MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Ding!

Commanding the system to bring up his Technology Tree, Valyr swiftly focused onto the tree's Innovation branch after a screen was brought out. Taking a look at the advancements he had unlocked so far, a bitter smile gradually crept up onto his lips.

Though the number of advancements he had unlocked so far was at least double the number of advancements an average blacksmith would have unlocked in his rank, the young man still felt like he had neglected it. After all, he currently had close to 10,000 Technology Points under his name, all of which were waiting to be used.

'I'll have to focus most of my attention on advancements starting from the Ancient Age onwards.' Thinking about how he was going to approach experimenting the creation of guns, Valyr took a look at the advancements he had unlocked once more. After a while, he nodded in faint satisfaction, seeing that he had maxed out every advancement that could be unlocked up to the Copper Age.

However, when it came to the advancements from the Iron Age, about half of them were still locked under prerequisite advancements that hadn't been obtained. In fact, by the time he shifted his gaze towards the advancements he had unlocked within the Ancient Age, a wry smile appeared on his face, staring at the few advancements lit up within that technological era that hadn't even reached their max level.

'At the very least, the Necklace of Enlightenment mostly unlocked advancements that would bring me closer to making guns.' Consoling himself as he told himself that he was going to right these wrongs soon enough, Valyr eventually thought about the necklace from Riekan, thinking about how he would have only unlocked one advancement within the Ancient Age if not for it.

Taking in a deep breath as Valyr prompted the gears in his mind to start turning, the young man had begun to start allocating Technology Points in a way that brought him closer to the creation of guns. Unfortunately for him, before he could even unlock a single advancement, Julian had returned to the workshop, looking at him with a calm expression.

"Are you sure that's all you want in exchange for the blueprint?" Letting out a low sigh, the man looked at Valyr, not minding the fact that he had nowhere to sit down. "After all, that blueprint would basically help out the entire human race. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if you wanted an obscene amount of money as a condition."

"That really is all I want for the blueprint." Inwardly sighing from the interruption, Valyr closed the screen and put his thoughts of experimentation to the side for the meantime, focusing his attention on the man that appeared before him. "After all, if I were to obtain an obscene amount of money all of a sudden and people with malicious intent find out, I would surely be hounded to no end."

"Of course, the Blacksmith Guild will help safeguard that money for you." Listening to the young man's words, Julian slightly frowned. "Heck, I could probably even enlist the help of the Imperial Production Guild in making sure no one dares to land a finger on you because of that."

"I appreciate the fact that you're looking out for me, but I really have no need for the money just yet." Though Valyr widened his eyes in surprise, the young man still stuck to his initial conditions. "If anything, obtaining greater knowledge would be of greater help to me in the long run, don't you think?"

'Plus, if I wanted to get my hands on an obscene amount of money in one go, I could just forge the armor set I'm currently wearing,' thought Valyr to himself not long after, thanking the man before him for giving him the idea.

"Haah…" Scratching the back of his head for quite some time, Julian eventually gave up on persuading the young man to obtain more benefits from the deal, instead deciding to increase the benefits the young man would get from it on his own.

"Alright. I'll relay your request to the other directors of the Blacksmith Guild." With his mind set, the man thought that it was time for him to leave the young man on his own once more. "Though part of your requests would be slightly difficult to obtain approval of, I'll find a way for it to happen."

"Now that I think about it, the fact that you haven't requested any amount of money from this would probably make the process a lot easier." Julian slightly chuckled, wondering to himself whether the young man had the thought in mind while making his requests. "For now, be on standby. I'll let you know when you'll need to give the blueprint to me, though it'll most likely be on the day before the inheritance with how hard-headed some of them are."

"Got it." Seeing that he was going to be left to his own devices once again, Valyr inwardly became excited as he thought that he could now put his experimentation into full swing. Though, before he let the entirety of his mind be occupied with the thoughts of creating a gun, the young man recalled something Julian had yet to tell him.

"Wait a minute!" screamed Valyr, prompting Julian to stop in his tracks as he turned around. "What happened to the negotiation with the Nicholas clan?"

"Oh, right." Realizing that the other reason he had come to meet Valyr had slipped past him, Julian looked back at Valyr with an apologetic smile before responding. "The deal has been completed. From this point onward, the kid and the kid's parents are no longer slaves of the Nicholas clan."

"I requested some of those from my clan to help the kid's parents acclimate to their newfound status, even going so far as to give them someplace to live in for the meantime to start their new lives," added Julian, prompting Valyr to nod as he continued listening. "I suppose you're going to take care of the kid?"

"Already am." Valyr grinned, to which Julian let out a chuckle in response. After talking a bit more about what both sides would do with Edward and his parents, it was only then did Julian leave Valyr on his own for good, finally allowing the latter to continue where he had left off.

"System, open up the Technology Tree." Rubbing his hands in expectation, the young man looked at the screen that appeared before him with an enthusiastic smile. With the conversation between him and Julian giving him some time to think about the advancements he would be unlocking to start experimenting with guns, it did not take long for him to start going on a Technology Point spending spree.

Ding!

[You have unlocked the advancement <Basic Knowledge: Copper Age Material Refinement Lv. 1>.]

[You have unlocked the advancement <Basic Understanding: Copper Age Material Refinement Lv. 1>.]

…

…

[You have upgraded the advancement <Basic Knowledge: Ancient Age Mathematics> to Level 5 (MAX).]

[You have upgraded the advancement <Basic Understanding: Ancient Age Philosophy> to Level 5 (MAX).]

[You have unlocked the advancement <Basic Understanding: The Art of War Lv. 1>.]

…

…

[You have unlocked the advancement <Basic Knowledge: Ancient Age Gunpowder Production Lv. 1>.]

[You have unlocked the advancement <Basic Knowledge: Ancient Age Ranged Weapons Lv. 1>.]

[You have upgraded the advancement <Basic Knowledge: Early Middle Age Firearms> to Level 5 (MAX).]

Not minding how much Technology Points he would have left after the spending spree, Valyr focused all of his attention on reaching the most important advancement he would need to start experimenting with gun creation, which was the advancement that told him how to make gunpowder.

From what he could remember from his past life, gunpowder was initially supposed to be an experiment done by a person aiming to create an elixir that would allow them to live longer. However, what the person ended up making instead was something that connoted death more than life, bringing about the birth of weapons of mass destruction.

'Then again, ultimate skills are far more destructive than guns in comparison,' briefly thought the young man with a mocking chuckle, feeling somewhat giddy as ideas of how he would use guns in a predominantly magic-based world to his favor gradually surfaced in his mind.

By the end of his spending spree, only a couple hundred Technology Points remained, with all of the advancements that he had yet to unlock now all needing a few hundred of them just to become available. Nevertheless, with his spending spree, he was able to unlock most of the advancements within the Iron Age, upgrading the advancements that he deemed necessary to be maxed for the experiment.

On the other hand, with a lot of things happening during the Ancient Age in Earth's history, Valyr was only able to unlock around a third of the advancements that could be unlocked within the technological era. Aside from some advancements that he felt would help him out in the future, most of the advancements he had unlocked within this era all had to do with warfare and weapons.

Though, last but not the least, he had also unlocked a few more advancements stemming from the Early Middle Ages, granting him the knowledge needed to create guns in the first place.

"Time to begin our experiment." Shivering with delight, the young man closed the screen before him as he rubbed his hands in excitement. Though, not long after, this excitement swiftly disappeared as he was reminded of the other thing he would need to begin experimenting.

"Right…" At this realization, Valyr bitterly smiled as he requested an attendant to come to his workshop.

"Forgot about resources."