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nEventually, by the time night came, the two of them found an inn to stay in for the night, taking into consideration the fact that they would only be staying in town till the next day. Once they woke up from their slumber, the two of them went through their respective morning routines before heading down to the inn’s cafeteria to dig into their complementary breakfast.

nAfter checking out from the inn, the two of them then made their way to the center of the Forge Festival, being greeted by a different view of the festival compared to the one they’ve seen yesterday. Unlike the hustle and bustle the Forge Festival radiated all throughout while the two of them wandered around the place, most of the people at the area for the Forge Festival seemed to still be in the process of gathering enough energy to last through the day, raising their spirits up.

nAside from that, a great portion of the stalls the two had come across yesterday were also in the process of being set up, prompting them to move away from the stalls for now and check if it was possible for Valyr to list himself as a participant in the final day of the Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament.

nFortunately, even though it was somewhat early in the day, the portion of the Forge Festival dedicated to the Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament was already brimming with vigor, with a great portion of people congregating around it to witness fledgling blacksmiths show their level of skill and craft in front of others.

nLooking around, Valyr eventually noticed that there was a line of people registering to become a participant of the tournament. With that in mind, he informed Tristan that he was going to sign up for the tournament, to which the latter nodded in response as he told Valyr that he was going to find seats for them as they waited for the tournament to start.

nNodding back, Valyr soon made his way to the line of applicants, leisurely waiting for his turn to arrive as he passively listened to the conversations that happened around him once more. Though most of them seemed to be conversations regarding people catching up on their friends’ lives, some of them had piqued his interest, prompting him to tune out the former as he focused on the latter.

nAs for what kind of conversation had piqued his interest, it was conversations that talked about the participants for this day of the tournament that had a high chance of winning the top spots. Although he would have liked to listen in more to those kinds of conversations, his turn had finally arrived, coming face-to-face with a man that had the emblem of the Blacksmith Guild emblazoned on his right chest.

n“Identification badge?” The man looked at Valyr, holding up a thin tablet that looked similar to what was used in his registration process. In response to the question, Valyr brought out the iron identification badge he had gotten from the guild yesterday and gave it to the man.

nAfter validating that the identification badge was genuine, the man gave the badge back to Valyr with a nod, infusing a bit of mana into the tablet he held as he asked Valyr for his name. “Your name?”

n“Valyr.” Hearing that, the man nodded once more, infusing a bit more mana into the tablet before placing it to the side.

n“Alright. You’re assigned to Forge No. 42. We’re still in the middle of preparing for the tournament, so you can come back later if you want,” the man said to Valyr, to which the latter nodded. “In any case, even if you’re at another part of the town, we’ll announce the start of the tournament beforehand, so you don’t have to worry.”

nCommitting the information to memory, Valyr went ahead and thanked the man before making his way to where Tristan was. Once he was there, Tristan took the initiative to start the conversation. “Wanna know what I found out while I was waiting for you to sign up?”

n“Is it possible the same thing I’ve been listening to while waiting in line?” Valyr asked in response, the two of them raising their eyebrows in curiosity. Thinking that they would get nowhere if they waited for the other to start talking, the two decided to say what they had in mind at the same time. Surprisingly, once they did, the two of them quickly realized they had the same thing in mind, which was about the ones who had a high chance of winning the tournament for the today.

n“Since it’ll be a while before the tournament begins, wanna walk around town and talk about it?” After laughing at each other for a bit about the fact they had the same thing in mind, Valyr gave Tristan a suggestion. Nodding in agreement, the two of them started walking around the area allotted for the Forge Festival, then beyond that not long after. “So, what did you find out while waiting?”

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n“According to what I’ve heard, as well as some people I’ve talked to while waiting for you, there are three contenders for the top spot for today’s tournament.” Seeing as Valyr had initiated the conversation, Tristan went ahead and continued it. “The first one is the son of the Blacksmith Guild’s branch head, Nathan Forgers. The reason why people are confident that he’d take the top spot is because of his blacksmith class, an Epic class called Forger of the Red Blaze.”

n“Aside from that, he’s shown multiple times that he could be given any blueprint and craft something that’s one grade above the specified grade on the blueprint.” As he said this, he shrugged his shoulders. “As to whether this has been rigged or not, I have no clue. How about you? What did you find out?”

n“Well, I’ve also heard mentions of Nathan while I queuing up to be registered. Though, the second person they mentioned was quite unique. Unlike Nathan, he doesn’t have a name at all. All people know is that he goes by the name Shadow,” replied Valyr.

n“Ah, that guy. Yeah, I’ve also heard of him being mentioned.” Tristan nodded. “He’s the one whose forging style leans heavily towards DEX, right? I’ve heard that the equipment he has forged in the past are all at the highest limit of the grade specified on the blueprints given to him.”

n“Yep, that’s the one.” Valyr nodded in agreement. “From what I’ve heard, his forging style came about due to his blacksmith class, Shadowhand Blacksmith.”

nAs he said this, Valyr could not help but recall that Shadowhand Blacksmith was one of the possible classes he could have chosen during the ascension process. ‘If I remember correctly, that class was classified as Epic, being a better version of the Rare class Defthand Blacksmith.’

n“The last one’s definitely unique, though. Unlike the first two, she’s only been classified as a contender for the top spot due to her recent feats thanks to her Rare class, Erudite Blacksmith,” Tristan said after Valyr was done talking. “Imagine crafting an Uncommon grade variant of a Common grade blueprint… unreal.”

n“That’s definitely an achievement she could be proud of for years to come.” Valyr nodded in agreement. “Denise Stephenson… now that I think about it, I guess I joined at the worst time.”

n“Compared to them, you’re still a newly ascended blacksmith. Don’t push yourself so hard.” Hearing Valyr’s words, Tristan consoled him. “I’m sure this experience will help you out in the long run.”

n“It definitely will.” Valyr nodded, bitterly smiling in response. After walking around for a bit more, an announcement regarding the start of the tournament echoed throughout the entirety of Danyhris Town, prompting the two of them to head back at a slightly hastened pace. While doing so, a thought popped up in Valyr’s mind, eliciting a light smirk to adorn his face the more he thought about it.

n‘Man… I wonder how my class fares against these other classes?’

n‘I can’t wait to find out.’𝒩𝗈𝗏𝐞𝑙xt.𝑐𝗈𝑚

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