1082 The War Forge Assembly (8)
As everyone within the hall was left at a loss for words due to her presence, Byron decided to be the first to break the silence as he gave her a respectful half-bow.
"Byron Stelming of the Meltierre Empire Blacksmith Guild greets the Imperial Alchemist of the Meltierre Heavenly Court."
"You didn't have to greet me like that, you know?" Mystia slightly pouted, initially hoping that she'd be able to interact with everyone casually.
Though, seeing as Byron set a precedent that all of the other directors would definitely follow suit, the woman let out a faint sigh before nodding. "The Imperial Alchemist greets Director Byron."
As those words left her mouth, the other directors began to muster up the courage one by one to greet her, most of them becoming ecstatic after hearing her respond to their greeting.
Eventually, the ones that had yet to greet her were at the front, with Elder Alvin looking at Mystia with a kind smile.
"How long has it been since we've last seen each other?" asked the elder with a chuckle. "You look like you haven't aged a day."
"I could say the same to you," replied Mystia with a chuckle of her own. "Also, it's been over three decades since our last meeting."
Talking a bit more with the elder after that, Mystia then shifted her attention towards the pair of military officials, who greeted her with the utmost respect they could muster.
Responding to their greeting in kind, she then shifted her attention towards the last two that remained on the stage, smiling as she briefly glanced at the young man.
"Julian Pyrrhia of the Algerie Kingdom Blacksmith Guild greets the Imperial Alchemist of the Meltierre Heavenly Court." Though he'd already interacted with Mystia in the past, Julian decided to go with the greeting Byron gave her at the start due to the sheer nervousness he felt.
Naturally, Mystia noticed his nervousness, deciding to respond as such to not worsen it any further. "The Imperial Alchemist greets Director Julian."
With Julian letting out a wide sigh of relief after his greeting, Mystia shifted her gaze to the only person that had yet to greet her, the two of them looking at each other in the eyes.
"Ylvar of the Blacksmith Guild..." Knowing that he was the last one to greet her, Valyr thought about giving the same greeting the others did at first, wondering whether or not to hide the new relationship he'd formed with her.
Though, recalling the messages they've exchanged throughout the meeting so far, the young man decided to change it up in the end.
"...greets Master," said the young man, causing everyone, including Julian, to stare at him with their mouths agape.
On the other hand, Mystia let out a bit of laughter in amusement, only to laugh a bit more as she looked at the expressions on everyone else's faces.
"And here I thought you planned on keeping it a secret," said Mystia with a satisfied smile.
'-595,720!!!'
Unsurprisingly, the training dummy disintegrated from the sheer force behind the shot, the dark red six-digit number hovering above where it previously stood a reminder of how powerful it was.
Slightly surprised at the damage he dealt to the dummy, Valyr asked Mystia for more detail on the dummy, prompting the latter to explain that the dummy had the lowest stats a peak Rank 5 class holder could possibly obtain.
Now understanding why the normal shot dealt far more damage than usual, he then asked Mystia for another training dummy, informing the others that he was now going to use a couple of skills attached to the arquebus.
After Mystia gave him the go signal once she placed the new dummy down, Valyr went ahead and activated his Intent, deciding to go somewhat all out as he armed the arquebus for firing.
Infusing Prime Azure Energy into the weapon, Valyr allowed [Extended Charge] to do its thing, causing the aura the arquebus to grow in power with every second.
By the time some of the directors at the front felt that the arquebus was near the point of bursting, it was only did Valyr pull on the trigger once more, infusing the arquebus with enough energy at the end to activate another skill.
"[Grand Burst]."
Bang!
'-2,037,195!!!'
Witnessing the seven-digit number that manifested above where the second dummy once stood, Valyr maintained a calm expression on his face as he watched the dummy explode into shrapnel, immediately conjuring multiple barriers out of Prime Azure Energy to contain the aftermath of his attack.
Then again, even though the end result turned far messier than he initially thought, that did not stop the glee he felt from appearing on his face, turning the faint smile he had into a wide grin once he noticed the looks of greed that were starting to appear on some of the directors' faces.
'I could say I might have gone a bit too far there at the end...'
'But hey. A success is a success.'
(5/5)
And this pretty much ends the small arc of the War Forge Assembly, save for a few more things in the next chapter.
Thank you once again to everyone who's been reading the novel so far.
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