“You could’ve waited until the smithy was fully set up, no?” Tristan let out a light sigh.
“And risk reducing the rewards I’d get from finishing early? Not a chance,” said Valyr in response, making Tristan shrug his shoulders in indifference. After all, he understood where Valyr was getting at, recalling he had a phase like that as well in the far past.
With that, Tristan opened up his screen and interacted with it for a bit, prompting a notification sound to resound within Valyr’s mind. Though, at the very moment he looked at it, a frown could not help but appear on his face as he looked at Tristan, who looked back at him with a light yet mischievous chuckle. “At the very least, you can’t complain that I’m intentionally reducing the time remaining from the quest.”
Ding!
[The remaining time for the quest ‘An Experienced Blacksmith’s Suggestion (1)’ has been frozen by the quest giver.]
“Can’t you just give me the rewards for the quest right now?” Valyr could not help but ask after looking at the notification.
“I could, but I’d rather eat breakfast first,” Tristan replied as he lightly scratched his stomach. Seeing Tristan’s action, Valyr’s stomach could not help but rumble, prompting a light grin to appear on Tristan’s face. “It seems you’ve forgone breakfast just to get the rewards as soon as possible, eh?”
“Well…” Valyr scratched his head in response, letting out an awkward chuckle after being caught red-handed. Looking at Tristan with an awkward smile, he then suggested, “How about we get some breakfast, then?”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” Unsurprisingly, Tristan agreed to the suggestion, following Valyr as they headed to a nearby place that sold hot food in the morning. While eating their respective breakfasts, Tristan went ahead and asked Valyr what he had done to reach Level 10 so quickly, to which Valyr recounted what he had during the past few days outside the village. Of course, Tristan could not help but look at Valyr with surprise written all over his face after that, wondering what kind of courage Valyr had to face against high-leveled monsters with his current level.
Nevertheless, with some of his curiosity satisfied and his hunger satiated, Tristan didn’t really have much complaints after that.
After paying for their respective breakfasts, the two of them returned to the smithy and went inside, allowing Valyr to see a glimpse of the smithy that wouldn’t normally be seen by people coming by. Without the roaring fire blazing within the furnace, there was a slightly chilling feeling to the entire sight before him, making him feel as if the smithy was abandoned.
While Valyr was engrossed in the current sight, Tristan went ahead and opened his screen once more, interacting with it as he told Valyr, “Before I go change into my work clothes, let me give you the rewards from the quest.”
“Since you’ve accomplished it far earlier than I thought you would, I’ll give thrice the rewards I initially promised,” he continued, a notification sound resounding within Valyr’s mind as he snapped back to reality soon after.
Ding!
[You have completed the quest ‘An Experienced Blacksmith’s Suggestion (1)’. Remaining time: 11 days, 9 hours, 11 minutes, 9 seconds.]
[Due to your spectacular performance, the quest giver has decided to triple your rewards.]
[Your affinity with Tristan has increased by 150 points. Current relationship: Friend.]
[Your reputation in Astarto Village has increased by 450 points. Current reputation: Well-known.]
[You have received 7500 XP.]
[You have received 45 Technology Points.]
[You have gained the active skill ‘Analysis’.]
With a smile adorning Valyr’s face after receiving the rewards, Tristan told Valyr to wait in the smithy for a while as he changed into his work clothes, leaving the latter to his own devices.
“I finally got my hands on [Analysis],” Valyr muttered with slight glee, commanding the system to allocate all of the XP he had towards upgrading the skill to as high it could go.
Ding!
[Would you like to spend 19,199 XP to upgrade ‘Analysis’ to Level 7?]
As his eyes slightly widened in surprise at the fact that he had enough XP to raise [Analysis] to such a high level, Valyr went ahead and confirmed the prompt, deducting close to 20,000 XP from the XP he still left untouched as a small influx of information entered his mind sometime later.
Quickly processing and organizing the information he had received in his mind, he then commanded the system to show him information regarding his newly upgraded [Analysis] skill. Not long after, a screen appeared in front of his field of vision, prompting a satisfied smile to appear on his face as he through its contents.
Ding!
————
[Analysis] (Level 7/10)
Rarity: Common
To understand the world around oneself is to be curious towards everything in one’s surroundings. To seek greater knowledge is to peer through the curtain shrouding everything in existence. This skill allows the user to obtain detailed information on whatever target the user is using the skill on. The depth of the information obtained is reliant on the skill’s level, as well as the resistance of the target towards the skill.
————
Although there existed variants of [Analysis] that allowed one to obtain far more detailed information, the reason why this skill was hailed as the utility skill all players and NPCs needed to have was due to the fact that it did not consume any mana to activate the skill, with the only downside being less information. However, that was easily remedied by upgrading and evolving the skill to its higher rarities, something every being did when they got their hands on [Analysis].
“Let’s try it out,” Valyr muttered to himself as he closed the skill description screen, unfurling the fabric tied around his torso to grab the spear affixed behind his back. Looking at the wooden spear before him with dried blood covering most of its surface, he then activated the skill. “[Analysis].”
Ding!
For a brief moment, a light blue tint covered Valyr’s eyes as he felt that his vision could peer through the surface of the spear, allowing him to view the very molecules that made up the spear he held. However, this feeling was ephemeral at best, disappearing a few seconds later as a screen containing information on the wooden spear he held soon appeared.
————
[Wooden Spear] (Level 1)
Rarity: Common
Attack: 4-7
A spear given to those newly enlisted with the village guards of Astarto Village, being deemed by most people as a training weapon until one could afford a proper weapon. Nevertheless, the material it is made of and the level of attention to it allows it to keep up in battles somewhat.𝑜𝔳𝓁xt.𝚌𝓞𝕞
Remarks: You have outgrown this spear. It is recommended you change to another spear.
*A rudimentary connection could be faintly sensed between the spear and the user. It is recommended to keep using the spear to solidify this connection.
————
“So the connection I was feeling from the spear sometime ago wasn’t just my imagination, huh?” Reading the last few lines on the screen, Valyr could not help but look at the spear he held, a hint of excitement in his eyes. Although it might not seem much at the moment, he knew that this connection was incredibly important later on. In fact, in his previous life, a deep connection with one’s weapon was one of the requirements for one to be part of the frontlines in the final battle, something Valyr had achieved easily thanks to him being a blacksmith.
“In any case, since it’s going to be difficult to cultivate a connection with another weapon this early on, I’ll stick with this spear for now. After all, I’m pretty sure there’s still a lot this spear has to give,” he muttered, looking at the spear with a light smile. Soon after, Valyr closed the screen before him as he affixed the spear behind his back once more. Coincidentally, Tristan had appeared in front of Valyr at that moment, now in his work clothes.
With a light smile, he told Valyr, “Before I give you your next task, let us tackle something else first. After all, you more or less need to access it if you want to continue.”
“And that would be?” Valyr raised his eyebrow, only for excitement to cover his face as he heard Tristan’s response.
“The bread and butter of any blacksmith, of course.” Tristan grinned.
“The Technology Tree.”