Crimson Forge.
"Haah. I'm finally done. I finally finished these goddamn boots." Letting out a long sigh of relief, Valyr raised the armor piece he was working on, activating the hyperfocus ability of [Gambler's Discerning Eyes] to see if he had missed any imperfections.
Once he had fixed all of the imperfections he had missed on the piece, Valyr nodded in satisfaction before placing it to the side, putting it beside the other pieces of armor that made up the set.
With a content smile on his face, he placed the forging hammer on the anvil before shifting his attention to the pieces of armor on the side, rubbing his hands in excitement, wanting to experience the effects of the armor set firsthand.
However, just as he had finished putting on the chestplate, Wells appeared in front of him with a slightly grim expression, only easing up once he had come face to face with Valyr.
"Valyr, there's a guy at the entrance looking for you... and it seems like he doesn't have any good intentions." Hearing the words that came out of Wells' mouth, Valyr scratched his head for a bit before letting out a low sigh, removing the chestplate he had just worn before placing it beside the other armor pieces.
"From the forging emporium, I presume?" As Valyr asked this question, he thought about the slight skirmish he had with the Hekaetos Forging Emporium sometime ago, recalling the words the well-dressed man from the emporium said to him before his group left.
Though, not long after, Valyr was left with no choice but to discard the idea once he noticed Wells shake his head in response to his question.
Looking at Wells, he pondered over other reasons why a man would come to his smithy out of nowhere, specifically reasons that he knew he was the cause.
"He always dodged the question whenever I asked him where he came from," said Wells as he shrugged his shoulders. "All he told me was that he was looking for the owner of the Crimson Forge, and that he had something to tell him."
'Could this possibly be related to the incident from last night?' Listening to Wells' words, another possibility popped up in Valyr's mind, thinking about what he, Tryndall, and the others did last night. 'Could this possibly be something the mastermind has control over?'
Knowing that he would only find out whether his hypothesis was correct or not once he listened to what the man had to say, Valyr nodded at Wells before heading to the entrance, coming face to face with a rugged-looking man with dark gray hair, who looked to be in his early thirties.
"Are you the owner of the Crimson Forge?" Noticing that Valyr had appeared in front of him, the man at the entrance instantly asked for his identity, his tone laced with a hint of arrogance.
"That would be me, I guess." Though Valyr nodded in response to his question, the man slightly doubted his claim.
Then again, it did not take long for his doubts to disappear, only noticing at that moment that Valyr's get-up suited that of a blacksmith. Aside from that, he also took note of the respect in the gazes of the customers whenever they looked in Valyr's direction.
"I've been waiting for you to appear for quite some time, actually." After he was sure that he was talking to the actual owner of the smithy, the man's expression eased up as he initiated the conversation with Valyr. "Well, I've been tasked to inform you that a certain person is requesting your appearance in a life and death duel set to happen tomorrow."
Hearing the phrase 'life and death duel' come out of the man's mouth, Valyr's thoughts went back to what it was earlier, feeling more certain that the mastermind behind the whole Clossbay Killer thing had something to do with his current conversation with the man.
Being the only way players would settle things between them where the stakes were truly great, a life and death duel was something incredibly familiar to Valyr.
From the name itself, a life and death duel was a duel in which only one side would survive. For NPCs, they would only engage in a life and death duel with someone if the grudge between them could not be reconciled through normal means, or if they were to settle a dispute that both sides could not agree upon.
As for players, even though they had the ability to respawn after death, they utilized life and death duels in the same way as NPCs. However, in a life and death duel, both sides would give up precious items. That item could be a priceless material, an incredibly rare piece of equipment, an extremely powerful book…
Even becoming a servant for the winning side was not out of the question when it came to stakes for life and death duels.
Of course, Valyr had not fully confirmed that the current situation was all orchestrated by the mastermind. He only felt like there was a high chance that the mastermind had something to do with it.
With that, he posed a question to the man that would swiftly clear up a great portion of his doubts. "Do you know who I'm going to duel against?"
"I was told that you would be fighting against someone from the Hekaetos Forging Emporium." Once these words came out of the man's mouth, Valyr threw his hypothesis from earlier down the drain, returning his train of thought to what it was before he thought of the possibility that the mastermind behind the whole Clossbay Killer thing was behind it.
'I've got to give it to that man from the emporium for sticking to his words… but seriously? A life and death duel?' As he thought about what he had done to the well-dressed man and his companions when they threatened him in front of his smithy, and then about the response of the forging emporium because of it, all Valyr could do at that point was let out a long sigh.
"Can I not show up to the duel?" Though Valyr already knew the answer to the question, he went ahead and asked the man in front of him to make sure, scratching his head as a bitter smile appeared on his face once the man shook his head in response to the question.
"Unfortunately, you have to show up no matter what. After all, not showing up to a life and death duel means that you've basically given your life up to the opposing side." Saying these words, the man bitterly smiled.
"I had a feeling." While listening to the man's words, Valyr pondered as to whether he should show up in the duel or not. After all, with how low of a level those people from the emporium had when they showed up in front of his smithy to threaten him, he had a feeling that the person he would fight against would be of a low level as well.
'I guess that person would be around Level 15 at the very least. Worst case scenario, around my level or above it.' For a brief moment, he glanced at the man before him. 'And since the guy's from a forging emporium, then it's a given that my opponent would be kitted out in the best armor set and weapon they could get their hands on.'
"Hmm…" Just as he thought of telling the man that he was still unsure as to whether he would show up or not, he looked around the smithy for a bit, only to stop his gaze on the armor set he had just finished forging the final piece of earlier. Not long after, his mind was made up as he turned around to look at the man with a smile.
"Where's the venue?"
