The whole point of the tournament was to demonstrate one''s skills in cksmithing. To do this in the most efficient way possible, the participants would have to work with the most basic and necessary tools. If external items are permitted to be used in the tournament, this would damage the whole point of the tournament. Take for instance the use of mystery mes like want was happening now.
Since mystery mes were much more powerful than regr mes, they were very good in the refinement of metals and for cksmiths, the purer the metal as well as the degree of refinement, the higher the quality of the end product. In other words, mystery mes have a passive effect of increasing not only the sess rate of a cksmith but also boosting the quality of the product.
For even much higher grade of mystery mes, they could add special attributes to the weapon it equipment produced, making it much stronger than the original concept. For example, 4-star Crimson Red me would add a fiery attribute to any weapon produced with it, granting the weapon the ability to deal fire-type damage.
Since mystery mes weren''t the most basic of mes and could also influence the product''s stats, it wasn''t really appropriate for them to be used when testing one''s skills.
''It shouldn''t be allowed in this tournament, right?''
Just as Sato was wondering whether Handel''s actions went against the rules, an NPC contestant couldn''t hold back anymore and faced the private area, which was the ce they suspected Kolin, the supervisor of the tournament, to be easing off in.
"Lord Kolin, forgive me for my rudeness but I thought mystery mes were banned from the tournament?"
"I thought the same was true Lord Kolin. But why is Handel using one without any repercussions? Isn''t this against the rules?"
"Why does it feel like the council is siding Handel? What happened to being just, fair, and all that?"
Right as the NPC had spoken up first, a couple of others followed him and voiced out their concerns, hoping to get some answers. The majority of them were those jealous of Handel but couldn''t surpass him.
Since they couldn''t surpass him, they didn''t wish for him to take first ce. Sato''s existence so far and helped in doing that but this third round was harder than the previous ones. Even Sato had failed with his first batch of materials, so the other participants were thinking of a way to prevent Handel from passing, lest he overtakes Sato and takes first ce.
3 seconds passed after the contestants''ints and they received no reply. Just as they were wondering whether Kolin had heard them or not, a figure appeared above the stage.
"He''s arrived."
While almost all of the contestants had turned to face Kolin, only Handel kept working on his task.
"Some of you seem to be making a fuss about the use of mystery mes, so let me ask you this. In a life or death battle, will you drop down your weapon just to prove to your opponent that you''re good at hand-to-handbat? Tell me. Or instead, would you run a race with one leg just because others are doing the same? No!" Kolin roared at them.
"The cksmith tournament does indeed prohibit the use of external items but a mystery me isn''t external. Just like a sword, a spear it any other weapon is a part of a fighter, a mystery me is a part of one''s personal strength as a cksmith. Not everyone can get them and that makes them precious. Have you seen anyone selling mystery mes like cabbages? Like mana crystals that could easily be gotten in stores? No!
"When a cksmith gets a mystery me, he treats it like his own child; as the closest possession to him. So it can not and never be counted as an external item, for it is a part of a cksmith''s strength." Kolin emphasized.
"By this definition, you mean?" A contestant anxiously asked.
"By this definition, Handel Gretkart is innocent of whatever ims you haveid on him." Kolin replied with an apathetic look on his face.
"Either way, no rule against this was ever mentioned. So it''s all just in your heads."
Kolin''sst words were enough to disperse the momentum of the contestants. Indeed, no rule targeted Mystery mes and with Kolin''s exnation of them being a part of the cksmith''s strength, fewer people wanted to argue with him.
"This can''t be. So out of every 300 and so of us, only one person would pass this round."
Those who came to this realisation were shocked and they couldn''t help but curse their luck for not finding a mystery me before.
Sato however, remained calm as he began contemting an idea.
A mystery me would improve his chances of sess with these materials, and without it, trying to pass this round would be almost impossible. However, it wasn''t like Sato had a mystery meying about that he could use.
"A mystery me. I never expected that old fogie to pass his grandson such."
At the top of the stands, inside one of the private rooms, two old men; one without a beard and the other with one, both sat side by side while one sipped a cup of tea without many expressions and the other just gazed at the stage.
"He would do anything for his family." The old man who sipped from the cup sighed.
The other man stroked his beard as nodded in agreement but at the same time, his eyes were wandering the other contestants.
"If I had known, I would have given off one of my young 2-star mes to those with potential. That would have made things a bit more interesting now."
"Indeed. Thanks to that old sh*t''s foresight, his kid is going to take first ce. Sigh. Looks like I have to prepare myself to listen to his proud voice for weeks toe." The old man without a beard, who sipped from the cup of tea, sighed with a tired expression.
"Hmm? What''s that?" The other old man suddenly said.
"That''s...it can''t be!!!!!" He abruptly stood up as his eyes were widened with shock.
"What''s going on?"
Aspared to his partner, the old man with the cup of tea wasn''t paying much attention to the stage so he wasn''t able to notice the change so quickly. But with hispatriot''s strange behaviour, he turned his eyes over and nced at each individual. Very soon, he spotted what had shocked his long-time partner and friend as his eyesnded on Sato.
"This can''t be! How?!!!"