Seeing the iron identification badge Valyr was waving around as he got closer, Tristan could not help but let out a bit of hearty laughter, wrapping his arm around Valyr's shoulders as he felt a bit of pride seeing Valyr successfully register as a member of the guild. "So, how did the registration process go?"
"It went as well as you'd think it did." Saying these words, he narrated a bit about the things he went through before being given the badge, omitting the part where he had asked the class appraiser to keep his class a secret. Nevertheless, Valyr's narration made Tristan nod as he could not help but reminisce doing all of those same things back then when he was still a Rank 1 blacksmith.
"How about you? Did you renew your identification badge?" After he was done narrating what he had gone through, Valyr went ahead and shifted the topic to Tristan's badge renewal. In response to the question, Tristan flashed a light grin before showing Valyr his newly renewed identification badge.
Though it did not seem like Tristan's badge had changed at all at first glance, once Valyr focused a bit more of his attention on it, he noticed that there now existed a star below the engraved forging hammer. Aside from that, the class rank written on Tristan's badge had also been changed to Rank 2, prompting Valyr to connect the two together and come to the conclusion that the higher one's rank was, the more stars one would have on their badge.
"Well, we still have a couple of hours to kill before nightfall. How about we walk around town and check out the Forge Festival for ourselves?" Pocketing his renewed identification badge, Tristan suggested to Valyr that they check out the festival and see what it was about. In response to the suggestion, Valyr nodded profusely, eliciting the two of them to share a bit of laughter as they soon left the Blacksmith Guild, walking through the streets the town allocated for the Forge Festival sometime later.
…
While the two were making their way to where the Forge Festival was situated in town, the father and son duo Valyr had become acquainted with earlier during his registration process had met up, talking about what kind of people they had come across during the registration process. As they talked about it over a cup of tea in Baltazar's room, their topic eventually landed on Valyr, prompting Baltazar to have a solemn expression on his face.
"How did Valyr do on the forge, son?" Baltazar took a sip of his tea as he posed this question to his son.
In response, Niall pondered over the question for a bit in silence, eventually noticing that something felt off. "He did well. He seems to have a good grasp of the basics and was able to produce a solid broadsword blade without a problem. However, now that I think about it, it feels like he's holding back."
"That's because he is holding back," Baltazar said in response, making Niall's eyes slightly widen as he looked at his father in curiosity. In response, Baltazar brought up the status screen he had obtained from Valyr earlier through [Greater Analysis], showing it to his son.
"Make sure that word of this does not get out of the four walls of this room. Only the higher-ups and I should know of this. I'm only letting you know of this since you're my son," Baltazar reminded his son, to which the latter nodded as he solemnly read through Valyr's status screen. Eventually, once he was done, he looked at his father with incredulity, wondering why a figure with such a renowned class would be in a small town.
"A Mythic blacksmith class, and on top of that, his surname…" Niall could not help but murmur, feeling a hint of shock at how much Valyr had hidden from him. "What shall we do about this, father?"
"What shall we do about it?" Hearing the question, Baltazar shook his head. "There is nothing we'll do about it. Instead, we'll relay this information to the Branch Head… though, we have to send a letter about this discovery to the Imperial Production Guild as well. After all, they did inform us that if we ever came across a person with a Mythic production class, we have to send them a letter as soon as possible."
"But the person who owns the class…" Listening to his father's words, Niall could not help but scratch his head, eventually letting out a sigh.
"That's not for us to worry about, son." Seeing his son in such a state, Baltazar wrapped his arm around his son's shoulder, bringing the latter to an embrace. "If anything, we've more or less accomplished our mission here."
"Do you mean…?" Hearing the words that came out of his father's mouth, Niall's eyes could not help but light up with hope, to which Baltazar responded back with a nod and a smile.
"Indeed, son. It's time for us to return back home," said Baltazar as he gazed out the large window in the room, letting out a light sigh before turning around to look at his son once more.
"Back to where we belong."
"The Algerie Kingdom."
…
After walking through the streets of Danyhris for a while, Tristan and Valyr both found themselves at the center of the Forge Festival, their sights being greeted by events and the like that mostly catered to blacksmiths. On one end was a stall that seemed to be selling anvils and forging hammers at a discounted price, on the other was a live showcase of how a blacksmith forged their equipment.
Eventually, the two of them noticed the large event at the middle of it all, making their way to it to witness multiple blacksmiths at Rank 1 toiling away to forge equipment of varying sizes and shapes.
Seeing as Valyr was engrossed at watching the blacksmiths work, Tristan could not help but nudge on Valyr's shoulder to snap the latter back to reality before flashing a light smile. "Interested? I've been to the town a couple times already, so I more or less know what's happening at the moment."
"This tournament right here is Fledgling Forgers' Tournament, where only Rank 1 blacksmiths registered with the Blacksmith Guild are eligible to enter. The prizes you could get from this tournament would make a lot of Rank 1 blacksmiths drool with jealousy. In fact, the consolation prizes from this tournament also aren't that half bad." Oblivious to the fact Valyr had already asked his proctor about the tournament, Tristan went ahead and explained what's going on.
"I've joined the tournament a couple of times while I was Rank 1, and I can say for a fact that joining it is already more than worth it for the experience," he added soon after. "Of course, winning a prize would make it even more worth."
"Unfortunately, we have to head back to the village by nightfall since you still have to clear out the dungeon the village chief tasked you with clearing." Saying this, Tristan let out a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders in nonchalance. Naturally, Valyr picked up the mocking tone Tristan used while talking, to which he inwardly sighed as he shrugged his shoulders soon after.
"Well, we don't really have to head back to the village as soon as possible. After all, the task given to me by Alfaera has no time limit. We could spend a couple more days here if you'd like." Knowing very well that it seemed like he was buying into Tristan's words, Valyr still opened his mouth. "Since you're saying joining the tournament for the experience is more than worth for a Rank 1 blacksmith like me, then I should at least witness it for myself, no?"
Hearing his words, Tristan could not help but let out a cackle as he wrapped his arm around Valyr's shoulder once more. "Have my words persuaded you to join the tournament? Great! As expected of myself, truly having a way with words!"
'I was already planning to join the tournament after asking my proctor, but sure. I'll let him immerse himself in his delusions.' With this thought in mind, Valyr shrugged his shoulders as he let out a light sigh. After that, the two of them explored the Forge Festival more, taking in more of the sights that the town offered them.
