Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
With the first part making up the whole item being successfully made, it more or less went without saying that the entire forging process went quite smoothly.
Of course, that did not mean that there were a few hiccups along the way, such as when Valyr decided to swap out the original parts for gears in the firing mechanism.
Originally, the matchlock mechanism used a couple of pins and springs to achieve the movement it had.
To make the mechanism more reliable, Valyr changed the mechanism to rely on gears instead, having gone through multiple iterations of it in the drafting process.
In the end, he decided to mix both gears and springs into the mechanism, reminding himself that gears were quite difficult to make without the necessary machinery.
With that, it was no surprise that Valyr blew through a lot of the circles he had cut out of the material he chose for the gears.
There were some with teeth that were not uniform, while there were those that had teeth of varying sizes due to how varied Valyr's strength was in every strike.
Nevertheless, he was still successful in forging all of the gears he needed, as well as the other bits and bobs that were needed to make the modified mechanism function.
After that, every other part was crafted without much problem, with Valyr taking quite a lot of time in carving the wooden handle of the pistol.
After all, with how the previous forging trials had allowed him to keep what he had forged, that meant that he would undoubtedly be able to use it outside of the inheritance.
With that in mind, he made sure that the handle fit his grip snugly, slowly bringing the matchlock pistol to life with every other part.
On the other hand, Sven looked at the item he had just finished forging with a smile.
Gripping the blade by the hilt, the man moved a bit further away from his workshop before doing a series of basic sword movements.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Though Sven had told Valyr at the beginning that he did not excel in combat, that did not mean that the man had no knowledge of fighting whatsoever.
Swinging the blade in the air multiple times, the man inwardly nodded in satisfaction.
"The durability definitely meets my standards," murmured Sven with a smile, briefly glancing at what Valyr was doing.
Seeing that the young man was still wholly focused on the item he was forging, the man soon returned his attention to his blade, gripping tighter onto its hilt.
Swoosh!
In response to the difference in grip, a thin crack appeared at the center of the blade, only to grow larger as the blade blossomed not long after.
Taking over the blade's place was a slightly smaller blade that was dark gray in color.
However, unlike the blade from before, the dark blade exuded a terrifying sharpness, subconsciously making Sven squint as he stared at it.
Closing his eyes for a bit, the man begun to swing the blade around once more, finding that the resistance to the weapon had been decreased.
Faintly smiling at this discovery, Sven did a few more sword movements before returning the blade to its original form.
Placing the blade on his anvil, the man looked at it with a satisfied smile.
"I'm certain Valyr's item wouldn't be as complex as this one."
Saying these words to himself, Sven shifted his gaze towards Valyr, noticing that the latter's item was now gradually taking shape.
However, he still did not know what the item truly was, so he decided to watch the young man forge it till the very end.
…
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
Lightly tapping his hammer on what looked to be the final pin, Valyr put all of his concentration towards it, not wanting to mess up at the last step.
By the time the pin was fully seated, it was only then did the young man let out a wide sigh of relief, staring at the item he had just forged with a wide smile.
"Finally done."
Grabbing the pistol by its handle, the young man waved it around in the air for a bit, nodding in satisfaction after feeling its heft.
While doing so, he was reminded of the preliminary tests he had done near the end of the forging process.
As a pistol that relied on the matchlock mechanism, he had to make sure that every part of the mechanism was working smoothly.
With how he had modified the mechanism beyond its original function, something like that had become far more important than ever.
Fortunately, even though a few mishaps had occurred during the first few preliminary tests, the remaining preliminary tests were smooth after making a few adjustments.
From the lighting of the match, to the loading of gunpowder, to the arming of the pistol, everything more or less worked as it intended.
The only thing left was to actually fire the thing.
"So, are you done?" Seeing Valyr fiddle with the item he made with a smile on his face, Sven went ahead and took the initiative to ask.
Valyr nodded with a confident smile. "Yeah."
"Alright, then." Sven nodded back, picking up his blade as he moved away from his workshop.
"Time to find out who among the two of us forged the more elaborate item."
Nodding in agreement, Valyr returned his Hammer of Beginnings back to his spatial bracelet before grabbing the pistol he made.
Moving to where Sven stood, the young man then gave the pistol to the former, only for the man to do the same.
"First is a visual and skill-based inspection of each other's work," Sven said, a faint blue haze forming around his eyes.
"After that is a demonstration of the item at work."
Nodding with a calm expression on his face, Valyr looked at the blade Sven gave him and used [Superior Analysis] on it.
Ding!
[Blade of Deception] (Level 55)
Rarity: Uncommon+
Foundation Tier: None
Attack: 184 - 306
Forge Quality: Exceptional
A polished blade made by… description has been omitted.
<Innate Skill: Dark Plunge - Allows the user to imbue the weapon with mana, unsheathing the sharp blade that resides within. Any hit dealt by the blade deals damage equivalent to 150% of the user's Attack stat.
Has a very small chance to inflict Bleed on the opponent. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Cost: 2,000 MP.>
Remarks: A well-made blade.
Reading through the description of the item that had been given to him, an odd expression slowly crept up the young man's face as a thought eventually surfaced in his mind.
'Isn't this just a slightly worse version of Crimson Blossom?'
Asking this question to himself, Valyr felt a slight urge to retrieve Crimson Blossom out of his spatial bracelet and show it to Sven.
However, with how focused Sven was on reading through the pistol's description at the moment, the young man decided to save it for after their demonstration.
Ding!
[True Matchlock Pistol] (Level 55)
Rarity: Rare
Foundation Tier: None
Attack: 4,903 - 8,172
Cooldown: 12 seconds
Forge Quality: Exceptional
Forged by the one who has brought firearms back to the current era, this weapon innovates on the first firearm the blacksmith made in the past.
Utilizing technologies of a more advanced age, as well as the exemplary skills that brought the original firearm to life, this pistol has undoubtedly reached a greater level of quality, making it a far superior firearm in many ways when compared to the original.
With it relying on a firing mechanism that makes it simple to wield for other people, there is no doubt that such a weapon would bring an era of peace to the world. Though, such a weapon might also bring about a new era of war.
However, only time will tell which of the two shall ultimately prevail.
<Innate Skill 1: Reckless Shot - Allows the user to infuse more energy into the barrel through their mana. Once fired, this shot deals damage equivalent to 150% of the user's Attack stat. Can infuse more mana into the skill to increase the damage to twice the original.
Has a small chance to inflict Stun on the enemy. Cooldown: 1 minute. Cost: 3,000 MP.>
<Innate Skill 2: Extended Charge - Allows the user to ignite the gunpowder within the barrel beforehand, accumulating the firepower within the ignition through the use of mana. The longer the user stores the firepower within the barrel, the greater the effects are.
Allows the user to extend the charge of the attack by 5% to 250% of the weapon's base cooldown time. Depending on the duration, the attack coefficient of the weapon increases by 1% to 50%. Cooldown: None. Cost: 1,000 - 15,000 MP.>
Remarks: A weapon of mass destruction under the right wielder.
With him being unable through the part of the item's description that talked about its history, most of Sven's focus was on the stats of the item, as well as the skills it had.
"This…" Unsurprisingly, with the Attack stat the weapon had while still being considered Rare grade, the man was left at a loss for words.
Such a loss for words was only exacerbated by the fact that the weapon had two skills under its belt, something Sven had rarely come across in his previous fights.
Closing the screen before him, the man gave the pistol back to Valyr, prompting the latter to give the blade back to Sven.
Though, just as Valyr was expecting Sven to go silent after what he had seen…
What he saw instead was the man looking at him with eyes brimming with great interest.
"Say, Valyr…"
"Could you show me how this thing works?"
