Valyr could not help but smile and nod after hearing Niall’s words, responding back at him with words of gratitude, thanking him for taking the time to be the one watching over him during the registration process even though he could have been doing something else. In response, Niall could not help but chuckle, nodding before pointing at a door located to the right of the one he entered.
“I’ve already notified those in the guild of your completion of the registration process. As long as you head through this door and walk to the end of the corridor, you’ll return to the main hall.” Niall looked at Valyr with a light smile. “After that, just queue up on one of the counters on the far left to claim your badge. Once more, congratulations on becoming an official member of the Blacksmith Guild.”
With that, Valyr made his way to the door Niall pointed at, only to stop just as he had opened it. Noticing this, Niall raised his eyebrow in his curiosity as Valyr looked back at him. “Hmm? Is something the matter?”
“I’ve been curious about something for quite some time now,” Valyr said in response, feeling a hint of embarrassment for having the thought of asking this question to Niall. “Mind if I ask you about it?”
“As long as it’s something I can answer, I don’t mind.” Fortunately for him, Niall nodded at his request, prompting him to inwardly let out a sigh of relief as he asked his question.
“Before signing up to register for the guild, I’ve been hearing mentions of a tournament going on in town, with a lot of people talking about while I queued up at the counter. I’ve just been wondering as to what this tournament is about.” Hearing Valyr’s question, a look of understanding appeared on Niall’s face as he lightly nodded in response with an understanding smile.
“From how you phrased your question, you’re not from around here, huh?” Niall posed the question to Valyr, to which the latter shook his head in response.
“Well, to make things simpler, the town hold a week long event, celebrating the founding of the town, as well as the craft of forging as a whole, being known as the Forge Festival.” Nodding back at Valyr, Niall started to explain. “The tournament that you’ve probably heard while you were queuing up at the counter was probably the tournament made for fledgling Rank 1 blacksmiths. For that same reason, it’s called the Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament.”
Just as Valyr was about to ask if any Rank 1 blacksmith could enter the tournament, Niall seemed to be a step ahead of him, answering the question in his mind before he could voice it out. “And before you ask, only those that are members of the Blacksmith Guild can enter the tournament. After all, if any Rank 1 blacksmith could enter the tournament, it would take a long time for everything to be set up and to be finished.”
“And yes, if you wondering, you can also enter the Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament since you’re now a member of the Blacksmith Guild.” With that, Valyr finally had a better idea of what was going on, thanking the man once more.
“To be honest, you’re in luck. You just arrived in time for the third and final day of the tournament tomorrow.” Just as Valyr was about to head out, thinking that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to join the tournament next time, Niall’s words stopped him in his tracks, prompting him to attentively listen once more.
Seeing as he had caught his attention, Niall lightly smiled before continuing. “The Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament lasts for a day, being repeated three times for a total of three days. According to what I’ve heard, there are three rounds to the tournament that focus on the practical aspect of forging rather than the theoretical. On top of that, the prizes for those who make it to the top ranks are quite generous, all of them being incredibly valuable for a fledgling blacksmith such as you.”
“If I were you, I’d try and join the final day tomorrow, even if it’s only for the experience.” Saying that, Niall shrugged his shoulders before chuckling. “Of course, it’s just a suggestion. It’s still up to you whether you join or not.”
Though thoughts lingered in Valyr’s mind on joining the tournament on its final day, it was only when he heard there were valuable prizes at the tournament did he make up his mind to truly join it. As Niall had mentioned that all of the prizes one could obtain at the tournament were suitable for a Rank 1 blacksmith like him, the flames of competition lit up inside Valyr, thinking that it wouldn’t be bad to claim some of the prizes to speed up his progress.
With that, he finally left the room, appearing at a corridor that seemed somewhat different from the corridor he had walked through to get his class appraised. Albeit curious, he suppressed his curiosity as he made his way to the end of the corridor, ending up at the main hall once more as he attempted to line up at the leftmost counter.
Wondering if he would be stopped by the person he noticed earlier that stopped non-members from queuing up at these counters, he was instead allowed access, even hearing a congratulations from the man as he queued up at the counter.
Compared to the counters at the right, the counters made for members had a far shorter queue, allowing him to end up at the counter within minutes as the attendant at the counter assisted him in procuring his identification badge. After waiting for a couple minutes, the attendant at the counter gave him an iron badge with the same design as Tristan’s, with the only difference being his name on the badge and his current position in the guild, which was that of a normal member.
Ding!
[You have affiliated yourself with the ‘Blacksmith Guild (Danyhris Town Branch, Veldanyr)’.]
[Your current rank is [Rank 1 — Member]. Increase your rank or your merit to raise your position.]
[You have unlocked the contribution point shop. Do missions for the organization to earn contribution points. These missions are accessible through the Missions tab.]
As he thanked the attendant for giving him his badge, he then went ahead and pocketed the badge, instantly gaining a string of notifications from the system as he left the main hall, making his way out of the exit. Briefly reading through the notifications he had received, Valyr could not help but think that the system in place was more or less similar to the one in place with the village guards.𝒩𝗈𝗏𝐞𝑙xt.𝑐𝗈𝑚
Continuing to read through the notifications, he noticed that the only difference between the two, aside from the rank system, was the fact that he could take missions through the system. ‘I guess they implemented that since not all blacksmiths would be near or stay at a Blacksmith Guild.’
Closing up the screen in front of him, he soon looked around, wondering if Tristan was already done renewing his identification badge. Thankfully, Tristan was already waiting at the entrance of the building, waving at Valyr to let him know where he was. Noticing that, Valyr went ahead and walked closer to him, a smile adorning his face as he brought out his identification badge.
