Chapter 2323: Puppet Fighting
Sam finally opened his eyes after another twenty minutes.
He ignored everyone"s attention on him. The blood is still enveloping the weapons and the armor. He Just reduced the heat. He moved his hands a.s.sembling the armor pieces. The halberd"s head is being attached to the shaft, the blade is being installed into the handle of the long sword. The cross bow is being a.s.sembled, then the armor.
While these things are a.s.sembled individually, the attendants brough the wooden puppets to the contestants.
The partic.i.p.ants can adorn the armor on the puppets themselves. Just to make sure that there is no human error involved in this process.
Of course, they also have another privilege. The compet.i.tors can program a few moves into the puppet. However, they cannot be some elaborate moves, and they also cannot program adjustments to the existing moves.
They can only program something that is related to the usage of their weapons.
For example, they cannot show how to improve the accuracy of its shooting or improve the energy circulation to increase the damage done by a crossbow.
They can only show the mechanism of their crossbow.
If their long sword is different than a normal long sword, they can show it how to hold the sword. If their polearm weapon is special and not of a standard model and they made some modification to it, they can show how to use it.
Sam took his time a.s.sembling the weapons. After he is done, he threw them on to the wooden puppet, while still covered in that blood.
So, even as the armor is being worn, no one could make out what its actual appearance is like. When it was completely worn, Sam took a deep breath and dropped the blood.
As if a red muslin has been removed over it, the blood dropped down fluidly, revealing the armor for everyone to see.
Instant awe is the only term that could be used to describe the expressions of the people. What they witnessed is the wooden puppet wearing a thin Gothic style armor. The armor is of black color, but with red blood hue. The blood hue is very clear and not vague at all.
That b.l.o.o.d.y glow that is coming out it, gave the armor and the weapons a menacing yet majestic look. The helmet covered the head of the puppet completely, only leaving the gap for its eyes and the nose.
The armor didn"t have any specific patterns, however they noticed that there are no gaps in the joints. Instead, it had a blood colored metallic lining beneath it. It is as flexible as a fabric, however it is as durable as chain mail could be.
The chest plate, shoulder guards, arm guards, are done very simply. There is no pattern, no intricate design. Even on the part covering the abdomen.
The only thing notable is that Sam marked his double S symbol on the left side of the chest plate.
In its right hand, the Puppet has the sword, the Halberd is hung on its back. Sam made an attachment for that.
Now, the shield and the crossbow.
The crossbow is mounted on arm guard of the left hand. And that crossbow also acted as the attachment for the shield. This helped conceal the crossbow. When the wielder desires, they can just extend the arm straight and shoot it.
The shield is design in such a way that the bolt wouldn"t be obstructed by its body.
Everything is glowing with that blood red hue over the black color.
It is great to look at and looked functional as well. However, the latter has to be tested.
One thing they are sure of is that, if they had just seen the armor and the weapons like this they would have never guessed that Sam used different layers and then bonded them together. It is very clean and felt like it was created that way.
There are no signs of any form of work done on it.
Sam heaved a sigh and sat on the ground. He spent too much effort on it. He is soaked in sweat and a lot of his reserves are depleted. He is only at twenty percent or so. If someone attacks
him now, he would have some trouble killing them if they a bit stronger than him.
He didn"t feel secure and took out some wine.
The time is soon up.
All sixteen of them finished it and the test began.
They didn"t wait at all and just drew the lots. Sam"s is in at the eight duel, the last one. Manson"s is in first.
Manson"s armor is shining brightly as it went on the stage. It is made of silver and gold colored components looking grand and luxurious. He made some modifications to the shield, while the crossbow is hung on the back through an attachment. The long sword is hanging by the waist and the puppet carried the spear as the primary weapon.
As for the shield modifications, there are some spikes on its surface and the edge of the shield are unusually sharp.
His opponent also had a handsome armor. An armor made of many rare metals. Sam could identify them just by looking. Their usage was made so obvious.
The battle began.
The puppets executed standard fight moves.
Manson"s puppet thrust the spear forward, while the opponent one blocked it with the shield. It didn"t try to dodge, just like how the examiner has mentioned before. Then that puppet drew its sword and attacked.
Manson"s puppet blocked it with the shield and attacks.
The exchange continued until the opponent"s shield couldn"t handle it anymore. The puppet"s moves were too accurate and both of them moved with the same monotonous technique.
This made the spear land on the same spot of the shield again and again. As the luck would have it, the spot happened to the thinner part of the shield, closer to the edge.
*BANG*
The spear went right through it and it went straight toward the arm. The Arm guard covering the arm barely managed to deflect it.
But the deflection had been a bigger mistake. The puppet pulled the spear back, since it is deflected it moved diagonally making it stuck within the hole it made in the shield.
When the puppet forcefully pulled it, it brough the shield back along with the spear.
Since the puppet didn"t know let go of the shield consciously, its fingers and the forearm were broken in process. The arm guard covering that are is also deformed.
The puppet based on its programming went for the secondary weapons. The spear on its back and the crossbow. But that broken arm is of no use. When it picked the spear, the forearm
caved completely under the load of it.
Manson"s puppet of course didn"t stop.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The attacks landed on the armor. Once again at the same point. With minimal defense, the
armor was pierced open and the spear lodged itself deeply into the puppet.
Just like how a cultivator would have died, the puppet also collapsed.
Manson won.
Sam looked at the stage with a weird expression. He didn"t know whether he should be
impressed or disappointed.
This is the finals of the weapon making tournament, so in all fairness he expected a strong exchange between those puppets.
However, they are done after executing a few basic moves. The weapons failed immediately after taking a few attacks. Its just too d.a.m.n bland.
The compet.i.tions continued.
The only interesting exchange was between the Hephaestus student and the Viswa Karma Student. Both of their sets were really strong and functional. Their defense is great. The
shields were unform and worked perfectly.
Their crossbows are also working properly.
However, the Hephaestus student"s armor lacked some flexibility in motion. The joints could
have been a bit too rigid.
When a sword strike landed there, the join broke, exposing the hand. That one loss spiraled down. It was a relatively close match, but it is a clear victory with no doubt. The Viswa Karma
student won.
The second student from the Viswa Karma academy, went next and destroyed the opponent
easily.
The rest of the matches were unremarkable. Including Sam"s own match as well. His puppet went on to the stage.
The examiners sensed a blood thirsty aura from it. Which shouldn"t be present in any non- spirit weapons and certainly not in the puppets they created themselves. They attributed it to the blood iron and treatment Sam gave it.
The opponent"s armor looked much flashier, but it did pale in comparison up on closer look.
*BANG*
When the attack happened, Sam"s puppet blocked the attack strongly and thrust the long
sword.
The opponent"s puppet blocked the attack.
However, when the next exchange happened, a frown appeared on the faces of the examiners.
For some reason, the opponent"s puppet appeared a beat slower to them. Not to a great
extent, very minute one.
They thought its them being paranoid.
However, as the time went on, they noticed that they are not wrong.
After ten moves, there is not a nick on either Sam"s armor or the opponent"s armor. However,
the opposite puppet suddenly collapsed to the ground.