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nLooking at the skill he had received from unlocking advancements, Valyr went ahead and read through its description. While reading through it, a thought surfaced in his mind all of a sudden, prompting him to think about other ways of getting stronger for a bit. ‘It kind of sucks that Advancement is only accessible by Rank 3 blacksmiths and above. Even a 1st Tier Advancement on all the equipment I’ll use for the dungeon will be enough to put me at ease.’

n‘Then again, using both Refinement and Enhancement on equipment is better than only using Enhancement.’ Shrugging his shoulders, he closed the screen in front of him, satisfied after knowing that the change brought by the class to the skill was an increase in the speed and success rate of the refinement.

nBeing one of three most used features in strengthening equipment, Refinement relied on tapping into the unearthed potential of the equipment and awakening it, before melding it to become a part of the equipment itself. This was unlike Enhancement, where the focus was to polish what was already there to greater heights, which in turn increased the level of the equipment.

nAside from that, Refinement was highly reliant on the rarity of the equipment, with each tier of rarity allowing for five refinements at most. With that in mind, Common grade equipment could be refined up to 5, Uncommon to 10, Rare to 15, and so on and so forth.

nOn top of that, once one went past a refinement level of 10 on a piece of equipment, the chances of one succeeding to increase it to 11 become smaller, with 15 already being considerably rare to see on a piece of equipment, if not for the fact that Refinement Jewels were available to obtain in dungeons at the higher levels.

nThen again, with his current level, Valyr did not have easy access to something like Refinement Jewels, which was why he was glad to find out his Refinement skill also increased success rate.𝒐𝒱𝑙xt.𝑐𝚘𝓂

nFeeling a bit sleepy at this point, Valyr could not help but let out a light yawn. Though, this sleepiness momentarily disappeared as he recalled the spear tip he had forged during the tournament in Danyhris Town. Grabbing it to get a better look, thoughts of his spear possibly rejecting the spear tip could not help but linger in his mind.

nHowever, rather than feel a bit of hesitation at modifying his spear to have the metal spear tip due to the negative thoughts swirling in his mind, he let out a deep exhale, putting his faith in the boundless amounts of experience he had accrued in his past life regarding the modification of equipment.

n‘Well, if it fails, I could always increase the weapon bond to Level 3.’ Placing the spear tip by the side as he lied down on his bed once more, he let out a light chuckle before closing his eyes, thinking of taking it easy for the rest of the day.

n…

nBy the time next morning came, Valyr felt energized, his mental condition as best as it could be since he leisurely spent most of his time yesterday. Feeling incredibly motivated about what he was going to do sometime later, he went ahead and did his usual morning routine, leaving the barracks around an hour after he had woken up.

nThen again, even though an hour had already passed since he had woken up, most of the people in the village were still in the process of pulling away their consciousnesses from dreamland. Deciding to grab a small breakfast to go for Tristan along the way, he eventually arrived at the smithy sometime later, being greeted by the sight of Tristan in the process of opening up shop.

n“Well, aren’t you up early?” Valyr could not help but say as he entered, raising up the bag of food he carried for the latter to notice. Unsurprisingly, with the wafting aroma of food faintly spreading throughout, Tristan moved closer before grabbing the bag off Valyr’s hands.

n“I could say the same to you. Does it have something to do with the materials you asked me to procure yesterday?” As Tristan said this, he removed the food Valyr had bought from the bag, asking the latter if the food was for him. Seeing Valyr nod in response to the question, he thanked him before digging in. “Thanks for the breakfast.”

nChuckling at Tristan’s current sight, Valyr nodded at the man’s first question. “Well, I wouldn’t be here if not for the materials I had you procure. Speaking of which, how much did it cost?”

n“I had to use my connections to get a couple of them, but all in all, you owe me two gold coins.” Listening to the question, Tristan stopped eating for a bit. “Though I have a feeling I know what you’re going to use most of them for, I have zero clue regarding the remaining ones.”

nHearing that, Valyr flashed a knowing smile as he made his way to Tristan’s workspace. “You’ll see very soon. Also, mind if I use your tools for now?”

n“Well, you’ve used my tools many times in the past already, so why would I stop you?” replied Tristan with his mouth still somewhat full with food. “Plus, I was planning to only forge a couple pieces of equipment for the day. Feel free to use ’em as you see fit.”

n“With pleasure.” Grinning, Valyr headed to the area of the smithy where Tristan told him the materials he had procured could be located. Grabbing a bunch of them, he chucked most of them into the furnace, making sure that the flames inside were hot enough to have them reach their needed temperatures.

nKeeping a close eye on each material in the furnace, he took out one of them sometime later, making a mental note of when the other materials would reach their ideal temperatures. Placing the material he took out on the anvil, he then started to hammer away at it, molding it into the shape the blueprint in his mind dictated. ‘Using azure iron on something like this feels a bit wasteful, but it’s the only armor set blueprint I have.’

nInwardly shrugging his shoulders, he eventually fell into a rhythm he found suitable, utilizing the hyperfocus ability given to him by Gambler’s Discerning Eyes from time to time as the piece of azure iron on the anvil gradually took on the shape of a helmet.

nAt that point, Tristan was already finished eating the breakfast Valyr bought him, standing behind the latter as he watched him work. “You forging the Astarto Defense Armor set?”

n“It’s the only armor set I have,” said Valyr as he placed the incomplete helmet into the furnace. Then, he turned to look at Tristan. “Unless if you have a blueprint for another armor set that’s better.”

n“The Astarto Defense Armor set is the best set I have, unfortunately.” Tristan bitterly smiled. “Of course, I have blueprints for better armor, but they’re all separate pieces. Guessing that you’re crafting the set for the dungeon near the village, none of the separate ones are gonna be of any help.”

n“Anyways, are you just gonna craft the entire set as is or are you gonna add something to it?” he asked soon after, only to answer it not long after. “Then again, now that I know you better, I feel like you’re going to go for the latter.”

nIn response to the statement, Valyr beamed a smile as he took out the incomplete helmet from the furnace before continuing to work at it.

n“Naturally.”

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