Pov Anton:
I certainly will not lose this competition, any more than my life, my pride as a man would not bear the punishment my wife proposed.
With a win or die, the mentality I enter the arena along with all the other competitors, the man who is in charge of this event seems to be very famous on this continent from what I could hear from the other competitors who were talking before we entered the arena.
As soon as I heard what this man named Borges was saying, I realized that he is similar to me, the only difference between us is that I learned to speak more politely because of my wife, otherwise I like his direct way of speaking talking even with Nobles watching.
I have listened to all the rules and agree with them, a Blacksmith who relies heavily on magic and skills will always be unable to push his limits, skills and other techniques serve to complement the Blacksmith’s ability, so I have always honed my own skills, I only use my skills when it’s necessary.
When Borges spread his Aura and tried to intimidate the competitors I realized that he is very close to me in strength, in addition, I noticed the metal element in his Aura, I only noticed this because I have this element myself.
The competitors surprised me for being so weak, almost wheels were shaking because of Borges’ Aura, some were even disqualified before the tournament even started for not supporting his Aura, I wonder why so many people who clearly don’t have enough capacity decided to enter in such a competition.
When the first preliminary started I started opening the first box, I look at the metallic alloy, I take it with my hand, and I feel its texture and weight.
“Interesting…” (I)
I put that metal bar aside for the moment and went for the others that were easier to understand, it only took a look to understand what they were, but after almost getting fooled by the first metal bar, I respect them all, so I write down the results of everything on the reading crystal.
I finished everything in 5 minutes, I could have done it faster, but I’m not here to show off, I just need to win.
I look at Borges and start to laugh at his joke, I wonder how many people will be able to realize what he has done.
“(One of the bars that was the first for me, had a clear separation of the types of metal, which makes it easier to identify the different types, but the weight is different, being very light, everyone will notice that and think that it has more some kind of light metal mixed in, but this is a trap, it’s light because there are bubbles inside the metal making it not have the full mass it appears.)” (I)
The ending was exactly as I expected, many people were confused by this metal, and those who noticed the same as me had the same smile as me when noticing the little trick.
Anyone who has a hands-on background in forging and taking care of their own metal alloys will notice this within minutes, but those who let apprentices take care of these basic jobs or buy their metals ready to forge will miss the answer. ．ｔ
This is a good trick to get rid of those who think they are too good to stick with the basics.
When time ran out some fools tried to answer everything in a rush, but that too is useless, anyone can see that you are answering blind.
“Time is up, the names I’m going to call have passed, others can go away…” (Borges)
My name was called first, but I think it was in the order people finished the test, that’s because it didn’t follow any sort of order that I understood.
There were participants who did not understand when their names were not called and others did not accept being disqualified, thinking they had got all the answers right.
Borges wasted no time in answering anything he snapped his finger and all the disqualified participants were tied up in metal chains and taken away by force.
“Now let’s start the second stage of the preliminaries, it will be very similar to the first, but this time you will see a sword and you will have to say your materials, your time will be 5 minutes.” (Borges)
The same Mage who brought the items for the first stage took everything back but the table and then placed matching swords on everyone’s table.
“Start now!” (Borges)
I go to the sword and study it, its weight, balance, the edge of the blade, the rigidity of the metal, etc.
“(This reminds me of the time when I started my training in my youth.)” (I)
“(I studied various newly forged weapons just for fun and to test my knowledge.)” (I)
“(I never fail to do this, even in the Dungeon I check the work of other Blacksmiths and ask them to do the same with mine.)” (I)
For me, analyzing this sword was as easy as reading a book or drinking a bottle of beer.
I took the same reading crystal as before and put the metals that I discovered, I was restricted to the information that was asked for, but if I wanted I could have even put some of the techniques that were used to create this since they are basic techniques all of this it only took 1 minute.
I look around and once again I was the first to find it, since I had time I started to look deeper into the sword, just for fun.
When time ran out and another batch of competitors was eliminated, there were only 22 left with me.
“You will be this year’s competitors in the Tournament of the Great Hammer, congratulations on having the bare minimum to be called Blacksmiths.” (Borges)
“We’re going to start the tournament right now, now that those who don’t qualify have been sent away.” (Borges)
“The rules are simple, all of you will clean the impurities from a metal alloy within 1 hour, the 3 who do the best job will go to the second and last part of the tournament.” (Borges)
“But first we must change the terrain a little.” (Borges)
Soon mages of the earth element created ovens to heat the metal and also made available the materials we would need, all of which only took a few tens of seconds to get ready.
“From now on you are allowed to use any magic, skill, and technique you want, remember that only the result is what matters to a Blacksmith.” (Borges)
“Begin!” (Borges)