In response to the statement Nathaniel had uttered to them, the elders making up the Imperial Production Guild’s Ancestral Council could not help but converse with one another in hushed tones. In the meantime, the one who had responded to the former’s earlier words, the elder at the center, remained silent.
“Silence,” said the elder at the center not long after, causing everyone to go silent in an instant. He was known by many as Elder Faulerei, the head of the Imperial Production Guild’s Ancestral Council.
“Clarify yourself, Nathaniel Forgers.” Faulerei directly look at Nathaniel, his expression as stoic as it was when Nathaniel had first entered the room. “What is it that you mean by the Blacksmith Guild finding a worthy candidate?”
“Er…” In response, Nathaniel scratched his head for a bit, thinking to himself that his words from earlier were already clear enough. Though, after pondering over it for a while, he eventually understood what Faulerei meant, lightly nodding before opening his mouth.
“To answer Elder Faulerei’s question, what I meant was that the Blacksmith Guild has found a candidate for the Blacksmith Division of the Four Pillars’ Inheritance.”
“Surely you jest, child,” responded the elder at the seat leftmost to where Nathaniel stood. He was known as Elder Alvin, the second most senior blacksmith of the Imperial Production Guild’s Blacksmith Division, as well as its representative for the Ancestral Council. “It isn’t that simple to find a suitable candidate for the inheritance, especially in such a place like your town.”
“Am I correct in presuming that the candidate was found in your town?” Alvin asked Nathaniel, to which the latter could only nod in response.
“You know how stringent the guild’s requirements are finding a candidate for the inheritance.” Alvin nodded back as he continued to speak. “Aside from their combat proficiency, the candidate must have a Legendary blacksmith class at the very least.”
“Does the candidate you speak of have such a class?” he asked, to which Nathaniel slowly shook his head.
“If that’s the case, then—”
“The candidate I speak of does not have a Legendary blacksmith class.” Just as Alvin was about to tell Nathaniel to leave, he interrupted the former with his own words, causing a light frown to appear on Alvin’s face. However, once Alvin listened to the man’s next statement, his expression was that of slight incredulity.
“Instead, the candidate has a Mythic blacksmith class.”
At that moment, the elders making up the council could not help but converse with one another once more, with Elder Faulerei’s eyes slightly widening from the words Nathaniel had uttered. However, even though his interest was piqued at the candidate Nathaniel had mentioned, he requested everyone in the council to become silent, allowing him to ask Nathaniel an important question.
“Do you have any proof of your claims, Nathaniel Forgers?” At the very instant this question came out of Faulerei’s mouth, a sense of relief washed over Nathaniel as he nodded with a light smile. Then, rummaging something out of his pocket, he placed the item he had taken out onto the floor, being a mundane-looking coin.
Though, at the very instant he had tossed a few crystals filled to the brim with mana towards the coin, the coin swiftly siphoned all of the energy contained in those crystals, allowing the coin to expand as an apparition of a figure appeared in front of the council.
Fortunately, this figure was a man everyone in the council knew quite well, prompting everyone’s expressions to turn solemn as a light smile appeared on the figure’s face.
“Julian,” Faulerei said at the very moment the figure had appeared.
“Elder Faulerei.” Julian responded back before lightly bowing. “It seems you’ve asked my representative here if he has proof of his claims. After all, that would be the only reason he would bring me out here.”
“That would indeed be the case, Julian.” Faulerei nodded in response. “However, why have a representative come at your stead instead of telling us yourself?”
In response to the question, a bitter smile appeared on Julian’s face as he replied. “Unfortunately, the orcs to the east of the city have breach our defensive line, thus the Blacksmith Guild needs every blacksmith it could get to craft the equipment needed to push them back. Even sending my representative here was somewhat difficult due to the spike in demand.”
“In any case, that does not mean I am free to answer any questions the council has through this apparition of mine,” he continued. “However, do keep in mind that there might be a delay in my response as I am in the middle of forging.”
“That is not a problem, Julian.” After getting a brief summary of the reason behind Julian being unable to come in person, Faulerei nodded as he looked at the other elders before proceeding with his questioning.
“Now, does the Blacksmith Guild have proof of the claims your representative has mentioned earlier?”
“It does.” Julian nodded in response. “We have certified that the candidate does have a Mythic blacksmith class. Aside from the fact that a well-renowned class appraiser from the kingdom has identified the person’s class during their registration, we have put the information the class appraiser has given us through multiple veracity skills, all of them telling us that what the appraiser has sent us is the truth.”
“Naturally, we’ve already appointed a messenger from our guild to send a letter with our official seal stamped on it containing this information to the Imperial Production Guild,” he continued. “Also, I think the appraiser has sent a letter directly to the Imperial Production Guild back then about this discovery? His first name was Baltazar, if I remember correctly.”
“Ah, yes. Baltazar Neimann. We did receive a letter from him a week ago.” Faulerei nodded soon after. “However, he only mentioned that he had found a person suitable to be a candidate for the inheritance. He did not mention anything about the class at all. Do you perhaps know what Mythic blacksmith class that candidate has, Julian?”
“I do.” Julian nodded, only for a slightly mischievous smile to appear on his face soon after. “Though, if I inform you and the other elders of the council about it, you have no choice but to take him in as an official candidate.”
Hearing that, some of the elders could not help but frown in response. After all, they weren’t sure if Julian was bluffing or not. However, after having known the man for a long time, Faulerei knew that when Julian said something like this, that meant that the latter was confident. “Alright, Julian. You have my word.”
Unsurprisingly, the other elders in the council could not help but reprimand Faulerei for being rash.
“Silence!” However, as the head of the Ancestral Council, the weight of Faulerei’s decision was far greater than theirs when it came to the Four Pillars’ Inheritance. Without hesitation, he radiated a hint of the aura he had been suppressing all this time, reminding the other elders that Faulerei had the strength to take them all on at once.
With silence throughout the room achieved once more, Faulerei looked at Julian with a solemn expression as he opened his mouth. “Tell me, Julian. What is the candidate’s Mythic blacksmith class?”𝒪𝚟𝐿𝐞xt.𝒞𝑂𝐌
In response, Julian chuckled. “Let’s just say that this will probably be the only time the inheritance would be explored in its full glory.”
At those words, some of the elders’ eyes could not help but widen in surprise, knowing what Julian meant by his words.
“Could it be…?” Naturally, Faulerei, the head of the council, knew what Julian meant by his words as well.
“It is as you think, Elder Faulerei.” Julian grinned.
“The True Prodigious Blacksmith has appeared.”