บท 73: One's Current Limits

As Valyr exclaimed out in shock due to the notifications he had received related to the changes in his spear, Tristan was teeming with curiosity, wondering what kind of notification Valyr had obtained to warrant such a reaction. "What happened?"

"My spear underwent a transmutation." Taking in a few deep breaths to compose himself, Valyr redirected his attention towards Tristan, his expression a mix of both excitement and curiosity towards the new capabilities of his spear.

Though, as if putting a dampener on his mood, Tristan gave Valyr a look of understanding before lightly nodding, shrugging his shoulders in nonchalance. "Well, with how much Lesser Tidemother Blood we've given that spear of yours, it would've been more surprising if it didn't undergo a transmutation."

"Speaking of which, have you checked it out with [Analysis] yet? Wouldn't be surprised if the blood did more than it normally would." Hearing those words come out of Tristan's mouth, Valyr's somewhat dampened mood regained a bit of previous vigor, activating [Analysis] as he gazed at his spear. Soon, his eyes gained a light blue tint to it as a screen containing the description of the new spear appeared in front of his face a few seconds later.

Ding!

Unsurprisingly, while reading through the spear's description, Valyr's eyes lit up with excitement, his free hand clenching into a fist as he suppressed the urge to scream out in joy. Nevertheless, with the wide smile prevalent on Valyr's face, it would not take long for one to understand that the changes in the spear were far greater than he had initially expected.

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[Tideblood Spear] (Level 10)

Rarity: Common+

Weapon Bond: Lv. 1 (Valyr)

Attack: 17 - 28 (+10%)

Previously a training weapon given to newly enlisted guards of Astarto Village, after undergoing through various events, the wooden spear of before had broken through its limits, achieving a form that it had deemed far more suitable for its current wielder. Due to the copious amounts of Lesser Tidemother Blood absorbed by it, it has taken on a small portion of the Lesser Tidemother's characteristics, transforming it into something that the wielder could use in battle.

As the wielder has continued to use the spear even though they have far outgrown it, traces of a soul have awakened inside the spear. With the Lesser Tidemother Blood in it, this soul has become more solidified, allowing it to grow further and surpass its limits. Nevertheless, it knows that there is still more potential within it.

Remarks: Due to your immense stubbornness, you've finally gotten yourself a diamond in the rough.

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Aside from the fact that the spear's rarity had gained a plus modifier to it, as well as the fact that its Attack stat had increased, Valyr was most excited about the fact that it had gained an innate skill after undergoing through a transmutation.

Though it seemed quite common for items at higher rarities to have innate skills, given how Valyr had two, the first one being the Lesser Tidemother Greaves he had stowed away in his dormitory room, the chances of an item having an innate skill was far lower than one might think. Because of this, many players had gone into a frenzy when news of a groundbreaking innate skill had been found in a weapon, causing them to go on a witch hunt for the weapon itself.

Nevertheless, as he had been a blacksmith in the past, Valyr paid no heed to these groundbreaking innate skills, instead being satisfied with the innate skills he would imbue in the weapons he wielded in the past, with some even being on par with a few of them. With that, although Valyr was excited by the fact that he had gained another skill in his repertoire for free, his reaction to it was more subdued than most.

'Then again, lifesteal is a hard thing to come by if you're not part of the Vampire race… or if your class doesn't have anything to do with blood.' Placing these thoughts at the back of his head, Valyr closed the screen in front of him and affixed the spear to his back, flashing Tristan a satisfied smile as he told the latter a bit of the changes that had occurred to the spear because of the blood.

Unsurprisingly, the information Valyr had given Tristan was more than enough to satisfy him, prompting a light smile to adorn his face as he let out a carefree sigh. "To think the blood I've been collecting on a whim would have such effects on a weapon with a weapon bond."

"You know what? I'm going to push ahead with the idea of forging a pair of metal knuckles for myself. The transformation your spear had undergone is enough of a reason for me to do that." Saying those words, Tristan flashed a toothy grin towards Valyr, prompting the latter to let out a chuckle in response.

"At the very least, you should credit me for the idea, no?"

"What idea? I came up with the idea all by myself." Not willing to give Valyr the satisfaction of being the one who came up with the idea, Tristan let out a chuckle as he stood up from the anvil, urging Valyr to sit down as a look of understanding appeared on the latter's face. Realizing what Tristan wanted him to do, he rubbed his hands in excitement, picking up the forging hammer by the side of the anvil.

"Aren't you quite eager?" Tristan laughed, heading to the box of materials located near the furnace before throwing a couple chunks of copper metal towards Valyr. "Anyways, with the monster tide now over, you're now free to attempt forging a dagger as much as you want."

"Though, we can only do three attempts a day for the next few days." Hearing such contradicting words come out of Tristan's mouth, Valyr shot him a look of incredulity, tilting his head in slight confusion.

Thankfully, it did not take long for Tristan to realize what he had just said, shrugging his shoulders as he opened his mouth to explain. "The village walls are still broken even though the monster tide has ended. Since the village doesn't really have any skilled stonemasons, they could only ask me to help out in repairing it… which is better than nothing, I guess."

"Now, does that clear up your confusion?" Seeing as Valyr nodded in response to this question, Tristan nodded back at him, telling the former that he was free to start his attempts whenever he wanted.

And thus, hours quickly passed within the smithy, with sounds of metal hitting against metal reverberating throughout the four corners of its walls. As Valyr was able to have one go at forging for the past few days that led up to the monster tide, more and more of the blacksmithing experience he had accrued from his past life was unearthed, allowing his skills with the hammer to become more refined than usual.

Of course, to Tristan's eyes, it only seemed that Valyr was finally getting the hang of it.

By the time the three attempts had been finished, Valyr stood up from the seat and left the smithy after bidding farewell to Tristan. Due to the fact that he wanted it to seem that he became more and more skilled with forging the more attempts he got, the quality of his work increased with every attempt, though he made it seem like his second attempt felt like the attempt that was going to successfully create a dagger. Unfortunately, even with Tristan intently looking at his work with incredulity, he failed that attempt at the very last moment, causing his three attempts at forging daggers to become nothing more than subpar blades.

Nevertheless, he had a feeling that the day he could successfully forge a dagger in front of Tristan had gotten closer.