A monotone voice rang out in Valerius's mind.
"You've completed the Emergence of Dark Horse quest. You get +3 stat points and the Rune of Swiftness."
By this point, Valerius was teetering on the brink of collapse. He didn't express any joy as he failed to hear what was said.
The soul radiation emanating from the old man suddenly ceased its onslaught on Valerius.
Then, Valerius, whose consciousness was fleeting, only felt a tug.
The old man had pulled him up, grabbed his chin, opened his mouth, and tossed a pill into it before closing it.
Valerius felt the pill's magical effect immediately.
He thought that its effect must be to bring a man with one foot in the grave back to life as he was instantly healed of any and every injury he had sustained in the ceremony. Not only that, but he also felt energized as if he had eaten an entire cow!
"Thank you so much for your grace," Valerius expressed gratefully.
The old man patted him on the shoulder and replied, "You did well, young man. Truly, I've never witnessed a performance quite like yours in all my years overseeing this ceremony."
A commotion rose from behind him.
He looked back and saw Quinlan going head-to-head with Benjamin as they raced towards the inner circle.
Benjamin didn't want to lose the race to an orphan who was adopted into the community, and thus, he pushed himself to the limit.
As a result, he reached the inner circle before Quinlan and felt like a victor as his level 2 spirit vein awakened.
However, unbeknownst to him, he was mistaken in his assumptions.
Quinlan had never considered it a race.
The competition was one-sided on Benjamin's part.
This became quite apparent when Quinlan passed by him without sparing him a glance and continued moving towards the Grand Ancestral Tree, where Valerius and the old man were gathered.
"This bastard," Benjamin muttered under his breath, realizing that he had never been in Quinlan's line of sight to begin with.
But he didn't chase after him.
He had no desire to compete any further. He knew his limits. He would only humiliate himself and collapse in front of the entire crowd like Elrik if he tried to bite more than he could chew. Aiming to awaken a level 3 spirit vein during the ceremony was beyond his reach.
But he didn't think that an orphan would be able to perform better than him.
He thought Quinlan was overestimating himself. He would collapse sooner or later.
However, his assumptions, along with those of many others, were proven wrong as they observed Quinlan relentlessly moving forward, his stride unwavering and confident.
The crowd was left speechless, minds reeling with shock.
Is Quinlan some sort of hidden prodigy?
Actually, that was far from the truth.
His physical body was too weak. He couldn't go for the hidden reward like Val. But he was making the impossible possible thanks to his willpower!
Quinlan had fainted while moving. As his back was to them, they failed to notice it. But Valerius, Kendrick, and Aric noticed it.
"Master," said Aric, "he has fainted. So how is he still maintaining his brisk pace towards you?"
Kendrick replied, "It is not surprising to see him perform miracles. He is the Limitless."
"You told me not to jump to conclusions too early, and now you're doing the same thing," Aric tried to get back at him.
"I am not," Kendrick defended himself from his eccentric disciple's silly accusation, "I came to this conclusion after careful consideration. He is exhibiting traits that only the Limitless can."
"What do you mean?" Aric asked.
Kendrick explained, "In the Legend of Elandrial, only the main aspect of the Limitless Physique was mentioned. But there's more to it. A limitless willpower is also limitless. Normally, willpower alone can't affect the world. But the willpower of the Limitless can! His will to reach the ultimate goal of the ceremony must be really strong. Now, his willpower is carrying his body all the way here."
Aric's eyes widened at his words.
"I see."
No one else heard what they said as they were communicating telepathically.
'As expected of him!'
Valerius was already aware of the Limitless' true potential.
He was grinning like crazy as he watched the protagonist perform incomparably better than what he did in the novel, and it was all thanks to himself!
Quinlan, having finally reached his destination, collapsed, but Valerius was quick to catch him before he could hit the ground.
"I'll take it from here," Kendrick stated as he relieved Valerius of the protagonist's weight, swiftly feeding Quinlan a pill. Like magic, Quinlan's eyes fluttered open.
Looking around, Quinlan saw a sea of stunned faces. He stood bewildered, his long lashes casting shadows under his eyes.
"Huh, what happened?"
He had no memory beyond the point of passing out during his walk. So why were all these eyes on him, filled with awe and disbelief, as if he had committed a sin of the highest order?
Valerius saw his confusion and decided to fill him in.
"You kept walking even after you passed out. Your body didn't stop; you reached the third goal of the ceremony all by yourself," he explained.
"I did that?" Quinlan said in a voice that was filled with disbelief.
Valerius simply nodded in affirmation, "Yes, you did."
Hearing his words, Quinlan's eyes widened to the size of saucers, his mouth agape as he was left stunned by the feat he himself performed.