A few days later à

Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!

The sound of multiple hammerings could be heard deep within a large smithy; forming a rhythmic, yet unpleasant noise, as numerous disciples stood in groups by each furnace, hammering their all at diverse minerals, which had now formed different shapes and sizes.

The entire smithy was bustling with activities, everyone present was focused, giving the utmost concentration to their work.

Florin Valley Academy was divide into three sub-factions; Zither, Artifact Refining, and research. Upon admission, each disciple was assigned to any of these factions, depending on their choice and aptitude. The essence of belonging to a faction was for the sake of skill acquisition, and also as a medium whereby the disciples could offer their service to the Academy, of course, there were other benefits to it as well.

Doran stood by one of the several furnaces, alongside Reynard and Zou Yun; they were admitted into the Academy at the same time and had been partners in the artifact refining faction ever since. Each had gloomy expressions as they stared at a newly forged sword artifact on the anvil,

“There’s no glow, it turned out to be a normal rating” Reynard blurted with a frown, as he sent a disappointed glared at Zou Yun, who was equally petrified at the other end.

This was quite understandable because they had been immersed in forging this artifact for some days now; giving their utmost strength and concentration, coupled with the inhuman endurance they had displayed, which they were quite proud of, but only to end up making a normal-grade artifact; which was actually the lowest rating of an artifact that could ever be seen.

Immediately after forging an artifact, although a device was used to identify the rating, a normal artifact could easily be recognized at a glance; because unlike other higher-rated artifacts, a normal artifact maintained a dull appearance, lacking the temporary halo glint, caused by the reaction of the initial energy of the material used in forging it.

“W-what?… why are you staring at me like that?” Zou Yun hurriedly blurted, while still wearing a pensive look.

“Oh, You don’t know? You are the one who suggested we use mitril shaft instead of maiden steel for the base, and now here we are with a normal rated artifact huh?” Reynard responded with a charged-up expression.

When forging an artifact, the choice of materials was an important factor to consider. Mitril shaft was the by-product of the extraction of Mitril, a godly mineral. It was graded higher than maiden steel and had an incredibly solid property which made it very suitable for defensive artifacts, but when it came to compatibility with other minerals, mitril shaft could be placed at the bottom of any chart.

Zou Yun gazed at the sword, he remained quiet for a while, making it look like he actually did reflect on what had happened; only to peer back at Reynard with thoughtfully dim eyes and spoke slowly,

“Our whole life, we’ve only managed to create normal-grade artifacts; even when we used our blood in the mixing process nothing changed, so what made you think this time would be any different? it’s not like I had any assurance, I just intended to try something new, that’s all.

Reynard’s mood was immediately aggravated by Zou Yun's words, as he stared at him with a stiffer expression; yet a little surprised by his statement, he rolled his eyes with a slight frown,

“Wait…Seriously? like seriously, this is all you have to say?!”

“What else do you want me to say?” Zou Yun said, still maintaining an indifferent look.

“I can’t believe you’re actually saying this… so what are we going to do about the auction that’s taking place after the ranking test?”

“You mean the grand auction?”

Doran who had been at the sidelines all this while suddenly asked.

“Y-yes, that’s what I’m obviously talking about” Reynard clamored, he was quite surprised by the question, what other auction would take place in Florin Valley by this time of the year, if not the long-awaited grand auction?

“you know I’m in urgent need of a huge amount of merit points, and the only way I could get it is if I can sell an item at the grand auction… and they don’t accept normal rated items so what am I going to do now?”

Doran gave an exasperated sigh;

“Maybe you haven’t heard, there’s a new requirement to participate in this grand auction… it’s more like a restriction; only inner-court disciples are to be allowed,

“Besides, the sword being a normal-grade has nothing to do with the materials, those were the same minerals high-lord Zespar used to create a unique-grade sword artifact, the fault is from the refining process, especially the smelting.”

After hearing this, Reynard couldn’t help giving it a second thought; In the entire Florin Valley, there were originally only three epic grade artifacts; which were kept in the treasury, it wasn’t until several years ago when a unique-grade sword was created by the then factions best disciple Zespar Ismaili.

This was the first unique-grade artifact ever to be created in the entire Florin Valley. His name was ascribed into the history record, forever to be reverenced by upcoming aspirants, this further propelled him to becoming one of Florin Valley’s high lords after he graduated from the academy.

This extraordinary feat also attracted the attention of delegates from far and wide nations, it also wasn’t a surprise when the North empire showed their interest.

The North empire was known as the most logically advanced nation in the entire Jiangxi divine continent, this was the reason for it being referred to as the center of evolution.

There were even some absurd claims that several thousands of years ago, the founder of the North empire had stumbled upon a systemic manual belonging to an alien race from another dimension, which further paved the way for their advancement in technology.

They had the habit of recruiting suitable talents from around the continent; Zespar Ismaili wasn’t an exception, he was recruited along with his unique-rated sword by the North empire, where he currently is.

‘....’

Doran paused for a while, observing Reynard’s dazed expression, “Seeing your eagerness for the auction, I guess you’re also making adequate preparations for this next ranking test; to become an inner-court disciple”

Reynard gave a wry smile after hearing this; “Ha! You seem to be growing more viscous with your mocking schemes; with my low talent, there’s no way I could achieve that, so I’ve decided to focus more on artifact refining but turns out I’m not meant for it either”

“You’re just going to give up so easily? I mean, you can keep trying and maybe someday…”

“I might succeed?” Reynard hurriedly blurted what he felt Doran was about to say, “I wonder where you got such mentality, we’re just… bunch of trashes, I’m sure we’ll remain stuck at normal-grade refinement for our entire lives”

Doran rolled his eyes with a frown…

“Hey, you shouldn’t have included me in your negative affirmation, you don’t know which spirit is hiding in the dark, hoping to make it a reality. I’m not going to give up anyway, I’ll continue trying my best, I might be the next person to make a unique-rated sword in Florin Valley, who knows.”

Reynard found it quite hard to retract the weird look he subconsciously sent Doran during the period it took him to say those words, he could only sigh bitterly,

“Although I don’t know where you got such belief, I guess it isn’t a crime to dream big after all. But sometimes, reality could be much more vicious than it looks; it doesn’t always turn out to be the way you want it”

“I guess we’ll see about that”