Having been informed by the memory about the great number of weapons the man had forged throughout the past decade, Valyr was taken by complete surprise after hearing him say he was going to forge an artifact.
"Is it even possible?" asked the young man to himself, watching the First Forger prepare all of the materials and tools he would need to make the artifact he was planning to create.
Though there was no minimum requirement in terms of strength or power if one planned on creating an artifact, it still needed a great amount of ability, as well as knowledge in the artifact that the maker planned on doing.
Because of that, the lowest level Valyr had seen someone forge an artifact in both of his lives so far was in the middle levels of Rank 1, considering that one's abilities would be bolstered by many degrees thanks to their chosen class.
With that, though a decade of forging experience was definitely enough for one to start forging an artifact, the fact that the First Forger was still at the peak of Rank 0 caused him to hold some doubt.
Aside from that, the man seemed to have not embarked the path of the Technology Tree as of yet, lowering his chances of successfully forging an artifact even further.
Then again, as Valyr was just viewing a memory from a long time ago, the man remained oblivious to the young man's thoughts as he fired up the furnace behind him.
Stoking the flames within the furnace, a calm demeanor adorned the First Forger's face as he chucked in the materials he had chosen into the flames one by one.
Watching the man place all of the materials into the furnace, Valyr felt like there was a rhythm of sorts to how the materials were placed, prompting him to wonder whether the man had practiced such movements beforehand.
Seeing how even the way he moved his forging hammer seemed to be measured, the young man began to feel like his earlier thoughts were now more likely, thinking that the First Forger had spent the past decade preparing himself for this very moment.
If that were the case, then Valyr surmised that the chances of the man successfully forging an artifact before even obtaining a main class was decent.
At the same time, that made him wonder even more whether the First Forger was indeed in the same boat as him, having been sent back to a previous time to right what would eventually become a massive wrong.
Unfortunately, there was no way for the young man to interact with the man directly to obtain his answers, instead having to rely on reading between the lines as he continued to watch the First Forger create what might seem to be the human race's first ever artifact.
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
With every material, tool, and movement measured and practiced many times beforehand, the First Forger gradually entered a state of focus, ignoring all of the distractions that were in the space around him as he gave everything towards the creation of the artifact.
At some point, he had even entered a state of deeper focus, causing a faint smirk to creep up on the edges of his lips as he continued with his work.
Eventually, minutes became hours, and hours became days as the First Forger kept giving over a hundred percent of his effort towards the craft.
Watching the man seemingly forget about the passage of time, Valyr let out a faint chuckle at the sight, being reminded of what transpired during his fights against Arcaelus and Nila.
During the fight with Arcaelus, he had entered the state of [Zen] for the first time, allowing his movements and thoughts to become one with nature as he spent almost a day reforging his arquebus to the next rarity.
Then, during his fight with Nila, he made use of [Zen] once again, gradually shutting out all of the discordant thoughts in his mind as he gave it his all to reforge the True Blade of Samadhi to what it was today.
In the end, it took him a bit over two weeks to successfully upgrade the artifact to Legendary grade, making him realize that he still had a long way to go if he wanted to forge items of those rarity with ease.
Letting out a long sigh after the brief moment of reminiscence, Valyr returned his attention to what was happening in front of him, thankful that the memory had begun to speed up the passage of time for him.
Surprisingly, it took the man over a week and a half to reach the finish line of his project, striking his hammer a couple more times before a sonorous ring echoed throughout the small space.
Whoosh!
At the very moment the man had slammed his forging hammer for what seemed to be the final time, the item he had forged began to give off a faint light all of a sudden as a pulse of white energy spread throughout the room.
Feeling the white energy pass over his body, a look of understanding appeared on the man's face as the gears in his mind began to unravel all of the queries and mysteries that plagued his mind in the past.
Closing his eyes for a bit, the First Forger then let out a low exhale, staring at the item he had forged as a cocoon of various lights began to wrap around it.
Thankfully, the cocoon of lights eventually disappeared, allowing the item to return where it was as it now gave off an aura that seemed to meld with his surroundings.
However, if one were to look at it directly, this aura instead transformed into one that spoke of an era far back into the past, an era so ancient and archaic that it even eclipsed the aura Valyr had sensed when he entered the Shard of Defiance's ethereal state.
Noticing that the First Forger began to grin as the item settled in its original place, Valyr watched as the man deftly maneuver through a great number of screens, all of them filled with lines upon lines of text that brought confusion to the young man instead of clarity.
Then, after going through all of those screens, the man then closed all of them before utilizing an identification skill to take a look at the item he had forged in greater detail.
With the whole thing being a memory, Valyr was able to see the details of the item as well, only to be left at a complete loss for words once he found out what the artifact could do.
[Dominion of Humanity (Artifact)] (Level 10)
Rarity: Epic
Attack: 132 - 220
For a race to rise to prominence, one must become a beacon, a symbol of hope for the masses.
You, who has forged this artifact, have undoubtedly become that beacon, your name instilling vigor and drive into those of your race, while at the same time instilling fear and despair into those that bear ill will against it.
Through the feats and achievements you have accrued thus far, as well as the strength and abilities you've earned along the way, you have condensed all of those into a singular artifact that embodies your will, the will of others.
The will of humanity.
May the human race flourish and prosper even greater, for your journey into this hellish era has only just begun.
<Innate Skill 1: First Artifact of Humanity - When equipped by a human, this artifact increases the user's stats except VIT by 15%.>
<Innate Skill 2: Supreme Artifact of Humanity -When equipped by a human, this artifact increases the user's stats expect VIT by 10%. This artifact also increases the user's HP and MP by 20%.>
<Innate Skill 3: The Might of Humanity - Allows the user to conjure a fist out of energy before sending it out in a certain direction, dealing damage equivalent to 250% of the user's Attack stat. The damage and size of the skill increases by 1% for each human within a hundred meter radius of the user. Cost: 250 MP. Cooldown: 10 minutes.>
<Innate Skill 4: The Will of Humanity - Allows the user to create a domain with a hundred meter radius that increases the stats of humans except VIT by 15% for 15 minutes. The duration of the skill increases proportionally to the number of humans within the domain.
Those deemed to be the user's opponents within the domain have their stats reduced by 10% for the entire duration. Every minute, the domain also attempts to inflict either Stun or Slow towards the user's opponents. Cost: 500 MP. Cooldown: 1 hour.>
Remarks: The light of humanity. The bane of its foes.
Though the artifact only had one innate skill that was offensive in nature, the other skills of the artifact undoubtedly boosted the strength of not only the user by multiple degrees, but also the strength of those around the user with [The Will of Humanity] activated.
In many ways, the artifact worked more like an overpowered accessory rather than a weapon, considering how it appeared like a metal glove rather than a bangle or a bracelet that would generally be attributed with those effects.
"At least my efforts these past few years hadn't been attributed." Closing the item's description screen with a smile on his face, the First Forger let out a relieved sigh as he wore the glove on his right hand.
Feeling the effects of the artifact instantly take place, the smile on the man's face swiftly turned into a grin.
"Alright."
"It's about time I get my own class."
