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nReturning to where the Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament was being held, the two were eventually greeted by the sight of a great number of people congregating around the tournament proper, with most of them doing whatever they could to get as best of a view of the entire tournament as possible. Watching the sight before them, Tristan could not help but flash a bitter smile at Valyr, telling the latter to head to his spot in the tournament while he found a spot to watch Valyr from afar.𝒩𝗈𝗏𝐞𝑙xt.𝑐𝗈𝑚

nWith a nod, Valyr squeezed his way through the crowd, eventually arriving in front of the man he had interacted with earlier while he was applying for the contract. Looking at each other in silence, Valyr eventually remembered a key instruction the man had mentioned to him, revealing his identification badge soon after.

nSeeing Valyr’s identification badge, the man nodded before moving to the side, allowing Valyr to enter the tournament proper as he was reminded of the forge slot allocated to him. Thanking the man, he then passed through the various rows and columns of adequately sized forges, eventually arriving at Forge No. 42, the forge slot he was given.

nOnce there, he looked at the tools and materials that were available to him for this tournament, finding all of the equipment and materials given for him to use somewhat better than the ones available in Tristan’s smithy. After certifying that the contents of his forge were not lacking compared to other forges in his vicinity with a volunteer proctor, Valyr’s expression eased up as he looked at his surroundings, wondering how many people he was up against in the tournament.

nThankfully, with the announcement that signaled the start of the tournament echoing throughout Danyhris, it did not take long for most of the forges to be filled up, prompting Valyr to utilize Gambler’s Discerning Eyes by the time only a few participants remained that hadn’t arrived at their respective forges yet. Once those people arrived at their forges, he was quite surprised to find out that over 200 people had participated in the final day of the Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament, himself included.

nLooking around for a bit more, he noticed that a great portion of the people participating in the tournament had their gazes congregated towards three specific people. The first person had neatly combed blonde hair, forming a nice contrast with his clean, pale green eyes, both elements giving others the feeling that the man was part of nobility. However, this air was quickly dissipated by the thin layer of soot and dirt over his skin and clothes, instead making one feel as if they were looking at a young man who had his fair share of experiences.

n‘Nathan Forgers…’ As Valyr committed the man’s appearance to memory, he then shifted his gaze to one of the other three, finding the man’s current appearance unique. Unlike Nathan’s slightly rugged look, this person seemed to have no speck of dust on their clothes whatsoever. On top of that, most of their body was covered in dark gray and black fabric, with the only visible part of the man’s body being his eyes.

n‘And I’m guessing that would be Shadow.’ Inwardly shrugging his shoulders in nonchalance at Shadow’s appearance, he then redirected his eyes towards the last of the top contenders, finding her appearance slightly refreshing. With her brunette hair tied up into a messy ponytail accentuating the shape of her face, her pale red irises looked similar to a pair of topaz crystals under the light of the morning sun. Complementing it was her current getup, giving everyone the feeling that they were looking at a participant that seemed to have joined the tournament for fun.

nBut of course, knowing who they were looking at and what feat she had achieved, her purpose in the tournament was anything but fun.

nAfter committing the appearances of the three top contenders into his mind, Valyr then looked at the participants in his surroundings, noticing that a great portion of them were shaking in nervousness. Just as he was about to initiate a conversation with some of them to help them calm down, a slightly overbearing presence appeared at the raised platform at one of the far ends of the tournament proper, prompting everyone to glance in the direction of that presence.

n“From what I can currently see, a lot more people than expected have applied,” the man said as everyone went silent.

nSoon after, he let out a chuckle before nodding in satisfaction. “Then again, that makes the final day of this tournament all the more interesting, no?”

npAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 “Well, let me introduce myself before we start. My name is Hyun, a Rank 3 blacksmith affiliated with the Blacksmith Guild. I shall be your host for today’s Fledgling Forgers’ Tournament.” With those words escaping his mouth, the audience watching the tournament from afar let out cheers and rounds of applause, all of which eventually died down a couple minutes later.

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nWith the surroundings becoming silent once more, Hyun continued. “I know all of you are eager to commence with the tournament, so I shall not delay it any further.”

nSnap!

nJust as he had finished his statement, Hyun snapped his fingers, to which a blueprint appeared on every participant’s desk in response. Slightly surprised by the fact that Hyun was able to do something like that, everyone gazed at the blueprint in front of them for a bit before returning their attention to the host of the tournament.

n“On your desks is a blueprint. Specifically, a blueprint for a Common grade dagger,” Hyun said. “Though it would have been nice if that was the first round of the tournament, it’s only the beginning.”

n“The first round of this tournament is called Consecutive Forging. You will have to craft five pieces of equipment in a row, though you would only need to craft the first three in order to move onto the second round.”

n“Naturally, the equipment you’ll have to craft shall be given to you in the form of blueprints to make sure that everything is fair. The first two blueprints are Common grade, the next two are Common , and the last blueprint is Uncommon.”

n“As I’ve mentioned earlier, you only need to craft the first two Common grade blueprints and the first Common grade blueprint in order to move onto the next round.” As he said this, a light smile appeared on Hyun’s face. “However, you could also choose to proceed with the fourth and fifth piece, allowing you to earn a small reward that you could take home with you, regardless of whether you get to the top three or not.”

n“Of course, reaching the fifth piece would give you a far greater reward than only reaching the fourth one.” Chuckling, he continued. “Also, there’s no catch to proceeding with the fourth and fifth piece. Everyone is free to try and forge the fourth and fifth piece even after they’re eligible to move onto the next round.”

n“Any more questions?” Hearing this statement from Hyun, a couple of the participants went ahead and raised their hands, asking questions that sought to clarify the doubts they had. Once those people had obtained the answer to their questions, Hyun nodded before looking at each and every participant for a bit.

nThen, taking a deep breath, Hyun’s voice soon reverberated all throughout the area, causing the audience to erupt into a maelstrom of cheers and yells.

n“Let the first round… begin!”

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