After Julian had announced the winner of the forging duel, the audience began to loudly cheer for Valyr, whose abilities far surpassed their initial expectations. After all, compared to Theraldine, whose abilities and skills were well-known throughout the kingdom, it would seem like the forging duel was just a platform for the young woman to showcase her abilities since she was up against someone no one in the crowd had any clue on.
However, even though she did showcase her abilities to the audience, which was in no way inferior by any means, it was still lacking when compared to Valyr's display, forging a never before seen artifact right before their very eyes.
Though everyone in the crowd was still unsure as to who the young man really was, all of them were certain young man that competed against Theraldine in this forging duel would soon be known by everyone in the kingdom, perhaps the entire human race because of this sole achievement.
With satisfied expressions on their faces and looks that blatantly told anyone looking at them that they would spread the events that occurred in this forging duel, the crowd gradually began to disperse from the Blacksmith Guild's main hall, leaving only Theraldine, Valyr, and Julian behind.
"With that finally settled, let's move onto the more important topic at hand." With a smile plastered on his face until the very last person from the crowd left the Blacksmith Guild, Julian's expression swiftly became serious as he turned to look at Valyr.
"Why didn't you tell me you have the abilities to forge an artifact all this time?"
"Even I didn't know I could forge an artifact, Guildmaster." Taking into consideration that the two of them weren't the only people there at the moment, Valyr responded to Julian's question with a polite tone. "I may be confident in being able to forge artifact replicas, but never once in my life have I thought that I've reached the skill level necessary to forge artifacts yet."
"So, you're telling me you just got lucky?" Hearing Valyr's words, Julian raised his eyebrow in slight suspicion. After all, from the interactions he had with the young man so far, he was under the impression that the latter had a ton of secrets he did not want others to know.
"That would be the best explanation for it," said Valyr in response, bitterly smiling. "Because I truly have no idea."
'Well, I do, but you'd have to have memories from the future first to be able to do it,' thought Valyr to himself at the same time, inwardly letting out a low sigh. 'Then again, I really wasn't expecting to forge an artifact at this stage. If anything, with the knowledge I have of forging artifacts, I thought I'd only be able to start making some once I reached a higher class rank.'
'I really got lucky this time around.' With this thought in mind, the bitter smile on Valyr's face gradually disappeared.
"Hmm..." Noticing the expression Valyr was making, Julian looked at the young man for a bit more in silence, narrowing his eyes in slight suspicion. On the other hand, Theraldine stood by the side in silence, passively listening to the conversation that was going on.
"Don't think too deeply into the matter, Julian. After all, don't you think that luck is also part of a blacksmith's skill set?" Just as Julian was about to tell both Valyr and Theraldine were free to leave, finally giving up on trying to learn the young man's methods, a pair of people had appeared before the three, their auras being in no way inferior to the aura Julian passively gave off.
"Byron." Hearing the familiar voice coming from his back, a slight smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face as he turned around. "And here I thought you two would be staying where I was watching."
"How could we not head down after seeing you start talking with the two?" Byron let out a bit of laughter in response, with Mystia beside him remaining silent. "As one of their seniors in the Blacksmith Guild, I should at least take a look at what the greatest talents of the younger generation are like, no?"
"Well, you're not wrong." Hearing Vyron's words, Julian faintly laughed in response.
Though, just as he was about to continue his conversation with Byron, Julian noticed the faint confusion written all over the faces of both Theraldine and Valyr, their current expressions obvious as to what they wanted him to do.
"Ahem." Finally realizing that he began to ignore the presence of the two after Byron and Mystia appeared before them, Julian decided to include the former two into the conversation. "Now that I realize it, the two of you haven't met these people yet."
Turning his body to look at both Valyr and Theraldine, Julian began to introduce the two to them. "The handsome man you see beside me is not only a good friend of mine, but is also one of the directors of the Blacksmith Guild's main branch. He goes by multiple titles, but he is most commonly known as the Metal Magister with how proficient he is while working with metals."
"You definitely didn't skimp out on the compliments." Byron chuckled in response to Julian's introduction, facing both Valyr and Theraldine not long after with a smile. "Nice to meet you two. My name is Byron Allister, but you could call me Byron if you want. Though, as your Guildmaster has mentioned, I guess it would be weird for you to call a director in such an informal manner."
"Greetings, Sir Byron." Looking at each other after Byron was finished speaking, Theraldine and Valyr faintly nodded at one another before simultaneously greeting the man Julian had introduced to them.
"As for the woman that has accompanied him..." Seeing Byron nod at the greetings of the two with a warm smile, Julian proceeded to introduce the woman to the two, faintly scratching the back of his head in the process. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting such an esteemed guest to appear in such a shabby place like this."
"You flatter me too much," said Mystia in response, letting out a faint playful giggle.
"I guess being a director is not enough to be considered an esteemed guest." As for Byron, who heard what Julian said, it felt as if his friend had given him a direct blow to the face.
"You're definitely an esteemed guest, Byron." Not wanting to listen to his friend's rant on how he should have been treated better as a guest, Julian swiftly clarified. "However, compared to the guest you brought along with you, your position is less... imposing, if you will."
"Who is she, Guildmaster?" After hearing Mystia speak for a bit, Valyr briefly had a dumbfounded expression on his face, being reminded of a voice he had heard back then while he was at Astarto Village. Wanting to confirm whether his thoughts were correct, the young man took the initiative to ask.
"Ah." Returning to the topic at hand, Julian let out an awkward chuckle as he began introducing Mystia to the two. "Unlike my good friend Byron here, she isn't affiliated with the Blacksmith Guild in any way. Instead, she's affiliated with the Meltierre Heavenly Court as their Imperial Alchemist."
'Wait... alchemist? Then, that means...' At Julian's mention of this word, Valyr faintly raised his eyebrow as he became even more suspicious of the woman's identity.
Fortunately, it did not take much longer for his suspicions to be confirmed.
"I would like to introduce the two of you..."
"...to Mystia Aschel."
