MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Unsurprisingly, Valyr became confused.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

In response, Sven wryly smiled after seeing Valyr's reaction.

"I had a feeling you weren't paying attention to that," said Sven, faintly shaking his head.

"Well, no matter. Everything will make sense as long as you use an identification skill on me."

Though still confused by what Sven meant by his words, Valyr went ahead and did what he was told, using [Superior Analysis] on the man before him.

Ding!

————

[Sven Charles Anthony Wayne VII] (Memory Image)

Class: Grand Forger of Pure Tranquility (Rank 1 — Ancient)

Subclass: Scholar of Grand Enlightenment (Mythic)

Species: Human (1st Unsealing)

Level: 15

Power Level: 12,003 (A)

————

HP: 8,170/8,170

MP: 21,100/21,100

————

Attack: 1,566 - 1,566

Defense: 1,302 - 1,302

Stats: 592 VIT, 712 STR, 550 AGI, 1453 DEX, 1529 INT, 484 WIS, 542 PER, 112 LUK

Skills: [Pure Tranquil Forging Style], [Pure Tranquil World Infusion], [Pure Tranquil Equipment Enhancement], and 69 other skills. 

Remarks: Though weakened by the rules of the Gates of Awakening, this memory image still greatly resembles the true Sven Wayne VII, the forger who was considered to have achieved the zenith of flow.

————

"Hiss…"

Sucking in a deep breath of cold air, Valyr was left at a complete loss for words as he read through Sven's status screen.

'An Ancient grade main class and a Mythic grade subclass,' inwardly muttered the young man to himself, thinking about how high one's stats would reach with such a combination.

With that, he focused his attention towards the man's stats, pleasantly surprised that most of them were still at the hundreds.

In fact, both the man's HP and MP were also considered quite low, prompting him to look at the status screen to find out his answer.

'Level 15…'

Of course, it did not take long for Valyr to find the great outlier in the man's status screen, falling into silence as he pondered over what Sven meant by his earlier words.

"Level 15… handicap…" Muttering these words to himself, the gears in his mind gradually started to turn, eventually connecting all of the pieces once he recalled the words the voice had told him before the trial began.

"If I'm getting this right… you're currently at the early levels of Rank 1… but the level of skill you can unleash is at the peak of Rank 3," said Valyr to Sven, trying to sort out his thoughts.

Hearing Valyr's hypothesis, Sven smiled in relief. "Well, you're mostly correct."

"I am indeed at the early levels of Rank 1, but the level of skill I can unleash is exactly three ranks above my level," said the man. "In other words, my skills are at the early levels of Rank 4."

"And just so you know, your next opponent will be at the middle levels of Rank 1," added Sven.

"I hope there's no need for me to explain this part for you to understand what's going on."

In response, Valyr faintly nodded with a wry smile. "I'm getting the gist of it."

After listening to Sven's explanation, it was only then did Valyr fully understand the meaning behind the voice's words from before the trial.

From what he could recall, the voice had mentioned two things that he found confusing at first.

Those two things were the fact that each smaller trial would differ by a class rank, and the fact that each image he would be fighting was considered an otherworldly prodigy at their time.

Now that Sven had laid everything in front of him, Valyr now more or less had a better idea of how the Trial of Nine Stars proceeded in terms of strength.

With Sven showing the skills of someone at the early levels of Rank 4, his hint made Valyr understand that his next opponent would have the strength of someone at the middle of Rank 4.

Following that pattern, the final opponent of the first smaller trial would then have the equivalent strength of someone at the later levels or the peak of Rank 4.

Then, once the second smaller trial began, the first opponent of that trial would have the levels of someone at the early levels of Rank 2 while having the equivalent strength of someone at the early levels of Rank 5.

Eventually, he would come face to face with the final opponent of the third smaller trial.

At that point, his opponent would be at the later levels or the peak of Rank 3…

But have the equivalent strength of someone at the same stage at Rank 6.

'I now see why the voice has mentioned the trial's stark increase in difficulty multiple times,' thought Valyr to himself, bitterly smiling at the thought.

'After all, even I wouldn't dare to fight against a Myth-level being.'

'Much less three of them in a row.'

"In any case, I'm sure the system wouldn't give me the quest to clear the Trial of Nine Stars to the end for no reason," muttered Valyr with a sigh, soon returning his gaze to Sven.

Looking at the man for a bit, a thought gradually surfaced in his mind.

"Why tell me all of this?" asked Valyr with a hint of confusion. 

"Aren't you supposed to discourage me from going even further?"

Hearing Valyr's questions, Sven nodded in agreement. "Normally, that would indeed be the case."

"However, from what you've shown me thus far, there's no doubt in my mind that you're destined to reach great heights."

"Perhaps not as high as the achievements I've reached, but still great heights," joked the man, letting out a faint chuckle.

"Either way, it would be a waste for a talented youngster like you to delve deeper into the Trial of Nine Stars without even having a clue of what you're up against."

"Think of it as an old geezer just wanting to take care of the younger generation."

Whoosh!

Just as he had uttered those words, the man's body started to gradually become transparent, causing him to look at Valyr with a sad smile.

"Ah. It seems that my time is almost up."

"Then again, it wouldn't make sense for me to stay here any longer with how the first fight is long done."

Watching the man disappear before his very eyes, it went without saying that Valyr had a slightly sad expression on his face.

"Thank you for the information you've shared," said the young man. "Whether it be from the memory or the warning you've just given me, you have my greatest gratitude."

At those words, Sven faintly chuckled. "You're making it seem like we're going to part ways for a very long time."

"Then again, I guess it does seem that way."

Going silent for a bit, Sven started at his continuously disappearing body for a bit before gazing at Valyr.

"Say, before I go… could you tell me your surname?"

"It's Zeihardt." Though he was hesitant at the start, the thought of keeping it to himself had already disappeared from the young man's mind.

"My name is Valyr Zeihardt."

"Zeihardt, huh…" muttered Sven before letting out a faint chuckle.

"To think I'd come across yet another Zeihardt with the potential to change the world…"

Saying those words, it did not take long for Sven to thoroughly disappear, leaving the young man with a feeling of emptiness.

However, it was only after saying a few more words to the young man did he truly disappear.

"Well, young Zeihardt..."

"Though our meeting has been short-lived…"

"This old geezer truly wishes you the very best of luck."