Pondering over Faulus' question for a bit in silence, Valyr eventually let out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head. "Now that you mention it… I seriously have no idea."
"Does anyone have suggestions?" Finishing the remainder of his dinner in a few large bites, the young man began to look at the others, hoping that they would have an answer.
Staring at the other four in silence, Loreina eventually mustered up the courage to say what was on her mind. "The center of the city ruins is also considered a quadrant, right?"
In response, everyone nodded in agreement to her words. However, after asking that question, the tailor did not continue her train of thought, knowing that the others were already thinking of the same thing as her as they mulled over it in silence.
From the information Valyr and Hal had obtained regarding the general strength of beings in various parts of the inheritance, the strongest beings within the four quadrants were at the peak of Rank 5 and had control over a full Intent.
With the experience all of them have accumulated from the trials, as well as the rewards they have obtained, although it would be quite difficult to surmount such a large gap, the five of them still had confidence in achieving the impossible.
In comparison, the strongest being found at the center of the city ruins could only be classified as an impossible foe.
Not only did Hal and Valyr's skills say that the strongest being had command over a Force, but it also said that the being had possibly transcended the realms of mortality altogether, being classified as a Myth in terms of strength.
Even if they had gotten stronger thanks to the rewards given by the Gates of Enlightenment, none of them entertained the thought of being able to fight against someone at the level of a Myth, especially with the fact that none of them had comprehended an actual Intent yet.
With that, the atmosphere surrounding the campsite had become silent once more as all of them wracked their brains to come up with a solution that moved them away from the worst-case scenario.
After all, if one of them did not want to fight against the Myth level being at the center of the city ruins, then it went without saying that none of them did.
Just as a plausible idea was starting to brew in Vera's mind, Faulus spoke up all of a sudden, prompting everyone to focus their attention to his words.
However, once they did, the four could not help but look at the alchemist with shocked expressions.
"Since Loreina has clarified that there are actually five quadrant leaders in the inheritance instead of four, why not have our leader fight against the quadrant leader in the center of the city ruins while the remaining four takes on one of the remaining quadrant leaders each?"
For a long while after Faulus' words, the entire campsite was covered in silence once more. However, unlike the silence that covered the entire group earlier, the current silence seemed loud in comparison.
Though a few among the group had entertained the thought in their head after hearing Loreina's words, all of them quickly shut the thought down. After all, even though Valyr was the strongest in the group when it came to combat, such a level of strength was no match to the strength of a Myth.
Yet, as if the man had given into his intrusive thoughts, Faulus said the thing no one wanted to say. To no surprise, an awkward air could be felt amidst the silence as everyone looked at the target of the alchemist's words.
Of course, it went without saying that Valyr was thoroughly incensed at this point, especially after recalling a similar incident happening back when they were up against their first aberration.
"Do you have some sort of hidden grudge against me or something?" asked the young man to Faulus, faintly flaring the aura he generally kept restrained. "Did I ever do something to piss you off?"
"I…" At Valyr's questioning, Faulus could only remain silent.
Naturally, with the situation that was arising, the alchemist recalled the incident that occurred after being faced against one of the aberrations. At the time, it was his fear of fighting against the aberrations talking, which he had explained to Valyr while they were out in the plains.
However, unlike that time, Faulus truly did not know what had come over him this time around. Sure, he also entertained such frivolous thoughts like the others, but he also knew not to share it since even he knew how outrageous the idea was.
Sadly, as if his body wasn't listening to his thoughts, the exact opposite had occurred, leaving Faulus no choice but to look at the ground as Valyr said a few more things out of anger.
"I thought we let bygones be bygones after the tournament," said Valyr to Faulus. "I even lent an ear to you and gave you advice when you felt like you were at your lowest point."
"I even gave you tips on how to improve your combat while we were fighting side by side against the aberrations in the plains."
"I thought we had already gotten past the point of being strangers… I thought we had already gotten the past the point of getting used to my original identity." Valyr sighed. "But it seems like that wasn't the case at all?"
"I really didn't mean to say that, Valyr!" Knowing that he would regret it if he continued to stay silent, Faulus swiftly replied to the young man's words in hopes of making amends.
"If you didn't really mean to say that… then why'd you even say it in the first place?" Shaking his head, Valyr stared at Faulus for a bit before letting out a sigh. After that, he stood up from where he sat before making his way to his tent.
"Let's talk about this topic after all of us reach an authority level of 10." Standing at the entrance of his tent, Valyr looked at the others for a bit before giving them an order. "For the meantime, keep focusing on that."
In response, the four could only nod as their leader headed inside his tent early.
Watching Valyr's tent for a bit, the four eventually looked at one another. Though, after some time, Hal and the two girls stared intently at Faulus, hoping that their solemn gazes could convey the thoughts that lingered in their minds.
Fortunately for the three, the alchemist could indeed understand what they wanted to convey, inwardly letting out a sigh as a single sentence began to echo within his mind.
'Look at what you've done.'