Chapter 986: Wake-up Call
"What?" Though he'd heard the question that left Valyr's mouth, it took a while for Tristan to react to the question, looking at the former in slight confusion.
Thankfully, it only took a few more seconds after that for the man to realize what Valyr was asking, prompting his eyes to widen in slight surprise as he asked back, "Are you sure? Isn't this just adding on burden to what you're planning to do?"
"I did say earlier that forging equipment is how I rest," replied the young man in response, bringing out the Hammer of Beginnings from his spatial bracelet.
Whoosh!
Unsurprisingly, Tristan's attention was immediately fixated on the hammer Valyr brought out, forcing the latter to snap the man back to reality as he explained to him that this was the artifact he'd become known for.
After that, he asked Tristan for the list of items he needed to forge for the upcoming monster tide, which the man had only given after finally getting over the immense awe he felt from the level of craftsmanship put into Valyr's forging hammer.
Taking a look at the list of items Tristan sent to him through the chat function, Valyr
eventually nodded in understanding as the gears in his mind turned, prompting him to double down on the spur of the moment thought he had.
"Yeah... it won't be a problem if I forge some special equipment for you and the others," said the young man as he requested another batch of materials through the guild.
Naturally, Tristan was about to tell Valyr that he didn't really need to forge them equipment. However, before he could even open his mouth, the young man had spoken up first.
"We both know I just came here because you guys asked me to, and that there isn't really any reason for me to do any of this." Valyr looked at Tristan directly in the eyes.
"However, the truth still stands that I wouldn't get to where I am right now if not for the support of the village."
"I could go on and on explaining about this and that to you..." The young man let out a faint sigh. "But to cut a long story short, I have a feeling that I'd only be able to help you guys defend the monster tides a few more times before I have no choice but to stop helping entirely."
Though Tristan's eyes widened in response to the words Valyr was saying, the latter still continued to talk. "That's more or less the reason why I want to forge equipment for you guys."
"After all, even though there's a chance I might not be able to help defend against any subsequent monster tides after this, I still want to help the town where I established my footing in some way."
"..." For a while after that, the workshop the two were in was covered in deafening silence as both Tristan and Valyr stared at each other for that entire duration.
Eventually, the silence within the workshop was broken as Tristan let out a long sigh, giving Valyr a gaze that contained sadness, but also understanding.
"To be honest, after you ignored our requests during the three monster tides that passed the town, I thought you'd forgotten about us," said Tristan, immediately stopping Valyr from talking as he knew what he wanted to say.
"I know you were doing something the Blacksmith Guild tasked you to do during that time, but that still doesn't change the fact that we began to think that way."
"In fact, the request we sent for you to visit us was just sort of a last-ditch effort, a what-if scenario we thought was unlikely to happen."
Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
Going through the list of items in terms of how long he felt it would take him to forge, Valyr began to chuck a ton of items into the furnace while busying the other translucent arms he had by having them prepare the other parts needed for forging.
Within minutes, a production line of sorts was gradually blossoming within the workshop Valyr occupied, leaving Tristan at a loss for words once more as everything began to gradually
unfold.
"This..." Though Valyr was moving at a speed that Tristan thought made it somewhat difficult to follow what was happening, the man still felt the immense care and control the young man had over every move he made while forging the items.
At this moment, it was only then did Tristan realize that what Valyr had showed to both him and Alfaera back at the hall earlier was only a fraction of the change that happened to the young man during the past nine months.
If anything, the man was certain that the Valyr he was looking at right now was the true Valyr they haven't seen, the Valyr that had ascended not only to a higher realm of power...
But also to a higher realm of craftsmanship.
"[Zen: First Lotus Step]."
"[Truth Weaver Scripture: Tetrad]."
"[Intent of Forging]."
With every passing second possibly becoming the last second he had before the monster tide arrived, Valyr eventually entered a state of immense focus, making use of all the skills in his arsenal just to speed up his forging by a few percent.
Fortunately, his decision eventually began to pay off as finished items soon began to pile up beside Valyr as time continued to pass.
For some time, the young man had even considered using either [Vision of the First Blacksmith] or [Hunter's Tracking Eyes] on the items he was forging to elevate their quality
even further.
Though, in the end, he decided to make use of them only when he was making equipment for the others, thinking that there wasn't really any need for him to focus that much attention on quality unlike the weapons he forged for the war efforts.
'Plus, I have a strong feeling these forging skills of mine are already elevating the quality of
what I forge beyond what's needed,' thought the young man to himself, continuing to go
through the list of items in a frenzy.
Because of that, a list of at least 80 items crucial to the upcoming monster tide that would've
probably taken Tristan at least a week to forge on his own... Was all forged by Valyr in just the span of a bit over two days.