Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
Though the same sounds from earlier resounded throughout the forge once more, the same could not be said for the old man as Valyr watched his every movement.
If the old man's earlier movements could be said to be the pinnacle of polish when it came to repetitive tasks, then the man's current movements was on an entire league of its own.
From the way the man gripped onto the heated material, to the way the man swung his hammer, Valyr felt as if every step of the forging process had resonated with one another, causing the man's craft to elevate another level.
Not only that, but he felt as if the material, the tools, and himself had transformed into one entity as well, making Valyr feel as if the old man had imbued his entire body and soul into the thing he was working on.
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
With the sound of metal clashing against metal continuing to reverberate throughout the area, Valyr continued to watch the old man work, gradually working the material he had chucked in into a piece of equipment he could be proud of.
Of course, the young man began to gradually understand what was going on, forming a faint idea in his head as to why the old man's movements seemed to go beyond the concept of second nature.
If anything, Valyr felt that the man's movements while forging was nature itself.
'[Flow]…' thought the young man to himself, noticing that the old man's attention was entirely on the material he was working on.
Unlike the state of [Flow] Valyr was familiar with, the young man felt that the old man's state of flow looked to be of a far deeper level.
Naturally, the young man was certain that the old man was more or less oblivious to the things that were going on outside, focusing all of his attention on his tools and the material due to the effects of [Flow].
However, he had a feeling that the old man's attention did not stop there, making him feel as if every movement fell under the man's undivided attention.
'It's as if he's making sure that the properties of material remain till the very end of the forging process…' Inwardly muttering these words to himself, Valyr continued to watch the old man work his craft, thinking nothing of the thought he just had.
Though, as he watched the man fan the flames in the furnace as he chucked the material back in, the young man felt as if his understanding of the forging process was gradually expanding with every passing second.
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
Watching the old man switch between deftly fanning the flames in the furnace to smoothly hammering out the edges of the material, the young man began to realize what the memory wanted him to understand.
"For a blacksmith, forging does not just end after crafting a piece of equipment…" muttered the young man as his eyes began to gradually widen in understanding.
"Instead, forging only ends when one's life ends."
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
With the old man continue to hammer the material down into the piece of equipment he desired to create, Valyr kept watching, trying to deepen his grasp over the concept he had understood.
"Wait, that's not it…" Though, as he continued to watch the man work at what looked to be at the pinnacle level of forging, Valyr began to feel as if he had only barely scratched the surface of what forging was.
And so, he continued to watch while the gears in his mind continued to spin.
Coming up with more and more thoughts over what forging was, Valyr had gone through many concepts in mind, discarding those that he considered shallow.
Fortunately, by the time the old man seemed to be nearing the end of his forging process, the young man finally had a concept that he felt embodied his own understanding of forging.
"Just like the flames in a furnace, forging is made up of many parts aside from the creation of equipment."
"The resources, the knowhow, the experience, the skills, and the preparation needed to forge are also important."
Ttang!
"And… done." Landing one final strike on the piece of material he was working on, the old man placed his hammer on the anvil as he raised the piece of equipment into the air with a satisfied smile.
Raising up what looked to be a simple dagger, the old man looked at the equipment he had forged with calm eyes as he watched the sun interact with the item he had forged.
Surprisingly, the sunlight caused the dagger to radiate a resplendent array of colors, accentuating the overall bronze color the dagger had taken on.
At this moment, Valyr felt that his understanding over the concept of forging had not only been raised to a higher level, but also felt as if it was nearing yet another bottleneck.
"Is this what the voice meant when it said that the level of improvement mostly depended on one's level of comprehension?" Faintly smiling at the thought, Valyr continued to watch the old man admire the dagger he had made before eventually tossing it aside.
Seeing that the old man was going to return forging more blades, the young man felt as if his opportunity was about to near its end, expecting him to return to the Chambers of Enlightenment not long after.
Yet, rather than the opportunity ending at that moment, the old man surprisingly looked in the direction where Valyr was and beamed a faint smile.
"I may not know who you are… nor do I know where you came from…"
"But I hope you learned something from this old geezer."
Whoosh!
Just as Valyr's eyes widened in shock from the old man's sudden interaction, the young man was swiftly plunged into the world of darkness once more, returning to the Chambers of Enlightenment sometime later.
"…" Vividly recalling what had happened near the end of the second opportunity as much as he could, Valyr stood in silence as he tried to comprehend what just happened.
"Haah." In the end, he decided not to think about the matter any further, thinking of it as some sort of recorded message from the past that was added onto the memory.
After all, something like that made much more sense than any other possibility Valyr came up with.
Ding!
"Eh?" Hearing the notification sound in his mind, Valyr began to wonder when his connection with the world had grown stronger, recalling that he had only been thinking about his understanding over the concept of forging within the opportunity he had been given.
Though, just like the matter with the old man's final message, the young man eventually decided to forget the matter as he took a look at his notification…
Only to become confused yet again.
[Just like how forging can take on many different forms, the concept of forging takes on many different forms as well. In your case, you have comprehended that forging is also an aspect of one's life, imbuing one's experiences into the crafts they forge.]
[Your understanding of the forging process has deepened and crystallized even further, reaching a culmination point. The world has taken notice of this, allowing you to borrow another portion of its nigh-infinite power.]
[Your Intent Seed of Forging has ascended to the First Stage.]
[Similar to the concept of forging, a forger's flames goes through multiple changes within the lifespan of a forging process. Through the concept of forging you've comprehended, you have expanded this understanding towards your forger's flames as well, considering them as an aspect of your life.]
[Your understanding of the flames of forging has deepened and crystallized even further, reaching a culmination point. The world has taken notice of this, allowing you to borrow another portion of its nigh-infinite power.]
[Your Intent Seed of the Forger's Flames has ascended to the First Stage.]
"I'm pretty sure I only comprehended on the concept of forging while I was going through the opportunity," muttered Valyr as he scratched the back of his head.
Yet again, he decided not to think about the matter any further, shrugging his shoulders at the thought.
"Either way, nice bonus."
Whilst he felt satisfaction at the fact that he had comprehended two Intent Seeds to the next stage with one opportunity, the monotonous voice within the Chambers of Enlightenment resounded once more.
"You have used up your second opportunity to expound upon the intricacies of the Intent Seed of Forging. You have one opportunity remaining."
"Where would you like to use your last remaining opportunity?"
"Would it be possible to use the last opportunity to expound on the Intent Seed of the Forger's Flames even though I've already expounded it on the previous opportunity?"
As the young man's initial plan was to use the three opportunities on the three Intent Seeds that he had, Valyr decided to ask the monotonous voice for clarification.
"That would be possible," replied the monotonous voice. "After all, you have expounded upon the Intent Seed of Forging in your previous opportunity, not the Intent Seed of the Forger's Flames."
"In that case, I would like to use my last remaining opportunity to expound upon the Intent Seed of the Forger's Flames, then," replied Valyr after nodding.
"As you wish," the monotonous voice replied.
Whoosh!
