"You…" Continuing to look at the man that would escort him to the Akashic Battlefield, Valyr's body gradually stopped shuddering as the fear he had towards the man slowly turned into that of anger. Clenching his fists as he felt the urge to at least land a blow on the man's face, the young man took in a deep breath to repress the urge, letting his anger simmer in his mind as memories of what had transpired in the past resurfaced.
Lingering in his mind at the moment were memories of him whose strength had ascended to a Rank 1 class, returning to the village after participating in the Fledgling Forgers' Tournament in Danyhris Town. Under the shadows of the night, he and Tristan were ambushed by two men cloaked in black garments, with one of them fighting against Tristan to stall for time.
As for the other person, the person that fought against Valyr and left the latter in a precarious state, that same person stood in front of the young man, the black garments that shrouded his appearance from before now long gone.
Instead, what he saw was a man that looked to be in his early thirties, with skin tanned a fair shade of brown due to exposure to sunlight. This skin of his complemented the contrasting head of silver gray hair the man had, faintly reminding Valyr of a certain fictional character he had come across in his past life.
Aside from that, the man had muscles that fit the man's body perfectly, a face that truly defined the vigor of a man in his prime, as well as a faint bloodlust that seemed to accompany the man's every move.
"Stared for long enough?" Just as Valyr was about to turn to Julian to ask if there were any escorts he could choose from, the man before him took note of the young man's long gaze at him, mischievously grinning in the process. "You could stare more if you want."
"…" In response, Valyr looked at the man dead in the eyes with a slightly grim expression, remaining silent the entire time as he finally looked at Julian behind him.
"Can I choose another person as my escort?" asked Valyr soon after, prompting a wry smile to appear on Julian's face, while the man that had appeared continue to grin all the while.
"You sure about that?" answered Julian back with a question of his own. "Aside from the fact that he volunteered to escort you to the Akashic Battlefield, he's probably one of the only Rank 5 class holders in the guild that's free to escort you right now."
"Rank 5…?" Hearing that specific phrase being uttered out by the middle-aged man, Valyr's eyes widened for a brief moment in shock, turning around to look at the man once more as he recalled the words the man had spoken to him in the past. 'Wasn't he already Rank 4 back then?'
"What? Can't a man put in the work to improve his strength?" Though Valyr hadn't uttered out his thoughts out loud, the expression on his face alone was enough for the man to infer what he was thinking, taunting the young man with a faint chuckle.
"Zeik…" Seeing that the young man was getting more and more incensed by the minute, Julian decided to put a stop on the man's actions. "You should stop now while you still can."
"Did I go too far?" Hearing Julian's words, the demeanor the man had been putting all this time swiftly disappeared without a trace, allowing Valyr to come in contact with an aura that did not lose out in grandeur when compared to Julian's. In fact, after comparing the two auras he had felt from the man, it did not take long for him to feel that the man's current aura was his true aura.
"Take a look for yourself." In response to the man's question, Julian pointed at the still frowning Valyr before letting out a faint sigh. "I know you had to make up an excuse to not let Valyr know that it was a test, but you didn't have to take it that far, you know?"
"I guess I did get a bit too carried away…" Scratching the back of his head as he thought about he acted towards Valyr just as they had met again, the man bitterly smiled as he looked at Valyr. "Just so you know, my intentions were not to aggravate you in any way. I just wanted you to be reminded that we've already met before."
"Is that so?" Though Valyr still had a frown on his face after the taunting the man had done so far, he reminded himself once more that the ambush was a test to see if he was a fitting candidate for the Four Pillars' Inheritance. Telling himself that the man had no choice but to keep that information a secret from him, the young man took in a few deep breaths, calming himself down as he listened to the man respond to his question.
"That really was my only intention." The man continued to bitterly smile. "Of course, I'd understand if you still hold a grudge against what I did, and I'd also understand if you wanted to fight with me to bury the hatchet or something."
"In fact, with your current strength, I think we could even fight on equal footing." With his arrogant facade from earlier now gone, the man turned the conversation between them from that of taunting into that of praising Valyr for his progress so far. "If not for the fact that you can't ascend to Rank 3 because of the upcoming inheritance, we could've fought against each other where the chances of winning were truly even."
"I know you're flattering me just so I forget about the indignation I suffered thanks to you." Letting out a low sigh, Valyr looked at the man with a calm expression, whose bitter smile widened in response to the young man's words. "It's definitely helping out, but I can't just forget something like that so easily."
"I would've been more surprised if you forgave me just from that." Not expecting the young man to say in a roundabout way that his words of praise was working, the man let out a bit of laughter. "In any case, though we have already met back in the past due to circumstances, let me properly introduce myself to you."
"As you might have heard from Julian earlier, my name is Zeik," said the man soon after. "With that, my full name is Zeik Verrthorne, though I don't really associate myself with the family anymore, so if possible, just call me Zeik instead."
"Though I was Rank 4 back when I had to test out your level of combat proficiency, which is incredibly superb if I do say so myself, I'm already a Rank 5 class holder. Whether I'm an Epic or a Legend is up for you to figure out."
"You know what Epics and Legends are, right?" Asking this question to the young man, Zeik faintly smiled when Valyr nodded in response.
"Of course, I'm affiliated with the Blacksmith Guild. If not, I wouldn't have done that to you in the first place," Zeik added. "As for my position within the guild…"
"I guess you could say I'm one of the commanders of the guild's Combat Specialist Division." At those words, Valyr raised his eyebrow in curiosity. Though he had interacted with the Blacksmith Guilds hundreds to thousands of times in the past, he had never heard the Blacksmith Guild having a Combat Specialist Division at all.
"It's a division only some of the higher-ups in the guild know of." Noticing the slight confusion and curiosity written on Valyr's expression, Julian decided to clear up some of it. "Think of it as the Blacksmith Guild's strongest blades and shields in the face of battle."
"Whatever the Guildmaster said." Nodding in response to Julian's words, Zeik looked at Valyr, who swiftly looked back at him after briefly pondering over something.
"Should I properly introduce myself to you as well?"
"There's no need." Hearing Valyr's question, Zeik shook his head with a smile. "I've already been informed by Julian of all the necessary things I need to know about you… and I guess I did a bit more digging into you here and there."
"Anyways, shall we head to the Akashic Battlefield?"
…
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
"Dad!" Whilst Julian was in the midst of working on another piece of equipment that would be sent to the defensive lines, a young woman that had features similar to him barged into his personal workshop all of a sudden, a frown adorning the young woman's face. "Why didn't you tell me that guy passed by?"
"Is this about the inheritance again?" Hearing the question the young woman asked, Julian let out a defeated sigh as he placed his hammer on the anvil, turning around to face his daughter. "I've already told you that my decision on who would take the candidate spot for blacksmithing on the upcoming inheritance won't change. Believe me when I tell you that his potential in forging is far greater than yours."
"How great could he possibly be, Dad?" Unsurprisingly, the young woman did not relent, wanting to prove to her father that she was more worthy of the position.
"Well, could you forge an Epic grade armor set that has a high item level, but could still be equipped by someone with a lower level?" Getting somewhat tired of having to bicker with his daughter over the matter multiple times, Julian decided to drop an incredible feat the young man had done to dissuade her from continuing.
"That's… that's got to be a joke, right?" Naturally, such a feat shocked the young woman to her core, her expression filled with disbelief as she looked at her father. "Even you take a long time to forge something like that, Dad."
"I do." Julian nodded. "That's why it's all the more surprising for him to achieve such a thing, especially the fact that he had forged it just as he had ascended to Rank 2."
"…"
"…haah. Just let Dad do his work for now, Theraldine. I'll let you know when he stops by again."
"…alright."
