"If I told you I was busy, what would've you done?" Hearing the question asked at him, Valyr joked as he let out a chuckle.
"Of course, I would've just forced my way in." In response, the man that entered his workshop laughed as well. "It's not like you can stop me from entering parts of the guild that I currently lead over."
"Well… all jokes aside, what brings you to the workshop, Julian?" Returning his attention to the weapon he was forging, Valyr went ahead and asked the man a question. "You told me earlier that you had something to tell me."
Seeing that the young man looked to be in the middle of forging something, Julian softly nodded to himself as he decided to be brief. "Well, aside from checking up on you and taking a look at what you're forging, I just wanted to know if you're prepared for the tournament against the other candidates tomorrow."
"As you can see, I'm as prepared as I could ever be," said Valyr in response, briefly glancing at Julian with a slightly sarcastic smile before returning to the anvil. "Of course, if you want to me answer that honestly, then I'd say that there are still some things I wished I could've prepared in advance, but it doesn't really matter much."
"If anything, I'll get to those things after the tournament instead." As these words came out of Valyr's mouth, the young man thought about upgrading his Nascent Wyvern Armor up another rarity in preparation for his journey into the Four Pillars' Inheritance.
Though it was already considered an Epic grade armor set by the system, which was already plenty strong to many people, Valyr still felt that the strength of the armor set wasn't enough in a way, especially with how he was going to enter an inheritance where he had no idea what lied inside.
Of course, this thought arose after he thought about trying to increase his strength even further before the inheritance began. With how he was not allowed to evolve to Rank 3 and comprehend his own Intent, he instead decided to check out other avenues of increasing his strength, upgrading his equipment being one of them.
'Now that I think about it, I should go grab some passive stat boosting skills from the Boundless Skill Pavilion before the tournament as well, especially with how much XP I still have.' Thinking about other things he could do after the tournament, Valyr eventually created a checklist he would follow once everything was done.
"So, no more last minute preparations or anything of the sort?" Nodding in response to Valyr's words, Julian asked once more to be certain.
"None at all," replied Valyr.
"Unless… if you consider stocking up on health and mana potions a last minute preparation." Activating [True Prodigious Blacksmith's Sight] and [Hunter's Tracking Eyes] in tandem, the young man then put all of his focus onto the piece he was forging, hoping to iron out as much of the imperfections on the weapon as possible.
Unsurprisingly, with [Hunter's Tracking Eyes] being a massive improvement over [Gambler's Discerning Eyes], the amount of imperfections he could remove through the combination of the two skills was far greater than ever before, allowing him to achieve a greater level of cohesion and harmony amongst the materials.
In fact, because of how Jekyll had trained him to use [Hunter's Tracking Eyes] as a way to look for weak spots and vital spots, similar spots had began to unknowingly appear on the equipment he was forging, prompting him to focus on those spots as he slowly but surely finished his first weapon of the day.
'Am I really watching a Rank 2 blacksmith forge a weapon?' Noticing the crimson rings surrounding Valyr's irises as he was stunned silent with how quick and efficient the young man was, Julian went ahead and picked up the weapon Valyr had just finished forging.
Schwing!
With the weapon being a simple-looking shortsword, Julian was left at a slight loss for words once he heard the sword make a ringing sound just after moving it slightly. With his expression becoming more and more solemn as the sword continued to ring while moving it around, he eventually used his identification skill to take a look at its properties, only to be left at an even greater loss for words.
Ding!
[Shortsword of Beginnings] (Level 35)
Rarity: Rare+
Attack: 419 - 698
Forging Quality: Exceptional
A strong blade forged by a truly prodigious blacksmith using considerably crude materials, this shortsword has been imbued with the strength of the artifact 'Hammer of Beginnings', allowing its properties to be comparable to equipment forged by blacksmiths renowned for their equipment quality.
In fact, if one took a long look at it, one would eventually feel like they were returning to the forge, feeling the heat and pressure the sword had to endure to become the blade it currently was.
<Innate Skill 1: Return to Origin - Allows the user to slash out vertically, dealing damage equivalent to 250% of the user's Attack stat. Can be charged to twice its initial cost for greater damage, maxing out at a 100% increase of its original power. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Cost: 1,000 MP.>
Remarks: Even those at higher ranks would be jealous of owning this weapon.
"This..." Looking between the shortsword he was holding and Valyr in disbelief, Julian found it hard to believe that such a young man would be able to forge such a powerful weapon in his eyes. "Did you really make this...?"
"You just watched me forge the sword, right?" Valyr looked at Julian with a slightly raised eyebrow, faintly wondering if he heard wrong.
"I mean, yes... but..." Swinging the sword a couple more times, Julian eventually put the shortsword back where it was. Then, he looked at the young man before him with a slightly conflicted expression. "Are you seriously selling this through the Blacksmith Guild's channels?"
"I did tell you back when we met up earlier that I wouldn't have rented a workshop if not for that reason." Taking a look at the materials that remained in the furnace, Valyr soon grabbed another batch of materials as he began to work on his second weapon of the day. "Of course, I could rely on your goodwill, but even that can only go so far."
"In any case, I'm planning to use the money I obtain from selling these to get my hands on a special type of material," added Valyr. "Pretty sure goodwill won't get me that kind of thing that easily."
"What kind of item are you planning to get anyway?" Asking this question in response, Julian looked at the young man with a slight frown, finding the young man's words an insult. However, once he found out what the young man was looking for, this expression quickly disappeared as he became silent.
"See what I mean now?" Somewhat amused by Julian's reaction, Valyr eventually returned his attention to the weapon he was currently forging, finishing the second weapon within half an hour.
"You know… even with my authority, procuring something like that would take a long time." Seeing that Valyr had taken a break before proceeding with his third weapon, Julian decided to speak. "In any case, I'll try and help you out in procuring it. After all, you wouldn't have told me about something like that in the first place if you didn't need my help."
"Don't worry. I'll definitely make it worth your while." Valyr smiled as he thanked the man. "After all, I have a strong feeling these weapons would sell well once I put Ylvar's mark on it."
"Oh? You're planning to sell it under your fake name?" With his eyes slightly widening in surprise, Julian looked at Valyr and nodded. "It would definitely fetch a higher price if you do, especially with the prestige the name has garnered in the past couple of days."
"Mhm." Feeling that he had rested for long enough, Valyr swiftly returned to forging the weapons he planned on selling, moving onto his third weapon for the day.
"Surely you didn't stop by just to ask me if I was prepared for the tournament, right?" A couple of minutes after he began to forge once more, Valyr looked at Julian as he asked a question.
"Of course not. That would be a waste of time, even for me." Julian shook his head. "Instead, I'm here to tell you about the other candidates you'll be working with in the inheritance..."
"...as well as their weaknesses."
