As the large teleportation construct in the center of the room activated, a blinding light filled the entirety of the room as Valyr's presence in the room disappeared within seconds. As the light subsided, Julian's gaze remained affixed towards the large teleportation construct, only turning around to leave once the construct had been fully deprived of its energy.
"Guildmaster." However, just as he was about to head back to his room in the guild and call it a day, one of the staff called for his name, prompting him to stop in his tracks as he turned his around and raised his eyebrow. Seeing that they had gained Julian's attention, the staff looked back at the large teleportation construct for a bit before looking back at Julian. "Do you happen to know the identity of the person we teleported?"
"I do." Julian nodded.
"Would it be possible for us to know of their identity?" In response, the staff asked if it was possible for them to find out, to which Julian shook his head.
"There's no need for you guys to know their identity," said Julian to them. Then, with a faint smile, he continued, "All you have to know is that you're doing a great service for helping me teleport him."
After that, he turned around and bade farewell to the staff before leaving, making his way back to his room.
'After all, he might become the key to end this war against the orcs.'
…
Whoosh!
"Urk…" After a few seconds of feeling like he was zooming through the air at high speeds, Valyr eventually felt the weight of his body return to him in one go, causing him to feel an immense bout of dizziness as he briefly glanced at where he had appeared. Deciding to focus on removing his dizziness for the meantime, he closed his eyes as he allowed the dizziness to subside, only opening them once he was sure the nausea he felt was gone.
'So, I guess I've finally arrived.' Taking a look at his current surroundings, Valyr instantly noticed how he was standing on the only teleportation construct that existed within the room. Aside from that, he took a look at the walls and the floor of the room he was in, taking note that everything in this place seemed to be made out of stone that was roughly sanded down.
"Welcome to the Blacksmith Guild, sir." Just as he was about to continue looking at his surroundings for a bit more, he heard a voice in front of him, causing him to look at a young woman eye to eye. "We have been informed of your arrival from the Guildmaster of Algerie Kingdom's Blacksmith Guild beforehand."
"Where am I?" Stepping out of the construct, Valyr took a look outside the windows within the room, taking note of the fact that only a few buildings sparsely scattered throughout the area existed, all of which were connected by a dirt road. With that, he turned his head back to the young woman who greeted him, only to be left at a slight loss for words at the woman's response.
"You're currently within the Blacksmith Guild, sir. Specifically, the Lesser Meltierre Mountain Outpost branch of the Blacksmith Guild," said the woman, which prompted a question to pop up in Valyr's mind not long after.
'Didn't the dungeons in the Lesser Meltierre Mountains have a city connected to it? What's an outpost doing here?'
As far as he could remember from back when he was a player, the dungeons within the Lesser Meltierre Mountains were connected to a thriving city on the same level as Clossbay, its main source of income being the fact that one would be able to obtain a lot of Skill Keys through its nearby dungeons. In fact, he was certain that there should be a city near the dungeons, considering he had frequented the place during the later stages of Greater Beyond's first version.
'Yet why is there only an outpost here?' Keeping this question to himself, Valyr thanked the woman before leaving the guild, deciding to take a look at the outpost as he continued to ponder over the question.
Surprisingly, even though the outpost was not that large, only being around half the size of Astarto Village the first time he got there, most, if not all of the important buildings one would find at a city could be found within the outpost. Of course, the Blacksmith Guild's building was the greatest example of this.
Aside from that, even though the roads weren't paved whatsoever, plus the fact that there were not a lot of lights illuminating the dirt streets, a number of people than what should normally be found in an outpost roamed the streets at this moment, even as the sun was in the midst of setting. Naturally, Valyr attributed it to the dungeons that dropped Skill Keys being the reason why there were this many people.
eαglesnᴏνel After all, what's the point of an outpost if not to protect something precious?
'I guess I have an idea as to why there's only an outpost here.' Heading to the only inn within the outpost, Valyr came to a conclusion with his speculation, feeling like it was the most plausible explanation for the lapse in circumstances using the information he had readily available. 'The war with the orcs must've triggered it.'
In his mind, he imagined that the reason why the dungeons were connected to a city back when he was a player was due to the fact that the orcs had become successful in their outbreak, expanding their offensive even further during the beta version. With that, the Meltierre Empire spared no effort into speeding up the strengthening process of the combat force, which prompted them to build a city near the dungeons in order to accommodate more people grinding the Skill Keys.
'Then again, I could be wrong.' As it was just speculation, Valyr did not have much hope that it was indeed the case, shifting his thoughts to getting a room in the inn before eating early dinner. After that, he headed into the room he had gotten to get an early rest, thinking to himself that he would have a long day ahead of him tomorrow.
'Hopefully it doesn't take too long for me to grind the keys I need.'
