Crossing through the ever familiar gates of Astarto Village, a light smile adorned Valyr's face as he alighted off the carriage, bringing the horses to a halt. Once he stepped down, a few of the passersby greeted and waved at him, prompting him to respond in kind.
After that, he had gone to the shops where he and Wells had gotten the carriage and horses, telling them that he had come back from their journey and was about to return them. In response, the owners of the shops amicably smiled at Valyr and thanked him for upholding their part of the deal.
Seeing that the people he had interacted with so far had more or less gotten past the phase of fanaticism for his feats during the village tide, Valyr could not help but be more at ease, claiming the deposit he and Wells had given to the shop owners before walking along the streets once more.
'I guess this is also part of Wells' way of saying thanks to me.' Valyr humored himself, lightly chuckling as he greeted those who waved at him with a nod and a smile. 'Then again, I would be the only one left between us to claim the deposit, considering we've just rented the carriage and the horses.'
'Anyways, now that I've returned, it's time to go all-out.' With that in mind, Valyr increased the pace of his walking, his gait resembling more of a run than a walk. Though, rather than head to the barracks and tell Damian he had returned, he instead made his way to another part of the village he frequently visited.
The village smithy.
…
Entering the village smithy, Valyr took in a deep breath before letting out a light sigh, a light grin adorning his face as it had been quite some time since he had last been in the place. Though, just as he was about to tell Tristan he had returned, the latter seemed to be one step ahead of him, getting up from his stool before heading to where he was.
Seeing the slightly furious expression on Tristan's face, Valyr decided to be silent, feeling as if the man in front of him was about to give him a piece of his mind. And give him a piece of his mind, he did.
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up in my smithy, even though he told me he would only be away for a couple of weeks."
"But I was though?" Valyr tilted his head in confusion. "I've only been away for like… what? Three weeks? That's a couple of weeks, no?"
"A couple of weeks means two weeks," Tristan replied, a frown still prevalent on his face. "Three is already considered a few weeks."
"What's with you all of a sudden?" At this point, Valyr could not understand what Tristan was trying to imply. Thankfully, it did not take long for him to realize what Tristan was doing, a smug grin appearing on his face.
"I see… you missed me, huh?"
"Huh?" Not expecting his true motive to be figured out that easily, Tristan was taken aback, eventually scoffing at Valyr's question in response. "Who's missing who?"
Knowing that he had hit the nail on the head, Valyr doubled down on his current act, the grin on his face becoming wider. "Come on, just admit it. You missed me."
"Alright, fine. I missed you. There, you happy?" Seeing as the man before him wouldn't take no for an answer, Tristan eventually came clean. In response, Valyr could not help but chuckle, which made Tristan feel slightly embarrassed.
"What? I was just worried you wouldn't finish the quest I've given you, that's all." After saying these words, Tristan let out a sigh as his expression returned to what Valyr was used to. "Have you even made use of the time you were gone?"
Hearing Tristan's question, a light smile appeared on Valyr's face. "I hadn't been idling away while I was gone, Tristan. In fact, I have a feeling I could finally forge an actual dagger without any problems, much less to say other equipment you throw at me."
Though most of the time he had been away from the village was taken up by the time it took for him to reach Anadhar City and return, Valyr thought it was a good excuse for him to finally show more of his forging experience to Tristan without it seeming weird, thinking of it while he was on the way back to the village.
Naturally, such a claim piqued Tristan's interest, with him urging Valyr to head to the anvil before tossing him a chunk of copper. "Oh? Is that so? If that's the case, prove it."
"With pleasure." Contrary to Tristan's expectations, Valyr responded to the challenge with great confidence, placing the chunk of copper he was given into the furnace in front of him. While waiting for the metal to get hot, he grabbed Tristan's hammer and got a feel for it, utilizing the hyperfocus from [Gambler's Discerning Eyes] soon after as he intently watched the copper heat up.
Watching as the impurities on the metal's surface burn away from the heat of the furnace, Valyr deactivated the passive as he grabbed the metal from the furnace, placing it on top of the anvil before hammering away at it.
Ttang! Ttang!
Relying on the experience he had accrued during his past life, Valyr quickly found a suitable rhythm to work with, hammering at a pace that was more in-line with what was to be expected from a somewhat adept blacksmith. Of course, such consistency in hammering made Tristan raise his eyebrow, making him wonder if this attempt was going to be similar to all of Valyr's previous attempts.
'As long as I successfully forge this dagger, I'd be able to receive the Technology Points from his quest and use it to max out the advancements I've unlocked on the Production Technology Tree,' Valyr thought as he continued to hammer. With how much free time he had while on his way back, he also planned out his process of ascending to Rank 1, coming to the decision of ascending after finishing Tristan's quest.
'After that, I could upgrade a few more skills with the remaining XP I have before ascending.' Going through his plans once more, Valyr inwardly nodded as he refocused his attention on the metal he was hammering, which gradually took on the shape of a dagger.
Taking it a notch further, Valyr went ahead and activated [Gambler's Discerning Eyes], allowing him to see the areas on the metal he hadn't hammered properly yet. Surprisingly, with the skill activated and his thoughts all telling him to complete the dagger he was forging, Valyr eventually fell into a trance, his speed reaching at least double of what it previously was.
At this point, Tristan could not help but watch Valyr work with widened eyes. After all, this was the first time he had seen Valyr so engrossed in the forging process. To him, it seemed more like he was watching a master at work, with each movement seemingly calculated to ensure maximum efficiency.
Unfortunately, this sight did not last long, with Valyr snapping out of his trance about 15 minutes later. However, rather than be dismayed by this fact, Valyr looked at the metal he had been hammering away on the anvil, a smile adorning his face as he raised it for Tristan to see.
"You did it…" Tristan muttered out in disbelief as Valyr placed the forging hammer to the side, dropping the blade he had hammered into the furnace for tempering soon after. At this moment, shock and excitement filled his every being.
"I told you, didn't I? I hadn't been idling away while I was gone." In response to Tristan's words, Valyr flashed a grin at him, taking out the blade from the furnace a few minutes later before quickly quenching it in a barrel of room temperature oil.
Ding!
Hearing the notification sound resound in his mind, Valyr went ahead and retrieved the blade from the barrel, shaking off the excess oil that dripped off it before patting it down with a used towel. Looking at the blade he had successfully, Valyr felt carefree as he gave the blade to Tristan, letting him take a close look at it.
In the meantime, he took a look at the notifications he had received, only for his eyes to widen his shock as his mouth went agape in disbelief.
[You have successfully forged the item: Refined Copper Dagger. Quality has been rated at Exceptional.]
[You have obtained the passive skill 'Flow'.]