Unlike Faulus and Valyr, the man that decided to take the initiative to introduce himself did not wear any clothes that seemed to be related to his affiliation with his respective guild. Instead, the man wore what looked to be a plain gray shirt, accompanied by a pair of ink black pants and shoes.

Nevertheless, the simplicity in the man’s clothing only brought more attention to the man’s face, making one feel like they could not take their eyes off from him. With a head of decently long reddish-brown hair, and a pair of dark green irises, one would have probably mistaken him for a member of the Pyrrhia clan.

However, rather than give off the aura of someone who had been immersed in the flames of the forge, the man instead gave off the feeling that he enveloped everything, as if he existed in everything within one’s surroundings.

“My name is Vylhalteinn Impyris.” Seeing that Valyr and the others were looking at him, the man faintly grinned. “I come from the far lands of the Norvelling Tundra, which is why my first name is quite long.”

Making sure that each word he spoke was crisp and clear, he continued. “I shall be representing the Sage Guild in our upcoming journey into the Four Pillars’ Inheritance. I hope we could show each other’s strengths to the fullest during this tournament, so we would be able to better assist one another once we’re inside.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention. Feel free to call me Vyl or Hal if you’re not used to my first name. Glad to be working with you.” At these words, Hal gave each of them a respectful half-bow, prompting the three to look at one another as they wondered who should go next.

“Er…” Eventually, after looking at each other for a while, the woman that came before Hal decided to go next.

“My name is Loreina Rainiere san Cappe,” she said, twiddling her thumbs as she looked at the ground. Because of that, it was slightly difficult for the others to hear her introduction.

“I am currently 18 years old, turning 19 in a few months…” With Loreina continuing to look down at the ground, Valyr and the others were forced to adjust themselves. “I represent the Tailor Guild in this upcoming expedition…”

“Please take good care of me.” With her voice becoming louder at the end of her introduction, she then gave a half-bow to the three, deciding to copy what Hal did earlier in his introduction.

“Guess I’ll go up next.” Seeing Loreina take her seat, Faulus took the initiative, giving Valyr a slightly condescending look as he stood up.

“The name’s Faulus Erlenmeyer, the greatest prodigy of the Erlenmeyer family,” said the young man with a confident grin. “I’m known by many titles, but I’m pretty sure all of you know me as the Lord of Medicine.”

“I have indeed heard that title before, yes.” Hearing Faulus’ words, Hal nodded in response.

“I would like to thank you for the Panacea you’ve given me back then.” Putting two and two together in her mind, Loreina did not hesitate to show her gratitude to the alchemist, giving the young man a sincere half-bow.

“Oh, it’s nothing at all…” Not expecting Loreina to react like that, Faulus let out an awkward chuckle as he waved his hands around, only to then notice that Valyr had not said anything after he revealed his title.

“Ahem.” Clearing his throat as he changed the topic, the young man continued with his introduction. “I have been specially chosen by the Alchemist Guild to represent the alchemists in this upcoming journey in the Four Pillars’ Inheritance.”

“It would be a great pleasure to work with all of you.” Giving everyone a half-bow as he finished his introduction, Faulus slowed down his half-bow as he glared at Valyr, telling the latter through his eyes that the incident from earlier was not over.

In response to the glare, Valyr merely gave the young man a faint grin, showing through his expression that he was not afraid of continuing such a thing.

“Since everyone’s already introduced themselves, then that only leaves me.” Feeling somewhat impressed at Faulus for knowing how not to show his grudges so openly, Valyr went ahead and stood up, prompting both Hal and Loreina to look at him.

‘Heh. Now you have no excuse but to introduce yourself.’ Watching from the other side of the crater, a faint smirk crept up onto Faulus’ lips, eager to know the true identity of the man who had punched him in the stomach.

“I have been chosen by the Blacksmith Guild to represent the blacksmiths during this upcoming expedition.” Starting his introduction, Valyr decided to introduce himself using the identity that many people knew about. “Compared to you three, who all have such laudable titles, I am in many ways lacking.”

‘So, you admit you’re a no-name that only has brawns for brain, huh?’ With the smirk on his face continuing to widen as he listened, Faulus was about to let out a faint chuckle…

Only for it to become stuck in his throat once Valyr told everyone his name.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of me before, but my name is Ylvar.” Giving the three a respectful bow just like what the others did, Valyr eventually sat down once more, allowing the others to take in what he had just said.

“Did you just say you’re Ylvar?” After a moment of silence covered the entire area, Hal decided to break it as he asked Valyr a question.

“That would be me.” Valyr nodded in response, his eyes faintly glistening as he asked back, “Wait… have you heard of me before?”

“Only recently.” Hal nodded. “I’ve heard rumors that there’s someone our age from the Blacksmith Guild that was able to forge an artifact. I never thought I’d be meeting that person in the flesh.”

“Oh, you flatter me.” Letting out a faint chuckle, Valyr gave off the pretense that he was humble and down to earth. “I’m certain you’d be able to forge an artifact as well.”𝒪𝓋𝔩xt.𝗰𝒪𝗆

“Forging an artifact is no simple feat, Ylvar.” Responding to Valyr’s words, Loreina spoke in a calm tone. “Even us three, who are considered great talents in our respective fields, only have a higher chance at doing what you just did.”

“Is that so?” Valyr went silent for a bit as he nodded. “Well, I’ll have to thank the heavens for the luck they’ve given me to forge the artifact, then.”

As Hal and Loreina nodded in response to his words, Valyr looked at the only person among them that had not talked about his identity yet.

Unsurprisingly, after hearing that the man who punched him earlier was none other than a prodigy who had recently forged an artifact, a bitter expression covered the entirety of Faulus’ face as he felt indignation at how the other reacted to Valyr’s introduction.

“In any case, shall we begin the tournament?” Taking delight at the expression Faulus had after discovering the identity he had unveiled to them, Valyr’s expression quickly returned to normal as he changed the topic of their conversation.

“Ah, yes. I suppose we should begin.” Nodding in response, Hal stood up and looked at the three other candidates surrounding the crater. One by one, he stared at them, imprinting their appearances to his memory.

ραΠdαsΝοvεl ƈοm “I don’t know if you have been told this before coming here, but the Imperial Production Guild has temporarily designated me as the leader for the upcoming expedition into the inheritance,” said Hal not long after. “However, as I’ve mentioned, this position of mine is only temporary. The true leader for the upcoming inheritance shall instead be revealed once we assess each other’s combat skills.”

“As the temporary leader of the group, I suggest each of us have a one-on-one fight against each other, making sure that each person would remember the strengths of the members they’ll be working with,” he continued, prompting Loreina and Valyr to nod in agreement. “With that, I would also like to suggest the two sides fighting to introduce their specialties to the other side before the fight begins.”

“Faulus, how about you go first?” Just as the young alchemist was about to voice a complaint at how the leader position was going to be assessed through combat strength, Hal had forced him to leave this complaint stuck in the back of his throat as he appeared somewhat stupefied.

“Me?” Pointing at himself, Faulus gradually stood up from his seat as Hal nodded in response to his question.

“Feel free to request who you would like to fight against.” Sitting down once more, Hal moved the spotlight towards Faulus, causing the latter to look at the three as he took in a deep breath.

“Since that’s the case, I would like to fight against…” Calmly assessing his chances of winning against his opponent, Faulus eventually focused his attention on a certain man, hoping in the back of his mind that his hunch wasn’t wrong.

“Ylvar.”