'Fortunately, the information I've obtained wasn't wrong.' Inwardly letting out a sigh of relief as he listened to Julian mention to him the reason behind the Goddess of the Forge's prowess, Valyr was more or less satisfied with what he obtained from the man regarding Theraldine, now having a clear idea of why she was mad at her.
'Hmm… now that I think about it, the Four Deities of Production… the Four Pillars' Inheritance…' Seeing that the man before him was giving him time to ponder over things for a bit, the young man decided to focus his thoughts on the weird coincidence he had noticed between the two, wondering if the inheritance had led to the birth of these monstrous geniuses in the field of production in the first place.
'Considering the timeline, there's a high chance that it may be the case.' Eventually, Valyr came to his own sort of conclusion after pondering over it for a bit, thinking about his experience with interacting with the Goddess of the Forge back then. After that, he recalled what he had heard back then from his friends and fellow guild members regarding the other Deities of Production, becoming more certain that the inheritance did indeed give rise to the Four Deities of Production.
'Wait… since I took over his daughter's position in the inheritance, then does that mean that I'll take her place as the Goddess— I mean, God of the Forge?' Noticing that his thoughts were gradually becoming distorted, Valyr decided to discard the thought for the meantime, not wanting to think about what-ifs any further.
"Got any more questions?" Seeing as the young man was finished pondering over the thoughts in his mind, Julian went ahead and asked him if he could dispel the barrier of mana surrounding him, taking note of his daughter becoming more and more annoyed of their private conversation as time passed.
"Nope. My questions have more or less been answered." Of course, Valyr also noticed the young woman growing more and more incensed with every passing second, causing a bitter smile to appear on his face as he shook his head.
Seeing the bitter smile on Valyr's face, Julian responded with a bitter smile of his own as he soon dispelled the barrier of mana surrounding him, finally allowing his daughter to move closer to where they were.
"Took you two long enough…" Theraldine grumbled to herself as she looked at Valyr, then at her father. "What did the two of you talk about?"
"Oh, it's nothing too important," said Julian in response as he instantly attempted to give off a peaceful vibe. "Valyr here just asked me a couple of things regarding how to forge some specific items."
"Valyr, huh…" Though she decided not to pursue the matter any further, Theraldine still had a slight frown on his face even after she shifted her gaze towards the young man, moving a bit closer. "I see. That's the name of the guy who took my spot."
"Nice to meet you, uh..." Wryly smiling as he listened to her words, Valyr took the initiative and extended his hand for a handshake.
"Theraldine." Finding it rude to not reciprocate since the other side already took the initiative, Theraldine went ahead and received the handshake, though a faint frown still adorned her face. "Theraldine Pyrrhia."
As the young woman was shaking Valyr's hand as a greeting, the latter discreetly sent a message to the girl's father, opening up the chat function in his mind.
"Does she know which clan I come from?"
"No, I haven't told her about it. If anything, you're the first one to give her information on you." Obtaining this message from Julian not long after, Valyr inwardly let out yet another sigh of relief as he released himself from the handshake.
"So, I've heard from the Guildmaster over here that you've wanted to meet me for quite some time now." Deciding to start a conversation with the young man, Valyr put on a slight smile as he acted as if he did not know the reason for the young woman's appearance.
"Of course." Theraldine harrumphed, turning her head to the side slightly. "How could I not meet the person who decided to take my place in the upcoming Four Pillars' Inheritance?"
"Well, I definitely apologize for taking your spot in the upcoming inheritance, if that helps," said Valyr in response, wryly smiling. "However, the Guildmaster here was the one who decided to have me take your spot. If anything, you should ask the Guildmaster about it."
'Why'd you have to drag me into this…' Hearing himself be mentioned, Julian looked at the young man with an awkward smile.
"As if I hadn't tried that already," said Theraldine in response to Valyr's suggestion. "I've pestered him countless times to have me take your spot in the upcoming inheritance once more, but sadly, he wouldn't budge."
"Hence, I'll just take matters into my own hands." At these words, Theraldine's expression grew solemn as she gave off a slightly intimidating aura. "Dad mentioned that you forged an Epic grade armor set while just in the middle levels of Rank 2… as someone with that kind of expertise, I wonder if you could answer some of my questions?"
"I'll try my best." In response, Valyr gulped a bit of his saliva in slight nervousness, though he still nodded.
"Alright. What do you use to neutralize the conflicting effects between Hoarfrost Star Metal and Refined Blazebear Essence?"
"Any material with the Earth attribute would work to neutralize its effects," said Valyr in response to her question. "However, rather than neutralize the conflicting effects, you can turn the conflicting effects into something more beneficial by adding Drops of Gold Panacea."
"Wait… you could do that?" While listening to Valyr's response, Theraldine faintly nodded when she heard the young man mention about the Earth-attribute materials' neutralizing effect, thinking that his level of knowledge should at least be of that level. However, when she heard that there was a way to turn it into something beneficial, that was when she felt a bit of disbelief.
"Ehem." Realizing that the solemn visage she was trying to put it on had slipped, Theraldine cleared her throat as she thought about a more difficult question, something she only discovered a possible answer to recently. "Is there a way to emulate part of the strength of an Artifact? Say, the legendary forging artifact Infernal Hammer?"
"Well…" Hearing the question she asked, Valyr raised his eyebrow in slight surprise as the next question was a sudden spike in difficulty. Nevertheless, as someone who had attempted it in the past and was even successful in creating an Imitation of the Infernal Hammer, the young man went ahead and shared his thoughts.
