MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

“Been a long while since we’ve last seen you, Valyr.”

After feeling like they’ve fully acclimated to the improvements they obtained from consuming their respective treasures, Valyr and Ataraxia began to make their way to the actual territory controlled by the latter’s guild.

Of course, as it had been quite some time since the last time Ataraxia met up with the other members of his guild, the young man went ahead and sent a message to Thomas and the others, informing the group of his return.

At the same time, he informed them through message that he would be arriving at the guild with a special guest.

“Feels like you’ve gotten stronger than before,” Thomas remarked, faintly whistling in admiration. “Did you ascend to Rank 5 yet?”

“Soon,” replied Ataraxia, giving the group a slightly mysterious smile. “Once I finish tying up some loose ends here and there, only then will I proceed with the ascension.”

“In any case, you guys have gotten a lot stronger since the last time I’ve seen you,” he continued, letting out a slight chuckle. “Did you guys ascend already?”

“Rank 4,” said Meria as she faintly nodded. “Of course, we only ascended to the next class rank after making sure that we’ve fully digested everything we obtained from the Realm of New Horizons.”

“Our improvements aside, you said you’d be bringing a special guest along with you.” Feeling like their conversation was going slightly off track, Lucques decided to remind Ataraxia and the others of the other message the latter sent them.

“Oh yeah.” Thomas nodded in response, only to then start looking around them.

Seeing that only Ataraxia stood in front of them after looking around for a bit, he then asked him, “Are they on their way or something?”

“Nah.” Ataraxia shook his head as he gave the group a slight grin. “He’s been with us ever since I got here.”

Whoosh!

At the exact moment the young man said those words, Valyr went ahead and deactivated his stealth skill, revealing himself to Thomas and the others as he stood beside the former.

Of course, not expecting Valyr to be standing beside their guild leader this entire time, a hint of wariness and vigilance appeared on the group’s faces, briefly thinking to themselves that the current situation was an ambush of sorts.

Though, with neither Valyr nor Ataraxia making a move, the group soon understood that they were just overthinking things, prompting them to give themselves a bit of time to get a sense of things.

“Wait a second…” Looking at the guest Ataraxia brought to their guild to see who they were, Alisa began to get the feeling that she had seen him somewhere before.

After looking at him for a bit more, a memory from the early days of Greater Beyond eventually surfaced within her mind, causing her eyes to widen in disbelief as she realized who their guild leader had brought them to see.

“Is that… who I think it is?” she asked, looking at Ataraxia with a mix of shock and excitement.

Unsurprisingly, with Alisa recognizing who the young man brought, it did not take long for Thomas and the others to do the same, prompting them to look at their guild leader with excitement.

“That he is,” replied Ataraxia, letting out a peal of laughter as he had Valyr take a few steps forward.

“Though I know the four of them already know who you are, would you do the honors of reintroducing yourself?”

“No problem.” Letting out a chuckle as he faintly nodded, Valyr gave Thomas and the others a faint bow as he told them, “Valyr, previous owner of the Forge of Beginnings back at Daffors Village, currently a part of the Meltierre Imperial Guards.”

“It really is him…” said Lucques in response as memories of his early days in Greater Beyond flashed across his mind.

Seeing that the four in front of them were left at a loss for words in response to his introduction, Valyr could not help but shift his gaze towards Ataraxia, only to receive a wry smile in return.

After they were done adjusting to their improved stats, the two spent a bit of time discussing what they’d do once they arrived at Azure Coalition’s territory.

Of course, knowing that they’d be spending most of their time in seclusion preparing for their eventual ascension, the two wondered if it would be a good idea for Valyr to show his face to the members of Ataraxia’s guild.

After all, even though he only stuck with the players for the first few days because of the event that changed both of their lives, the young man was still recognized by a lot of players in Greater Beyond.

Specifically, his original appearance as Valyr Zeihardt.

Though the two felt that it would probably give the members of Azure Coalition a headache in various ways, the two also understood that having Valyr come and stay at the guild was an incredible morale booster to those part of the guild.

Not only that, but if they played their cards right, they could even use his presence within the guild to recruit more players.

And thus, with [Thousand Polymorph] deactivated and [Way of Seamless Mundanity] activated, the two arrived at the guild without much fanfare, allowing the current situation to unfold.

By the time others in the guild received the message that their guild leader had returned, a good chunk of the guild’s members had arrived to where Thomas and the others were, only to be left speechless by the sight in front of him.

Seeing their guild leader stand before the first-ever celebrity of Greater Beyond, more and more of the guild’s members came to where Ataraxia and Valyr were, with some of them even taking a photo of the current sight before posting it on the forums.

Noticing what some of the members were doing, the two could not help but glance each other for a bit, only for a slight smile to appear on their faces as they knew their plan had worked.

Continuing to have Valyr talk with the other guild members for a bit more, Ataraxia soon went ahead and introduced the armor sets he had the former produce for the guild, prompting everyone to be reminded of the promise their leader had made during the guild’s early days.

Though they partly thought of it as an empty promise at the time, everyone could not help but feel immensely grateful to their guild leader the very moment they took a look at the armors’ stats.

With each set having stats far better than the set they currently wore, it went without saying that every member who received the armor set felt their sense of belonging within Azure Coalition grow stronger.

By the time Ataraxia was done distributing the sets, he then told everyone in the guild that Valyr would be staying with them for the meantime while he prepared for his ascension to Rank 5.

Receiving a series of well wishes and advanced cheers from the guild in response, the two eventually left everyone else in the guild as they made their way to the most secluded part of the guild’s main hall.