Chapter 1304: A Small Proposal

    ?

    "I''m unable to leave?" Valyr frowned at the man''s words, only for him to frown deeper as Noel nodded at his question.

    "Unfortunately." The old man let out a faint sigh, understanding what the young man was feeling at that moment. After all, he''d already seen multiple people break down the moment they heard the same thing from him.

    Closing his eyes for a bit as he pondered over the man''s words, Valyr eventually began to scratch the back of his head as he asked him for further clarification. "When they say I can''t leave, did they mean it literally?"

    "Or can I still use the leave afforded to me as someone who took the path of a mercenary?"

    "Well, you could still use the leave without any problems," replied Noel, which immediately reduced the amount of stress Valyr felt.

    Though, that all quickly came crashing back the moment the old man continued speaking.

    "However, unlike before, where the military wouldn''t really search for you even if you went beyond over the time allocated for your leave, they would now spare no effort to drag you back here through any means necessary."

    "On top of that, the amount of time you would have once you successfully applied for leave is significantly reduced compared to before," continued the man, causing Valyr''s expression to turn grim.

    "In other words, with how restrictive and tedious leaving the military base has become, it''s better for me to think that I''m unable to leave the military base in the first place."

    "Unfortunately." Noel briefly gave the young man a bitter smile.

    Seeing the old man''s expression, the young man let out a low sigh, thinking that he would only need to complete 5 simple missions if he wanted to head back to his identity as Ataraxia without any issues.

    Sadly, reality was telling him outright that he first needed to reach the rank beyond that of a 10-Star Mercenary before he''d be able to gain access to that sort of freedom.

    ''I suppose I should head to the mission hall, then.'' Considering that Noel had more or less told him everything he needed to know for the meantime, the young man thanked the man once more before the two parted ways.

    Whoosh!

    Faintly wondering whether it was even possible to complete 5 missions within the limited duration [Soul Shift] gave him, much less reach the rank of an Iron Mercenary, Valyr eventually pushed those thoughts to the side as he entered the mission hall.

    ''Definitely busier than the last time I came here.'' Making his way to the various mission boards near the exit to the hall, the young man briefly had a wry smile on his face after seeing that almost every mission board was being swarmed by many people.

    Seeing a couple of familiar faces in some of the mission boards here and there, Valyr inwardly let out a sigh of relief once he noticed that there were far less people at the board containing missions for 10-Star Mercenaries.

    ''Then again, still a lot more people compared to the last time I came here,'' thought the young man to himself as he came up to it, asking some of the people near the board to move aside.

    Though these people were annoyed at having been pushed aside by Valyr at first, once they recalled who he was, as well as the feat he''d achieved before ''disappearing'' for over a month, these people quickly gave way to him with smiles on their faces.

    Unfortunately for them, with him currently focusing on gaining the ability to leave the military base as soon as possible, their goodwill was mostly ignored by the young man, whose attention had become fixated on the missions the moment he laid his eyes upon them. ''I should grab the missions that only focus on killing a set number of beings from the opposing races,'' muttered Valyr to himself inwardly as he aimed to make the most out of the remaining time he had in his current identity.

    And so, with the help of his high perception and his high stats working together, the young man was able to pick out 5 missions that fit the criteria he came up with, confident that he''d be able to fulfill their requirements once he arrived at the battlefield.@@@@

    "Long time no see, Aleos." Heading towards the hall''s counters, Valyr immediately beamed a smile as a familiar face came into view. "How''s life been, man?"

    Continuing to stare at Hal as their conversation just now attracted the attention of others,

    Valyr discreetly sent a message back to the man in return. "What brings you guys here, though? Also, were any of the words you saw just now serious?"

    "What I said just now is part of the reason why we''re here," responded Hal back, faintly nodding at the young man as the two soon agreed through messages to head outside to talk

    more about it.

    With that, Valyr grabbed the five missions he went through with Aleos before the two of them made their way out of the mission hall, prompting the people that remained within the hall to talk about what they saw just now.

    Oblivious to the chatter that arose back the mission hall after their departure, the two sat side by side at the center of the base, glad to see one another after what felt like a considerably

    long time.

    "So... you''re telling me you and Vera were requested by the military to come here for a certain mission?" Listening to the explanation Hal gave him as to why they were at the east defensive line, Valyr looked back at him in slight disbelief as he posed a question of his own.

    Of course, with how Hal seemed to want to keep it under wraps, the two respected the man''s decision to keep the conversation through the system''s chat feature.

    "Yeah. The Heavenbreaker War Squad was specifically requested by the military to complete a mission only the higher-ups and our squad know," replied Hal, giving the young man a

    knowing look.

    "Honestly, we thought we''d have to complete the mission by ourselves. However, when we

    got your messages that you were heading back to the battlefield, we eventually thought... why

    not have you join?"

    "But why though?" asked Valyr back, tilting his head in slight confusion. "I know I''m a part of the War Squad, but I haven''t joined you guys in any of the missions at all."

    "Don''t worry about that." Hal grinned as he sent his message. "It''s not like we always do our missions at the same time, either."

    "So, why me, then?" asked Valyr once more.

    "For one, having your power would help us have an easier time completing the mission,"

    replied Hal. "Aside from that, joining us on the mission will help you with your current

    problems."

    "How so?"

    "Well, what if I told you that the mission we''re currently undertaking..."

    "...is Crimson Mercenary-rank?"