Entering the village smithy, Valyr was greeted by the sight of a somewhat sleepy Tristan stoking the flames of the large furnace at the rear of the smithy, making sure that the flame didn’t grow too big too quickly. Hearing footsteps echo throughout the place just as he was in the midst of preparing, Tristan could not help but let out a yawn as he shifted his attention to the person that had just appeared.
“We’re still not open yet, so if you want, you could—” However, at the very instant his eyes shifted towards the familiar figure of the man that stood at the smithy’s entrance, all of the grogginess in Tristan’s body was swiftly washed away, being replaced with exuberance as his eyes widened in surprise.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting you to arrive at this place so early, Valyr? Eager to forge a few things?” Letting out a peal of laughter, Tristan headed to where Valyr was, wanting to give the latter an embrace. Though, just as he was about to do so, he stopped himself in his tracks as he could not help but feel that something was off with Valyr.
Slightly confused, he took a couple steps back, jogging his mind to full alertness as he looked at Valyr from head to toe. ‘Wait a minute… doesn’t it look like he grew a couple inches?’
‘Plus his aura…’ Closing his eyes, Tristan went ahead and sensed the faint aura emanating from Valyr, only to become shocked soon after as Valyr’s aura gave off an incredibly familiar feeling to him.
Opening his eyes with an expression of incredulity, Tristan returned his gaze to Valyr, asking the question that consumed his entire mind just now. “Did you… did you ascend?”
In response to the question, Valyr lightly grinned before releasing the entirety of his aura, aiming it towards Tristan. Feeling Valyr’s aura wash over his body, Tristan felt a bit of pressure from it, which only changed the incredulous expression he had on his face into that of excitement. After all, the only ones who could make him feel this pressure when they released their entire aura were Rank 1 class holders.
Seeing as the aura Valyr exuded pretty much confirmed his suspicions, Tristan could not help but jump for joy, proud at the fact that Valyr had ascended to Rank 1, yet at the same surprised that he had done so in such a short time. Nevertheless, he placed his surprise at the back of his head, giving the man before him a tight embrace before letting go sometime later.
With a wide smile plastered on his face, Tristan urged Valyr to follow him nearer to the furnace, to which the latter did. Continuing to stoke the fire in the furnace, Tristan opened his mouth. “To think you’ve already ascended to Rank 1… it only felt like yesterday that you were still at Rank 0.”
“That’s because it was yesterday,” Valyr said in response, a light chuckle coming out of his mouth soon after. “Anyways, the reason why I passed by your smithy instead of heading back to the barracks was because I knew you’d be ecstatic to find out I’ve already ascended.”
Noticing the large bag of clothes Valyr carried around with him, Tristan told him to place it by the side for now as he talked with him for a bit more. “Have you told Damian and the others of your ascension yet?”
“Nope.” Valyr shook his head. “You’re the first one to find out… aside from me, that is.”
“Well, I’m honored.” Hearing those words, Tristan flashed Valyr a light smile. “Care to tell me what class you got?”
“You could always check it with [Analysis] if you want.” Valyr shrugged his shoulders with a smile as a thought popped up in his mind. Seeing that Tristan had indeed done what he told him to do soon after, he could not help but inwardly grin mischievously.
“Huh. That’s weird. Your class is all question marks for me.” As the light blue tint around Tristan’s eyes gradually disappeared, he could not help but give Valyr a slightly perplexed expression. “On the other hand, everything else I can see just fine.”
Hearing that, Valyr let out a playful chuckle, inwardly glad at the fact that his idea had worked.
Recalling what he had heard back then, if a person with a low-tiered class used [Analysis] on a high-tiered class, the latter’s class would be obscured on the former’s screen. Though there were many ways to circumvent this problem, such as using higher-tiered versions of [Analysis], such as [Greater Analysis], this only applied if the high-tiered class was at least three tiers above the low-tiered class.
In other words, a person with a normal class would be able to view classes up until Epic, only for it to show question marks on their screen when the class was Legendary or higher.
Though he did not know of this fact, Tristan could not help but lightly frown as he heard Valyr’s chuckle, thinking that using [Analysis] was what Valyr wanted him to do. With that, he went ahead and asked once more as to what Valyr’s class was, to which the latter responding by telling him it was a secret.
At this point, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Tristan was slightly irked by the fact that Valyr was keeping his Rank 1 class a secret from him. Nevertheless, a light smile still appeared on his face, placing the matter at the back of his head.
‘Well, the skill wouldn’t show question marks for no reason. If that’s the case, then that means Valyr’s class must be more special than I initially thought.’
With this thought in mind, Tristan eventually finished stoking the flames in the furnace a few minutes later, coloring the immediate vicinity a dim orange. Fanning it for a while, he then went ahead and grabbed a chunk of metal from his storage, chucking it in the furnace as he waited for it to reach the optimal temperature for forging.
“Since you’re now Rank 1, I must inform you that you now have new responsibilities to tend to, given your increase in class rank.” While waiting for the metal to heat up, Tristan engaged in conversation with Valyr once more.𝑜𝗏𝓛𝐞xt.𝗇𝓔t
“However, most of these responsibilities would mostly come from Damian, so it would be better for you to ask him about it instead.” Naturally, Valyr perked his ears up, eager to hear what Tristan had to say. Though, hearing these words come out of Tristan’s mouth, his eagerness was quickly dampened, prompting a light frown to appear on his face as he looked at Tristan.
Of course, Tristan laughed at Valyr’s current expression, thinking of it as payback for what the latter had done to him earlier. “Anyways, as the only blacksmith in this village… well, the only Rank 2 blacksmith in this village, I’ll inform you of the responsibilities you now have as a bona fide Rank 1 blacksmith.”
“First, you must head to the nearest Blacksmith Guild and get yourself registered as soon as possible,” Tristan told him. “If not, it would become difficult for you to progress through the higher levels of the Technology Tree in the future. On top of that, a great portion of the usual blacksmithing skills could be obtained there.”
Listening to Tristan’s words, Valyr was swiftly reminded of this fact, rummaging through his memories to confirm that he indeed had to get registered to the Blacksmith Guild. Then again, it was not only him that had to go through his process. All of those that had recently ascended to Rank 1 would have to get registered to their respective class guilds, allowing the planet to tally the number of people they have at certain ranks.
Aside from it being mandatory, class guilds also offered the Technology Points necessary for one to advance through their Technology Trees, as well as skills and equipment that greatly fit their needs. With that in mind, Valyr could not help but find it odd that he had forgotten this small piece of information, inwardly thanking Tristan for reminding him.
“So, where is the nearest Blacksmith Guild?” Naturally, since Tristan had brought it up, Valyr had to ask.
In response, Tristan lightly smiled. “That would be in Danyhris Town.”
“Did you just say the nearest town?”
“Yes? I did say Danyhris Town.”
“…”
“…”
“Yeah… I think we aren’t on the same wavelength here.”