Mercenaries and Adventurers

The trainee shepherd standing on the wooden platform beckoned the crowd to be quiet: "Please be quiet for a while, and I will introduce the process of the game to you, so that those who don't understand can understand."

"The title of this year's competition is a machete, so it needs a strong handle, so compared with some weapons, this year's competition needs to add a manufacturing and installation process for the handle."

"The process of the competition is as follows. First of all, we will let the participating players design their own machetes. Although the shape of machetes is the same in most regions, there are also different designs in different regions. Minor system adjustments. So as long as the model is not particularly weird, so in the judging stage of the judges, different special models can get more favorable comments from the judges."

"The next step is the weapon material selection period. In this process, the contestants will select the weapon raw materials they need according to their weapon design. The raw material selection will be a one-time choice. Once selected, it cannot be changed. A person can choose up to three raw materials with similar quantities. For example, a person can choose up to three servings of ordinary iron."

"But pay attention, once the selected materials are selected, at least half of the weight of the raw materials must be used. Once in the final competition inspection, it is found that the remaining materials have not been used more than half, the contestant's competition judge It will be downgraded by one level. It means that if the works forged by two people are similar in the evaluation of the judges, but the raw materials used by one contestant are unreasonable, he will be judged to fail."

"In forging, each player will have his own dedicated forging table, but this forging table and corresponding tools need to be selected by the players themselves. Therefore, all players, please take a step forward and choose your own forging table first. The forging table you like is very important. At the same time, please note that other large forging equipment except forging tables and forging tools are shared. Once other players need to use it, the player who is using it must use it together with the opponent. Occupying the public forging equipment. Once you find out, you will be booed by the audience and completely lose your dignity."

"After the forging is completed, the weapon will need a handle and a storage sheath. This aspect is an important plus point for increasing the judges' evaluation. I hope all contestants and audiences can clearly remember it."

"In the end, all the works of the contestants who completed within the specified time will not only be evaluated by the judges, but will also be tested publicly on the spot, so that all the audience can see the pros and cons of the weapons forged by each contestant. The people who use it on the spot will be completed by Crow Knight and three live audiences selected by him. The audience can complete some simple weapon use, and the more dangerous use test will be personally tested by Crow Knight.”

Seeing that everyone at the scene had understood the competition process and there were no new spectators, the trainee Mushou immediately announced: "Okay, everyone, since everyone is ready. Now, Contestants, please get ready, charcoal pencils and paper have been prepared on the big table in front of the wooden stage. The competition begins now!"

"start!"

As soon as the presiding trainee shepherd gave the order, the blacksmiths who were already gearing up took big steps and ran towards the big table in front of the wooden platform.

In addition to the main players of this year being the winners of other competitions in previous years, there are also a few young blacksmith apprentices who are confident in their skills. They dare to participate in the competition. The technical competition of other outstanding blacksmiths is also a very important factor. Because at a very close distance, you can observe the best forging skills of other blacksmiths, which is much more expensive than trying to figure it out in front of the iron felt by yourself.

Although the ideas of these young blacksmiths were good, when the competition officially started, some people still didn't react,

He stayed there in a daze, and didn't rush to grab the best place first. The player who first completes the design of the machete will have the highest priority to choose forging equipment, and a good forging equipment will greatly assist the entire game.

This point, the veterans who have participated in the competition in previous years are all clear, so they race against time and take the lead. They have carefully considered the various designs of the machete just now, and now they just need to simply draw them.

The novices, on the other hand, faced with the blank drawing paper and the charcoal pencils in their hands, they were nervous and didn't know what to do.

"Aha, everyone, look, there are a few new players who don't know what they should do now. Please, move your hands and draw a machete you want to make for everyone to see. Don't just stand still, Other contestants are already finalizing the design drawings."

Hearing the host's reminder and urging, the young contestants woke up like a dream and started to draw pictures.

But then, the host continued teasingly on the wooden platform and said: "Let me remind all contestants that this blueprint design is not useless. After the final work is completed, our judges will compare the contestants' blueprints with The gap between the actual objects. If the gap is too large, more evaluation points will be lost!"

"Hahaha, can't someone really do that?" Some people asked loudly in doubt.

The host on the stage shrugged his shoulders: "Oh, it's a pity, there are really many contestants who add various elements at will in the competition, so that although their works are very good, because of the changes, they are completely different from their original works. The design is completely different. Some contestants have other ideas in the middle of the competition and add them to their own works. As a result, the final work is not as good as the one that was forged at the beginning. So, all contestants, please pay attention their respective proportions."

Hearing the host's words, many contestants fell silent for a while, some continued to draw pictures, and some picked up the bread crumbs and began to erase some unnecessary things for their machete designs.

The three judges on the stage looked at each other and laughed. The onlookers also laughed, and the relatives of some contestants shouted and gave various reminders.

Zhao Ji also laughed happily on the roof. These people are really, they are too confident at first, and then they lose a little bit of self-confidence when they are said. As far as his own use is concerned, the ordinary design can fully meet the usual use requirements.

He felt that in this kind of second-scratching competition, whether he could win was a matter of later consideration, and the key was not to be eliminated first. After all, it is a large-scale competition in a public place. If it is overturned in the process, it will be too ugly once it is eliminated.

At this time, one of the most experienced blacksmiths had completed the design of the machete. He quickly handed the drawn design drawings to the host, and then immediately turned and went to the raw material pile.

Seeing that the blacksmith had completed the first stage, the other participating blacksmiths also accelerated the speed of the charcoal pencils in their hands. No matter how simple it is, there is no need for extra patterns or exaggerated decorations. The shape of the scabbard is as simple as possible, and the shape of the machete is the most common shape.

Of course, some old players who have participated in the competition before have more confidence. They know that the previous stage is not so time-critical, as long as it is not too slow, it is actually acceptable. The material does not need to be the best and the easiest to process, and the forging table does not need to choose the best one. As long as everything is not too bad, in fact, your work will not be too bad in the end.

The stage where the real evaluation starts is actually on various small items that add points. The scabbard can be painted with a little decoration, and the shape of the machete can be the one you are most proficient in. The steel can be processed in some special ways when forging, and the handle of the machete can be more thoughtful. Always, on the premise of ensuring completion, if you can do better, you must do better.

They know that the nervous ones are novices. Those novices were too easily disturbed by the various situations at the scene, such as the words of the host, the booing of the surrounding people, and the strange thoughts of relatives who watched the scene reminded them.

A real blacksmith needs to achieve complete control over the entire work, without the slightest disturbed wavering. All old blacksmiths know that whoever holds the hammer head is the master of the work.

After showing the design drawing submitted by the contestant to the three judges, the host then gave it to the assistant, asking the other party to pin the design drawing on the wooden shelf behind the wooden table, so that the audience could watch together.

"Okay, now the fastest player No. 3 has chosen the raw materials he wants to forge, let me see, he chose the easy-to-use semi-formed iron blank, solid oak, and sea fish skin rolls .Now let me ask the Bordeaux pastor what he thinks of this player's choice of ingredients."

The Bordeaux shepherd blessed himself with the same magical spell, and then answered the host's question: "This No. 3 contestant is very experienced in competitions. He has participated in previous competitions. Although he did not win the championship, he has won many competitions. The results have been rising. It seems that he has made sufficient preparations this time. The semi-finished iron embryo he chose is a relatively rare kind of weapon raw material. In order to increase the difficulty and interest of the competition, the church gave Each player prepared a variety of raw materials, but the processing difficulty and skills of each raw material are different. This semi-finished iron blank is the easiest raw material to process among all raw materials. It is basically certain that he can quickly forge A machete of good quality comes out. As long as there are no major problems."

"As for the oak and sea fish skin rolls chosen by this contestant, the former is relatively common, and there is nothing special about it except that it is easy to process. It seems that this contestant uses a relatively safe one for the basic shape of the machete scabbard and handle. As for the sea fish skin roll, it is a very rare material in our kingdom, after all, we are not close to the ocean. Therefore, he seems to use this sea fish skin roll as his main tool to improve his evaluation. This point Very good, as for the final result, let's see."

The host then asked Mr. Grimm, the president of the Galloping Horse Chamber of Commerce: "Mr. Grimm, we have all seen that now each player has begun to submit their own machete design drawings. So in these design drawings, is there any What do you think is a very good design? After all, you have extensive experience in weapons, can you find a very good or special design from it?"

The shepherd of Bordeaux patted Mr. Grimm and added the same magical blessing to him: "Okay, okay, let me see." Mr. Grimm scattered the machete designs submitted by his assistants Come, check one by one.

"Everyone's design seems to be very conservative. In fact, as long as you have confidence in yourself, the design can be more open. Although the conservative shape design is easy to forge, there will be no major problems, but it must be completed. A mediocre work cannot win a prize. Look, some experienced blacksmiths have made some special changes in other directions except for the conservative design. After all, our competition does not require many identical machetes Come add to the Kendall City Armory, design a great piece, and forge it to outshine the other entries, and winning is all that matters."

"Ah, look, the design of this No. 12 contestant is very good. Instead of using the usual shape design, the thickness of the blade back and the length of the handle are increased. It seems that this contestant's work The focus is on dual wielding and slashing. Crow Knight, do you think the design of the No. 12 player can effectively improve the performance of two-handed slashing?"

Knight Crowe leaned over to look at the design drawing of the machete, made a gesture, and nodded: "No problem, this contestant has increased the thickness of the back of the blade just to improve the overall strength of the blade. When holding chopping with both hands, compared to the sharpness of the blade, the strength of the blade is the most important. When two machetes collide, the one with the sharpest blade will often break and lose. This is because, in order to increase the blade The sharpness of the blade, many people sharpen the blade too thin. This will cause the strength to drop too much. This kind of weapon is often just good-looking, but it is not practical. After all, in the real combat environment, the enemy often has thick skin and hard Or they can wear armor. It’s just that a simple sharp weapon is useless, and it will be broken directly after one or two attacks.”

After the host saw that the three judges had each expressed their opinions, they continued their words: "So, does the No. 12 contestant seem to have a very good chance of winning?"

The three judges looked at each other and agreed: "If all the contestants were forged according to the design drawings of the machetes submitted by them, the No. 12 contestant can only be said to have a certain advantage."

"Okay, the three judges all think that this contestant is much better than the other contestants in terms of design. Other contestants, please cheer up and come up with the best work! You can't win if you are mediocre. .”

Zhao Ji listened to the host's words on the roof, and really felt that this person would really be angry. If he said that, wouldn't the other players be under more pressure?