"Is that so?" Though Braum was doubtful of Valyr's claim, he decided to follow the man's words as he noticed the faint smile adorning the young man's face, knowing that he would not tell him to do that for no apparent reason. With that, he activated his identification skill before focusing his attention towards the vambraces, a slightly darker blue haze forming around his eyes sometime later.
Not long after, a screen containing information on the vambraces appeared in front of him, prompting Braum to go ahead and read through all of it. Though, by the time he was finished reading through the entire description, he looked back at Valyr with slightly widened eyes, looking at the man not too far away with an expression that was a mix of disbelief and awe.
Ding!
[(+10) Nascent Wyvern Vambraces (Emulation)] (Level 20)
Rarity: Epic
Defense: 58 - 97
Additional Attributes:
> VIT +14
> DEX + 27
Forged by a true prodigy in the field of blacksmithing… description has been omitted.
<Innate Skill 1: Might of the Nascent Wyvern - Thanks to the power of Young Wyvern Blood infused within the armor resonating with the Young Wyvern Scales on the armor's surface, the level requirement for the armor has been reduced by 5 levels.>
<Innate Skill 2: Breath of the Nascent Wyvern - Allows the user to shoot out a wave of flames in front of them, targeting all enemies within a 15 meter radius in front of the user, dealing damage equivalent to 400% of the user's Attack stat. Also inflicts Burn damage that deals 40% of the user's Attack stat every second, lasting for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Cost: 2,000 MP.>
<Innate Skill 3: Rage of the Nascent Wyvern - Allows the user to tap into the power of the Nascent Wyvern contained within the armor, boosting all physical stats of the user except VIT by 10% for 5 minutes. Stacks multiplicatively with other stat boosting skills. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Cost: 500 MP.>
<Nascent Wyvern Set 1/6>
Set Effects:
- 2 pieces: Attack and Defense +20%
- 3 pieces: HP +1,800 and MP +1,000
- 4 pieces: Damage Increase and Damage Reduction +20%
- 6 pieces: All stats +8
Remarks: You've got your hands on a piece of armor even the strongest beings within this world would be envious of.
————
"You… you forged this?" Taking in a couple of deep breaths to compose himself, Braum went ahead and posed to Valyr the question that seemed incredibly obvious to ask. Unsurprisingly, Valyr raised his eyebrow in response as he looked back at the man in armor, wondering why he asked the question even though he already knew the answer.
"You're watching me upgrade my armor, right? Since that's the case, where'd the question come from?"
"I know the question's incredibly stupid..." In response to Valyr's words, a bitter smile appeared on Braum's face. "But hear me out. Most of the high-end equipment I've come across, even as someone at the peak of Rank 4, is at Rare grade, with only a few being at Rare+ grade."
"In fact, the Rare grade weapons you've given to me and my comrades make up a decent chunk of the high-end equipment I've come across. As for the number of Rare+ grade equipment I've seen or come across, both of my hands would be more than enough to count it out."
"Now, how many Epic grade equipment do you think I've seen or come across in the past?" Posing this question to the young man, Braum stood in silence as he listened to Valyr respond that he had seen a couple or a few at the very least. However, in response to Valyr's answer, he slowly shook his head before opening his mouth once more.
"The correct answer… is one." Braum looked at Valyr with a solemn expression before briefly shifting his gaze towards the vambraces. "This piece of armor you've forged is the first piece of Epic grade equipment I've come across in my life."
Hearing those words, Valyr went silent for a bit, recalling the general rarity of equipment players had on hand during the various versions of Greater Beyond. Rummaging through the memories he had regarding the first version of Greater Beyond, he focused on the equipment he had back then, as well as the equipment his friends had, quickly coming to the conclusion that he was way ahead of the curve when it came to equipment.
Most of the players at the top rankings during Greater Beyond's first version had equipment at Rare grade, with some at Rare+ grade. Those that were catching up, on the other hand, were not that far behind, with their equipment being Uncommon+ grade at the very least.
At first, Valyr did not find it too much of a problem, considering that his equipment so far had been hovering around the Uncommon+ grade for quite some time. However, when he looked through his memories a bit longer, that's only when he noticed the crucial piece of information that changed how he looked at what he was doing.
All of the equipment he had mentioned earlier that players had… were only obtained by the time they were already nearing the level limit of the first version, which was Level 100.
He was only Level 26.
"Does the guild not have Epic grade equipment?" In the midst of sorting out his thoughts after this realization, Valyr looked at Braum and posed a question that he felt like he should find out the answer to. In response, Braum briefly shrugged his shoulders as a look of slight contemplation appeared on his face.
"It does, but how many specifically… I don't know." Braum faintly shook his head. "All I know is that most of the equipment at that grade go to the elders of the guild, with the strongest ones ending up in the hands of the guild's Grand Protector."
"I see." Nodding in response, Valyr went silent for a bit before proceeding to infuse mana onto the piece of armor on the anvil, allowing it to reach the same stage of power as the vambraces from earlier. After that, he placed both the vambraces and the other piece of armor to the side before grabbing a new one, deciding to work on the chestplate for now.
"I don't know if you're just here to check up on me or whatever, but could you get me some food to eat?" Placing the chestplate into the furnace as he cranked up the heat, Valyr made a request to the man in armor as a wry smile adorned his face. "I'm starving."
"You're still not done?" With slight incredulity, Braum asked this question to the man, to which Valyr responded by slowly shaking his head with the smile still on his face. Briefly scratching his head at the answer he got, he eventually let out a faint sigh before nodding, asking Valyr what he wanted to eat before leaving the young man on his own once more.
Seeing that he was alone yet again, Valyr shifted his attention back to the furnace, watching the chestplate gradually heat up to the optimal temperature as he thought about the things he had pondered over earlier. For a while, a slight frown appeared on his face as he thought about how he would break the balance of power within the world he was in due to the fact that he had the ability to forge high rarity equipment, constantly at that.
Though, after some time, this frown was replaced with a confident grin as he thought about his current situation from another perspective. "Then again, the fact that I could forge a lot of high rarity equipment is definitely a great way to kickstart the founding of an organization for the final battle."
With that in mind, he decided that he was going to continue what he was already doing and not limit himself like what he had done to himself before.
After all…
Who were they to stop him?
