“Hmm?” Raising his eyebrows in curiosity as a response to Valyr’s suggestion, Julian took a look at how much time there was left before the sun began to set, which was only about one and a half hours away. “I don’t mind, but why the need to take a detour?”

“My armor set that I use is still back at the inn I’m staying in.” Responding to the question, Valyr had a slightly apologetic smile on his face as he looked at Julian. “Considering that I’m going to delve into a dungeon for Skill Keys, wouldn’t I have a greater advantage if I brought along my armor set with me?”

“But don’t you have a spatial bracelet with you?” In response, Julian pointed at the bracelet Valyr wore, causing the latter to bitterly smile as he gave the bracelet to the former for him to take a look. At first, Julian did not understand why the young man had given him the bracelet, though after infusing his mana into it, it quickly became clear to him.

“Now that I think about it, it’s actually rare for someone at your rank to own a spatial bracelet.” Bitterly smiling as he gave the spatial bracelet back to Valyr, Julian made his way to the entrance, prompting Valyr to follow behind him as the two of them made their way to the inn. “Judging by its design and its storage capacity, you got it from the Boundless Skill Pavilion, right?”

“I wasn’t even expecting to get a spatial bracelet after buying skill books from there,” said Valyr in response as he softly chuckled. “In fact, my initial idea was to apply some spatial compression magic on my armor set so I could carry the entire set wherever as long as I had a backpack with me.”

“Spatial compression magic, huh?” As the two of them continued to walk through the streets of Algerie City, Julian pondered over the matter for a bit. “It’s definitely far cheaper than getting a spatial bracelet capable of storing your entire armor set, but it’s still quite expensive.”

“Fortunately for you, I know a couple of high level mages that could help you out with that problem.” Hearing these words leave Julian’s mouth, Valyr stopped in his tracks for a bit as he looked at the middle-aged man before him as a savior, wondering where such a person like him had been all his life. “I could negotiate with them to get a lower price, but I guess that’ll have to wait until you return from the Lesser Meltierre Mountains.”

“Speaking of which, why that place out of all other places to get Skill Keys?” asked Julian not long after. “You do know we have a dungeon that drops Skill Keys inside the city, right?”

“Of course I do.” Valyr nodded. “However, the amount of effort to get one Skill Key from the Algerie Catacombs is a lot. After all, you’d have to fight against the dungeon boss to get one, unlike the Lesser Meltierre Mountains, where every monster has a chance of dropping it.”

“That I cannot refute.”

ραпdα—nᴏνa| сom “I do plan on heading there for Epic grade Skill Keys in the future, though. If I remember correctly, the Lesser Meltierre Mountains only has dungeons that can drop Rare grade Skill Keys at most.”

“Or you could just buy them,” said Julian in response. “There’s not much demand for Epic grade Skill Keys, considering how the chances of one owning an Epic grade skill in this kingdom, perhaps in the entire empire, is pretty low.”

“Then again, the Lesser Meltierre Mountains also has a small chance to drop Skill Shards, so I understand why you chose that place.”

𝚘𝑣𝗅xt.𝒸𝑜𝑚

“I’ll have to thank you in advance for helping me find a mage that could cast spatial compression magic on my armor, then.” Seeing that Julian was done talking about the dungeon he was heading to, Valyr thanked the man for his offer from earlier, which the latter responded with a smile as they eventually arrived at the inn Valyr was staying in.

…

“Oh, you’re finally back.” Noticing that the door to the room was being opened, Wells went ahead and greeted Valyr, only to become silent as he looked at the middle-aged man that came along with him. “And that is…?”

“Julian Pyrrhia, the Guildmaster of Algerie Kingdom’s Blacksmith Guild.” As these words left Valyr’s mouth, Wells stood frozen in place as he stared at Julian with his mouth slightly agape, not expecting the person to have such an identity.

“Nice to meet you.” Deciding to be intentionally oblivious towards the shock Wells felt towards his identity, Julian went ahead and struck up a conversation with Wells as Valyr made his way to his room to grab his armor set. “You’re Valyr’s friend, right?”

“Wells Anadhar…” Wondering if the conversation he was having right now was even real or not, Wells responded to the question nevertheless, causing Julian to let out a chuckle as he gradually made the former more comfortable around his presence.

“Now that I think about it, what brings you and uh… Julian here?” After the nervousness he felt from the entire situation gradually disappeared, Wells shifted his gaze to where Valyr was, only to find out that the latter was in the process of wearing his Nascent Wyvern Armor.

“We made a quick detour to grab the armor set,” said Valyr in response as he appeared in front of Julian, who briefly whistled in admiration at the craftsmanship of the set. “I’ll be heading to the Lesser Meltierre Mountains, actually.”

“Really?” At those words, Wells frowned. “Didn’t you just come back from Astarto Village yesterday? And now you’re telling me you’re going to head to some other faraway place right now?”

“You should really take a break, Valyr.”

Feeling the concern behind Wells’ words, an apologetic smile appeared on Valyr’s lips, which were hidden underneath the helmet he wore. Nevertheless, he still relayed this emotion he felt through the tone of his voice. “I understand the concern, but I’m trying to prepare as much as possible for the upcoming inheritance.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take some time off and relax, or at the very least go through your things at a slower pace.” Wells let out a sigh as he looked at Valyr. “We still have a long life ahead of us, Valyr. There’s no need to rush.”

‘If only you knew what I was preparing for, Wells.’ At those words, Valyr could not stop himself from adorning a bitter smile, thinking about the main reason why he felt a sense of urgency to get stronger. However, he decided not to tell Wells about it, instead keeping it for himself as he replied, “Don’t worry. I understand what you mean.”

“Once I get back from the Lesser Meltierre Mountains, I promise you that I’ll take a long break and rest.”

“I really hope you do, Valyr. You may be a Rank 2 class holder now, but your body still has a limit.”

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind.” With that, Valyr bade farewell to Wells as he and Julian left the inn, making their way back to the Blacksmith Guild not long after.

“You know, you’ve got yourself a good friend. Not a lot of people would care for others like that.” In the midst of their walk back to the guild, Julian looked at Valyr beside him and talked about Wells. In response to those words, Valyr went silent as a smile crept up on his lips, only for him to nod in agreement soon after.

“I really do.”

“He’s a great friend.”