The first order of business, by Yi Qiang's memory, was to finish up everything he started back as a new player. That wasn't an extensive list - Yi Qiang had focused more on training than fulfilling requests or adventuring - but he had two places to visit.

With so much time having passed and so much having changed, it was no surprise that the archer's recollection of Ororil's shop, and its location in the city, was vague. As such, Yi Qiang had no interest in pushing his memory and asked for directions from the nearest citizen.

The walk was a quick one, even with Shenyu, who had long woken up but had decided to play the quiet game all through Yi Qiang's meeting with the Second Prince, chattering on endlessly about inane subjects.

A baby dragon was still a baby, after all. If Yi Qiang surmised correctly from the description of the Empyrean Dragon, this particular race of dragons was the most simple-minded. It made sense - the mental often had to be balanced with the physical. From Yi Qiang's inference, it was likely that while the Empyreans focused on the physical aspect, the Celestials specialized in the intellectual.

It wasn't that Yi Qiang minded that, quite the opposite - the thing about a pure mind was that it had its benefits. These included a naturally trusting disposition, willingness to follow orders, and a plain enthusiasm, like the one Yi Qiang himself held for combat.

All of this meant that Shenyu was the perfect match for him, although... sometimes, it didn't feel like it.

"When are we gonna fight next? I grew, I grew, and I want to see what I can do now! Brother!"

Shenyu, we'll fight when we have to. I enjoy it as much as you do, but that doesn't mean we can wander around just looking for combat. We have to do more than that.

"Fine, fine. I'm hungry."

The dragon's young mind flitted from subject to subject so quickly, Yi Qiang wished he had its agility stat.

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What felt like hours and a few verbal reprimands later, Yi Qiang found himself in front of Ororil's forge. The sound of a hammer clashing with metal rang out in peals of metallic clanging, and a warm red glow emanated from the solid wooden door of the forge.

Wood? That seems like a poorly-thought-out plan. I'm sure there's something up with the door, at least.

"Wood burns."

Yi Qiang knocked on the door.

Almost instantly, Yi Qiang's keen ears picked up on the sound of multiple things falling and a few choice curses. The archer smirked. Nothing much has changed, then.

Ororil, though capable, was always a little easily distractable, a trait so prominent it was easily discernible even from the small amount of time the archer spent with him. To be interrupted and make such a critical mistake from a simple knock on the door was just like him.

Yi Qiang supposed the commotion also excused him from the slight of only opening the door three minutes after it was knocked on.

"Oh! It's you, Chosen! Come in, come in!"

Ororil was visibly happy to see Yi Qiang, so much so that he failed to notice the golden dragon on the archer's shoulder. That was surprising, given the fact that... well, dragon.

The burly elven blacksmith turned and led Yi Qiang further into the forge. Or, as it turned out, house - they headed upstairs after some walking, which revealed the entire second dimension of what Yi Qiang initially presumed only to be where Ororil worked. Instead, it seemed that the blacksmith was so devoted to the forge that he lived above it, although Yi Qiang couldn't be sure if that was normal for tradesmen or not.

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The moment they both sat down at a table in what looked to be the living room, Ororil's vibrant green eyes widened.

"Is that a dragon?"

Yi Qiang couldn't help but smirk. He couldn't say he liked the attention, and the whole situation was quite inconvenient when new people, who Yi Qiang was trying to talk to for whatever reason, kept staring at Shenyu and stuttering while speaking, but being bonded to a dragon had its moments.

Look, Shenyu, I think he noticed you. There goes your stealth theory.

"Hmph! That's no definitive proof, Brother."

"Yes, it is indeed a dragon. His name is Shenyu. Would you like to pet him?"

"What? No!"

"No, I couldn't -" Ororil was evidently affected by Shenyu's vigorous head shaking, stopping briefly in the middle of his sentence before continuing. "I wouldn't dare to demean such a noble creature as a dragon. We blacksmiths are the masters and harnessers of the flame, so it's in our profession to honor the creature sired of it, the dragon. And the elves, especially, are much more openly aware of the dragon's majesty. But I digress. Please, it seems like much has happened since we last met. And, seeing you so changed, I have to know if you'll tell me. What exactly happened?"

Yi Qiang grinned.

"It's a long story..."

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Ororil was a horrible listener.

His constant questions, interruptions, and obtrusive signs of approval or attention, like grunts or nods, made telling his story more taxing than Yi Qiang had ever imagined telling a story could be. His mind, honed by years of constant practice, hard work, and learning, was agile and capable. But, despite all that, no matter how precise his mental faculties were, the archer couldn't handle being thrown off-beat while telling a story - Ororil's exaggerated gestures seemed perfectly timed to throw off his rhythm while speaking. They felt like a jab directly into the ribs, used as a swift counter to an overextended hook.

It was, in more simple terms, verbal jousting with a master of the Drunken Fist. Who was legitimately drunk. And, every time, only seemed to manage to land hits out of blind luck.

Frustrating, to say the least.

Thankfully, Yi Qiang got through it, though Shenyu's "helpful" interjections only exacerbated his problems. He, it would seem, had a very different perspective on what happened after his hatching, and did not hesitate to say so. Yi Qiang found it too tiring to explain to the blacksmith why exactly he kept pausing every time the dragon chirped, so he figured Ororil must have been very confused.

Not that Shenyu cared.

Yi Qiang, if asked to tell the story again to someone else, a stranger, would not impart the same rendition of his tale. Instead, he would edit it, removing the part about the lizardman tribe and changing things around to fit the new narrative better. He trusted Ororil with the information - the blacksmith was anything but a gossip, even if he did love conversation - but Yi Qiang figured there was a reason the tribe had gone into hiding, something he didn't want to ruin through frivolous sharing. Of course, at the end of the story, Yi Qiang also reminded Ororil not to tell anyone he didn't expressly trust, since it was related to a tribe of people's safety, something the archer, understandably, didn't want to put into jeopardy.

The visit did end pleasantly, with Ororil insisting on granting Yi Qiang a reward for the completion of his mission. The archer had completely forgotten about that and felt just fine not receiving the compensation, but the blacksmith insisted.

Seeing as Yi Qiang had gone through so much extra trouble to clear out that cave, to the point that Ororil recognized most Chosen weren't up to that level of combat yet, the elf wanted to spice up the reward.

"My first idea was to make a suit of armor for Shenyu here, but he's still in his growth phase, obviously, so I can't make armor with the measurements of his current size. It would be even more impossible to predict his full size, too, so I'll have to settle for something else. Are you sure you don't want a weapon? I can make a mean composite bow, though it's been a while."

"Yes, my skillset is something that makes material weapons wasted on me."

"Alright, then. You don't seem like the type to enjoy metal armor, either, though I see those boots you're wearing aren't bad. They look enchanted, though, which is beyond my range of abilities - I'm no mage. Wait a second," Ororil's eyes lit up, the blacksmith standing with excitement clear on his face. "I know the perfect gift for you. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. For your dragon, too, I presume... tell you what, come back here at this time two days from now, and I'll have a reward I know you'll love."

Ororil went into a state of mind Yi Qiang could only approximate to 'blacksmith mode', muttering indistinctly to himself while surprisingly sharp eyes looked all over the marksman and his dragon.

Thanking his benefactor, Yi Qiang decided he had some more things to do than stand there and be ogled by a blacksmith - for entirely productive purposes, he was sure - and thanked Ororil, finding his own way out. Even in the marksman's absence, Ororil's fingers danced, his hands at his sides, envisioning whatever had caused such an excited reaction from the blacksmith.

There was one more stop he had to make before Yi Qiang was free for the rest of the day. As for what he'd do after that, the archer would cross that bridge when he came to it.