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nWith Hyun’s announcement signaling the end of the tournament, almost everyone in the audience dispersed and went their own ways, spending the remaining daylight on other stalls that were part of the Forge Festival. In fact, the participants were also of the same mind, thinking that there was no point staying around the tournament area anymore. However, once they heard Hyun’s voice resound once more, almost all of them stopped in their tracks.

n“Since the crowd is now gone, may I ask all of the participants to head to the Blacksmith Guild?” Hyun opened his mouth as he looked at the people that remained. “For those part of the top ten, you may head to the leftmost counters in the main hall to receive your rewards. As for those who obtained bonuses from the first round, you may head to the middle counters.”

n“And for those who participated in the tournament to gain experience… you may head to the rightmost counters and claim 10 Technology Points from the guild. Consider it the least the Blacksmith Guild can give you for your efforts.” Hearing this, all of the participants made their way to the Blacksmith Guild’s building as Hyun watched them move with a light chuckle.

nOf course, as part of the top ten, Valyr was also obligated to head to the Blacksmith Guild. With that, he told Tristan that he would be in the guild for a while, to which the latter told him to take his time.

nAnd so, Valyr, Nathan, and many others made their way to the Blacksmith Guild, quickly lining up on the counters that were next to empty at the current time. With how many participants were disqualified during the first and second round, it was no surprise that the rightmost counters were the ones with the most lines.

nIn comparison, the leftmost counters were all barren, with only the top ten from the tournament there. Naturally, because of that, the speed at which they were attended to was swift, allowing Valyr to come face-to-face with the attendant behind the counter a few minutes later.

n“Name?” The attendant on the other side looked at Valyr.

n“Valyr.” After responding to the question, Valyr watched as the attendant brought out a thin tablet before infusing mana into it from time to time. Eventually, the attendant placed the tablet to the side, nodding before extending his arm out.

n“Identification badge please.” Hearing that, Valyr retrieved the iron identification badge from his pocket before giving it to the attendant. Nodding, the attendant said to him, “It’ll take a while for your identification badge to be updated, so let us move onto the other rewards for now.”

nAt the very moment the attendant finished saying that, a screen appeared in front of the man’s field of vision, interacting with it for a bit. Not long after, a couple notification sounds resounded within Valyr’s mind, prompting him to take a look at what he had received.

nDing!

nYou have received 40 Technology Points.

nYou have been rewarded 5,000 merit points. You have been promoted to Rank 1 — Elite Member. Earn 10,000 more merit points to raise your position to Rank 1 — True Member.

nAfter reading through the notifications, Valyr went ahead and closed the screen before looking back at the attendant, who was seemingly waiting for him to finish reading. “Have you received the Technology Points and the promotion?”

nHearing the question, Valyr nodded in response. “I did. Speaking of which, would it be possible to claim the bonus rewards from the first round?”

n“Most certainly.” Somewhat expecting to be told to head to the middle counters, Valyr flashed a smile at the attendant once the latter told him that there were no problems with the request. With that, the attendant opened up a screen in front of him once more, prompting Valyr to gain another notification from the system.𝗈𝗏𝒍xt.𝒸𝗈𝕞

nDing!

nYou have received 10 Technology Points.

nOnce he had confirmed to the attendant that he had received his bonus reward, the attendant then told Valyr to stay where he was for a bit as the man headed to another part of the building for a bit. Seeing as there was a bit of time to kill, Valyr decided to converse a bit with those lined up behind him, their topics revolving mostly around forging.

nAround five minutes, the attendant serving Valyr had returned while carrying a couple items. At the very instant he looked at what the attendant carried, a hint of confusion appeared on Valyr’s face. ‘The small satchel around the man’s waist probably has the Skill Shards, while the spear tip I crafted is on his right hand…’

n‘But why does he have Red Blossom with him?’ Just as this question popped up in his mind, the attendant placed the items he had brought onto the counter, pushing them towards Valyr.

n“Please confirm that you have received the following items: a satchel containing three Common grade Skill Shards, an Exquisite Spear Tip, and Red Blossom.” Saying these words, the attendant looked at Valyr, quickly noticing the slight confusion on the latter’s face as he nodded at the former’s words. “Is something the problem, sir?”

n“I expected to obtain the spear tip from the second round since it was mentioned that it would be given back,” Valyr responded. “With that, I also expected to not get the weapon I’ve crafted in the third round back. Is there a reason as to why it’s being returned?”

n“Ah.” Hearing Valyr’s question, the attendant nodded and gave him a look of understanding. “It’s like this, sir. As the weapon you’ve crafted during the third round is an invention you’ve come up with on your own, the Blacksmith Guild does not have much use for it… unless you offer the blueprint for the weapon.”

n“If you make that choice, you’ll have to give up the weapon, as well as the blueprint for the weapon you’ve created. But of course, the Blacksmith Guild shall reward you handsomely for this action.” Listening to this explanation, Valyr was greatly enlightened as to how the Blacksmith Guild seemed to have a plethora of low-ranking blueprints in his past life.

n‘So this is how they got the blueprints they had back then. I see.’ With that thought in mind, Valyr pondered over giving the weapon and the blueprint for a bit. Eventually, he decided to keep it to himself for now, telling the attendant that he might give the guild the blueprint for it in the future.

nNaturally, the attendant did not have any qualms with that. After all, he was just doing his job. Nevertheless, the man knew that there was one more reward Valyr was eligible to claim, prompting him to ask the question to the latter once Valyr had tucked away all of the tangible rewards he had received. “Since your new identification badge is still being crafted, would you like to head to the guild’s blueprint archives and choose your recipe?”

nHearing that, Valyr swiftly agreed to the suggestion, telling the attendant to direct him to where the archives were. In response, the attendant left the counter sometime later as he told Valyr to follow him.

n“Follow me, sir.”

n“I’m right behind you. Lead the way.”

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