[Arcaelus Sachondeis] (Memory Image)
Class: Trailblazer of the Sachondeis Forge (Rank 2 — Mythic)
Subclass: Elder of the Eternal Flame (Epic)
Species: Human (2nd Unsealing)
Level: 40
Power Level: 27,445 (A+)
HP: 32,044/32,044
MP: 35,732/38,273
Attack: 3,046 - 3,046
Defense: 5,108 - 5,108
Stats: 1548 VIT, 923 STR, 1121 AGI, 2488 DEX, 1701 INT, 1171 WIS, 1173 PER, 176 LUK
Skills: [Sachondeis-Style Forging Arts], [Spirit of the Sachondeis Forge], [Sachondeis-Style Equipment Enhancement], and 91 other skills. Remarks: Though slightly weakened by the rules of the Gates of Awakening, this memory image is considered a piece that the original Arcaelus Sachondeis left behind for future generations, a blacksmith who has found another path leading to the higher realms of forging.
Even though Valyr knew that his opponent's full strength was restrained by the Gates of Awakening, the young man still sucked in a breath of cold air as he looked at the amount of strength Arcaelus had access to.
In fact, his attention was fixated on the fact that almost all of Arcaelus' stats were over a thousand points, something he had only achieved in about three of his stats so far.
Of course, having come across multiple status screens at this point that showed over a thousand points on one stat, Valyr was somewhat immune to the shock that high values brought.
Whether it be the quadrant leaders he fought before entering the Gates of Awakening, the status screens he had seen from Sven and the others, all of them undoubtedly had stats that went over a thousand points.
He was even certain that Mikael and Matthias, whose status screens he did not check, had stats over a thousand points on their status screens.
The reason why the man's status screen left him at a slight loss for words was the fact that the rarity of the man's class and subclass were more or less the same as Valyr's.
In a way, Arcaelus showed to him the potential level of strength he would have by the time he reached the peak of Rank 5.
Then again, with how much there was left before he reached that point, he was bound to exceed those values by a considerable margin.
Closing the screen he had brought up, the young man soon returned his attention to the task at hand, keeping an eye on Arcaelus' progress in the process.
…
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
For the next three days or so, it went without saying that both Arcaelus and Valyr had put most of their attention towards fulfilling the task they were given.
Relying on his superior stats and skills, Arcaelus was able to forge quite a lot of items, especially after he had pushed himself even further.
On the other hand, the three days of continuous forging had allowed Valyr to get more and more used to the strain that [True Prodigious Mana Arm] to both his mind and mana.
With that, the young man gradually grew faster over time, only needing around two hours to forge a Rare grade item by the time the third day arrived.
Of course, with how monotonous the task was, there was no surprise that the two would occasionally chat with one another every once in a while.
And with that, the two of them gradually got to know each other better.
As he talked with Arcaelus, Valyr gradually came to know the destitute origins of the man, reminding him of Loreina in how she had arrived at her current position.
As for Arcaelus, he was left at a slight loss for words at how Valyr had gotten to his current point, especially after hearing about how the young man had gotten to where he was today without anyone strictly guiding him.
At some point, the two even lost the initial competitive spirit they had, taking on a slightly more relaxed approach to completing the task Arcaelus gave.
"I think I'll stop here for now."
Wiping off the sweat from his forehead, Valyr let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the sickle he forged with a faint smile.
After that, he placed the sickle alongside the other items he had forged so far, making up a small pile of items that would leave any normal person drooling with greed.
"You're gonna take a break?" Hearing Valyr's words, Arcaelus glanced at the young man as his body continued to forge items.
In response, Valyr shrugged. "I guess."
After that, he dispelled all of the mana arms he had conjured, bringing a great wave of relief to his strained mind.
Sitting down on a nearby chair, he continued, "Well, if I were to be more exact, I'll be stopping from forging new items."
"After all, I think I've forged more than enough items to still win the fight at your current pace."
At those words, Arcaelus wryly smiled as he took a short glance at the pile of items he had forged so far.
Then, he took a look at the pile of items Valyr had forged, causing his smile to turn more wry.
Though he also had a skill similar to [True Prodigious Mana Arm], Arcaelus' usage of the skill leaned more towards using the arms as a way to iron out imperfections in the forging process.
With that, even though he had saved a considerable amount of time with the arms summoned, Valyr eventually left him in the dust, forging over twice the number of items Arcaelus had within the same amount of time.
"Does that mean you're just going to rest until the five days are up?" asked Arcaelus, understanding if Valyr were to do something like that.
However, the young man surprisingly shook his head.
"That would be nice…" said Valyr.
"But it would be a great waste not to use all of this equipment while I still can."
As he said those words, Valyr stood up from his seat before taking out an item from his spatial bracelet.
Whoosh!
Seeing a round metal shield appear around the young man's hands, Arcaelus went silent for a bit before using his identification skill on the item.
"…I now see what you mean." Taking a brief glance at the item's rarity, it did not take long for the man to put two and two together as he looked at Valyr with a slight smile.
Faintly chuckling in response to Arcaelus' words, Valyr downed a set of potions once more before conjuring five more mana arms around him.
"Now, if you'll excuse me…"
"I'll take this opportunity to upgrade some of my items."
