Golden Fox with System

The results of the hundred who went through the first stage came out.

_ _

[Fifth place is - Princess of the Naga Empire, Hilda Naga: 324 points]

[Sixth place is - Prince of the Beast Empire, Audrey Feller: 301 points]

- -

At the ark, Theo smiled as he looked at Ariana: "It looks like I won our bet."

"Err... Well." Ariana sighed, worried about her future: "I will let you do "this" to me as promised."

Theo was very happy to hear that. He smiled from ear to ear as expectation shone in his golden eyes.

Although some of them were curious about what the bet was at the same time, they were afraid to hear the answer, so a silence hung in the living room.

*

In the arena, presenter Reginald said loud enough for everyone to hear: "With the end of the first stage of the alchemy tournament, this is my cue and sure be back in the second stage tomorrow. But before that, I would like you guys to give a round of applause to the tournament contestants!"

"Applause! Applause! Applause! ..."

After a round of applause, presenter Reginald nodded in satisfaction and said: "And so, we ended the first stage of the alchemy tournament!"

In the arena, Audrey looked at Hilda and sighed. He removed from his space bracelet a furnace half a meter long and wide, green in color with the design of a red dragon surrounding the furnace.

"As promised, this is now yours." Audrey told her.

"Thank you." Hilda's lips curved in a rare smile when she thanked him.

Seeing that, Audrey's heart threatened to come out of his chest, he took a deep breath controlling his emotions. He didn't want to be a bad loser and as soon as he handed her the level 5 furnace to him, he left the arena.

Seeing Audrey leave, Hilda felt a little agitated, but in the end, she said nothing. Sometimes she thought she should take action and say she liked him, but something inside her said it was not right to do that. In the end, she chose to remain silent while watching him leave.

"I'm going, too, Sister Hilda." Scarlett gave Hilda a friendly hug and then flew out of the arena.

Gradually the participants left the arena, and in the meantime, the tournament organizers were preparing for the forge tournament that would happen next.

When the arena was empty, a woman with long black hair, slender with an incredible charisma hovered in the center of the arena 4 meters in the air. She smiled as she turned slightly looking at the entire audience and said, "Good night, all you guys. I am Mariana and I will be the host of the forge tournament. And before we start, sure be explaining some things."

Seeing that she had everyone's attention, she continued: "First, as everyone knows, the participants must be under 30 years old to participate in the forging tournament. Other than that, there are no other restrictions, regardless of the level of cultivation the participant is in, he can participate in the tournament."

"This year, we have an incredible 1987 participants in the forging tournament. And because of that, instead of just 100 participants going to the second stage, the rules have changed a little and extended to 150 participants."

Upon hearing this, many who are going to participate in the forge tournament were excited and shouted happily. Even the audience was happy to hear that and started to applaud.

When everyone had calmed down, presenter Mariana said: "Participants have 4 hours to create level 2 weapons. In addition, each weapon created has a point's qualification that will be accumulated for the next stage."

She explained: "Low-quality level 2 weapons, 2 points. Average quality, 5 points. High quality, 10 points. Perfect quality, 100 points."

"Now, without further ado, the participants come to the arena to undergo identity verification. And then, we will officially start the forge tournament!"

*

"I am going." Theo inside the ark said.

"Do your best, Theo." Nanda said.

"Have fun." Ariana didn't think he needed to do his best, or even good luck, so she said that.

"Have fun!" The girls also said. In that regard, they knew how talented Theo was in forging weapons.

" Sure." Theo smiled.

Walking out of the ark, Theo left while leaving the holographic projection for Jka and the girls to watch the tournament, since it was more enjoyable than watching from the stands.

Theo wore a gray V-neck T-shirt and dark blue pants and black sneakers. When he left the ark, many human and non-human people noticed his presence and looked in his direction.

Theo was the target of many looks. Some were already fans of him while some men were envious and jealous of him.

Although some were like that, others looked at him with disdain. Mainly because of the clothes Theo wears. It was a casual outfit that didn't look expensive. While many of them wore extravagant clothes with many precious stones sewn on the clothes.

Theo pretended that he didn't even see the scornful eyes in his direction and ignored it.

The site itself was like a large, flat field with chairs in increasing shape with thousands of human and non-human people. And because they were all cultivators, their vision and auditions were very good. Hearing the murmurs of many about Theo, made him the center of attention.

Mainly because of the show he gave while fighting at the martial arts tournament.

When Theo arrived at the arena, before he could pass identity verification, a young woman approached him and held out his hand: "Hello, my name is Manuela Smith, it is a pleasure for me to be able to see you in person, I am a huge fan your." She smiled.

Manuela Smith is a young woman who looked to be in her fifteen, dressed in a long light green dress, with a straight waist-length red hair and some strands of hair touched her delicate face due to the breeze, natural-red lips, and a pair of gem-like glittering blue eyes.

Theo looked her up and down and smiled as she shook her hand: "Hello, Manuela, you can call me Theo, it's also a pleasure to meet you."

Although she knew he was just being friendly, Manuela's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. She almost ran out of breath the moment he shook hands and said it was a pleasure to meet her.

Theo smiled thinking that she was a little cute when she saw her neck, cheek and ears turn red the color of a ripe apple and pulled her hand away. Manuela, who was trembling from head to toe with anxiety and nervousness for being close to her idol, felt a sense of loss the moment Theo stopped holding her hand.

After that, Theo and Manuela were received by tournament officials and underwent a simple identity check.

Even now, Theo was still the center of attention for many. While some looked with interest in Theo's direction, most looked at him in a hostile way. Mainly because he is first in the rank of the martial arts tournament and yet, he is participating in the forge tournament.

'To a limit for someone wanting to try to appear!'

'I hope he loses in the first stage!'

'Why does someone like that have to participate in the forging tournament too?'

'Damn, I hope his furnace explodes!'

'I hope his furnace explodes!'

'It would be hilarious if his furnace exploded~'

Too many negative thoughts from people who didn't dare say it out loud for fear of suffering the consequences. For many, Theo was an obstacle that was here to appear and not because he was a talented blacksmith.

Although Theo did not randomly read people's thoughts, he never failed to do it when there was negative energy in his direction. And on hearing what they were thinking... He was not happy about it at all.

It's okay that they don't have to like him, and he doesn't even expect that to happen, but that doesn't give them the right to curse him, wanting his furnace to explode...

'Be careful what you wish for, sometimes it can come back to you...' Theo murmured in his heart.

"I want everyone's attention now." Presenter Mariana said: "As everyone can see, there are low-quality level 1 furnaces for all participants to use when forging. And be warned that if the furnace explodes, you will not have the right to use another one, regardless of how much time has passed and how many weapons you have forged, the end result will be what you guys achieved before the furnace exploded."

She continued as soon as she saw that they were silent when they received the furnaces: "In addition to the furnaces, who welcome the three blacksmith companies with a round of applause: Winds, Felix and Linder provided the necessary items to forge. What are 100 metal sets and 100 magic cores from the Apprentice Realm!"

"Applause!"

"Applause!"

...

In the VIP rooms, the sponsor's smile and wave.

"Now that everyone has heard the rules and that all the furnaces and items have been delivered, let the forge tournament begin!"