Seeing the old man walking towards them, Ryan and Max bowed." Master Wen, have a look here. Even though it"s not allowed to reveal any kind of information. I can still say that this person is one of the top talents in the blacksmith world.", Mr. Han said as he brought the three judges to evaluate Ryan"s craft.
" Hm.. I can see that very well from his weapon."
" You have done an excellent job kid."
" Who is your master? I don"t think that any ordinary person could train such a talent."
Mr. Wen spoke with a smile.
" No, personal questions Mr. Wen. It"s against the rules.", Mr. Han immediately intervened seeing the situation.
He didn"t want others to know about his supplier"s ident.i.ties. As for Ryan, he still was a possible supplier of his.
Who knew? If someone would offer him a better deal than his. If that happened, he would end up making a loss.
" Let"s move on to the next contestant, Contestant B if you have completed your evaluation.", Mr. Han slowly said.
Since any information was not to be revealed, the contestants were marked as A and B.
Hearing him, everyone nodded and left Ryan"s stand moving towards Renard"s place.
Mr. Han similarly said a few words about Renard being another top talent before they began evaluating his craft.
….
Few minutes later..
" Ladies and gentlemen, the event has reached its climax. It"s now time for the results. This envelope in my hand contains the result of the compet.i.tion."
" Any guesses…."
The host tried his best to get audiences" responses but it didn"t occur. Most of the people had started to leave after getting bored. While some stayed due to free time or waiting for the next event.
Finally, the host said, " The winner is.. Contestant A!!"
" Told you.", Ryan snorted while puffing his chest out as Max stared at him.
It seemed that he was getting used to Ryan"s behavioral changes.
…
On the other side, Renard couldn"t believe the results. No, he refused to believe it.
" I don"t believe it.!!"
" What"s wrong with my sword? "
" The judges had been rigged. Any normal person with eyes can tell the difference between the sword in my hand and the one with my opponent."
He shouted in the field attracting the audience"s attention. He couldn"t take the loss. He raised his sword allowing the audience to have a look. And when it came to appearance, his sword really looked better than Ryan"s sword.
The bored audience finally found something interesting. The match was rigged. This was definitely an interesting topic of discussion.
On the other hand, Mr. Han and the three judges looking at the scene in the stadium from the balcony frowned.
"This guy was blaming them for his loss". It wasn"t as simple as that. They had worked for years and achieved their current success. People respected them. But now, they were just disrespected and accused of being bribed. This wasn"t tolerable.
They had decided to Mr. Han a favor and appear as a guest while they were here on a trip. But who would have thought that things would turn out like this?
On the other hand, Mr. Han too didn"t look good. Several lines had appeared on his face. He never expected things to turn out like this.
He never thought that Renard was such a big fool. Even if he wasn"t satisfied with the equation, he shouldn"t have gone against it to publicly accuse them. After all, he was making the seniors of the industry his enemy and the top of it, he even affected the Black Weapon Pavilion"s reputation.
Was he a fool? Or he really doesn"t know how to spell "Death"
Now, Mr. Han could only regret his decision. Even though there was no proof behind these accusations, people would definitely spread the rumors until they turned it into truth.
He could already feel the gazes of the judge"s on his back. This had even affected their reputation just because he had invited them.
He really wanted to do something. But he knew doing something in the open would only make them wrong. He would make sure to pay the Brown family a proper visit after the event.
" Please refrain yourself from making any false accusation just because you lose. Show some spirit.", the host stepped in to control the situation.
" Ha..Ha.. You can only say such things. But do you think that people are fools? They can clearly see the difference.", Renard refused to back down.
On the other hand, some people started to raise their voices observing the scene.
" Yes, this guy"s sword looks way better than the other one."
" Now that you say it, I too think so."
" Yeah!!"
These people had no clue about the weapons to begin with. They just started to throw their opinions based on physical look.
Seeing more and more people standing up for him, Renard smiled.
" Do you think that just because you have a successful master, you can do as you wish. Do you people want to know who this b.a.s.t.a.r.d and his master is? ", he shouted while pointing towards Ryan.
Ryan frowned at the situation. But before he could react, another voice sounded beside him.
" Ah!! I had enough of your nonsense."
The voice attracted everyone"s attention as a dense killing intent descended in the arena.
Renard felt the hairs on his body rise as a chill ran down on his spine. He wanted to move but his legs refused to budge.
" Zzmm!!"
Max who should be standing behind Ryan appeared right in front of him with a black blade in his hands.
But what scared the c.r.a.p out of Ryan was that the blade in his hand was coming right down on his face.
But, the blade missed his face just by an inch.
" Ahhh!!!!"
He screamed in horror while falling on his b.u.t.t and his pants started to get wet as a strong stench filled the arena.
The arena turned silent.
On the other hand, Ryan"s eyes almost popped out seeing Max"s action.
" Y..you.. I will kill you.", Renard"s bodyguard shouted in anger.
Max gave him a look. He had a score to settle with this guy. Looks like the time has come.
" You want to kill me. Fine..I will give you the chance. Take that blade. I will prove which blade is better." Max said pointing towards the blade made by Renard.
Everyone understood Max"s intention.
" Yea...pick it up!!!"
" Yeah, prove yourself."
" Fight."
" Fight!! Fight!! Fight!! Fight!! "
Finally, the audience was riled up. The situation had turned very interesting and a fight was what all they wanted.
Seeing the situation, Mr. Han"s eyes too lit up. This was the only way to turn the situation into his favor.
He immediately called one of his staff and spoke to him. The man nodded and took the message to the host.
…
" Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a development in the event. Since, our contestant has refused to admit his defeat. Our jury has decided to give him a chance. The two people in the arena representing their blacksmith will have a duel with the swords crafted by their respective masters. The duel will only include sword fight and any use of mana will lead to immediate disqualification. The duel will last for a short 60 seconds as the time is enough to judge the quality of swords."
Hearing the announcement, people broke out in cheers. Even though they might not be able to understand the blacksmithing process, a fight would be very obvious to show the difference in quality of equipment.
Ryan wanted to stop the situation from escalating but he was too slow. He could only grit his teeth in anger looking at Max.
" Let the battle begin!!"
As soon as the host announced, the two figures in the arena in the field almost disappeared at the same time.
" Clang!"
The swords clashed in the middle of the arena generating shockwaves. Max had already activated «Bloodl.u.s.t» and «G.o.d"s Blessing»
The first clash occurred and the audience broke out in cheers.
Max took a step back while the other guy went flying and crashed into the barricade into the corner.
It was very clear who had the upper hand. Max could only smile at this situation. He had expected to overpower the guy by a bit. But he had never imagined that the guy would underestimate him.
On the other hand, the guy was shocked by the strength displayed by Max. He couldn"t believe how the weak guy he met a week earlier had suddenly become so much powerful.
" Is this all you got?"
How can Max let this chance go? He taunted the man. He still remembered the humiliation that day.
He moved and broke out into a dash closing in on the guy. The «Weapon Mastery» skill was really coming into use as he didn"t need to think much about his move.
Seeing Max moving towards him, the guy too got back onto his feet before moving ahead planning to clash head on. He didn"t believe that he was weaker than Max.
It was just that he didn"t use his full strength.