"You've got more customers than usual, Valyr." Deciding to watch Valyr do his job, Wells looked at him as these words came out of his mouth, chuckling before shifting his gaze towards the customers not long after. Naturally, he hadn't forgotten that he was there to make sure that none of the items in the smithy were stolen.
In response to Wells' words, Valyr remained silent as he hammered out the remaining imperfections on the piece of equipment he was forging. After making sure that there were none that remained, he lightly nodded in satisfaction, placing the finished work to the side.
Placing his forging hammer on the anvil's surface after that, he wiped off the sweat that dripped from his forehead before looking back at Wells with a light grin. "Who knew beating the shit out of people that threw their weight around would be great advertising?"
Hearing that, Wells could only laugh in response.
Though word of Valyr's feats swiftly spread throughout the city like wildfire, it was only until the following day did both Valyr and Wells realize the effects of what Valyr had done, with a great portion of the customers that appeared at the smithy wanting to see Valyr in person.
Naturally, as someone who decided to make himself useful by becoming a guard of the smithy, Wells asked some of them regarding the reason behind their visit, which eventually allowed both him and Valyr to realize that the current state of the smithy all stemmed from the incident that had occurred yesterday with the forging emporium.
As Valyr returned to forging the custom orders he had obtained during the smithy's opening day, Wells looked at his back for a bit before lightly clenching his fists, his mind vividly replaying the scene that had transpired yesterday.
Wondering what would have happened if he were the one fighting against the trio, he eventually came to the conclusion that he probably would have won against them without much problem, but he would have taken a far longer time to finish it compared to Valyr. At that moment, the flames of competition and ambition blazed inside him, increasing his desire to reach the pinnacle of the spear even faster.
Clenching his fists even tighter, he made a promise to himself.
'Since I'm going to stay by Valyr's side from now on, I shouldn't burden him in any way.'
'I need to get even stronger.'
…
"Hey, Valyr! It's been a while! How's the progress on my armor?" Around an hour after the sun had reached its peak, a familiar being appeared within the Crimson Forge, causing Valyr to stop what he was doing as the person's voice reached his ears.
"It's definitely been a while, Arcenne." With a light grin, Valyr turned around and made his way to the person that greeted him, hugging the woman for a brief moment before letting go. "As for your armor, I just finished forging the last piece yesterday."
"Really? Could you show it to me, then?" Hearing that her armor was done, an excited yet expectant expression appeared on Arcenne's face, wondering as to whether Valyr was able to forge the parts of her armor set to the same level of quality as Glacial Edge.
However, once Valyr revealed the pieces that made up her new armor set, Arcenne discarded all of those thoughts. After all, Valyr had not just reached the same level of quality for all the pieces making up her armor, but even exceeded it!
Seeing how Arcenne's face was basically telling him that she wanted to wear the light armor as soon as possible and experience its effects for herself, Valyr let out a light chuckle as he told her that she could try the armor out, only to witness Arcenne swiftly equip all of the pieces making up the Azure Cyclone set in front of him.
Whoosh!
At the very moment Arcenne had worn the helmet, a faint cold breeze spread throughout the vicinity, bringing a bit of a chill to some of the customers that were nearby. Wondering where this breeze had come from all of a sudden, these customers quickly noticed the dark blue armor Arcenne was wearing, sensing a monstrous aura emanating from within.
"So, what do you think?" Oblivious to the reactions of the other customers, Valyr flashed a smile at Arcenne as he posed the question to her. In response, Arcenne took off the helmet before flashing a wide grin back at Valyr.
"It's great!"
"I'm glad to hear that." As Valyr said these words in response, Arcenne removed the other parts of the Azure Cyclone set before placing them to the side. After that, she brought out her money pouch and grabbed four platinum coins from it, giving them to Valyr soon after.
"Though we've agreed that I'd pay you two platinum coins for my armor, that was on the basis that the armor set you craft was Uncommon+ grade as a whole. Since the armor set you crafted for me is actually Rare grade, then it's normal for me to increase the payment, no?"
Listening to her words, Valyr thought about rejecting the increase in payment, only to recall that he had already rejected her offer of paying for Glacial Edge in the past. Deciding that the money would go towards repaying the father and daughter duo of the Stelyra clan for the building, he accepted the four platinum coins with a smile, thanking her as he decided to continue working on the other custom orders he had.
Though, just as he was about to start working on one of them, Arcenne said a few words to him that had piqued his interest. "Before I take my leave, remember that the forging emporium isn't going to take the result from yesterday lying down. It's more or less a given that they'll retaliate against you in the future."
"It would be more surprising if they didn't take any further action." Valyr laughed, turning his head to look at Arcenne. "With how the well-dressed man acted yesterday, I already had a feeling that the emporium was like that."
"Aren't you worried about the repercussions of messing with them, though?" asked Arcenne in response. "Though most people in the city detest what they're doing and hate the emporium with a burning passion, it's not like the emporium doesn't have the power to back up their actions."
"I am, but how's worrying going to help me?" Valyr shrugged his shoulders. "Instead, I've been preparing for the day the emporium finally bares it fangs at me. Speaking of which, I'll be needing your help in this preparation of mine."
"My help?" Arcenne pointed at herself in response, a slightly puzzled expression appearing on her face. "Do you need me to get you something?"
"Exactly." Valyr grinned. "Since you're part of the Stelyra clan, as well as the fact that you know more about this city than I do, you're the only person I know that could probably get the item I want."
"That entirely depends on what the item is." Arcenne lightly frowned. "What do you want me to get you anyway?"
In response, Valyr snickered as he replied to the question.
"Half Wyvern Blood."
"As many vials as you can get your hands on."
