Chapter 1095: The Crafting Competition Has Begun!
As they worked, the referee quickly talked about the rules again, which had already been told to the participants, but which the audience had no idea about.
"Although this is a competition between craftsmen, there are still rules to them! The first rule is to not use any physical material that they brought themselves to the crafting. Everything must be done one hundred percent with what is given!"
"The second rule is that participants cannot bother each other, that includes directly attacking one another, belittling one another with insults, and more!"
"The third rule is that if a contestant somehow is knocked out or loses consciousness, they\'re immediately disqualified!"
"And the fourth and last rule, if the contestant cannot finish the desired item within the hour given, they also lose!"
These were the four rules, most people found they made a lot of sense and weren\'t anything extreme. Though, some more cunning people immediately realized that they were made this simple for a reason.
"If that\'s all the rules, then this is only going to get wilder…" Jackinston said, rubbing his white beard.
"Huh? Why is that sir guild master?" one of his guild members wondered.
"Don\'t you see, young man? The rules say to not DIRECTLY attack another participant, or belittle them… It doesn\'t say anything else. Also, it states that if they are knocked out they are instantly disqualified! If this was going to be a peaceful crafting competition, do you think they would have added such a rule?" the dwarf man smirked.
"T-That\'s…"
"Wait, does that means they can fight each other as long as not directly?"
"But how do you fight indirectly though?"
"Hah, that\'s easy, even more if you got magic… Although there\'s a bunch of newbies there that know no magic at all, there are also some old monsters. They are not going to play fair," laughed Jackinston. "This is going to get fun; you\'ll see."
The same thing was going on with Teressa and her guild members.
"Master Teressa! Are they going to cheat the contest? But I thought this was all about skill?"
"It is! But it\'s also a competition," laughed the elven alchemist. "At the end of the day, this world is still ruled by the strong. Even craftsmen need to be strong and be cunning if they want to get somewhere in this world… This even includes all of us.
Why do you think I keep enforcing the learning of spells and magic skills on all of you, alchemy alone is not going to save your lives when a monster shows up."
"Oh, is that way you sent Melisa to this? She\'s… I guess one of the few that can actually fight using Alchemy!" said a young alchemist girl at her side.
"Fufu, indeed… Now let\'s see what our cute curse caster will do~" the alchemist smiled. "I would expect nothing but excellency, from our most talented member so far."
As the audience glanced in silence as the participants started working on their smithies, the rulers seemed slightly worried.
Well, the King in specific.
"Honey, do you think it was a good idea to make these rules so loose?" the youthful king sighed, his shiny blonde hair shining beneath the sunlight. "Won\'t the participants… Just start attacking each other indirectly? There is a myriad of ways to cheat this!"
"That\'s why," the Queen smiled. "At the end of the day, we are in an Arena, right? People want entertainment, the participants will not only be doing their best working on their pieces of equipment, but they must also show how cunning they are."
"But I thought this was just to let Ambil show off… And Planta too," sighed the King. "What if…?"
"What if what? Do you think they\'re going to fall to some of the other participants cheap tricks?" laughed the Queen. "That would be interesting, actually! Let\'s see what they do! Look, someone\'s already preparing something."
"I can\'t believe it, it\'s them…" the King facepalmed.
The first ones to start cheating abusing these rules were, naturally, the obnoxious trio of crafters.
…
"We were given several ingots, so I don\'t think it would be wrong to make several swords, right?" wondered Ambil.
"I think so," Planta nodded. "But I believe they\'re only going to tell us to show one at the end… Let\'s make as many as we can and pick the best one blessed by RNG!"
"Err an gee? What?" Ambil raised an eyebrow.
"Hahah, don\'t mind it!" Planta giggled.
The ores were already smelting, rapidly being poured into the mold, and then cooling down with Ice Spirits that Planta summoned with her connection to Nieve.
FLUOSH!
She didn\'t just make one, but once it was cooled down and the metal hardened, they poured another, a third, and then a fourth.
The amount of ores was enough to make four swords! They were also given ten fire spirit stones, so they could play around with them a lot.
"Well, ain\'t that easy," Ambil laughed. "With Ice Spirit Magic, cooling down metals become a thing as easy as breathing. Okay, now let\'s bring them back to the flames. I\'ll start with mine. Planta, Titan, you do yours."
"Alright, got it!" Planta nodded, taking out her hammer and imbuing it with her Mana and Spiritual Essence.
"I\'ve learned quite a lot from you, master Ambil, I\'ll do my best," Mark nodded, he was quite excited on using his own flames.
The trio quickly began working on the swords, the audience was fixated on Planta in specific, her movements were graceful and precise, yet carried a great amount of dexterity and strength.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
And also, despite her frail-looking maiden appearance, she was mighty strong, and despite being a plant-like being, she controlled the flames of the smithy without even burning!
The sword beneath her hands was shining, giving out a rainbow aura already, and she had yet to even use any spirit stone on it.
Yet, some envious gazes were also present.
A certain trio of brothers were planning something devious.
"Let\'s see if you can work so gracefully after this, bitch…"