37 Competition
It's finally time for the blacksmithing competition. I've been hyped for it ever since I had the plan of making the Rose.
It seems like Sivod is confident that Kuzzat's apprentice will win, because he's advertised the contest like there's no tomorrow, and basically the entirety of Erast is here.
It's fine by me, since that'll mean I'm face-slapping the local lord in front of all the citizens. However, I'll probably need to make a quick escape afterwards, since Sivod seems to be a vain noble.
Therefore, just in case, I have Arin and Catherine close to the edges of the crowd. They insisted on coming to watch me, so there was no way I could refuse. Even if it was for their own safety. It touches me to know that they would endanger themselves just to support me.
However, Catherine's attendance will actually add more flair to my performance. Not only will I be forging and naming a Half-God sword, I'll also be presenting it to the intended owner. In my imagination, it looks really cool.
Anyway, the stage is set. Kuzzat's apprentice is a short and buff human who looks more like a dwarf. Maybe he's been raised by Kuzzat, and therefore has adopted the dwarf way of living. I wonder if he was also born in a cave in of bricks. I heard murmurs in the surroundings that his name was Tordal. What a dwarven name.
As I thought, the mithril that I have is substantially lower in quality than Tordal's. Even without picking it up, I have multiple facets to tell its quality. First, there's Ed's appraisal. Then there's also my Mana Sense and Manipulation, and finally, there's God Smith.
I'm not going to complain about it though. This is silent posturing. By winning despite having worse materials, the ones who are in the know are even more ashamed. That will push them towards doing something rash, and hopefully that will change the general populace's opinion of them.
Viscount Sivod is the official referee for the contest.
"Welcome, welcome! This will be a simple contest. The challenger will be Gorund's apprentice, Daniel! And the one he is challenging, Kuzzat's apprentice, Tordal!
The winner will receive 5,000 gold coins, as well as a permanent sales contract with my noble house!
The rules are simple. Using the materials provided, make the best possible weapon within 5 hours. That's all!
Ready? Now, start!" (Sivod)
As I thought, the rewards are there because Sivod and Kuzzat are confident. Too bad, they've never seen me forge before.
In the first place, the fact that Sivod and Kuzzat are in cahoots means that they don't even need this public agreement of the sales contract. Which means that if I hadn't come along, Gorund would only be used as a stepping stone.
He would challenge Kuzzat and lose, then Sivod will have all the right in the world to work together with Kuzzat instead. Quite a masterful plan, but one that is destined to fail now that I'm here.
Both Tordal and I pick up our hammers. I'm using my custom-made bone hammer and anvil though. The fire I'm using will also come from my Fire Magic. I don't trust the equipment that I've been provided.
I can't really change the material, since that's the one thing that has to be the 'same' to ensure 'equality'. The higher the impurities in a piece of metal, the lower the actual working metal you end up with.
They're basically forcing me into two choices. Either I completely refine the mithril and end up with a lump so small that I can't even make a proper weapon with, or make a lower quality weapon that has a lot of impurities in it.
Still, it's not that hard for me to modify it. When the slag gets displaced in the form of sparks, I can always just create some mithril bone to substitute it. In the end, I'll probably end up with a higher quality piece of mithril than Tordal's.
And since I'm making this sword for Catherine, I want the very best materials.
The purifying process took me nearly two hours, since I also had to inject bone into the mithril. Tordal, on the other hand, only took half an hour. Even that half an hour was just for show. His mithril had already been completely refined at the start.
Now, I can begin the shaping process. This will take less than one hour; primarily because my Mana Merge can only last for one hour. The more mana I have, the quicker I can shape the metal. The good thing is, the mana that I refine while doing this is added back into my body, instead of back into the air.
Therefore, I'm actually refining the outside mana and replacing my own mana with it.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
The two of us continuously hit the metal. I can see that Tordal's going for a standard sword. He's basically not even trying; it's like he knows I'm going to lose.
Sigh… nobles are really trash in every world.
Anyway, my blade has been finished. I start working on the designs of the hilt and cross-guard that I've envisioned.
The hilt is the hardest part, because getting all the petals of the rose to look perfect requires precision work. Luckily, I have Mana Merge active, as well as the God Smith skill. I'm expecting both to level up a few times after this.
Within 45 minutes, all the components of the sword have been finished. All that's left is merging them then naming the sword.
I don't know what exactly Tordal is doing, but it seems like he's unaware that mana can help merge conductive materials. He's made the blade with a tapered end, presumably for inserting into the hilt.
I surround my own sword with my mana. Probably because I'm using Mana Merge, the process is much faster than when I made Dragonsbane. However, something has changed. Instead of me acting as a conduit for the surrounding mana, it feels more like I'm directly manipulating it instead.
I'm guessing that 'natural' nature of the sword is the culprit. By using a rose, it's basically showing that it's a part of nature. This sword will definitely be stronger than Dragonsbane.
After another minute, the merging is complete. I ask Ed to perform an initial appraisal.
[Mithril Longsword (Legendary): A sword forged for a loved one. Guided by their views and principals, this sword is tailor made for them.
(Sealed): Only the person this sword is designed for can unleash its true potential.]
It seems like Sivod is confident that Kuzzat's apprentice will win, because he's advertised the contest like there's no tomorrow, and basically the entirety of Erast is here.
It's fine by me, since that'll mean I'm face-slapping the local lord in front of all the citizens. However, I'll probably need to make a quick escape afterwards, since Sivod seems to be a vain noble.
Therefore, just in case, I have Arin and Catherine close to the edges of the crowd. They insisted on coming to watch me, so there was no way I could refuse. Even if it was for their own safety. It touches me to know that they would endanger themselves just to support me.
However, Catherine's attendance will actually add more flair to my performance. Not only will I be forging and naming a Half-God sword, I'll also be presenting it to the intended owner. In my imagination, it looks really cool.
Anyway, the stage is set. Kuzzat's apprentice is a short and buff human who looks more like a dwarf. Maybe he's been raised by Kuzzat, and therefore has adopted the dwarf way of living. I wonder if he was also born in a cave in of bricks. I heard murmurs in the surroundings that his name was Tordal. What a dwarven name.
As I thought, the mithril that I have is substantially lower in quality than Tordal's. Even without picking it up, I have multiple facets to tell its quality. First, there's Ed's appraisal. Then there's also my Mana Sense and Manipulation, and finally, there's God Smith.
I'm not going to complain about it though. This is silent posturing. By winning despite having worse materials, the ones who are in the know are even more ashamed. That will push them towards doing something rash, and hopefully that will change the general populace's opinion of them.
Viscount Sivod is the official referee for the contest.
"Welcome, welcome! This will be a simple contest. The challenger will be Gorund's apprentice, Daniel! And the one he is challenging, Kuzzat's apprentice, Tordal!
The winner will receive 5,000 gold coins, as well as a permanent sales contract with my noble house!
The rules are simple. Using the materials provided, make the best possible weapon within 5 hours. That's all!
Ready? Now, start!" (Sivod)
As I thought, the rewards are there because Sivod and Kuzzat are confident. Too bad, they've never seen me forge before.
In the first place, the fact that Sivod and Kuzzat are in cahoots means that they don't even need this public agreement of the sales contract. Which means that if I hadn't come along, Gorund would only be used as a stepping stone.
He would challenge Kuzzat and lose, then Sivod will have all the right in the world to work together with Kuzzat instead. Quite a masterful plan, but one that is destined to fail now that I'm here.
Both Tordal and I pick up our hammers. I'm using my custom-made bone hammer and anvil though. The fire I'm using will also come from my Fire Magic. I don't trust the equipment that I've been provided.
I can't really change the material, since that's the one thing that has to be the 'same' to ensure 'equality'. The higher the impurities in a piece of metal, the lower the actual working metal you end up with.
They're basically forcing me into two choices. Either I completely refine the mithril and end up with a lump so small that I can't even make a proper weapon with, or make a lower quality weapon that has a lot of impurities in it.
Still, it's not that hard for me to modify it. When the slag gets displaced in the form of sparks, I can always just create some mithril bone to substitute it. In the end, I'll probably end up with a higher quality piece of mithril than Tordal's.
And since I'm making this sword for Catherine, I want the very best materials.
The purifying process took me nearly two hours, since I also had to inject bone into the mithril. Tordal, on the other hand, only took half an hour. Even that half an hour was just for show. His mithril had already been completely refined at the start.
Now, I can begin the shaping process. This will take less than one hour; primarily because my Mana Merge can only last for one hour. The more mana I have, the quicker I can shape the metal. The good thing is, the mana that I refine while doing this is added back into my body, instead of back into the air.
Therefore, I'm actually refining the outside mana and replacing my own mana with it.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
The two of us continuously hit the metal. I can see that Tordal's going for a standard sword. He's basically not even trying; it's like he knows I'm going to lose.
Sigh… nobles are really trash in every world.
Anyway, my blade has been finished. I start working on the designs of the hilt and cross-guard that I've envisioned.
The hilt is the hardest part, because getting all the petals of the rose to look perfect requires precision work. Luckily, I have Mana Merge active, as well as the God Smith skill. I'm expecting both to level up a few times after this.
Within 45 minutes, all the components of the sword have been finished. All that's left is merging them then naming the sword.
I don't know what exactly Tordal is doing, but it seems like he's unaware that mana can help merge conductive materials. He's made the blade with a tapered end, presumably for inserting into the hilt.
I surround my own sword with my mana. Probably because I'm using Mana Merge, the process is much faster than when I made Dragonsbane. However, something has changed. Instead of me acting as a conduit for the surrounding mana, it feels more like I'm directly manipulating it instead.
I'm guessing that 'natural' nature of the sword is the culprit. By using a rose, it's basically showing that it's a part of nature. This sword will definitely be stronger than Dragonsbane.
After another minute, the merging is complete. I ask Ed to perform an initial appraisal.
[Mithril Longsword (Legendary): A sword forged for a loved one. Guided by their views and principals, this sword is tailor made for them.
(Sealed): Only the person this sword is designed for can unleash its true potential.]
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