The wind blew calmly against the windows of the forge, creating a soft, soothing noise that contrasted with the intensity of the conversation inside. The sign on the door read "Closed", but four people were still in the workshop. Valar grabbed a chair behind him and sat down, dragging it across the floor. He gestured for Samuel and Relia to sit as well. The apprentice, on the other hand, remained standing, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed, silently watching the scene.
"In reality," Valar began, finally breaking the silence, "I spent two months making that armor."
Relia furrowed her brows, visibly confused. "Two months ?My armor was custom-made, and you took my measurements just the day before yesterday."
Valar nodded slowly. "To be exact, it's been 26 hours. But those are 26 hours in your world, not in mine."
Samuel and Relia exchanged a confused glance, their eyes clearly showing their lack of understanding. Valar waited for a moment before continuing without further suspense.
"It's thanks to my hereditary skill, 'White Dimension.'"
Samuel raised an eyebrow. "A hereditary skill ?"
Relia, calmer now, turned to him and explained, "Yes, it's a skill that one inherits from their parents. I thought you knew what it was. For example, in our group, Dante has one as well. It's his 'Flash Slide' skill."
Samuel replied, "I knew Dante's skill was special, but I didn't know it was hereditary."
Valar interrupted their conversation by raising a hand, his brow furrowed. "Are you two done ? Can I continue ?"
Relia, still intrigued, gestured for him to go ahead, while Samuel leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and fixing his gaze on the blacksmith.
"Well, let me continue," Valar said, sitting up a little straighter, his expression turning more serious. "This skill comes from my father, who was also a great blacksmith, one whose fame and talent far surpassed mine. Anyway, this skill allows me to move within a pocket dimension that has its own set of rules. And among these rules is the way time passes. To put it simply, 1 minute in the real world equals 1 hour in my pocket dimension. This lets me work at an incredible speed because I can work on objects in this dimension without time moving forward in the real world. Plus, I can move items between the two dimensions. That's how I made your armor and many other complex pieces in such a short amount of time."
He paused, observing the two, their looks increasingly incredulous. He continued in a more serious tone.
"So there you have it. But this information must not leave this room. I only told you because you forced my hand, Samuel."
A heavy silence hung in the air as Relia and Samuel processed this revelation. The forge, with the wind's sound and the residual warmth of the last embers, suddenly felt much heavier.
Relia was speechless. "That's incredible... So, you really can do all that, travel to a parallel dimension and manipulate time ?" she asked, awe in her voice.
Valar smiled gently, a hint of pride in his eyes. "Yes, and that's just one of the many applications of my skill. But remember, it's a secret."
Samuel, however, showed no apparent surprise. His thoughts were already elsewhere as he flashed a sly smile. "You said you can move objects between dimensions. Does that include living beings, too ?"
The apprentice, who had been silent until now, replied, "Yes, I've been there several times... for some private time, you know," winking at Valar, clearly embarrassed.
Samuel smiled again, a dark glint in his eyes, and addressed Valar. "And this dimension... can you show it to me ?"
Relia watched him, trying to understand what Samuel might do with this information and this skill.