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nDing!

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nAn Experienced Blacksmith’s Suggestion (1) (Linked Quest) (Time-limited Quest)

nDifficulty: C

nTristan is quite surprised that you’ve met his minimum requirements within a week. Because of that, he thinks that you have a lot of potential hidden within you, just waiting to be unearthed. Although he’s quite eager to help you unearth this potential, he wants you to focus on polishing your foundation first before letting you to start trekking the arduous path of blacksmithing.

nOf course, he knows how much you want to start as soon as possible, the impassioned explanation you’ve given him earlier still vivid in his mind. Nevertheless, he’s adamant that you shouldn’t be hasty, giving up long-term stability for short-term gains.

nTo make up for this, he’ll greatly reward you for the effort you put in… if you achieve his requirements, that is.

nRequirements:

n> Reach Level 10 (6

/10)

n> Reach either a DEX or INT stat of 15 (9

/15)

nQuest Rewards: Affinity 50 with Tristan, Reputation 150 within Astarto Village, 2,500 XP, 15 Technology Points, Analysis Lv. 1

nQuest Penalty: Affinity -50 with Tristan, Reputation -150 within Astarto Village, removal of access to the Technology Tree, Level -2

nRemaining Time: 14 days

nNote: Depending on your performance, the rewards of your current and subsequent quests may improve, or the quest giver may opt to stop the linked quest altogether.

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n‘The rewards for this quest is great. Experience, Technology Points, and even the skill I want to get,’ Valyr thought to himself, the frown on his face deepening even further. ‘However, I can’t help but have a sour taste in my mouth when I look at these requirements.’

nWith the previous quest Valyr got from Tristan needing him to raise his stats to 7 points, the quest that the latter just gave to him seemed redundant in his eyes, considering that both quests needed him to raise his level if he didn’t know any other methods to increase his stats. Aside from that, Valyr could clearly recall that the quest he had previously accepted was for him to reach the minimum requirements Tristan had in mind before one could start blacksmithing.

nWith all of that in mind, he could not help but wonder as to why he was given a quest that needed him to increase his stats once again. Curious, Valyr went ahead and asked this question to Tristan, trying his best not to yell at the person who would be teaching him how to forge.

nIn response to the question, a light smile appeared on Tristan’s face as he explained, “Well, the answer to that is simple. The stats I made you reach before giving you this current quest is the minimum requirements I consider one should have before starting on the path of blacksmithing. On the other hand, this quest will need you to bring your stats up to what I consider the ideal requirements one should have.”

n“Although there’s not much difference between a stat of 7 and a stat of 10 in terms of what one can achieve in the early stages, having a lower stat tends to make you form bad habits while forging. Think of it as your body’s natural mechanism to compensate for the lower stat,” he said. “On the other hand, having a stat of 10 allows you to do all of the basic movements in forging without having to need to compensate for anything. Sure, you might say that a person can just unlearn all of those bad habits once they become stronger, but you know that’s easier said than done.”

n“Does that answer your question?” As Tristan said those words, Valyr responded with a solemn nod, not expecting to get a serious answer out of it. However, even though the response Tristan gave did answer his question, that was not the type of answer he wanted to hear. He wanted to know why he got another quest that required him to level up just after he finished one.

nWith that, he decided to be more blunt in his questioning. “Although it does, that’s… actually not the answer I wanted to get. Instead, I wanted to know why you gave me another quest that needs me to level up, even though I’ve just finished one.”

n“Ah…?” At first, Tristan was slightly confused by what Valyr meant that. Though, after a short moment of silence, everything clicked in his mind as he looked at Valyr with a calm expression. “Oh… that.”

n“Here’s the thing, Valyr. You were the one who told me that you could reach my minimum requirements with two weeks, so I gave you a quest that needed you to do that in response, thinking that you would be more motivated in doing so.”

n“Although you did complete the quest, and I’m quite surprised you did it in less than half the time I gave you, I wasn’t pressuring you whatsoever to do that whole thing. In fact, I would have been fine waiting for you to reach Level 7 at your own pace and I would’ve probably given you the same quest you just got,” he told him.

n“In short, you did that to yourself, not me.”

n“I…” Just as Valyr was about to say something in response to Tristan’s words, he could not help but go silent, recalling everything that had transpired this past week. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he did do that to himself, prompting him to shake his head as he noticed Tristan looking at him. “Never mind.”𝗈𝑽𝓵xt.𝐜𝑂𝔪

nAt this moment, a slightly awkward atmosphere surrounded the two of them, with Valyr slightly fidgeting around to remove the feeling of awkwardness he felt. Taking a glance at Tristan, who seemed to be waiting for him to say something else while looking at his smithy, Valyr could not help but recall one of the notifications he had received from the system, specifically the ones pertaining to the early access of the Technology Tree.

n“Moving the previous topic aside, I actually have another question to ask you,” said Valyr as he scratched his head.

nTristan raised his eyebrow in response. “And that would be…?”

n“Do you actually have a Rank 2 class?” Valyr asked. “Well, I did get a notification from the system, telling me that you have a Rank 2 class, but I just wanted to hear it from you directly. After all, according to the guards, the strongest people in this village are only at the peak of their Rank 1 class.”

n“That would actually be correct… if you asked me two weeks ago,” Tristan replied. “In fact, I think you’re the first one in the village to find out that I have a Rank 2 class. It would be great if you don’t talk about it with the others for a bit more, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you did.”

n“In any case, any blacksmith you see in a village that owns their own smithy has a Rank 2 Blacksmith class most of the time. Rarely would they ever have a smithy at the peak of Rank 1, me two weeks ago being a good example of that,” he continued. “That’s because Rank 0 and Rank 1 Blacksmiths are considered greenhorns by most, if not all veteran blacksmiths. Only when they ascend to a Rank 2 class could they be considered a true blacksmith that could carry their own weight.”

n“Either way, that’s something I’ll explain to you in due time. For now, focus on reaching Level 10 within two weeks.” With that, Tristan gestured Valyr to head out the door. “I’m sure you can do that with your monstrous talent. But if you don’t…”

n“Say goodbye to being Level 7 for a while.” With a light chuckle, Tristan sat in front of his anvil before picking up his hammer to continue with work. On the other hand, Valyr looked at Tristan for a bit before turning around to leave the village smithy as he made his way back to the barracks.

n‘Oh, right… the quest actually had that penalty.’

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