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Chapter 1023: Crux of the Matter

Within a modestly sized office, a man with white hair looked through the documents on his desk just like he\'d done before, only to let out a sigh soon after as he began to thrum his fingers on the desk.

"I wonder if Valyr got my message," murmured the man to himself as multiple thoughts began to linger in his mind. "Tristan assured me that he\'d relay it to him as soon as possible, but it\'s already been a day since then."

Continuing to thrum his fingers on his desk, Damian soon let out yet another sigh, deciding to move on from the matter as he focused on doing his work as the leader of the town\'s guards.

\'I\'m pretty sure Tristan and Alfaera told him I\'ve changed or something along those lines,\' thought the man to himself, going through the documents on his desk with a wry smile.

\'If only they knew.\'

Though Damian had changed the way he interacted with everyone in town, the truth of the matter was that the man\'s personality did not change at all.

Nevertheless, the people interpreted it as him undergoing a drastic change, eventually coming to the conclusion that the reason why he\'d changed was due to his interactions with the past few Tidemothers.

In that aspect, Damian felt that it was true.

After all, the reason why he changed the way he interacted with everyone was exactly because of his interactions with the past few Tidemothers.

Lamenting his lack of strength during the first monster tide Valyr did not participate in, Damian decided to put in a lot of effort into honing his skills and stats, hoping that he\'d be able to exhibit a strength that was at least on par with Myst.

Fortunately, the man was able to do so, gaining a class that was more suitable for his style of combat as he requested a new set of equipment from Tristan.

Because of that, Damian was able to show an exemplary performance by the time the next monster tide came around, cementing his position as the leader of Astarto\'s guards as he valiantly fought against the Tidemother.

Yet, just as he thought that it was over, the Tidemother during that time rose from the ground all of a sudden, making a mockery of the man\'s efforts.

However, the fact that the Tidemother seemingly revived itself did not affect Damian at all. He already had experience fighting against weaker enemies that had a similar ability in the past.

If anything, it was that the Tidemother\'s revival had caused the Tidemother to send a message to Damian\'s mind, resulting in a sight that might be interpreted by someone else as something snapping inside the man.

But, in reality, the man had engaged in a brief conversation with the Tidemother.

And the words it spoke to Damian were naturally shocking.

\'You\'ve shown a level of tenacity and determination that puts many to shame.\'

\'The Alltide has taken notice of you and wishes to reward you for your efforts.\'

Whilst those words from the Tidemother echoed within the man\'s mind, Damian soon felt a stinging pain from the back of his right palm, only to notice that a mark bearing resemblance to the Tidemother had formed on it.

Though curious as to what the mark entailed, Damian suppressed his curiosity for the meantime as he reaped the Tidemother\'s life once more.

Glad that he now had the strength to stand up against the Tidemothers on the same level as Myst and the others, it was only then did Damian take a look at the mark he\'d gained during his conversation with the Tidemother.

However, as he did, his expression turned into a frown, deepening by the time he\'d read its description.

\'Can this even be considered a reward?\'

The mark that Damian had gained while fighting the Tidemother was none other than the Mark of the Alltide Valyr had gained in the past.

Boasting a similar power to the mark Valyr had in the past, Damian immediately thought of the mark as a curse than a reward, seeing as it unconditionally brought monsters to him within a set radius.

Aside from that, the curse also affected the monsters he fought, unconditionally increasing their strength by a tier as well.

Though Damian found ways to benefit it, especially after seeing that he gained additional experience from killing them, the man understood that he now had the ability to have things go south just when they were going great.

Getting the feeling that other people could gain the mark as well if they were to do similar things like him, it was then that Damian began to distance himself from the others, honing his strength on the side as he promised to make sure that no other person would gain the mark just like him.

In fact, that was the reason why he\'d only made a move near the end of the monster tide that came before the one a couple of days ago.

Knowing that Myst had the ability to kill the Tidemother just like him, Damian immediately intervened the moment the Greater Tidemother began to stand up again, utilizing his greater strength at Rank 4 to end its life for good.

Surprisingly, this action had caused the mark on his right palm to grow bigger, worsening the effects of the curse that was initially thought to be a reward.

Hearing that there was another monster tide coming not even a month after that monster tide was over, Damian polished his strength yet again, pushing himself to the peak of Rank 4 with the thought of killing the Tidemother again near the end.

Yet, to his surprise, Valyr had returned to Astarto and killed the Tidemother before he could, causing him to feel both shock and anger as he looked at the young man that made Astarto what it was from afar.

He felt shock because even though Valyr was a rank lower than him, he was still able to exhibit monstrous strength that ended the Greater Tidemother\'s life in just a few hits.

As for anger, he felt that way since Valyr would now gain a similar mark as him now that he killed the Tidemother, which could have been prevented if he were to kill the Tidemother in

the first place.

"My mark would have probably worsened, but it would have definitely been for the better," muttered the man to himself, letting out yet another sigh as he thought about it.

"It\'s the least I can do as Astarto\'s guard leader."