After Tristan cleared up the slight confusion Valyr had with the town's name, he continued explaining to Valyr the importance of registering with a Blacksmith Guild. Then again, as someone who had gone through all of this in his previous life, Valyr would have rather not gotten an explanation on the registering process and what the Blacksmith Guild offered. Unfortunately, he still had to put up a facade of sorts as his current identity was that of a newly ascended Rank 1 blacksmith.
"Registering for the Blacksmith Guild is pretty simple," Tristan told Valyr. "You just have to let the guild identify if your class is related to blacksmithing, forge any piece of equipment in front of them, and hey presto, you're registered."
"Once you're officially registered to the Blacksmith Guild, you'll be given an official identification badge, similar to this one." As he finished saying these words, Tristan headed to another part of the smithy before returning to where Valyr was, holding up a copper badge that had a forging hammer engraved on its surface. Under the engraving was Tristan's name, his current class rank and his current position in the guild.
"As long as you show your official identification badge to the guild, you'll be eligible to obtain Technology Points from the guild in exchange for XP. Aside from that, you'll also be able to give a certain amount of Technology Points to other people. In fact, both have a limit to that, which depends on your class rank and position in the guild."
"If you're a normal Rank 1 member, you can obtain 50 Technology Points from the guild every month for you to use. If you're planning to give other people Technology Points, you can give only 5 Technology Points per person every month," Tristan explained, with Valyr's current expression that of false interest.
"Above a normal member would be an elite member, which is actually my current position in the guild." Saying this, Tristan slightly puffed out his chest with pride. "As a Rank 1 elite member, you can obtain 100 Technology Points from the guild every month, and be able to give people 10 Technology Points a month."
"After that would be the true member and the legacy member, with their allotment being twice as much and four times as much as what an elite member would get a month, respectively." While continuing to halfheartedly listen to Tristan's explanation, Valyr noticed that there was an expression of admiration on the former's face when these words came out of his mouth, prompting him to think that the man's wish was to reach those positions in the future.
"Once you go up in rank, the same thing applies. The amount of Technology Points you could get from the guild doubles, so a normal Rank 2 member would get 100 Technology Points a month, an elite 200, and so on, and so forth."
"Speaking of which, I should renew my identification badge, considering that I'm already a Rank 2 blacksmith." With this thought in mind, Tristan looked at Valyr for a bit before flashing a light smile. "Since that's the case, how about we head to the guild branch at Danyhris tomorrow? I can get my badge renewed while you can get registered."
"Sure, why not?" In response, Valyr shrugged his shoulders before nodding, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief as he was glad Tristan was finally finished explaining. Though he hadn't listened to most of his explanation, the latter portion of Tristan's explanation served as a good refresher of his knowledge regarding class guilds, which he greatly appreciated.
After talking with Tristan for a bit more regarding the time and place they would meet up tomorrow, Valyr then left the smithy, carrying the bag of clothes he had bought earlier as he made his way back to the barracks. Once there, he headed straight to his dormitory room and placed the bag of new clothes on the floor, placing all of the clothes that did not fit him anymore to the side.
After that, he headed to the bathroom and took a quick shower, changing into a set of the newly bought clothes not long after. Feeling that the new clothes suited him well, he then went ahead and arranged his new clothes neatly before leaving his room, making his way to Damian's office.
While on his way to Damian's office, Valyr could not help but wonder what kind of responsibilities Damian would give him now that he was Rank 1. Though, as he pondered over this, an intrusive thought soon popped up in his mind, telling him that he should request a new set of guard uniforms since he had grown in size.
'I should probably inform Damian of that after I ask him about the new responsibilities Tristan mentioned.' Surprisingly, rather than discard the thought, Valyr made a mental note to ask Damian the question as he arrived at the office door a few minutes later.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in." Given the permission to enter, Valyr went ahead and entered the room, only to be greeted by the sight of Damian looking through the documents on his desk before signing on some of them a few seconds later.
Closing the door behind him, Valyr made himself at home as he seated on a nearby chair, waiting for Damian to finish his work. Fortunately, it did not take long for Damian to finish, his gaze shifting towards Valyr a few minutes later as he placed all of the documents on his desk to the side.
"I see you've finally ascended to Rank 1. Congratulations." Expecting Damian to ask him the reason why he had come into his office, Valyr was naturally taken aback when he heard these words come out of his mouth. With that in mind, he stared at Damian with slight incredulity, wondering how the latter knew of his ascension beforehand.
As if he was reading his mind, Damian opened his mouth to answer the question Valyr's face blatantly asked, a light smile adorning his face. "If you're wondering as to how I knew, I sensed great fluctuations from your place last night, so it didn't take me long to put two and two together."
"Anyways, I'm guessing you came here to inform me that you've ascended to Rank 1?" With Damian asking this question to the man on the other side of his desk, Valyr could only go silent as he nodded, feeling as if he was being read like an open book.
"Although there's not much reason anymore for you to inform me of your ascension, I am quite glad that you came of your own accord to my office. After all, as an official Rank 1 class holder, more responsibilities shall be vested upon you thanks to your increased capabilities." Nodding back, Damian finally informed Valyr of his new responsibilities, which the latter listened to with rapt attention.
"For one, you shall now be classified as a Guard Captain, becoming the leader of your own guard team," Damian said soon after. Though Valyr had a question in mind when he heard this, he was interrupted by Damian as the latter continued. "I've taken the liberty of naming your guard team Tidebreaker. I presume you don't have any problem with that, no?"
Just as Valyr was about to respond to the question, he was interrupted once more. "Aside from that, since you are now Rank 1, you can now take on advanced missions. Unlike patrols, which only involves the village proper, advanced missions are missions the village receives from the Mercenary Guild, their scopes extending far beyond the village. Nevertheless, these missions have greater rewards than patrols."
Hearing the term 'Mercenary Guild' come out of Damian's mouth, Valyr's interest was greatly piqued. Compared to guilds that were related to one's class, the Mercenary Guild was considered a guild that stood far above class guilds in terms of prestige and power. In fact, Valyr could recall that the Mercenary Guilds that existed in various planets were all part of a greater organization found in the universe. Though, with how far away such an existence was from him at the moment, he eventually placed the matter at the back of his head.
"And lastly, the village chief would like to speak with you regarding a couple of matters. I've already informed her of your ascension to Rank 1, and she wants to congratulate you." Finishing his words, Damian went silent once more, as if seemingly waiting for something.
On the other hand, Valyr could not help but be somewhat curious as to who the village chief was, considering how he hadn't interacted with them at all. "How long would it take them to get here?"
In response to his question, a voice sounded from behind, slightly surprising him as he hadn't sensed the new person come in whatsoever.
"I'm right behind you."
