Whoosh!
Before Valyr could make his way to one of the workshops and examine the tools and equipnt he was going to work with, a mass of golden light appeared before him.
Widening his eyes in slight surprise, the young man moved back as the golden light slowly reford itself.
With every passing second, the light gradually took on the shape of a human, its height around half a head shorter than Valyr.
By the ti the general structure was ford, the golden light making up the silhouette gradually disappeared.
Instead, a man of the sa stature took over its place, his appearance leaving Valyr at a complete loss for words.
'That's…!'
Whilst Valyr's mind blanked out from what stood before him, the man looked around his surroundings for a bit as he let out a low sigh.
"Huh." The man scratched the back of his head. "I'm back here again."
"They really decided to use as the first opponent for this trial…"
Muttering these words, the man looked at the young man in front of him, scanning the latter from head to toe.
"And against a youngster at that." At these words, the man let out yet another sigh.
Shrugging his shoulders at the thought, the man began to walk towards one of the workshops.
"What's your na?" asked the man to Valyr as he examined the tools and equipnt.
Fortunately, the question was enough to bring the young man back to reality, prompting him to head to the remaining unoccupied workshop to do the sa thing.
"Ah… that would be Valyr."
"Haven't heard of that na before," replied the man as he continued to examine his surroundings. "What's your surna?"
Hearing the man's question, Valyr went silent for a bit in response, judging whether or not it would be apt to give the man an answer.
Unsurprisingly, the man picked up on this, raising his eyebrow as he looked at Valyr.
"Can't tell your surna?" asked the man.
In response, Valyr awkwardly smiled.
Seeing that, the man nodded back as he slightly shrugged. "Well, that's fine. Knowing your surna or not doesn't really matter that much."
"After all, I'll probably end up forgetting everything that happened here once our fight is over," the man added soon after.
Though the man acted nonchalant as these words left his mouth, Valyr acted quite the opposite.
"Is that so?" asked Valyr with both curiosity and interest.
The man rely nodded. "I recall a few bits here and there from my fights in the past, but not anything that goes into great detail."
"Anyways, I noticed earlier that you were looking at with shock," said the man after that, staring at Valyr with curiosity.
"Is it because you weren't expecting to fight against an old geezer like in the first round?"
Giving the man an awkward smile, it was only then did Valyr truly look at the man in greater detail.
Going over the man's body, the young man felt like the man had a body that suited a middle-aged man with a healthy physique.
Though the muscles on the man's body weren't bulging out, there was no doubt that the man's streamlined set of muscles housing a terrifying level of strength.
Then again, such a body was a stark contrast to the man's face.
In fact, the man's face could only be described by the word 'senile'.
With wrinkles all over the man's face, the man sported a head of gray hair that seed to be gradually thinning out, making him look like he was in his late eighties.
But with an exuberant vitality bursting out of the man, Valyr had a feeling that the man was at least a hundred years old or greater, noticing the tranquility underneath the man's wrinkly exterior.
Nevertheless, it wasn't as if this was Valyr's first ti seeing the man.
After all, the man occupying the second workshop was none other than the old man in one of the mories he viewed in the Chambers of Enlightennt.
Recalling the man's question, Valyr wryly smiled as he shook his head.
"That's not it," said the young man. "You just reminded of soone I saw."
"Oh?" At those words, the man beca more curious. "Is it fine if you tell in more detail?"
"Though I may not rember our conversation after this, that doesn't an I won't enjoy it."
Letting out a faint chuckle in response, Valyr agreed to the man's request, explaining how he had co across a mory of a blacksmith in the Gates of Enlightennt that allowed him to improve his Intent Seeds.
Listening to the young man's narration with rapt attention, the man's eyes faintly widened in understanding as he looked at Valyr with a hint of surprise.
"You've co across one of the mories I left behind, huh," said the man with a satisfied nod. "One of the better ones I gave to the Gates of Enlightennt at that."
"Now tell …"
"Did I look good in that mory?"
Hearing the man's sudden question, Valyr briefly had a confused expression on his face, not knowing what to say.
After all, the main focus of the mory he viewed was to improve his comprehension over the Intent Seed of Forging.
With that, his response instead focused on the skills the man showed in the mory he saw, which surprisingly satisfied the latter's curiosity.
"It's a sha that I have no idea on how you and many others think of my appearance in that mory," said the man at so point, only to look at Valyr with a faint smile. "Nevertheless, I'm still glad to hear that one of my mories helped you co to this point and attempt the Trial of Nine Stars."
"Speaking of which, I haven't introduced myself yet."
Just as Valyr began to feel slightly warm from the man's words, the young man was forced to perk up his ears after hearing that the man was about to introduce himself.
Taking in a deep breath to compose himself, Valyr went ahead and listened to the man's introduction with rapt attention…
Only to beco confused after the man had uttered a couple of statents.
"I have achieved a lot in my life, obtaining quite the number of accolades that caused my identity to be attached to multiple titles."
"However, none of those express who I truly am."
"Though I haven't said this earlier, it's nice to beco your acquaintance, Valyr."
"You may call the Seventh Wayne."
"The Seventh Wayne…?" Wondering if he had heard the man's words correctly, Valyr decided to repeat a bit of what the forr just said.
In response, the man faintly nodded. "Yes, the Seventh Wayne."
Noticing the confusion on the young man's face, the man began to explain in greater detail.
"As to why I've decided to call myself the Seventh Wayne… that has sothing to do with my actual na."
"My na is actually Sven Charles Anthony Wayne the Seventh. I'm pretty sure that alone is enough to explain why I call myself that way."
Though he faintly nodded in understanding, Valyr continued to ask more questions. "So, if I'm getting this correctly, you're the seventh person in the Wayne clan to be called Sven Charles Anthony Wayne?"
"Yes… and no."
Sven began to clarify. "I'm the first to be called Sven Charles Anthony Wayne, but I'm the seventh to inherit the na of Sven."
"Sven Wayne is actually the na of the founder of the Wayne clan," he explained. "For so reason, he decided to pass this na onto the most talented descendant of the succeeding generation."
"With that, there ca a Sven Wayne Jr., then a Sven Wayne the Third, the Fourth, and so on until I was eventually born."
"Usually, sothing like this would only be done with the founder's direct descendants, but I nor any of the other clan mbers have a clue as to what was going on in the founder's mind at the ti." With his explanation done, Sven let out a long and drawn-out sigh.
After that, he stared out at the horizon for a bit before eventually returning his attention to the matter at hand.
Looking at Valyr, Sven faintly smiled. "Well then. Shall we properly start the Trial of Nine Stars?"
Valyr slightly nodded with a solemn expression. "Please do."
"Alright."
Nodding back in response, the man looked at his surroundings for a bit as the gears in his mind began to turn.
Then, after a minute or so, Sven opened his mouth.
"Since I'm not really proficient in combat, this first fight will instead be a forging duel between the two of us."
"Of course, with how the Gates of Awakening does this trial, sothing like that wouldn't be a problem for you."
At those words, Valyr nodded, prompting Sven to continue.
"With that, let's keep this straight and simple."
"Whoever crafts the more elaborate equipnt wins," said Sven with a calm expression. "The rarity of the equipnt does not matter. All that matters is the complexity of the equipnt itself."
"Of course, you must make sure that the equipnt works. After all, there's not much point in forging anything that doesn't work in the end, especially for sothing complex."
"Understood." Valyr nodded, letting out a faint chuckle as he already had an idea of what he would do.
On the other hand, Sven looked at Valyr's expression, inwardly surprised. After all, what he gave was practically difficult for a blacksmith to do, yet the young man let out a chuckle instead.
"It seems I might have found my match this ti around," said the man to himself, letting out a low sigh.
Though, not long after, he faintly smiled.
"Well… whatever."
"I guess this old geezer will just have to do his best."
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