"Well then. That's definitely something you don't see every day." While listening to the conversation that was happening between his daughter and Valyr, Julian's eyes widened in slight surprise as he heard the things the two were talking about, specifically the method to forge Emulations and Imitations of the Infernal Hammer.
However, as he continued to listen, he eventually noticed how his daughter was incredibly silent in front of the young man, listening to Valyr's every word with rapt attention as if each word he spoke to her was crucial in terms of detail.
Taking note of this, Julian thought back to the various times he had seen his daughter interact with other people. As far as he could remember, Theraldine would usually take the leading role in the conversation, wanting to assert dominance over the other party as she would sometimes interrupt the other party in the middle of their response.
Of course, as someone who had seen her grow up to the fine young woman she was right now, Julian knew the reason behind his daughter's attitude very well, chalking it up to her innate talent in the field of blacksmithing, as well as being one of the only few within the clan's history to be able to comprehend a considerable portion of what was their clan's greatest asset.
Because of those two things, Theraldine had grown to have a self-confident yet slightly arrogant personality. Then again, she did have the strength and the skills to back up her confidence.
"And that's pretty much all you need to know to forge an Emulation of the Infernal Hammer." While Julian thought about how his daughter acted a bit different than usual, Valyr had finally finished explaining the process of forging an Emulation to the young woman before him, a process that he had been able to obtain only after multiple attempts of trial and error in his previous life.
However, rather than keep something like that to himself, he decided to share it to Theraldine. After all, the method he had shared was only something that could be done by blacksmiths that had the prerequisite skills and experience to forge an Emulation in the first place. As the Goddess of the Forge in his previous life, the woman before him was more than capable of forging an Emulation of her own with the right process.
Aside from that, if people were to start asking him regarding the methods to forge Emulations and Imitations and forced him to cough it up, he had the protection of the Blacksmith Guild in the form of Julian, with the Imperial Production Guild being a possible backer as well as long as he shared the method. Though, if that didn't work, he could just feign ignorance.
After all, who could prove that he, someone who had been separated from his main clan for who knows how many years, had the knowhow to forge something like that in the first place?
If anything, they only knew of his true identity as a Herald of the Zeihardt clan.
"That… actually makes a whole lot of sense." After mulling over Valyr's explanation on how to forge her own version of the Infernal Hammer in silence, Theraldine looked at the young man before her with newfound respect in her gaze, her expression containing a hint of excitement as she hoped to test the method out as soon as possible.
Though there was still a decently high chance that the method Valyr had shared to her wouldn't work, taking into consideration the possibility of the young man giving her false information, Theraldine still believed that she might be able to finally succeed in forging an Emulation of the Infernal Hammer as most of the concepts Valyr had talked about in his explanation made complete sense to her.
However, just as she was about to leave both Julian and Valyr and attempt forging an Emulation with her newly obtained knowledge, Theraldine was reminded of the initial reason why she had come to find the two in the first place, stopping herself in her tracks as she thought about a couple of things.
'I really want to try it out, but it would be rude to just leave Dad and Valyr after the latter decided to share what is basically high-level information to me.' With conflicting thoughts lingering in her mind, Theraldine blankly stared off into the distance as she thought about what to do. 'Plus, if I were to leave right now, the impression Valyr might have of me could possibly worsen… though I'm pretty sure it's already bad with how I've made my first impression on him earlier.'
'What to do… what to do…' Thinking about how she could apply her newly obtained knowledge in a practical setting and improve the young man's impression of her at the same time, a light bulb eventually turned on in Theraldine's mind as she came up with a great idea to kill two birds with one stone.
"Dad, I have something to ask of you." Pondering over how she would put the idea into action, her answer swiftly arrived as she turned her gaze towards her father, prompting her to move closer to Julian as she whispered a few things to him.
"Hmm?" Listening to his daughter's whispers, Julian raised his eyebrow in curiosity, only for his eyes to slightly widen in surprise a few seconds later. "That could definitely work…"
"Am I missing out on something?" As for Valyr, who had no idea as to what kind of conversation the two were having, he decided to wait for the two to finish before asking about the private workshop he wanted to reserve for a forging session.
Though, it seemed like his plans of reserving a private workshop would have to be put to the side for now as both Julian and Theraldine looked at him.
"First and foremost, I would like to say that you definitely have something that allows you to be eligible to take my spot in the upcoming Four Pillars' Inheritance." Clearing her throat to gain the young man's attention, Theraldine began to speak. "Knowledge regarding the forging of artifact replicas isn't a laughing matter, after all."
"However, there's still a vast difference between theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge," said Theraldine not long after. "I may have come to respect you for your great theoretical knowledge, but Dad's claims of you having forged an Epic grade armor set at your current rank is still something I highly doubt."
"Hence, I've come up with a proposal." At these words, a faint confident smile appeared on Theraldine's face. "Let us engage in a forging duel."
"A forging duel, huh." Letting out a faint sigh, Valyr looked at Julian, who looked back at him with a slightly apologetic smile, conveying through his expression that it was something even he could not stop if he wanted to.
Flashing a wry smile in response to message he had received through the man's expression, Valyr looked back at Theraldine before nodding. "What are we going to forge, and what are the rules?"
"Considering that you've given me the knowhow to forge an Emulation of the Infernal Hammer, how about we forge emulations of artifacts of our choosing and see who among the two of us could forge one better?" Theraldine suggested in response.
"If that's what we're going to forge, then that's fine by me." Valyr slightly shrugged his shoulders in response. "And the rules?"
"Aside from sabotaging the other side's work, anything goes, I guess." Responding to Valyr's question, Theraldine shrugged her shoulders as well. "As someone who has taken my spot in the upcoming inheritance, I'm sure you have a couple skills that elevate your forged items to another level. The same applies to me."
"I don't want to limit the potential of the items we'll be forging in any way just because of some stupid rule." Hearing these words, Valyr nodded in understanding, only for a related question to pop up in his mind not long after.
"How about the materials we're going to use for the forging duel?"
"I'll be the one to take care of that," said Julian in response, flashing a soft smile at his daughter before turning his head to look at Valyr. "Also, if you don't mind, can we hold the forging duel between you two in an area that would allow the members of the Blacksmith Guild to watch? After all, having two of the guild's greatest talents show how they forge emulations would definitely motivate them to get better."
"As long as she doesn't mind." In response to the request, Valyr briefly shrugged his shoulders as he pointed at Theraldine. Noticing that Julian's gaze was on her, Theraldine responded with a faint nod, informing her father that it was fine for their forging duel to become public.
"Alright then." Seeing that the two had agreed to publicize the forging duel between them, Julian grinned. After that, he left the two to their own devices, but not before leaving them with a few parting words.
"Make yourselves busy for the meantime and prepare the list of materials you might need for the item you'll forge."
"As for me… I'll be setting the stage where your talents could be fully showcased."
