As he continued to watch Valyr hammer away on the copper, Tristan''s mouth went more and more agape from the shock he felt, wondering how a beginner like Valyr had such skill and finesse when it came to the hammer, considering how it was thetter''s first time wielding one.


    ''Did I… did I inadvertentlye across a natural cksmith?'' he could not help but think to himself. However, the more he watched Valyr work the metal in front of him as if it was child''s y, the more certain he became of that thought.


    Although they were rare, natural cksmiths weren''t unheard of. Recalling his past where he was still an apprentice under a cksmith, Tristan remembered a time where he had met with a person at around the same age as him, who was being touted as the future face of cksmithing. Naturally, as he was still a young man, Tristan could not help but let his jealousy take over his rationality, eventually challenging that person into a duel on who could forge the better weapon.


    Because of that event, Tristan had been enlightened to the world of natural cksmiths, people who seemed to have a natural talent for cksmithing, as if it was their purpose in life to be one. Unsurprisingly, the person he had challenged was one of those natural cksmiths, their final product being a weapon that was one rarity higher than what he had produced.


    Now having grown from that phase, Tristan could not help but feel giddy that he was going to be the teacher of a natural cksmith, letting his mind wander about as he wondered how renowned Valyr''s name would be in the years toe. Though, as he thought about it, there was also another possibility Valyr could be aside from a natural cksmith. Thinking about this other possibility, Tristan''s eyes could not help but darken as he thought, ''Either he''s a natural… or he''s just hiding all of the past experience he actually has on cksmithing before deciding to learn under me.''


    If Valyr were to hear what was going on in Tristan''s mind at the moment, Valyr would probably tell him that he was somewhat correct, considering that he did have past experience in cksmithing…


    In his past life, that is.


    Nevertheless, the more Tristan thought about it, the more usible it seemed. ''The way he''s wielding the hammer feels like he already has experience wielding it beforehand. On top of that, the way he''s hammering the metal feels like there''s purpose and intent behind each one. It doesn''t feel erratic or anything…''


    Eventually, he let out a light sigh. ''There''s no reason for me toe to hasty conclusions. Now that I think about it, Valyr came to me with his Technology Tree still locked, so there''s a higher chance he''s a natural instead of being a fraud. Then again, who knows if that''s really the case?''


    ''I''ll just have to find that out on my own.'' With that thought in mind, Tristan removed the de from the barrel before inspecting it once more. Nodding in satisfaction at how the de turned out, he ced it by the side for now, deciding to postpone sharpening the de after Valyr was done with his attempt.


    Coincidentally, at that very moment, Valyr realized that he had gotten too engrossed in hammering the metal as he allowed his past experience to take over. Shifting the gear into manual, he slowed down his pace considerably, noticing that the metal before him had roughly taken on the shape of the dagger in the blueprint Tristan gave him, with some spots even showing detail not seen in the blueprint.


    ''I almost forgot this is supposed to be my first attempt at forging,'' Valyr thought, inwardly cursing at himself for getting engrossed. Though, not long after, he inwardly let out a sigh, recalling that it had been a long time since he hadst forged something. In fact, thest time he had forged something was about a year and a half before the final battle, which was more or less a reason as to why Valyr had be engrossed in forging out of nowhere.


    ''Although I could show that I definitely have the skills for it, the worst thing I can do is show that I can sessfully forge something on my first attempt,'' he inwardly muttered, his hammering bing more and more sloppy as time passed. ''If I do that, Tristan will definitely be suspicious.''


    ''In fact, I think he already is.'' As he took a quick nce at Tristan, wondering if thetter was still in the process of tempering the de he had forged, he instead saw Tristan staring at him intently, which could not help but make Valyr feel a little bit nervous.


    Thankfully, with a few deep breaths, he was able to calm his nerves down, allowing him to continue heating and hammering the metal before him, though at a much slower pace than before.


    "Hey, Tristan. When Damian asked you if you could help defend the vige against the monster tide, were you against the idea at first?" At some point, Valyr asked this question to Tristan, finding a slower, yet more understandable rhythm to work with.


    Surprisingly, Tristan shook his head at the question, moving closer to Valyr to get a better view of his progress. "I wasn''t against the idea. In fact, when I heard about the monster tide, I thought it would be nice if I could help out."


    "Eh? But wouldn''t it be more beneficial for you to just keep crafting weapons instead of fighting against the monsters?" Valyr asked in response, the dagger before him seemingly only needing a few dozen more hits to beplete.


    "If I was another cksmith, then I would''ve probably said yes," Tristan replied. "However, in my opinion, if you only keep crafting weapons but not take the time to experience yourself using them, the weapons you end up making are subpar, considering that the essence of the weapons aren''t in there. In my eyes, those who only craft weapons but not use them are the worst kinds of cksmiths."


    "Of course, you could probably say that I don''t practice what I preach, but I do," said Tristan afterwards as a bloodthirsty aura soon emanated from his body. "Although you may know of my main ss, which is an Experienced cksmith, I''m certain you don''t know about my subss yet."


    "Well, unlike other people''s subsses, which would most likely be a useful production ss, my subss is a battle ss, specifically a battle ss that focuses on using all means to defeat the enemy before you," Tristan said as he reined in his aura. "What''s the name of the subss, you might ask? Well, you could ask Damian… or use [Analysis] on me, I don''t really care."


    "Anyways, finish that first,." Hearing those words from Tristan, Valyr refocused his attention on the piece of metal before him, hammering it at a few more spots with a bit of finesse. A few secondster, he looked at the progress he had made, a light smile adorning his face as he noticed that the dagger was a couple hits away from beingplete. However, as he recalled that he didn''t want Tristan to know he could sessfully forge something on his first attempt, he inwardly apologized to the metal before mming his hammer on it a few times at full strength, causing sizable dents to form on its surface.


    As he inwardly grimaced at the final product, Valyr lightly scratched his head as he ced the hammer he wielded by the side. Then, picking the dagger up, he gave it to Tristan, who had a slight frown on his face as he looked at what Valyr gave him.


    "Er… I think this is done?"