As he recalled the Reinforcement Elixirs, a few other memories also surfaced into his mind, prompting another light chuckle to come out of Valyr's mouth as he found the memories hilarious.
In his previous life, back when everyone was still trying to understand how the game worked, a few of the players relied on the power of money to obtain an item that allowed them to reach a level of power that was unachievable at the time. With this newfound power, they reigned as tyrants in their respective beginner areas, becoming both feared and despised by the players who had to toil away to reach the same level of power they got through whaling.
Nevertheless, because of that, all players were introduced to the existence of Reinforcement Elixirs, items that, when consumed, gave a player an increase of one point to all stats. Although a player could only consume 10 of these Reinforcement Elixirs at most, doing so would mean that a player at Level 1 would have the stats of a player exceeding Level 10, allowing them to thrash any player below that level without much problem.
Unfortunately for those people, their reign of terror was short-lived once people found out that there was actually a way to concoct Reinforcement Elixirs without having to resort to in-game purchases. Not only that, but they also found out that the Reinforcement Elixirs those who bought them got were of the lowest level, being termed as Basic Reinforcement Elixirs.
With this newfound knowledge being quickly spread throughout the player base, the playing field was quickly leveled as every new player from that point onward knew the importance of consuming the various levels of Reinforcement Elixirs.
Since it would be a while since the knowledge of Reinforcement Elixirs would become widespread once more in this new life, Valyr was going to use it to his advantage to gain an edge, grinning as he started to browse through the contribution point shop's item tab.
'If I remember correctly, Reinforcement Elixirs are split into two categories: Physical Reinforcement Elixirs and Mental Reinforcement Elixirs,' he thought, trying to recall the recipe for both. 'Although the bought ones give a boost to all stats, consuming both of them would still give the same effect. Plus, unlike the bought ones, they'll also give a little something extra once one consumes 10 of each.'
Thinking about the extra item that came along consuming 10 Physical and 10 Mental Reinforcement Elixirs, the grin on Valyr's face grew slightly wider, ecstatic to find out that the contribution point shop had the materials necessary to concoct the two elixir types.
'Lizard Dragon Blood, Mountain Bull Hoof, Shadow Serpent Meat, and Scarlet Tiger Claw. To think the shop would have every important material needed to concoct a batch of Basic Physical Reinforcement Elixir,' he muttered inwardly. 'On top of that, they have Erudite Owl Tongue, Silver Wolf Eyes, and Wise Rabbit Essence. Even the important materials needed for Basic Mental Reinforcement Elixir are available here.'
Checking the amount of contribution points needed to buy each one, Valyr eventually totaled all of them together, coming to a total of 140 contribution points. Seeing as he would only need to patrol for a week within the village rather than risk his life in the wilderness to obtain the necessary materials, he quickly thought that it was a good trade-off, considering that one batch of materials was enough for him to concoct five vials of each elixir.
Coming to the conclusion that he would only have to patrol for two weeks straight to be able to consume both basic elixirs to the limit, Valyr closed the screen in front of him before standing up from the bench, continuing to stroll around the village for a bit more.
After a few minutes of walking, he stopped in front of a building made out of incredibly sturdy material that looked similar to cut stone. Noticing the large chimney at the back of the building that stuck out like a sore thumb, Valyr took a quick glance at the sign hanging above the entrance, nodding that he had gone to the right place as he stepped inside.
"For a village smithy, it's quite well-equipped," Valyr muttered to himself, taking in the sight in front of him that was ever so familiar. On the right side of the building was an L-shaped counter that had a selection of weapons hanging on its wall, while a couple wooden racks could be seen on the left side, all of them containing weapons that seemed to be of far greater quality than the ones in the barracks' equipment room.
At the very back of the building was a stone furnace, containing flames that radiated an immense amount of heat, giving off the feeling that it was going to burst out at any moment. However, in front of the furnace was a man wearing a fireproof apron, hammering away at a piece of hot metal on the anvil before him.
Hearing the sound of metal clashing against metal reverberating throughout the place, Valyr could not help but close his eyes for a bit as he allowed his mind to wander back to the memories of his early days as a blacksmith. Unfortunately for him, this trip was short-lived as the man in the smithy came up to him. "Welcome to the Astarto Village Smithy. What can I do for you?"
As the calm tone of the man entered Valyr's ears, the latter was quickly jolted back to reality, coming face to face with a young man that looked to be in his late twenties. Though, quickly noticing the fireproof apron the man wore and the calloused hands only obtained from incessant hours of menial labor, Valyr stopped himself from talking about the man's age as he nodded in response. "I… uh… I would like to learn the basics of blacksmithing, actually."
"Is that so?" the man raised his eyebrow, slightly suspicious why a guard of their village would come to his smithy. "Surely a guard like you would already be busy polishing their combat skills, no? Why submit yourself to grueling hours in front of a hot furnace on top of that?"
'Although his question makes sense, that limitation doesn't really apply to me.' Thinking about his response, Valyr eventually opened his mouth. "That may be the case for other guards, but not me. Plus, what's wrong with a guard picking up blacksmithing? Why the need for a hostile tone?"
"Hostile?" Hearing Valyr's last question, the man had a puzzled look for a bit. Shaking his head, he clarified, "If you thought my question seemed hostile, then let me apologize. I was just curious why a guard would pick up blacksmithing, considering that they already have to spend most of their time polishing their combat skills."
"In any case, you're right. There's nothing wrong with a guard picking up blacksmithing. That there was my mistake," he continued, looking at Valyr's eyes. After a while, he turned around before letting out a light sigh as he returned to the anvil. "Unfortunately, I can't teach you blacksmithing. You don't have the strength necessary for it yet."
Although Valyr was initially disheartened by the fact he wouldn't be able to learn blacksmithing from the man, after hearing the reasoning behind it, a light grin appeared on his face as his eyes grew determined. Letting out a hint of laughter, he then asked the man, "What if I did reach the necessary strength for it? Would you teach me?"
"Well, that depends," the man replied, his attention mostly focused on the anvil. "How long do you think would it take you to reach my requirements?"
"How does two weeks sound?" As those words came out of Valyr's mouth, the man could not help but stop what he was doing as he looked at Valyr. Although he could not help but feel like the guard before him was bluffing, the confident smile Valyr had on his face made the blacksmith think that it was worth a gamble. 'Eh. It's been getting boring in here just hammering away on my own anyway.'
With that, a screen appeared in front of the blacksmith, tapping a few things on it not long after. Soon after, he looked at Valyr. "Alright then. You have two weeks. Good luck."
Ding!
[You have received a new quest: Tristan's Trial.]
