"Alright. Here we are." After walking through the corridors of the Imperial Production Guild for a while, Braum and Valyr eventually arrived within a secluded room at the far corners of the guild, prompting the latter to stand where he stood for a bit as he took in the sight that was in front of him, his eyes slightly widened in surprise.
"A private workshop?" Muttering these words to himself as he looked at Braum beside him, Valyr took a few steps forward before taking in the sight once more, a solemn expression adorning his face. Though a thin layer of dust shrouded more or less everything that could be found within the room, Valyr found it nothing more than something a little bit of elbow grease couldn't remove.
Nevertheless, the amount of forging tools and forging equipment that could be found within the room was enough to leave Valyr at a loss for words, with some of them even being able to mimic a decent chunk of what more advanced forging technology was capable of doing. Of course, as Veldanyr's level of technology was still considered to be somewhere around the medieval ages, then it did not surprise him to find out that all of these more advanced forging equipment operated on mana rather than pure machinery.
"Fancying the place?" Noticing the eagerness within each movement Valyr made as he looked around the private workshop, a faint smile briefly appeared on Braum's face as he posed the question to the man. In response, Valyr looked back in silence for a few seconds before nodding without hesitation, continuing to look at the more advanced equipment that was in the room after that.
Eventually, the latter shifted his attention from the advanced forging machinery towards the cloth bag that was placed on top of an anvil, the only anvil that could be found at the center of the private workshop. Noticing that there was next to no dust buildup on its surface, Valyr looked back at Braum and stared at him for a bit, asking through his gaze if the items he had asked the man to get was within the bag.
In response, the man in dull gray armor nodded, prompting Valyr to nod back as he unfurled the knot keeping the bag shut, revealing all of the items he had asked for within an instant.
"Young Wyvern Blood, Half Wyvern Scales, Azure Iron Essence…" Taking a look through the items within the bag, Valyr's body gradually filled up with excitement as his breathing turned slightly ragged. "You even got your hands on some Young Wyvern Scales…"
"Just so you know, I had to exhaust a lot of my contribution points to get those scales." Hearing the words that came out of Braum's mouth, a bitter smile appeared on the man's face. Nevertheless, seeing the young man's reaction towards the items he had procured, he felt that spending quite a great amount of contribution points on those items were more than worth it.
"The Imperial Production Guild even has Impure Mithril Fragments in stock?" Continuing to sift through the items Braum had procured, Valyr eventually brought out a shard that did not look like much, its color similarly dull when compared to other types of metals. However, once he had infused a bit of mana into the shard, blue veins started to spread throughout the shard as it soon gave out a faint blue glow, showing how conductive it was when it came to mana.
"At first, the guild was unwilling to give them to me since such items were rare to come by from what they told me," said Braum in response to Valyr's words. "However, once they found out that it was you who was asking for them, all of the obstacles stopping me from buying those things instantly disappeared."
"In fact, the guild even wanted me to tell you that you're free to use this private workshop for as long as you want while you're within the kingdom." Recalling that he had asked Valyr a couple of minutes earlier regarding his opinion of the private workshop, Braum decided to bring up what he was going to say earlier, lest he forgot to tell the young man one more time.
Unsurprisingly, once he heard from Braum that he was free to use the private workshop he was currently in, it was as if all of the circuits within Valyr's mind stopped functioning properly, causing him to freeze up for a bit as he processed the information he had just gained. Eventually, Valyr returned to normal, taking in a few deep breaths as he looked back at Braum before asking the man, "Really?"
"Really." Braum solemnly nodded.
"Haah…" Seeing Braum nod back at his question, Valyr could not stop himself from letting out a long sigh, part of it filled with the feeling of exasperation, while most of it was filled with the feeling of excitement. After all, although he knew how to forge equipment with basic forging tools thanks to his past life, the amount of time he spent tinkering with such stuff only lasted for a short time.
But with access to more advanced forging machinery, with some of them even having similar properties to tools he had used throughout the remaining time he played Greater Beyond as a player, he knew that the quality of his forged items would undergo a significant increase, with the chances of them being at a higher grade from the get-go not outside the realm of possibility.
"It's fine if you don't want to answer, but ever since you asked me to get those items yesterday, I've gotten curious." Amidst the silence that surrounded the two of them after Valyr's sigh, Braum decided to break it as he asked the young man the question that had been bothering him since yesterday. "What are you planning to do with the items?"
"Use it in forging, of course," said Valyr with a slightly mischievous grin, causing Braum to roll his eyes in response.
"Well, yeah. I know that." Braum let out a low sigh. "But in what way are you going to use it in forging?"
"Going to use it to upgrade a set of armor you've already seen me wear." Surprisingly, Valyr responded to Braum's next question without any hint of the mischievousness found in his previous answer. Soon after, a bitter smile appeared on his face as he briefly scratched his head. "Though, I'm not entirely sure if the upgrade would be successful in the first place."
As Braum stared at Valyr with a blank expression after hearing those words, in slight disbelief of what he had just heard, Valyr rummaged through the memories he had in his past life, specifically the memories he had regarding the Half Wyvern Armor he had forged in the past as preparation for the life and death duel he was forced to participate in.
Though the design of the armor set was inspired by the Empyrean Dragon Armor set he had seen in action back when he was a player, that was not the reason why the system had classified the Half Wyvern Armor as an Emulation. After all, with that kind of logic, one would be able to churn out a great amount of Emulations as long as they had a vague idea of what the legendary equipment they were trying to emulate looked like.
Instead, the reason why the Half Wyvern Armor was classified as an Emulation was due to the materials he had used in forging the armor set, specifically the vials of Half Wyvern Blood he had asked Arcenne to get for him. Aside from that, the intent he had in mind while forging the set also made a significant contribution to the outcome, allowing the armor to get the classification he wanted from the system.
However, that did not mean that it was guaranteed for the armor to be considered an Emulation after going through all of those steps. At most, it was only an increased chance.
With that in mind, he thanked the guide he had come across in the past once more since it had allowed him to craft the Half Wyvern Armor set he now had. Though, the gratefulness he felt towards the guide gradually disappeared once he recalled the next step of the guide that would allow him to increase the rarity of the armor.
In fact, the items he had asked Braum to procure was enough for the armor to increase by the two minor grades, which meant that his Half Wyvern Armor would end up at Rare+ grade if everything went smoothly.
But that was the thing.
Just like the Half Wyvern Armor being classified as an Emulation, he wasn't sure if it would even upgrade successfully…
Unless if he had something that could make sure it could upgrade to the next tier.
'The only problem is procuring that item.' Recalling the item the guide mentioned that would guarantee the upgrade that would happen at the current step he was on, Valyr's body briefly shuddered at the thought of having to procure it. Nevertheless, it was something he needed to do if he wanted to boost his strength even further.
With that, he tied the knot around the cloth bag once more before making his way outside the private workshop, beckoning Braum to come join him as they began to head someplace else.
"Aren't you going to upgrade your armor?" While they were walking, Braum brought up the question that came to his mind.
"I am." Valyr nodded. Hearing that, Braum was about to ask him why he had left the private workshop if that was the case, only for the question to get stuck in his throat as Valyr continued his words.
"But how am I going to upgrade my armor if I didn't bring it with me in the first place?"
