Chapter 631 Four Pillars: Misplaced Priorities
Even though the four already knew the answer to Faulus' question, everyone still frowned after hearing Valyr's response.
Though the primitive humanoids were not human any way, with their identification skills even confirming that fact, the four still imagined themselves to be fighting against their fellow humans if they were to do so.
No matter how much they reminded themselves that the primitive humanoids weren't human at all, in the back of their heads, they still considered these beings human.
Looking at the expressions on everyone else's faces, Faulus let out a faint sigh before asking a question. "Are you sure you want to do this, Valyr? Do you not have any morals?"
"Of course, I do." Valyr wryly smiled, letting out a low sigh of his own. "How could I not know what you guys are thinking? Just like you, the fact that they resemble us makes it difficult for me to make a move against them."
"But here's the thing." Taking in a deep breath, Valyr's expression went cold. "If no one among us makes a move against these Primitive Humanoids, who will?"
"Plus, if you think of it from another perspective, would there really be any benefit to not killing these beings?" added the young man, the gears in his mind continually turning.
"If you think about it, these beings only look human. I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually similar to the aberrations in nature," he continued.
"On top of that, with each quadrant housing probably a thousand or so of these Primitive Humanoids, we only avoid around five thousand deaths or so if we include the beings living in the center of the city ruins." n.-o).V/.e-/L)/b/(1)-n
"With that, I ask you. What's more important? Avoiding five thousand deaths or obtaining information and power that would undoubtedly help more than five thousand people in the outside world from dying?"
At this moment, the hesitation that clouded Valyr's judgment earlier had thoroughly disappeared. Instead, what currently filled the young man's mind was the pragmatism and rationality he had cultivated in his past life, polished even further with his current experiences.
Noticing that the four were seemingly on the edge of making a final decision, Valyr decided to reiterate his question in a way that it talked about the crux of the matter. "Alright, let me rephrase my question and ask you once again."
"Though it might sound heartless, what's more important to you? The beings within the inheritance or the people you care for in the outside world?"
Fortunately, that question was more than enough to tip the scales in the four's minds, dispelling the haze that clouded their judgments.
With their thoughts cleared up once more, the four eventually began to realize that they had misplaced their priorities just because they imagined themselves having to fight against their fellow humans.
Not only that, but they also realized that they had forgotten one of their goals as to why they entered the inheritance in the first place.
And that was to obtain information that would help the human race.
Seeing that the four appeared to be in a pensive state after he rephrased his earlier question, Valyr decided to leave them be for now.
With that, he continued his original objective of fighting against one of the primitive humanoids to get a better idea of what they would be up against.
Moving along the periphery of the south quadrant, the young man took note of the number of primitive humanoids that roamed along the abandoned streets, keeping his eyes peeled for a primitive humanoid that looked to have been separated from the others.
While doing so, he also admired the buildings that made up the south quadrant, imagining a time where the civilization that had created these buildings were in their golden days.
'Judging from the style of their buildings, it seems like they've reached a further technological era than the ones on Earth,' thought the young man to himself.
Though most of the buildings resembled skyscrapers in design, there were a few areas on the buildings that Valyr deemed impossible to have been done by humans in the current age. One great example he found was a building that seemed to have been split up into two parts.
Though the second part of the building was mostly destroyed as it laid on the ground, the chains that connected it to the still-standing part of the building made the young man think that the second part possibly hovered off the ground in the past.
From what he could surmise, it seemed that the building was split into two parts in order to reduce the cost of construction for an important road.
Thankfully, it did not take long for him to confirm his hypothesis, eventually finding the broken-off road that would have connected to the inclined road on the other side of the building.
With his curiosity satiated, Valyr continued to stay on the lookout for lone primitive humanoids, eventually finding one in the south quadrant after ten more minutes of walking.
Compared to the other primitive humanoids roaming around in the vicinity, the humanoid seemed to be lacking all of its fingers on both hands. In its place were stumps that looked slightly larger than the forearms they were attached to.
Aside from that, a large hole could be seen on the humanoid's torso, being located in the area where one's intestines would normally be.
Faintly wondering which part of the humanoid would process the food it ate, Valyr put the thought aside for the meantime and took out his magic scepter.
"[Refined Offense Aura]."
"[Limit Break]."
Whoosh!
Buffing his offensive capabilities in preparation for the upcoming fight, Valyr looked around the area for a bit before focusing his attention on a small stone near him.
Picking up the small stone, he then imbued it with a bit of his mana before throwing it at the humanoid with all of his strength.
Thud!
With [Hunter's Tracking Eyes] working on overtime, it went without saying that the stone had landed on one of the many weak spots on the primitive humanoid's body.
Sadly, with how small the stone was, the stone disintegrated on impact, only reducing the humanoid's HP by a few points at most.
Then again, Valyr's goal wasn't to deal a lot of damage with the stone.
If anything, he just wanted to gain its attention.
"Grooooooaaaagghhhhhh!!!!"