time when I didn't occupy a position within the Spearman Guild yet," said Noel in the midst of his narration, wanting to clarify his story's setting. Obtaining a nod in response from Valyr, he then continued where he left off.
"Of course, even though I wasn't occupying a position yet, I was someone that held a lot of importance to the guild." A light smile gradually crept up on his face as he continued to recall what had transpired in the past. "With that, I was the first person they asked when they were looking for someone that was willing to kill an incredibly ferocious beast."
"I'm sure by now that you already know what kind of beast I'm referring to, right?" Noel asked Valyr sometime later, to which the latter nodded.
Nodding back, Noel continued. "I won't get into the specifics of what happened along the way, but at the very end of it all, I had successfully killed the Shadow Serpent that many people had died to. At that point, I thought I would just head back to the Spearman Guild, claim my rewards, and then head home and rest easy."
"Boy was I wrong." Noel bitterly smiled. "Instead, what happened was that all of the lingering energy from the corpse swiftly made its way to my body and gave me the ability to tap into a pure yet destructive source of energy that differed from mana."
"With that, I eventually found someone who knew more about it, and eventually, I became a Shadow Serpentine Lancer." With Noel having finished his story of how he had become a Shadow Serpentine Lancer in the first place, Valyr looked down at the ground for a bit and pondered once more over which among the three methods he would choose.
However, with the looming threat of the final battle still lingering in his mind, and the fact that he needed to become as strong as possible for that final battle, it did not take long for him to come to a decision.
"How easy… are Shadow Serpents to kill?" As Noel heard this question come out of Valyr's mouth, the former inwardly let out a low sigh as he responded.
"Considerably easy… if you were a Rank 3 class holder at the very least." At this moment, Noel's expression towards Valyr was that of slight concern. After all, to him, it seemed like the young man in front of him was making a rash choice.
Yet, rather than thinking of Noel's words as a cue to stop his train of thought there, Valyr instead nodded in response to his answer before asking, "Are there any Shadow Serpents nearby?"
"I really wouldn't recommend you do that if I were you." Noel shook his head. "Though killing a Shadow Serpent is the quickest way to improve your Shadow Energy, as I've mentioned earlier, it is the riskiest, especially for someone at your level."
"You still have a long life ahead of you, Ylvar. There's no need to rush it." He let out a faint sigh soon after before becoming silent.
Pondering over something for a bit, Noel eventually looked back at Valyr before giving him a proposal. "How about this? I'll give you three days to think about which among the three methods you're going to use to improve your Shadow Energy. If you're still adamant on killing a Shadow Serpent, then…"
"As much as I really don't want you to do it, I'll try my best to find one for you."
"…" At those words, Valyr went silent, prompting him to ponder over his choices once more. On one hand, he was happy that Noel wasn't stubborn in stopping him from wanting to kill a Shadow Serpent. After all, it would allow his combat prowess to significantly improve within a shorter timespan.
On the other, he felt grateful that the old man was looking out for his safety, yet guilty at the same time since he wanted to do something that was the exact opposite of safe.
After mulling over it for a bit more, Valyr eventually told Noel that he'd think about it for the next few days, and he'll tell him his final decision once the three days are up. In response, a relieved smile appeared on Noel's face, nodding in agreement as the two of them eventually made their way back to the Spearman Guild's building, with the two of them parting ways once Noel reminded Valyr to find him once three days had passed.
"Huh. Time flies fast." Now at the entrance of the Spearman Guild, Valyr took a look at the sky to see how much time there was left before night. Seeing that there was only around an hour so left before the sun started to set, he decided that he should head back to the inn, lest he wanted Wells to worry about him.
However, just as he had taken a few steps in the direction that lead back to the inn, a thought popped up in his mind.
'I take a look at where the Zeihardt clan is residing?'