Diverse sounds filled the air.
Different kinds of ores clashed with each other making a distinct clanging sound, gemstones rolling around, tools hitting tal, and many more as the blacksmiths began the tedious and rigorous crafting process.
The transparent barrier effectively isolates external sounds, but it doesn't impede the transmission of sound beyond its radius.
Hence, the crowd can easily hear everything transpiring on the stage.
The blacksmiths had different temperants and styles.
So of the more organized ones neatly arranged the materials they needed close to their workstations before starting while so intense ones imdiately started heating the ore.
The the of this year's final stage is a steel-ranked weapon, aning that the main material of the weapon should be steel.
Each blacksmith's spatial container had various high-quality gemstones for the blacksmiths to use in upgrading their steel-ranked weapon into a relic.
Naturally, this is the part where each blacksmith's prowess will be fully tested.
Due to the different styles of enchanting a weapon, the weapon quality will be diversified. Those who weren't good enough would only be able to produce lower-quality weapons while those who were truly skilled would shine like the proud morning sun.
A few minutes passed and almost every blacksmith started to heat their steel ores including ido Chan who was one of the more organized ones.
So organized that she was the last to start the heating process.
Sweat trickled down the necks of the blacksmiths as their eyes remained glued on the ores they were heating, their focus as sharp as a sword.
One by one, the ores turned yellow due to the imnse heat of the forge.
Molten steel gripped by iron tongs plopped on the anvil as the smiths started hamring away, skillfully shaping the ore to the best of their abilities.
After a good while of hamring, the molten steel started to take shape.
Most of them took on the shape of swords.
However, there were around four blacksmiths who chose to create a different type of weapon.
Three of them including Doran chose to create axes while ido chose to craft a dagger.
The clanging noises of hamrs hitting steel grew louder as the blacksmiths finished shaping the molten ores, fully transitioning into flattening the blades of their chosen weapons.
Everyone was hooked as they witnessed the blunt and heavy steel ingots slowly turn into killing weapons.
What the audience anticipated as a tedious and monotonous hamring display unexpectedly transford into a visually pleasing spectacle.
Seeing the blunt edges transform into sharp blades was truly satisfying.
Before they knew it, the flattening process was already done.
The smiths tightened the grip of their iron tongs on the now cold steel blades before putting them back on their forges to reheat, adjusting the heat of the forge accordingly, then, once the steel blades had turned crimson, the blacksmiths took it out of the forges, letting it cool down at room temperature.
The forgers had to repeat the sa process three tis so they couldn't allow their concentration to slip, else, they would miss the best ti to reheat the steel blades again.
The durability of their blades depended on these minute details.
In a huge competition such as this, the most minor of slip-ups might translate into a lower ranking, thus, the blacksmiths couldn't afford to be careless.
After all, the skills of these three judges were no joke.
The fascinating color transitions of the steel blades kept the attention of the people from wandering off, so of the people watching were so srized to the point of almost drooling like an idiot.
Fortunately, before such people embarrassed themselves, most of the blacksmiths finished the heat-and-cool process, moving on to the next phase which is sanding the steel blades.
Rough screeching sounds assaulted the spectators' ears as steel made contact with the sanders.
So smiths preferred the mana-powered automatic belt sanders while so preferred to do it manually.
Either way, after a good while of sanding, the edges of the smiths' steel blades beca nice and smooth.
When the sanding process was done, it was finally ti for one of the most important parts of the smithing process–quenching.
The steel blades once again glowed scarlet as the blacksmiths returned them inside the forge to reheat and when the desired temperature was achieved, the forgers removed the cherry red steel blades from the furnace.
Hot liquid droplets splashed everywhere as the smiths dipped their scalding steel blades in a small drum of water.
So blacksmiths used plain water, so used salt water, while others–oil water.
Unbeknownst to the viewers, winners and losers were being decided right at this mont as the durability of each blade started to differ in accordance with the skills of the blacksmiths.
As for the king of blacksmiths, Doran, he used salt water to complete the quenching process of his steel ax blade.
In contrast, the rookie, ido, used oil-water to cool her dagger-blade down.
The spectators, including Shye, were amazed by the sheer amount of effort these blacksmiths were dedicating to their beloved blades as if it was their own children, making each and every one of them appreciate the weapons that they had.
Once the quenching process was done, the smiths once again reheated their blades.
But this ti, at a lower temperature to relax the stress inflicted by the quenching process, making the steel blades tougher.
Consecutive clanging noises once again rang out from the stage as the grips of the smiths' iron tongs let go of the steel blade, letting it rest on the sidelines as they started another crucial process: creating the hilt.
Crimson flas roared.
Subtle crackling noises sounded as smaller pieces of steel ores were lted into the forge, going through a trial of fire before being masterfully shaped into an intricate guard and poml that deserved to hold the ferocious steel blade in place.
The entire process was like a hypnosis spell with a hint of ti attribute as it toyed with the minds of the spectators, preventing them from realizing that an hour already passed.
Without realizing it, the once-blue sky has now turned dark.
Finally, just when the hypnotizing spell of the hilt creation process was about to run out, the blacksmiths finished their beloved crafts.
The ferocious blades were now tad, firmly held by the well-crafted handles be it sword-blades, ax-blades, or dagger blades.
Now, only the finishing touches remained–enchanting and sharpening the blades.
The exhausted smiths took deep breaths, stretched their sore limbs, and rehydrated themselves in preparation for the complicated enchantnt process.
Not as ti-consuming, tedious, and rigorous as the weapon crafting itself, however, it demanded an absurd amount of focus.
Thus, they only began the enchantnt process once they were ready.
Shockingly, the one who started last was now in the lead as ido Chan decisively crushed a high-grade ceruleite into small pieces using her hamr.
She then put the ceruleite pieces in a small high-grade tal container before putting the container inside the forge.
Loud cracking noises and blurbing sounds filled the air as the expensive gemstone was lted into a blue liquid before being poured and evenly spread on the edges of ido's dagger.
Once the spreading process was done, ido lifted her dagger up using her left hand and raised the index and middle fingers of her right hand.
Subtle blue light illuminated the surroundings as ido closed her eyes and unhesitatingly glossed her glowing fingers through the edges of the blade, unafraid that it would slice her fingers open.
Astoundingly, it didn't.
Instead, the lted gemstone slowly hardened, sapping ido's energy at an alarming rate.
After what seed like an eternity for ido, the dagger finally glowed purple for a few seconds before returning to its original appearance, only, this ti, the blades of the dagger emitted thick purple vapor.
Naturally, ido now handled the dagger with care, evidently unwilling to get sliced by it.
Finally, after continuously working for around six whole hours, ido finished her masterpiece.
Monts later, similar scenes occurred in the workstations of other blacksmiths as all of them completed their weapons one by one.
Seeing the developnts, the comntator gracefully walked up the stage.
It was ti to decide who was the king.
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