“I didn’t mean it like that!” Of course, hearing the slight annoyance laced within the words Valyr had spoken back to him, Tristan quickly understood how Valyr interpreted his earlier words, waving his hands back and forth as he clarified himself. “I totally believe you that you made the armor set yourself!”

“However…” Tristan scratched the back of his head not long after. “Even though I believe you made the armor set yourself, there’s just something about it that feels off.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Valyr,” said the man as he looked at Valyr eye to eye. “You’re definitely a skilled blacksmith. With the fact that you have a Mythic blacksmith class, that skill is elevated even further.”

“But don’t you think it’s kind of odd for a blacksmith to forge an Epic piece of equipment even though it’s only been like… what? A bit over two months since they picked up blacksmithing?” As these words came out of Tristan’s mouth, the man watched as the frown on Valyr’s face gradually became deeper.

“With that, it would be even more unbelievable for someone with that much experience to forge an armor set, an Epic grade armor set at that.”

“Is that so?” Though Valyr knew that Tristan’s words made sense from a realistic perspective, with his circumstances, he felt that he was basically the result of the phrase ‘anything but’. He definitely agreed with Tristan that someone with only that much experience in blacksmithing wouldn’t be able to forge a piece of Epic grade equipment, much less a piece of Common grade equipment.

But that was only when that someone did not have the same level of experience Valyr had amassed in blacksmithing in his past life.

With that, it went without saying that Valyr was quite annoyed while listening to Tristan’s explanation, needing to take a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down as he responded back with a brief question. Nevertheless, at that point, he felt like he had to show Tristan what he was truly capable of when it came to forging, feeling as if his reputation as a blacksmith so far was being tarnished.

Suppressing the urge to let his rage get the better of himself, Valyr moved closer to Tristan, glancing at the Nascent Wyvern Armor set he had brought for a bit as he thought that he would have to postpone upgrading them for later. Asking Tristan if he could borrow his forging tools for the meantime, the latter asked back in response what had gotten into him all of a sudden.

Hearing Tristan’s question, Valyr merely responded, “Oh, you know. I just got the urge to forge something all of a sudden in front of you. After all, it’s been a bit over a month since we last met.”

‘It’s totally not because I’m doing this out of spite to prove to Tristan how far my skills in terms of blacksmithing have improved ever since we last met.’ Chanting this thought over and over in his mind as he conversed with Tristan, Valyr felt a bit of the annoyance and anger bubbling within him melt away as the owner of the smithy eventually agreed to his request, telling the young man that he was curious to see how much he had improved.

But of course, there was no doubt within Tristan that Valyr had decided to forge for him out of spite. It was evident in the latter’s aura anyway.

“Do you have any rare material I could perhaps use?” Allowing his emotions to settle down, Valyr went ahead and began the preparations for an impromptu forging session, with Tristan leading him to the smithy’s storage room located at the back. Once there, the two of them were greeted by the sight of an organized collection of materials, with Valyr briefly feeling the annoyance within him disappear for a moment because of it.

Unsurprisingly, this annoyance soon came back as he recalled the reason why he decided to forge in the first place, perusing through the materials in the storage room before choosing the materials he would be using.

‘Sand Serpent Fangs, Melafir Essence, Azure Iron, and Blazefield Stone.’ Looking at the items Valyr had chosen from the storage room as the two of them returned to the workshop portion of the smithy, the cogs in Tristan’s mind started to turn as he thought about the various pieces of equipment the young man could forge. ‘Hmm… I think he wouldn’t find any difficulty turning these materials into a dagger.’

‘Then again, his line of thinking might be different than mine.’ Deciding that he would find out his answer once he watched Valyr start to forge, Tristan stood by the sidelines as he allowed the young man to use his forging tools, which he did not mind since there was not really much for him to do thanks to the upcoming monster tide.

With that, Tristan watched as Valyr place the Melafir Essence and Azure Iron into the furnace, adding a bit more fuel to the flames as the latter allowed the flames to reach a higher temperature. At some point, the two items started to melt under the heat of the furnace, with the two eventually coming in contact with one another.

Whoosh!

At the very instant the two came in contact with one another, it was as if Tristan was watching two creatures fight against each other to the death, watching as the Melafir Essence and Azure Iron engulf one another as they gradually shrunk in size. Eventually, the melding process was finished, prompting Valyr to take out the fused metal from the furnace and place it on the anvil, deftly hammering out the metal flat before contorting it into a shape that Tristan could not recognize at first.

However, after a few more trips to the furnace and a bit more hammering, the general shape of the equipment Valyr was forging gradually came to light, allowing Tristan to realize as his eyes briefly widened in surprise. ‘Is he forging a metal glove?’

‘He’s definitely forging a metal glove.’ Just as the question had popped up in his mind, the answer to his question also came about not long after, watching Valyr bend parts of the metal that would act as the grooves for the finger as he added joints to them, giving them the ability to move once worn by someone.

After that, he placed the rough metal glove in the furnace for a bit before taking it out sometime later, using a chisel to bore a few small holes on the surface of the glove, something Tristan quickly realized as the places where the Sand Serpent Fangs and the Blazefield Stone Valyr grabbed earlier would be put on.

Unsurprisingly, Tristan’s train of thought was correct, with Valyr inlaying the Sand Serpent Fangs where the base knuckles of the fingers where, while the Blazefield Stone could be found at the center of the glove, acting as a centerpiece to the entire item.

Once he had made sure that they were placed correctly, he then put the entire thing into the furnace for a couple of minutes, much to Tristan’s confusion, before taking it out once more, hammering out the small imperfections that Tristan felt was a useless endeavor.

“Here you go.” With the anger and annoyance he had been feeling earlier gone now that he was done forging the item, Valyr gave the complete item for Tristan to check, prompting the latter to faintly nod in response before proceeding to activate Analysis on the metal glove.

After that… what he found out next left him at a loss for words.𝑂𝓋𝒍xt.𝑐𝐎𝓜