MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith
chapter-807

With the man before him still sporting that calm and carefree smile, Valyr was left at a complete loss for words as he could not wrap his head around what was going on.

Of course, with everything he had gone through so far in the inheritance, there was no doubt in the young man's head that the figure before him was the Vaughn Darkstar Ryvrthe had been looking for.

Whether he cross-referenced the man's appearance from memory or from the statue that stood near the two of them, the man seemed a perfect match, sporting a personality that seemed to reflect what Valyr had seen in the memory as well.

Taking in a few deep breaths to compose himself, Valyr gradually got over the shock Vaughn's words had brought him as the gears in his mind began to swiftly turn.

Mulling over multiple things in silence, the young man went through everything he had experienced so far, separating out the parts that seemed to have some sort of involvement with the man before him.

Eventually, after glancing at Vaughn every once in a while for quite some time, the expression on the young man's face changed into that of calm composure.

"I'm impressed that you could recover from that so quickly," said Vaughn with a faint tone of admiration. "In any case, I assume that you have a lot of things that you want to ask me?"

In response, Valyr merely nodded, prompting the man to nod back as he allowed the former to take center stage.

"Though I still hold a few doubts as to whether or not you're really Vaughn Darkstar, the things you've talked about earlier have definitely made me realize that your authority in this place is far greater than even what I can fathom," said the young man.

Vaughn faintly chuckled at those words. "But of course. I wouldn't be called the sole owner of the Four Pillars' Inheritance for nothing."

Nodding in response, Valyr then continued talking. "Let's assume in this scenario that I've cast all my doubts aside and that you've proven yourself to be Vaughn Darkstar."

"As the last leader of humanity before the Great Cataclysm, it would make a lot of sense if you didn't exist right now," said the young man, prompting Vaughn to raise his eyebrow in interest. "After all, it's been over tens of thousands of years since then."

"Even if we consider that you've transcended mortality and become a Myth-level being, you'd only be able to live for around 10,000 years at most if you were to reach the peak strength as a Myth."

"With all that said… am I talking to the actual Vaughn Darkstar? Or am I talking to a memory fragment of the past Vaughn Darkstar?"

Listening to the young man's explanation, Vaughn merely licked his lips before flashing a slight grin.

"Interesting."

"Very interesting, indeed," emphasized the man before proceeding to walk around the young man in circles. "Not only do you excel in combat, you seem to have a gift of the gab as well."

"I'm definitely not mistaken in believing that you're the best choice in— ahem." Just as Vaughn was about to ramble even further, the man caught himself as he interrupted the end of his statement with a faint cough.

Furrowing his eyebrows at the man's last yet incomplete statement, Valyr looked at the man walking around him with curiosity, recalling the question he had asked the man just earlier.

'I have a hunch as to what the answer really is, but just for confirmation's sake…' thought the young man to himself as Vaughn finally stopped walking around.

Standing before Valyr once more, the man crossed his arms as he asked Valyr a question. "Do you recall your fight against Nila during the Trial of Nine Stars?"

Valyr nodded in response, though inwardly he was somewhat confused. "What about it?"

"What separated her and the twins from all the other opponents you've fought against during the Trial of Nine Stars?" asked Vaughn back.

Considering that he had spent a long time with Nila, Dawan, and Daon after their fight was over, Valyr more than knew what Vaughn wanted to hear with him.

Though, just as he was about to open his mouth and explain that he was fighting an extension of their original selves, the thoughts in Valyr's mind finally clicked into place like a massive jigsaw puzzle.

Seeing the ephemeral look of understanding that appeared on the young man's face, Vaughn let out a bit of laughter as he nodded in satisfaction. "It seems you've caught on."

"You're telling me that… what I'm looking at is just an extension of the true Vaughn Darkstar?" asked Valyr after a couple moments of deliberation.

At the same time, he activated [Superior Analysis], deciding to make use of the system's impartiality to see whether the man was telling the truth or not.

Fortunately, before the man could even give a response to his question, the system had brought up a small screen in front of Valyr, filled with as much information he could see on the man before him.

Ding!

————

[Vaughn Darkstar] (Memory Extension)

Class: ??? (???)

Subclass: ??? (???)

Species: ???

Level: ???

Power Level: ???

———-

HP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

———

Attack: ??? - ???

Defense: ??? - ???

Stats: ???

Skills: ???

Intent: ???

Remarks: Though it is only a mirror image of the original being that is named Vaughn Darkstar, even it alone wields a level of power nigh unimaginable to the normal human imagination. Only ruination awaits those who try to pry deeper into the crux of this man's identity. Those who have tried in the past left no trace of their existence the very moment they met eyes with this man.

————

With the target of his identification nodding in agreement with his words from earlier, Valyr scratched the back of his head for a bit as he stared at the screen before him filled to the brim with question marks.

'The last time I saw a status screen like this was when I met Riekan back in Astarto Village,' thought the young man to himself.

Recalling how his level at the time was only at the early levels of Rank 1 while Riekan was someone who was considered a Legend, a wry smile appeared on the young man's face after sensing that the gap between him and Vaughn seemed even greater than that.

Then again, with how much time had passed since the Great Cataclysm and the current era on Veldanyr, the fact that Vaughn's aura was imposing even in its passive form made a whole lot of sense.

After all, not even a peak Myth-level being would be able to live for as long as Vaughn did.

If anything, Valyr was more than certain that Vaughn had gone past the rank of Myths altogether, ascending to an even higher state of being that even high-level Myths would have a hard time fathoming.

'A Divine-level being, huh…' murmured the young man to himself inwardly, wondering whether it was a blessing or a curse to meet a Divine-level being this early in his journey.

Nevertheless, with his main query more or less answered through Vaughn's words and his own inference and stock knowledge, Valyr closed the screen he brought up before looking at the man in front of him from a new perspective.

"I have no clue as to why you're starting to look at me funny," said Vaughn after taking note of the change in Valyr's gaze. "But if it's because of something good, then keep at it."

"Speaking of which, if you still have more questions, feel free to ask them."

Nodding in response, Valyr went through the various thoughts he had separated from earlier once more.

With his curiosity regarding the figure's identity being more or less satisfied, he moved onto the other topics of interest in his mind that felt like he needed to obtain the answer to as soon as possible.

'Should I ask him more about the Great Cataclysm?' inwardly asked Valyr to himself. 'Or since he's the sole owner of the Four Pillars' Inheritance, should I ask him why the inheritance was made in the first place?'

Unsurprisingly, such questions along similar trains of thought flooded the young man's mind, contemplating which one he should ask next.

There were times where he wanted to ask the man who made the Triad Gates and why it was put into the Four Pillars' Inheritance.

There were also times where he wanted to ask why the levels of technology he had received from the Triad Gates had not spread throughout the world of Veldanyr, even though he was certain that a decent number of people had entered the Four Pillars' Inheritance before him and the other four.

In the end, his train of thought eventually landed on a certain memory.

A memory that showed Valyr a certain man's unyielding tenacity and unbending perseverance to succeed in the goals that he wished to achieve.

"Say…" With the memory in mind, Valyr pushed all other questions to the side for the meantime as he asked what was on his mind with a hint of trepidation. "Were you eventually successful in recreating humans?"

"Yeah." Even though he was caught off guard by the question that seemingly came out of nowhere, Vaughn swiftly understood what was going on as he nodded with a smile.

Though, not long after, the man said something that even Valyr was not expecting to hear.

"In fact, you could be considered as one of the successes of that experiment."