𝗈𝗏𝒍xt.𝒸𝗈𝕞
As the audience cheered on for the participants, excited and expectant to see what kind of new things the blacksmiths standing in front of them would forge, most of the latter had sullen expressions on their faces, sauntering to their respective forges as they wondered if they could think of a new piece of equipment that could be considered never seen before.
While most were despairing over the rules of the third round, Valyr could not help but inwardly curse as he made his way to his forge, scratching his head as he pondered over what he was going to do for this round. ‘And here I thought I could just swap materials for an existing blueprint and call it a day.’
‘Then again, that really wouldn’t count as making something from scratch, so there is merit to the rules.’ Shrugging his shoulders as he came to terms with the rules, he continued to ponder over what type of equipment he was going to create, taking into consideration that it shouldn’t go beyond what a Rank 1 blacksmith can do. Eventually, after going through multiple ideas in his mind, a certain idea soon surfaced in his mind, a smile appearing on his face as he thought more about it.
‘That might just be unique enough to pass the third round.’ With a light chuckle, he went ahead and called over a volunteer proctor to his forge. Once the volunteer proctor was there, Valyr then asked them if it was possible for him to access the Technology Tree during the third round, thinking that there was a chance for his request to be denied.
On the contrary, the volunteer proctor gave him a thumbs-up and told him it was fine, eliciting a slightly confused expression to appear on Valyr’s face for a bit as he could remember that accessing the Technology Tree in most tournaments in his previous life was not allowed. After mulling over the reason for a minute or so, he decided that it was useless to think about, placing the matter at the back of his head as the screen containing Technology Tree appeared in front of him.
Heading over to the Innovation section of the tree, he looked at the advancements he had unlocked thus far before checking how many Technology Points he had still left over after ascending. “Currently at the Neolithic Age and I have around 40 points to spare… yeah, I think it’s enough to get there.”
Chuckling at the idea he had in mind for the equipment he was going to make for this round, he swiftly unlocked more advancements on the Innovation section, his mind being inundated with knowledge from the Copper Age and the Iron Age, only stopping himself once he had unlocked a couple advancements from the Ancient Age.
Ding!
[You have unlocked the advancements <Basic Knowledge: Copper Age Lv. 1>, …]
[You have unlocked the advancements <Basic Knowledge: Iron Age Lv. 1>, …]
…
[You have unlocked the advancements <Basic Knowledge: Ancient Age Lv. 1>, …]
[You have unlocked the advancement <Basic Knowledge: Ancient Age Lv. 1>.]
Feeling an influx of information regarding a specific set of knowledge from the Ancient Age enter his mind, Valyr quickly processed and organized through it, eventually finding the knowledge he needed as he went ahead and activated [True Prodigious Blueprint Creation].
Ding!
At the very instant he had activated the skill, an adequately sized screen appeared beside the screen that contained his Technology Tree, which currently contained a small string of words, as well as a holographic cube that slowly rotated on its axis.
Looking at the slowly rotating cube for a bit, Valyr went over his idea once more, thinking as to whether something like it was feasible. After a couple of minutes, he inwardly nodded to himself as he closed up the Technology Tree, allowing him to focus his full attention on the blueprint creation screen.
“This mechanism would be more commonly found in the more modern ages, but thank the heavens the game system also decided to add knowledge of fictional weapons for certain technological eras into the Technology Tree.” While starting to manipulate the cube to take shape of the weapon he had envisioned, Valyr could not help but let out yet another chuckle.
“Who knew I’d be adapting the mechanism of a hidden blade for a new blueprint?” With such a thought in mind, Valyr went ahead and fine-tuned the design of the new weapon he was going to craft, with the general design of the weapon being a simple dagger.
However, since the goal for the third round was for one to craft a piece of equipment never seen before, Valyr added a function to the dagger wherein if he pushed the button affixed to the end of the handle, the lower half of the dagger would spread outwards in the middle as a smaller blade extended out of it. In his mind, such a weapon would most likely be used by assassins since it allowed one to deal great damage while still being portable.
“Hmm… I’ll have to take into consideration that the dagger before the activation must stay relatively sharp in order to pierce through the flesh, allowing the blade inside to deal the greatest amount of damage.” While continuing to form his blueprint, Valyr thought about the pros and cons of such a weapon, utilizing his past life’s experience to the fullest. “Since the blade inside the dagger would have to cut through muscle, it would probably be better if I used a sturdier metal for it.”
“Perhaps iron for the outer layer, then azure iron for the blade inside. I guess that kind of configuration would work.”
“Now that I think about it, it’s also possible for me to just have the inner blade be shot deeper into the person’s body rather than extending out and retracting.” Unsurprisingly, he had become engrossed into the creation process of his entry for the third round, becoming a repeat of what had happened during the first time he had forged in front of Tristan.
Fortunately, the period at which he had become engrossed was far shorter, his thoughts coming to a consensus by the time he snapped back to reality. “Do I want a dagger that can deal a monstrous amount of damage one time, or do I want a dagger that deals a lot of damage again and again?”
“Yeah, I think I know what I should do at this point.”
With his mind made up, Valyr swiftly modified the piece of equipment shown on the blueprint creation screen in front of him, pulling up snippets from his past life’s experience here and there as an exquisite-looking dagger was eventually shown on the screen. Looking at the minimum grade the system gave the equipment, Valyr could not help but scratch his head with a wry smile. “A Common+ grade dagger… on second thought, that actually makes sense.”
Commanding the system that his blueprint was complete, he then asked a volunteer proctor to procure him some of the materials he would need for the item he was going to forge. By the time the proctor had left to obtain those items, a prompt appeared in front of him.
Ding!
[Please name your blueprint.]
Thinking about the purpose of the equipment, as well as the aftermath that possibly came once used, it did not take too long for him to come up with a fitting name.
“Red Blossom.”