Just as Sato had expected and as Kolin had said, most of the contestants, including the yers, found it difficult to forge the Halocles'' Scythe. Even with the detailed exnation of the process, many had already wasted one material and were lost on what to do.


    Of the designated 3 hours meant for the test, the yers had spent almost 2 hours with a majority of them having used the first set of materials only to create a failed product. Following this trend, it meant that no one would be able to seed in forging the Halocles'' Scythe.


    "Why is this so hard? What am I missing?"


    Many yers began to get worried and anxious.


    As they saw it, since it was very difficult for everybody to forge the weapon, -considering that this is thest round too- sessfully forging the scythe would mean that their ranking would surely increase and not by a small amount. Someone in the top 50 could easily get into the top 30 so long as theyplete the weapon ahead of the others.


    The knowledge of this fact had boosted the morale of the yers but realising that the difficulty involved in forging the weapon was something else, most yers had begun to feel the intricacy and perplexity of the task.


    "Wee once moredies and gentlemen to Acorns and Walnuts live-stream. To those who are just tuning in, I''m your host Pine Dog and this is my POV of the cksmith tournament going on in ck Rock City, Fallen Heart Kingdom. Currently, this is thest round and the rankings are as thus."


    Following that, the camera changed to nce at the floating scroll in the air which held the rankings of the apprentices.


    "As you can see, the number one remains the famous Cloudsmith with the popr ''gship'' figure of the NPC side, Handel, following closeby. In 3rd ce is the mysterious and unknown Green Thorns. 4th ce is the NPC Zeke and finally, 5th ce is the head of the League of Hammers, the self-proimed safehouse for all cksmiths in the region, Floating Mirage."


    Just before the tournament had begun, members of the League of Hammers had imed that their leader would surpass the Cloudsmith soon andbelled Sato a ''betrayer'' for noting under their banner. They had also said that once their leader steps out as the recognised best yer cksmith in the region, that the Cloudsmith should now admit his inferiority ande join them. Of course, Sato paid no heed to this but it became a source of gossip for other yers.


    ''The Cloudmsith vs the League of Hammers'' had been the talk of the day before the tournament and with the tournament''s progress so far, the winner was obvious. Therefore, even the live-streamer, Pine Dog, didn''t mind jabbing the fallen figures with his words.


    "The difficulty of the 3rd round exceeds the previous ones by far and even though the contestants are expected to make just one weapon out of two tries, no one has seeded despite almost 2 hours of the allocated 3 hours gone by. Oh wait, there are some improvements over there."


    "!!!"


    Just like with Pine Dog, the audience had also noticed the anomaly. Handel''s furnace had changed from the normal orange-red mes to a blue fire.


    "That''s…!"


    Since this was a test of skills, everyone was provided the same equipment and resources without any tampering done on any. Therefore, everything, including the furnace was basic and the same.


    The furnace had a fiery orange-red me as the core. There was nothing special about the me other than it was a bit hotter and calmer than normal fire. But the blue me currently before Handel was much different. Not only was it more than twice as hot as the orange-red me, but it was also less violent and vigorous. This meant two things; either Handel had done something to the me to change its internal structure or he had simply switched mes.


    "It''s a different me." An astute cksmith in the crowd eximed.


    Among the NPC audience weren''t just the regr folks but also a few Practitioner rank cksmiths who were hoping to take some of the remarkable contestants in the tournament as their students. There were also some 2 -star and 1-star Master cksmiths in the private area butpared to the practitioners, they were few and far between.


    "And ''it''s not just any simple me." The cksmith said as he gazed at the blue me in Handel''s furnace.


    "That''s the 2-star me, Lazuli me."


    Astonishment filled the ce alongside confusion as those who were aware understood the meaning of the cksmith''s words while the majority were left in a haze.


    "What''s that?" A yer instinctively asked.


    The cksmith nced at him for a while before he replied, "It''s a type of mystery me."


    "A mystery me?"


    "Yes, a mystery me. Just as materials and elements have different ranks, so do mes, and they''re simrly ranked in stars; from 1 to 6, with 1-star being the lowest and 6-stars being the highest. The Lazuli me is a 2-star me, and to tell you how precious it is, regr mes aren''t ranked and only special mes can be called mystery mes." The cksmith exined.


    "The Lazuli me…" Sato nced at Handel who was just a couple of metres away. The blue me was too dazzling that it even attracted his attention.


    Mystery mes, just like materials from 3-star and above, required the interaction of mana or special energies in certain environments and sometimes, certain mes. This was even more so for mystery mes ranked 2-star and above. In general, mystery mes could increase in strength(heat and intensity) by feeding them more fire-type materials, but they can''t surpass the limit of their rank and as a result, a miniature ranking system was developed for their growth. In other words, a 1-star me can never be upgraded to a 2-star me. But if carefully raised, it could either rival a 2-star me, albeit a weaker one, or be evolved into something of simr strength as a 3-star me but different in structure from the original.


    The subdivisions in growth were prenatal period, young, matured, and venerable stages. A prenatal mystery me was one that had just begun taking form. Its power was weak and could only bepared to regr mes, except with a few special abilities.


    A young mystery me was a mystery me that had just exited the prenatal stage and began to show the features of a mystery me, surpassing a regr me in both strength and intensity. As for a matured one, it would begin to show the prestige of its rank and be more powerful than ever before.


    At the venerable stage, a me was at its strongest in its rank and could jump ranks to match another. An example would be a venerable 2-star me matching a young 3-star me in burning intensity. The venerable stage was the result of properly raising a mystery me and feeding it lots of high-quality fire-type materials and rare treasures over a long period. Due to the requirements needed to achieve this, there were very few instances where a me had sessfully made it to the venerable level.


    The Lazuli me was a 2-star me that was born when fire-type mana interacts in a special manner and pattern with a Lapis Lazuli[1], which was a special type of gem that was quite rare to find, hence the name, Lazuli me. The exact process of the formation of the Lazuli me wasplex but in a simple form, the interaction of fire-type mana in the material within a certain environment over a long duration of time would give birth to the me at the core of the gem. By feeding the little me more Lapis Lazuli and fire-type materials, it would grow in strength and heat intensity.


    The one under Handel''s control was at the young stage, but while it wasn''t as overbearing as the matured stage or heaven-defying as a venerable stage mystery me, it still disyed the features of a true mystery me and gave him an advantage against the others.


    ''However, should this be legal?'' Sato wondered.