Chapter 367: Old Friends, New Location

Violet looked down at the to her perspective diminutive dwarf, his entire body not even matching a single one of her onyx claws in terms of size.

She also felt about him whilst he was under the effects of her domain so she had a relatively solid grasp for his current level. At her guess Tyre should be just about to enter the late stage of tier 4, so somewhere around level 120-129.

It was quite respectable given that he was only at the very start of tier 4 when last they had met.

Granted Violet herself had grown significantly more than he had during that same time, yet Violet was at least self aware enough to understand that her own growth was quite the anomaly and should not be used as any kind of benchmark to judge others on.

As she pondered that the dwarf in question peaked up at her with a mix of fear, respect, awe and confusion, evidently the confusion won out as he asked. "I-it is great to see you again Violet, but I must ask... how did you manage to reach tier 5 in such a short amount of time?"

He continued after a moment. "By my beard I thought my progress was impressive, yet seeing that you have far surpassed me makes my progress look quite feeble." He slightly shook his head in self deprecation.

Violet felt a bit sorry for the man so decided that she could at least convers with him at more equal height. So with a flash of purple she was once again standing in her humanoid form.

She still towered over him, only now it was only by a good foot in height given his dwarvish nature.

Tyre for his part felt his breath catch upon seeing her back in her humanoid form. He distinctly remembered her appearance, yet it seemed that since they hlast met she had undergone some quite drastic changes of her own.

Whilst before she was undoubtedly beautiful, it was more of the beauty of a young adult only just adapting to her changed body. Sure she had the body of an adult but it was clear she still had the mentality of a younger woman.

Now she exuded an assured confidence, from the way she stood to the clothing that she wore. Her black and purple kimono hugged her curvy figure whilst the cut of the outfit leaned towards utility and purpose with the powerful enchantments plain to see to Tyre’s trained eye.

Whilst it had only been a few short months, Violet had clear grown up significantly during that time. Something that caused Tyre to have a slight pang of worry in his heart for the loss of her once childlike innocence that she held back when they first met.

Still he could not fault her, it was a tough work they lived in. He had also heard tale of the attack on Syan and how they had been aided by a dragon leading an army of beasts, so he already had a idea of some of the things she had experienced during the intermeaning time.

His silent musing were interupted with Violet’s response to his earlier question.

"Well it’s quite simple really, simply get in a lot of fights, kill a couple of sovereigns and help win a war. You know just the usual stuff." She smiled cheekily as she finished.

Tyre couldn’t help but chuckle at her words, shaking his head he responded. "Ahh yes, nothing serious then. Why didn’t I think of doing something similar, just point me in the direction of the nearest sovereign and I’ll get right on that!"

Violet laughed in turn, however, her expression soon turned slightly more serious as she asked. "I have to ask now though, how did you end up here? You defeated a champion beast? Do you know of any others that also achieved this feat?"

Tyre’s smile faded slightly as he too grew more serious, a grim smile adorned his face as he responded, a thread of raw emotion clear in his voice.

"Yeah, I defeated a champion beast. My team found one whilst out on a mission for the guild." He paused then as his voice broke, his eyes held a pain that Violet could almost physically feel.

She quickly spoke up. "Ahh I’m sorry, you don’t need to explain more on that matter." Violet winced, understanding that he likely lost several of his friends and teammates during that battle.

So whilst it was undoubtedly a great victory, it was tainted by the bitter memory of lost loved ones.

Tyre smiled bitterly at the memory, but still continued. "Only myself a Sylus survived the battle. He retired from the adventuring life afterwards though. I suppose I could have done the same, just, I just couldn’t give it up. It would feel like a betrayal to them if I were to give up. So I pushed on. Now with the champion beast title of my own I trained and fought till the trial finally started."

Violet was unsure how to respond about that, she wanted to offer words of comfort or support, yet she was also aware that she didn’t exactly know him well enough to offer more than surface level support for what was clearly a deeply personal issue.

So, instead Violet simply extended her hand and gently patted the dwarf on his shoulder.

Hoping to change the topic slightly she asked about his experiences since joining the trial.

Apparently he had appeared on a crowded section of the beach, almost immediately a massive fight had broken out amongst the various champion beasts.

Tyre had opted to escape near instantly, managing to kill two beasts during her escape and securing his access to the second section of the island.

From there he had ventured into this same windy waste and engaged in a couple of small battles against weaker beasts. Everything seemed to be going well for him, then he ran into the two Boars already engaged in the battle.

Apparently that battle had also attracted the attention of the wandering Hipogriff.

From there it was a desperate battle to stay alive against the brutal odds, at least until Violet suddenly arrived and instantly cowed the three beasts and ended the fight with a single display of power.

Violet briefly described to him how her own experiences differed from his own.