"And over here on the other side, we have another dwarf, Herbert Willrow!" 

"This is it, folks! Dwarves are known for their exceptional skill in the field of architecture and smithing! What happens when two from the same race duke it out?" 

I turned my attention the camera that was the closest to Andvari. It was right to the side of him, so I was able to see the tools and equipment he was going to use. 

On the other side was apparently another dwarf. There were supposedly only a few of them who had attended the competition, so I thought it pretty unlucky for the two to meet. 

"Here are the rules! The contestants will both start on their equipment, using materials provided by us! No cheating, folks! The time limit is three hours!"

"Once the assigned items are forged, they will be taken and will be sent through a series of courses, each designed to test the equipment!"

"Alright, both contestants ready! Three, two, one... forge!" 

The moment the words came out of the caster's mouth Andvari took his hammer in his hand and began preparing his equipment. 

I looked to the side of the screen. The items assigned to Andvari and his opponent were a sword and a shield respectively. 

Materials were provided by the game. Whatever material the person needed, they could wish for it, and it'd appear right on their workspace. 

Of course, not every ore and metal was in it. The first round was only limited to common metals, such as iron and bronze, and maybe silver.

Andvari didn't seem to pay attention to his opponent though. As soon as the caster had screamed go, he had switched from his easygoing demeanor earlier to that of a serious expression. 

It was a stark contrast to his comedic appearance, and it surprised me a lot. His passion for his work showed in his fluid and powerful motions. 

To make a sword, one needed two parts. The first one was the handle.

A handle, although lacking the sharp edge that a blade has, is still one of the most important parts to make a functioning weapon. 

A good handle allows the user to have a steady grip on the weapon, and lets the user swing it without discomfort. 

Andvari chose to do the handle first, as evident by the leather that had appeared on his workspace. 

Even if the material had already appeared, Andvari did not take it from its place. He instead took out a large piece of paper and a pencil. 

"Ah, he must be drawing the model for the weapon." I say. 

A model of the weapon allowed the blacksmith to look back at the parts of the weapon he was forging. 

Andvari went back to his workspace and took out a ruler and some other drawing materials. 

I switched my view to the camera directly above him, and was able to see the model that he was drawing. 

I see. He was going for a broadsword. I had read up on weapons quite a while back, and had a bit of knowledge on the topic.

Steady, strong, powerful. Broadswords were a reliable type of weapon for any warrior looking to shed some blood. 

The larger edge allowed the blade to be efficient for cutting through the meat of any victim. Then again, what weapon isn't?

After Andvari had finished up his model, he had started on the handle immediately. Finally taking the leather from the desk, he began on working on his grip. 

I zoomed out from him and went over to the opponent. His name was Herbert Willrow, and was also a dwarf. 

Tapping on the man's profile that popped up, I saw that he came from some rural town in Hudra. 

His appearance was quite the same as Andvari. Both were short and a bit stubby. Yet the two were large as well. 

Even if I was cheering for Andvari, it wouldn't hurt to sneak a peek on his opponent. 

Herbert had been assigned a shield. Unlike Andvari, whose item was a sword, a shield was designed to be sturdy. 

Unless you were going for something like a buckler, then maybe not. 

But the general thing that shields have are their sturdy structure. One that could take any hits from enemy weapons. 

I went over to the camera above Herbert, and found out that he was currently sketching a model of a kite shield. 

I always thought the shape of this particular shield was weird, but, hey. If it works, then it works. I wasn't one to judge, and the shield looked just as sturdy as any other.

Just like a sword, a shield had to have a grip as well. It needed to be just as sturdy as the shield itself, for the issue of it falling off when the front got hit wasn't something that should happen. 

Anyway, once Herbert had taken a large pile of metal, he began to melt it in the furnace, which, by the way, was extremely hot. 

I could see the sweat pouring in from him as he stared at the metal inside burning. 

Technology in this world had advanced significantly. 

The same went for this furnace. It was capable at rising to extreme heat, effectively melting down any hard metal. 

In just a few minutes, I had noticed that the metals inside both Andvari and Herbert's furnaces had already started to liquify. 

By the time I had noticed it, the metals were completely liquid, and were being poured out into the mold. 

They'd soon begin to harden, and the two of them didn't seem to want to waste time waiting. 

Both contestants had already went back to making the handles on their respective equipment. 

I went back to focus on Andvari, and noticed him diligently sewing up the leather onto the wood handle he had made. 

I didn't even see it, but apparently he had already made the wood handle while I wasn't looking. Just goes to show how fast he was working. 

But once the metal had hardened, he began heating it up again. Once the tip of the metal had turned orange-red, he brought out his hammer. 

Ah, the hammer from earlier. The one he had used to bash the pangolin in. How nostalgic. 

Andvari then proceeded to slam the top of the hammer on the metal roughly. It was so loud that I feared that the metal would come off. 

The *clang* sound kept on resonating in the area until the metal had molded into the shape of a blade. 

I then went over to Herbert. 

He was hard at work, molding the large amount of metal he had melted into the kite shape he had opted to go for. 

He didn't seem to have any struggle as the liquid metal soon began to harden and take shape in the form of his original model.

To test its durability, Herbert began slamming the top of his hammer onto the metal. More *clang* sounds resonated. 

After a few strikes, it stopped, and Herbert held up the metal to his face, showing a proud smile. 

It wasn't finished, but he looked like he was a good portion through. 

I then went over to Andvari, who looked like he was already fixing the blade together.

The large metal blade had taken shape long ago, and was already looking like it could cut skin easily. 

Yet it wasn't finished. The blade wasn't yet attached to the handle, and Andvari seemed like he was working on that already.

But after a while of switching between the two contestants, they had finally finished!

"Three, two, one! Smiths, please put your hammers down. And that's it! Please bring your forged equipment to the front for inspection."

First up was Andvari. He took the beautifully crafted broadsword in his hand, and brought it over to the table, where three judges were waiting. 

I knew these three. They were constantly featured in popular shows. 

Luke Hod, Jeremy Montagne, Wesley Yui. Three experts in weapon manufacturing. 

I didn't want to recall everything about them, but they were basically super famous peope well known for their deep knowledge in these things.

"Andvari, right? I see that you have chosen to forge a broadsword today..." Luke says.

"Indeed. A broadsword, one of the most common weapons." Jeremy inspects the broadsword in his hands, showing an impressed look.

"But do not confuse common with bad. I can see with my eyes alone that the quality of the blade is of exceptional degree. No scratches of the sort anywhere, no gaping cracks. Sharp..." Wesley says, taking the sword from Jeremy and sliding it across his arm. 

"Anyway, that will be tested in the continuing exam. Let us see if your weapon will be able to handle the heat in these three tests." Jeremy stands up from his seat, and pulls apart a curtain to reveal a mannequin. 

"This is a full sized replica of the human body. Though it might look real, we assure you that it is a mannequin specially designed for this purpose." Luke explains. 

"The first test, the sharpness test. I will take your weapon, and attempt to cut through this replica. We will then analyze the damage, and judge from there." Wesley says. 

"I'll be the one to do so. Now then, if you'll excuse me." Taking the broadsword in his hands, Jeremy brandishes the long blade, donning a stance. 

As soon as the timer started, Jeremy unleashed two quick slashes onto the torso, piercing through easily!

Blood splattered from the wound, making me question if this really was a real person. 

I saw the happy look in Jeremy's eyes when the sword pierced the mannequin. It was akin to that of a warrior defeating a monster. It was terrifying. 

The bloodlust that Jeremy unleashed was enough for me to feel scared. I continued on watching and saw Jeremy slashing multiple times at different body parts, each slash bringing with it a stream of blood. 

The slashes seemed to last forever, until Jeremy drew back, and brought the sword behind his back. Taking one final swing, Jeremy swiped the top of the mannequin's head, cutting it clean off. 

"As I said, it really was sharp. I've got nothing else to say other than the fact that this blade is great." Wesley added. 

Applause came up from the area, as the judges too joined in.

"But we're not done yet! The next one is the durabilty test. I'll be taking your blade and slamming a blacksmith's hammer onto it multiple times. If it keeps it's structure, then it stays." Jeremy once again took the sword in his hands and grabbed a hammer. 

Placing the sword on an anvil, Jeremy raised the hammer above his head. 

The timer started, and Jeremy brought the hammer down on the sword. Keeeping a tight hold on the handle, the hammer almost bounced off the blade. 

*clang* *clang* *clang*

Each strike made me feel as if the blade was going to fall off and break. 

But it didn't seem so. After the seemingly relentless strikes the blade still witheld its strong structure, receiving applauses from the judges once again. 

"And the last one. I'll be taking your blade, and slicing it through these sandbags. The larger and deepee the hole the better. Ready?" 

For this test, Jeremy handed the sword over to Luke, who began inspecting the blade. After confirming that there really was no issues with it, he held the sword in front of him. 

Timer started! In one quick thrust, the sword pierced the entirety of the sandbag, leaving one hole in the front and another in the back, prompting loud applauses from the crowd. 

Luke, impressed from the blade, took it out from the hole, and inspected the damage done.

"That's it. Perfect cut through, pierced the sandbag with no issue. I'll deem this blade one of the best I've seen. I don't know how you managed to make it like this, but its certainly one of a kind."