abcnovels
Chapter 1032: A Meeting Overdue
Chapter 1032: A Meeting Overdue
Chapter 1032: A Meeting Overdue
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Whoosh!
Standing in the center of a giant magic circle, Valyr took in a deep breath as he took his time to acclimate to his current surroundings.
Taking a look if [Thousand Polymorph] had been deactivated during the teleportation, the young man went ahead and scanned himself, eventually letting out an inward sigh of relief as his appearance still remained that of his Ylvar identity.
Moving out of the magic circle after confirming that his disguise remained intact, it was only then did a staff member from the empire's Blacksmith Guild arrive to greet him, sporting a slightly apologetic expression as he opened his mouth.
"I was informed that we'd be receiving a guest within the day, but I never thought it would just be before noon."
Giving Valyr a respectful half-bow, the staff member apologized to the young man for being late once more before escorting him out of the guild's Teleportation Hall.
"You're the one called Ylvar, right?" asked the staff member, his eyes glistening with his interest as the two made their way to the guild's main hall. "The one Algerie Kingdom Guild Leader Pyrrhia constantly talked about."
In response, Valyr merely nodded, allowing the staff member to continue talking as he gradually committed the layout of the empire's Blacksmith Guild to memory.
At the same time, he split off part of his attention towards the staff member's words, seeing as it could give him insight to how his identity was treated in a place like the empire.
Unsurprisingly, with the fact that he'd forged an artifact while being at the peak of Rank 2, it went without saying that Ylvar had become famous throughout the kingdoms and the empire under the sovereignty.
Then again, if that weren't the case, the weapons he'd forged for the auction back then wouldn't have fetched a hefty price.
Returning his wandering thoughts back to the present, the young man continued to listen to the staff member talk, being informed that almost everyone in the empire's Blacksmith Guild looked up to him.
"Though, there are also those who think that they have the ability and knowledge to surpass your feat," said the staff member, slightly shrugging his shoulders as the two arrived at the main hall.
"In any case, my work here is done. The guild leader shall meet with you shortly."
Nodding in response, Valyr went ahead and thanked the staff member for his time, which caused the latter to grin as the young man was eventually left to his own devices.
Feeling like it would take quite some for the guild leader of the current branch to meet up with him, Valyr decided to explore a bit more of the Blacksmith Guild, slowly shifting his steps towards the guild's entrance.
Once there, he was immediately greeted by the sight of the vastness of the empire, causing a faint smile to appear on Valyr's face as he was reminded of a scene in his past life.
Though the empire was on the losing end of the War of the Three Sovereignties by the time Valyr had arrived in his past life, the sight that the empire gave him was still enough to leave him in awe.
With those memories overlapping with the current sight before him, Valyr felt that the empire faintly exuded an air of grandeur that befitted its position, though slightly dampened to the nervousness its citizens had about the ongoing war with the orcs.
Nevertheless, that did not diminish the appearance of the empire in any way, with the various buildings lining up its streets a match for the buildings that could be found on the main streets of Algerie Kingdom.
Not only that, but those buildings extended as far as his eyes could see, with his improved perception even failing to inform him the full extent of the territory the empire occupied.
Just as he had the urge to head outside to remind himself how large the empire was, a familiar voice spoke behind him, prompting the young man to turn around in response.
"I'd say the empire occupies a territory at least ten times larger than the kingdom you came from," said the voice, seemingly having read the thoughts in Valyr's mind.
Quickly hiding the brief surprise he felt from the answer, the young man went ahead and gave a half-bow to the man before him, whose appearance looked out of place for the Blacksmith Guild.
However, everyone that passed by the man looked at him with admiration, respect, and awe, reminding Valyr of the man that made an appearance after his forging duel against Theraldine.
"Long time no see, Ylvar," said Byron with a smile. "I suppose you still remember me?" "Director Byron." Valyr nodded as he replied, causing the man's smile to widen. "Thank you for helping the Imperial Alchemist accept my request."
"Julian even told you that?" replied the man, letting out a slight chuckle as Valyr nodded to the question. "Well, no matter. I only forwarded the message to her. She accepted your request out of her own volition."
"So, shall we head to where she is right now?" asked Byron soon after, slightly gesturing towards the entrance. "Or shall we head there at a later time? After all, if we head there now, you might have to wait for quite some time there due to her busy schedule."
"If you don't mind, it would be great if we could head there now." Thinking about the meeting he'd attend alongside Julian in a couple of days, it did not take long for Valyr to make a decision, prompting Byron to nod in response.
With that, the two of them left the empire's Blacksmith Guild as they headed towards the largest building at the center of the empire.
Whoosh!
"How much do you know about the empire?" Pushing his agility to his limits, Byron briefly had a look of surprise on his face once he noticed Valyr had no problems catching up to him.
"This is my first time coming here," replied the young man after a bit of silence, even though he knew a lot about the empire in reality.
"I see." Nodding at the young man's words, Byron decided to give a brief explanation of where they were heading to him. "Well, where we're heading at the moment is called the beating heart of the empire."
"To put it in better terms, it's the foundation of the empire's strength," the man continued. "Many people call it the Meltierre Heavenly Court because of that, which they eventually decided to adopt as well."
"I don't want to bore you about the building's history, so just keep in mind that the Imperial Alchemist wields a high level of authority within the Heavenly Court."
In response, Valyr nodded, his gaze darting to and fro from time to time as he committed the surroundings they passed through to memory.
At the same time, he engaged in a conversation on blacksmithing with Byron, causing their journey to the Meltierre Heavenly Court to feel shorter than it initially seemed.
'If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't have even thought of the man escorting me as the director of the Blacksmith Guild's main branch,' briefly thought the young man to himself, recalling the things Julian told him and Theraldine in the past.
'Now that I think about it, I wonder how she's doing.'
Deciding to take the time to ask Julian about Theraldine some time in the future, Valyr soon returned to his conversation with Byron, allowing the relationship between them to improve as the two arrived at the Meltierre Heavenly Court around half an hour later.
...
'I really have to say...' By the time the two arrived at the entrance to the Heavenly Court, both Byron and Valyr took their time to catch their breaths, considering how they traveled a distance far greater than two Algerie Kingdoms put side by side at full speed.
'It's a blessing that the mark the Alltide gave me turned out like this.'
Sitting on the stairs leading up to the entrance, Valyr briefly thought about the mark he'd gotten that he'd corrupted with his energy, prompting him to take a look at it with the system
to figure out what he'd changed exactly.
Ding!
[Partial Mark of the Alltide (Tier III)] (Curse)
Rarity: ???
The Mark of the Alltide... most of the description has been omitted.
Though it contains the Alltide's wrath, the user has resisted against the formation of the mark
from the beginning with their energy, corrupting and nullifying some of the features that
come along with the mark.
As long as the user is within an area unclaimed by civilization, any wild beasts and monsters within a 300 meter radius around the user shall aim to kill you no matter what. Additionally, all beasts and monsters within the 300 meter radius shall have their strength augmented to two tiers above their usual level of strength. Killing beasts and monsters under the effects of this augmentation causes them to temporarily regain a portion of their lost
health.
The tracking function attached by the Alltide to the mark has been nullified due to the tampering of the user.
'Not only is the radius of the mark weakened, the consequence of killing a monster under its
effect is weakened as well.' Looking through its description in his mind, Valyr nodded in understanding, soon closing the screen as he noticed Byron calling for him.
'Of course, the fact that the Alltide can't track me anymore is definitely the greatest change.'
Feeling a great burden being lifted off his shoulders from this confirmation, Valyr had a faint smile on his face as he stood up to head to where Byron was.
Making sure that the two of them had recovered their strengths from the long journey they took, it was only then did the two enter the Meltierre Heavenly Court, giving Valyr a close look to a building he'd only seen from the outside in the past.