Chapter 197 Beyond Expectations

After obtaining a notification from the system that his blueprint for Glacial Edge was complete, Valyr went ahead and opened up a screen before him that displayed the blueprint he had made in greater detail, wanting to see if there was anything he had to adjust during the forging process to improve the final product.

Seeing that he only had to do a few modifications to the steps laid out in the blueprint, Valyr inwardly nodded in satisfaction before heading to the pile of remaining materials the previous owner had left for him, grabbing a few more items from the pile before chucking them into the furnace to make sure he was following the material requirements of the blueprint.

Stoking the flames of the furnace for a bit to maintain its heat, Valyr then focused his attention towards Frigid Thorn, the spear Arcenne had given to him. Taking note of the fact that the weapon had not reached its maximum refinement level yet when he used [Analysis] on the spear earlier, he placed the azure-colored spear on the anvil before swinging his hammer down on it, causing Arcenne's expression to warp into that of panic.

Ttang!

However, just as she felt fury course throughout her body as she thought that Valyr had intentionally broken her spear, when she took a closer look at what Valyr was doing, all of her previous thoughts swiftly down the drain as she noticed that every hit of the hammer he did to her spear gradually improved the appearance of the spear.

Not only that, she also noticed that the aura, as well as the faint chill emanating from the spear gradually increased with power as Valyr continued to refine the weapon.

With her anger placated, Arcenne continued to watch Valyr work on her spear, stopping every once in a while to check if the materials he had put into the furnace had reach a suitable temperature for forging.

Once Valyr had checked that the azure-colored spear had reached its maximum refinement level, he then went ahead and grabbed the spear by the hilt, lifting it a few centimeters above the anvil before gradually closing his eyes.

Focusing all of his senses towards the spear he held, Valyr then released a bit of his mana and directed it towards the spear, causing the spear to faintly glow a light cyan as Arcenne watched this scene unfold in front of her with her mouth slightly agape.

"[True Prodigious Equipment Attribute Awakening]."

Whoosh!

As Valyr muttered the name of the skill wherein only he could hear what he had said, the faint light cyan glow covering the spear grew in intensity, briefly enveloping the entirety of the space in a silver light before swiftly disappearing as the spear's appearance returned to how it previously was.

Sensing this change, Valyr opened his eyes before activating [Analysis] on it to see what attributes he had awakened on the equipment, bitterly smiling soon after as he found out that he had only awakened one attribute. 'In exchange for the previous STR and DEX stat, I awakened a high value AGI stat.'

'Again.' Deciding to try and awaken all of the possible attributes in Arcenne's spear before giving it back to her, Valyr closed his eyes once more and repeated the process, causing Arcenne to wonder at this point as to what Valyr was doing with her weapon.

Thankfully, it would not take long for her to find out what he had done as Valyr identified Frigid Thorn with [Analysis] once more, a grin covering his face as he noticed that he had awakened STR, AGI, and DEX on her spear, all of the possible attributes that could be awakened in a weapon that utilized physical attacks.

'Though the values are on the lower side of what my skill can do, since the additional attributes scale to whoever wields it, I'm sure Arcenne would be in for the shock of a lifetime once she wields it.' With this thought, Valyr let out a light chuckle.

Ding!

————

[(+10) Frigid Thorn] (Level 35)

Rarity: Uncommon

Weapon Bond: Lv. 1 (Arcenne)

Attack: 85 - 141 (+10%)

Additional Attributes:

> STR +2

> AGI +2

> DEX +3

A spear forged… description has been omitted.

<Innate Skill: Frosted Strike - Allows the user to deal damage equivalent to 150% of the user's Attack stat. Has a small chance to freeze the targeted enemy. Cooldown: 15 seconds. Cost: 50 MP.>

Remarks: You may have allowed the spear to unleash more of its latent potential, but it's still not a suitable weapon for you.

————

Satisfied with the results he had obtained from the few attempts he had with the Attribute Awakening skill so far, Valyr gave Frigid Thorn back for Arcenne to check before focusing all of his attention on the materials in the furnace, which he noted were close to reaching the optimal forging temperature.

While Valyr focused his attention on the furnace, Arcenne had a weird expression on her face once she felt her body gain strength out of nowhere once she got her hands on the spear. Recalling the words Valyr told her wherein he would try to squeeze out a bit more of the spear's potential, she went ahead and used [Analysis] on the skill, only to be left at a loss for words as her eyes widened in shock.

"How…?" As this word barely came out of Arcenne's mouth from the amount of shock she felt, Valyr had retrieved all of the materials from the furnace and placed them on the anvil, hammering them down to take on the shape of a blade. Naturally, he had heard Arcenne's question, falling into a suitable working rhythm for the blade first before proceeding to look at her with a smile.

"I just did what I said. I squeezed out a bit more of your spear's potential."

"The additional attributes…" Arcenne muttered in response, only for her voice to gradually get louder with every succeeding word. "My spear now also boosts AGI… on top of that, my STR and DEX is now boosted by six points…"

"How did you do it?" In response to the question that came out of Arcenne's mouth, Valyr looked at her with a knowing smile before focusing his attention back on the blade he was forging, placing it back into the furnace from time to time before hammering it to shape once more.

Feeling as if all her queries would be answered at some point, Arcenne decided to keep silent, watching Valyr forge the blade she had requested as she slowly became more and more entranced watching him work.

As it had been quite some time since he had last forged something, Valyr went somewhat all out, utilizing the hyperfocus ability given to him by [Gambler's Discerning Eyes] to hammer out the imperfections from the blade, eventually nodding in satisfaction as he placed the blade into the furnace for a bit before quenching it in a nearby barrel of warm oil.

Thankful that the previous owner had placed the barrel of oil near the furnaces, Valyr then wiped off the excess oil that dripped off from the blade, looking at it under the light of the sun before nodding in satisfaction once more as he placed the now complete blade on the anvil.

With a solemn expression, he then grabbed a few items from the pile of remaining materials before returning to the anvil, glancing at Arcenne's hands and arms for a brief moment. Nodding as he took note of what he had seen in mind, Valyr then fashioned a quick handle and guard for the blade out of the materials he had grabbed before affixing the blade to it.

Wielding the blade a bit to see if it had the right balance, Valyr eventually had a smile on his face after adjusting the handle and the guard of the blade a few times. After that, he went ahead and enhanced the blade to the same level Arcenne's Frigid Thorn was at, only to refine it to its maximum refinement level not long after.

Of course, once he was done enhancing and refining the blade to its limits, he then used his Attribute Awakening skill on the blade, awakening all of the possible attributes within five attempts. In fact, a pleased grin could not help but appear on his face once he checked that he had obtained somewhat high values for all three attributes.

Using [Analysis] to get a more detailed description of the weapon's stats, the grin on Valyr's face eventually grew wider as he finished reading through its description, incredibly pleased with the weapon he had crafted from limited materials.

"This blade has definitely gone past my initial expectations."