BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1098: First Challenge Results
After all, between craftsmen, alchemist, and blacksmiths, only pure alchemy specializers could have big mana pools, but even those could never compare to a druid-class magician such as Planta, even less with all her bonuses from Skills and equipment, giving her a ridiculous pool of Mana that dwarfed everyone present here, even if their pools combined at that!
FLUOSH!
All four weapons merged, becoming liquid metal for a moment as they fused with Planta\'s Mana and other energies. She even added Divine War Essence, experimenting with her new creation.
Slowly, the sword was formed, slightly longer than the mold, but still beautiful and not too far on its design. It still had that bronze color but had gained many black and slightly golden colorations.
All of the gems it had merged into a crimson ring around the hilt, the sword looked ideal, and it was the perfect in between a one-handed and a two-handed sword, fitting any style.
It overflowed with a blazing, rainbow-colored aura.
The spectators gasped in surprise over the aura of the weapon, and the other participants, which recognized Planta was just "not too bad" almost dropped their jaws into the floor.
"Is that even allowed?!" the red-bearded dwarf complained to the referee. "They merged weapons! How is that allowed?! That\'s not allowed, right?!"
"T-There\'s no rules stating they can\'t combine weapons made using the materials provided, sir…!" said the referee. "As long as it\'s done within the given time and using the materials, and also in the shape of a sword… It\'s fine."
"WHAT?!" the dwarf had grown really shocked. "I could have done the same! Dammit!"
He wasn\'t the only complaining, the blonde brownie smiled with disbelief.
"T-This can\'t be true, I never thought about that myself…"
And the black cloaked figure only remained in silence.
Though they seemed slightly annoyed, tightly gripping their fists.
"…"
And lastly, the dragon-kin man smiled.
"Impressive."
As this happened, all contestants or the groups brought over their weapons to the judges, nobody else than the King and the Queen, of course.
"Your majesty, we offer to you their creations," the referee said.
"One by one, bring them over," the King stated.
Like that, each participant walked towards him and showed the King what they had made. The Queen was also looking in silence.
Once all the swords were placed on the table, the King and the Queen continued analyzing them, they wielded them with mastery, imbued mana into them, and even tested them against beasts they brought.
Yes! It was not only the participants, but the King and Queen were entertaining the audience, and showcasing how truly powerful they were, so they wouldn\'t be looked down by evil cultists trying to sneak on them like before.
The beasts weren\'t weak either, and the King and the Queen fiercely tried each weapon in battle, where it most mattered.
Any blacksmith that thought that they needed just a pretty weapon to impress them quickly realized how wrong they were.
"GRYYARGH!"
A level 200 Earth Drake collapsed on the ground as the Queen slashed its throat with her swords, three of them had already broken into pieces through the battle, and the only two that survived were made by the dragon-kin and Planta.
"Hmm, good swords!" she nodded with a smile.
The audience went insane, their devotion for their Queen only growing, everyone was clapping, celebrating her victory against the ravenous beast, strong enough to destroy half the city if left alone.
"GRUOOHH…!"
A level 200 Corrupted Treant collapsed into pieces against the King\'s rapid, lightning speed attacks, his swords didn\'t break as he mostly used long-ranged wave-type sword attacks, but he threw away the swords which were unable to channel his powerful Sword Aura or his Mana.
Eventually, he ended wielding the golden sword from the brownie and the cursed sword from the black cloaked mysterious person.
"Interesting, a holy sword and a cursed sword, these two complement each other well, and are perfect for magic swordsmen."
Once the show was over, both King and Queen declared the winners of the first of the four tests, and also those that would be disqualified!
"The first place goes to…" the Queen said. "Ambil\'s group!"
"OOOHHHH!"
The people celebrated, raising their hands. Although several others complained, saying it was unfair. But the Queen had to admit, their sword was superb.
"Incredible and excellent sword made with very simple materials. Its durability is incredibly high, damage output is magnificent, and it can even ignore a dragon-type monster\'s scale defenses to an extent!" she said. "Congratulations!"
"T-Thank you so much!" Planta got a bit nervous, thanking everyone.
"W-We won the first round already?!" Ambil gasped.
"Hahaha! Hell yeah!" Titan raised his bulky arms.
"Now, for the second, third, fourth, and fifth places…" the King said.
"Second Place, Melisa!"
"Third Place, Erdragon!"
"Fourth Place, Goldanaba!"
"And Fifth Place, Horshen!"
The sorcerer won second place, the dragon-kin third, the brownie fourth, and the complaining dwarf got the short end of the stick at fifth place!
"…"
"Hah, of course."
"Fourth place?! No way!"
"What?! Fifth place?!"
They had all sorts of reactions, though the sorcerer remained in silence, Planta was able to learn her name was Melisa. The dragon-kin were Erdragon, the brownie was Goldanaba, and the dwarf Horshen.
"W-What about us?" the Forgery Brothers trio wondered.
"Your sword broke too easily, you\'re disqualified, please leave," said the Queen.
"EH?!" the trio gasped.
"Wait a second!"
"We can\'t be disqualified so suddenly!"
"Aren\'t there three more rounds left?!"
They complained to the King and Queen, naturally, the audience immediately hated them.
"BOOH! Just go away, losers!"
"You dare question the decision of her majesty?!"
"Get off the stage, suckers!"
People even started throwing rotten tomatoes and fruits at them.
And Planta, Ambil, and Titan couldn\'t stop laughing.
Ambil was right, this sort of triumph felt much better than using any trick!