"Wait… what?"
While listening in to the conversation between the First Forger and the many others in the round table, Valyr had obtained a bit more information from the memory itself regarding where he was at, as well as what time he was currently in.
Working off the previous memory he had seen from the First Forger, the memory informed him that the current memory was at least a decade into the future, prompting it to summarize everything that had transpired within that ten year gap.
Unsurprisingly, with humans now having the system in their hands, they were able to reclaim more and more of the planet for themselves, carving out a territory that they could call home.
At the same time, the system allowed humans to obtain terrifying levels of strength, with some of them gaining notoriety for becoming as strong as the ones that used to lord over them.
Though, with the humans basically still at war with every other race on the planet, these strong humans dedicated themselves towards the battlefield, not wanting a repeat of the past to happen.
With that, the humans were able to expand from a few scattered settlements to an organized town, which was actually the settlement Valyr had seen in the end of the previous memory.
After that, the humans continued to expand even further, with some towns beginning to be surrounded by other villages, causing rudimentary cities to form.
By the time a decade had passed, the human race had many cities under their name, as well as thousands upon thousands of towns and villages.
Among them, one city stood out for being the strongest in terms of defense and combat power, as well as the best to live in thanks to their focus on technological development.
Naturally, that city was none other than the city the First Forger governed.
With the memory sharing that information with the young man, Valyr was able to listen to the conversation down below with greater context, realizing that he was currently in what seemed to be a rudimentary city hall.
"A system update?" muttered the young man to himself in slight disbelief, still surprised by the fact that the First Forger would mention something like that out of nowhere.
Hearing it reminded the young man of what had happened during the previous memory, where the First Forger was counting down towards the time when the system he and many others used would come to awaken.
Seeing that the First Forger had done something like that again, and this time in front of many people, he began to feel like the claims of it being told to him by a higher being beforehand were now more than dubious.
After all, having it happen one time could be considered a fluke. Many say that having it happen twice could be considered a coincidence.
But with the calm and confidence that the man exuded while talking with the others, Valyr was more than certain that what the First Forger was doing was anything but a mere coincidence.
'Was the First Forger perhaps someone like me?' The young man begun to ask himself at some point, the confidence the man was exuding reminding him of the confidence he held thanks to his experience from his past life.
After all, with him knowing what updates and events would occur many years into the future, he would be able to set out a defined path for him that would undoubtedly allow him to achieve his goals.
With that, the thought began to fester, feeling like there was something more to the First Forger than the memory led him to believe.
In the end, he decided to shelf the thought for now, reminding himself that he could only arrive at such a conclusion thanks to his unique experiences.
At the moment the young man returned his attention to the conversation happening down below, it went without saying that all of the people in the round table aside from the First Forger were left at a loss for words.
Some of them looked at the man with disbelief, while some of them looked at him with frowns on their faces, thinking that the man was pulling a joke of some sort.
"This is no time to be joking around, leader," said a gruff man to the First Forger's side in a low tone. "You know that uttering something like that out of the blue would undoubtedly cause the people's belief in us to plummet."
The man nodded in response. "I know."
"However, if I were to let you choose between keeping our image and saving more people, which one would you pick?"
At those words, the gruff man went silent as he stared at the man for a bit.
Eventually, the gruff man let out a sigh as he slowly shook his head, prompting others in the round table to start asking the First Forger for more information.
"Do we have an idea on when it's happening?" asked a woman on the opposite side of the round table.
"Within this day," the First Forger succinctly replied, his expression still calm. "It could either happen a few minutes from now or a few hours from now. In any case, we'll easily be able to notice it."
"What's going to happen exactly? Is the update a good thing or a bad thing?" asked the young man from earlier after that, taking quitea while to muster up the courage.
In response, the man shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is that every human would have their levels reset back to the beginning."
Unsurprisingly, the people in the round table began to cause a ruckus once more, with most of them asking the man if he was just pulling an elaborate joke on them.
Fortunately, there were those who were genuinely worried, asking the First Forger if he could give any insights on what they needed to do to survive the new update.
In response, he told these people that they should focus on what they specialized in as much as possible, telling them that the system would aid them if they were to do so.
Hearing the man's advice, those few profusely thanked him before leaving the hall, eliciting a faint smile to appear on the man's face as he watched them leave.
Though, not long after, his expression returned to what it was before, seeing that many of the people on the round table continued to berate him in anger.
Ding!
However, as if the heavens above had taken pity on the First Forger, a notification sound resounded in everyone's mind at that moment, prompting them to look at their notification screens in slight fear.
Reading through the notification they just received with panic in their eyes, all of the remaining people in the round table began to look at the First Forger for help, their eyes pleading as they felt themselves returning to their original strengths.
In response, the man looked back at them with a faint sigh before shrugging his shoulders.
"I did warn you."
"But you're the ones that didn't listen."
"…"
"In any case…"
"I guess it's time for a long-needed cleanup."
