MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1553: The Empire’s Request (3)

”...”

Blankly staring at the writ he was currently holding, Valyr slowly shifted his attention towards Norggif as he looked at the old man with a hint of anger.

”...Was the entire thing just a setup for you to peddle this?” asked the young man, trying his best not to let his emotions get the better of him.

”Partly.” Surprisingly, Norggif decided to tell the truth, which dispelled some of the anger Valyr had towards him. ”However, the words I’ve told you are all true. Take a look through the writ yourself.”

Hearing those words, the young man went ahead and opened the writ he received, still feeling a bit annoyed at the fact that the other method to formally accept the request was to pay a certain fee for the writ.

Though, once he began to read through the contents of the writ, Valyr’s annoyance and anger gradually subsided. Soon, he began to think that paying for the writ was not as bad as he initially made it out to be.

’Under the orders of the Meltierre Empire, the owner of this writ is required to fulfill the following request according to the following specifications...’

Skimming through the part that tackled the request he accepted in detail, the young man soon found himself going through the part that tackled the rewards he would obtain from the empire after its completion.

Feeling more than satisfied with the rewards he’d obtain in exchange for the effort he’d put into it, he decided to continue reading through the writ, eventually finding the part that talked about the conversation he and Norggif had just moments earlier.

’This writ serves as a proof and a contract that the results obtained by its owner during the fulfillment of the request is under the ownership of the writ’s owner.’

’If ever the empire decides to make use of the results from this request for their own purposes, they must pay the owner a royalty fee proportional to its level of usage.’

”...Pretty good.”

By the time Valyr was done going through the contents of the entire writ, he noticed that the writ gave off an aura that faintly connected itself with the entire empire.

Taking note of this, the young man looked back at Norggif, who merely gave him a slight smile in response.

”Now that you’ve obtained what you’ve sought, it’s best for you to leave now,” said the old man, only to then use a bit of energy to move Valyr out of the room.

Whoosh!

Without even being given a chance to thank the old man, the young man watched as the decrepit door opened under Norggif’s control, only for it to close after he’d been pushed out into the corridor.

Clack!

”...” Scratching the back of his head as he stared at the door for a bit longer, Valyr soon stored the writ he received into his spatial bracelet for safekeeping.

Then, after briefly thinking about how eccentric the old man was, the young man eventually made his way out of the Heavenly Court, returning to the Blacksmith Guild around 10 minutes later.

...

”...I see.”

After returning to the private workshop allotted to him, Valyr went ahead and sent a message to Byron, asking the latter if he had formally accepted the empire’s request.

In response, the man asked him if Norggif talked to him after entering the Heavenly Court, which briefly left the young man at a slight loss for words.

Though, once he read Byron’s explanation after he responded, the young man soon felt that his time at the Heavenly Court made a lot more sense now.

”So, Norggif used to be the chief director of the empire’s blacksmithing division,” murmured Valyr to himself as he continued to read through Byron’s messages.

”However, rather than retire after serving the empire for over a thousand years, he decided to continue helping the empire in his own way by acting as a guide to the future generation of blacksmiths...”

”...Which has something to do with the writ I obtained.”

As these words left his mouth, Valyr fell silent for a bit.

According to what Byron told him, the only time Norggif allowed a blacksmith to enter their room was because they possessed immense potential in the art of blacksmithing.

”I don’t really think I have that potential, though,” said the young man after that, closing the screen he brought up before taking out the writ from his spatial bracelet.

”Now to look at the request in more detail.”

Whoosh!

Although he already had a rough idea of what he had to do after receiving the writ from Norggif earlier, the young man had ultimately skimmed through that part of the writ for the most part, considering that he’d probably take a look at it once he was back at the Blacksmith Guild.

Of course, now that he was back at the guild, he had no excuse not to look at that part of the writ anymore.

”For the most part, what Byron told me before was true.” Starting to read through the request in detail, Valyr was quickly able to confirm the information the man had shared with him in the past was accurate.

Though, as he continued to read through it, the request began to veer off what he expected it to be.

”A total of 10 masterwork arquebuses, with the main one being considerably higher quality than the nine other ones that would be part of the request...”

”Highly preferred if these masterwork arquebuses has a simpler firing mechanism wherein the need to light a flame is removed...”

”If the request is successfully complete, a version of the masterwork arquebus that could target a larger area would be requested...”

”So...” Closing his eyes for a bit, Valyr eventually closed the writ up and tossed it back into his spatial bracelet. ”What I’m getting here is the empire wants me to make 10 flintlocks and a possible mortar.”

”The mortar aside, I don’t really have to make 10 guns flintlocks,” murmured the young man, the gears in his mind starting to turn. ”I could replace the matchlock mechanism I’m already using with either a wheellock or a snaplock mechanism and that would still fit their criteria.”

”...Or I could go one step further and fully modernize the arquebus by going with the caplock mechanism...”

”But I don’t have the advancements needed to make that a reality yet.”

Just as Valyr was continuing to ponder over the full request the empire had asked of him, a thought suddenly popped up in his mind the moment he thought more about implementing the caplock mechanism.

And from there, he remembered...

...That a visit he had to make at some place was now long overdue.