The morning dawned with a crisp coldness that hinted at the end of summer but there was an undercurrent of excitement that overshadowed it.
Horse driven carriages had been arriving from all over the world in anticipation of the Forge Master; an annual competition between the best bladesmiths with a grand prize of 1,000,000 gold coins and the certainty of patronage by the top adventurer guilds, armies, collectors and important people.
The tickets to the competition were in fierce demand and only the King and his ruling council were guaranteed the best seats even though the Forge Master will be held at a 100,000 seater, U-shaped amphitheater called the Cauldron.
It was vitally important to have a good sword because it guaranteed safety in a dangerous world so the competition was initially created by King Belsarius the first for the best bladesmiths to showcase their talent and it was also the best chance for bookmakers to make money by taking bets and gambling on likely winners and the favorite to win was a bladesmith named Albert, the two time champion.
Contestants would be given a forge, materials and tools then asked to go head to head against each other.
Remus shifted uncomfortably as he stood in front of a crowd of 100,000 screaming people.
"Ladies and Gentlemen please stand for the King, the Queen-Mother and the Ruling Council," the host announced.
Remus watched as King Belsarius the third was seated. He was just a boy no older than 12 years old. He and his mother had golden blonde hair and blue eyes.
The host also announced that the King's fiancée was also in attendance and Remus's heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was the bronze-skinned, dark-haired thief that he discovered in the armoury. She was dressed in a flowing white garb with a bandage on her left arm. She waved to adoring crowds as men ogled and fawned after her.
The host then announced the ruling council's arrival which included the Head priest of the Seven, Arch-Maester Pompey, Nimir the half-elf merchant, the Head of the adventurer's guild and the Head of the Banking Guild.
The next to be seated were the leaders of the most important adventuring companies, the most important of which were Lucan, the leader of the Golden Order and Merlin, the leader of Red Maelstrom.
"My potential customers," Remus said to himself.
Once all the VIPs were seated, the format for the competition was announced.
There would be 16 contestants each going head to head in five rounds. The first round would be a competition of pure destruction. Whoever creates the sword with greater destructive power would win.
As the bladesmiths were paired, Remus found out that his first opponent was named Albert.
"8 pairs of bladesmiths will create offensive weapons. The bladesmith who creates a better offensive weapon than his opposite number will move on to the next round. Contestants take your place," the host said. "Now go!"
The bladesmiths immediately fired their forges and got to work smelting their blades before inserting enchantments except for Remus who just pulled up a floating window and started to input commands.
"That's easy," Remus said. "Fire style is easily the most destructive element and no fire style enchantment is more powerful than *scorch*."
<\Item Created: Magic Orc Steel Sword with Scorch Enchantment! \>
"Now that all the contestants have finished forging," the host said. "We will have Lucan, the legendary leader of the the Golden Order, test the swords."
Lucan was a fairly tall man with auburn hair and blue-gray eyes. He sported a full cropped beard and walked with an air of calmness.
He walked up to each contestant, took their weapon and fired its enchantment at a wall that was designed to handle all attacks before announcing which contestants would be moving forward.
Everything was going smoothly until he got to Remus's turn.
When he got to Remus, he was courteous and merely asked "your weapon, please."
Remus gave it to him and then he walked toward the testing wall. He fired the enchantment at the wall which produced three brilliant molten rocks that managed to crack the testing rock in the middle.
The crowd sat in stunned silence for a few moments before roaring back to life.
"I shall keep you in mind," Lucan said to Remus.
8 people walked off the arena in disappointment including Albert, the defending champion and favorite to win the entire competition. The grey-haired, balding bladesmith walked away with an angry expression.
"You will regret this, boy," he said to Remus.
"We are down to 8 contestants and the reigning champion has been beaten in the first round by a bladesmith making his debut appearance. Things are already getting crazy so early on, the host said. "Our next contest is defensive enchantments. This is a tricky one because the contestants will be judged not only on the strength of the enchantment but how many enchantments they can layer on a single piece of armour or shield."
Again, the bladesmiths fired up their forges and went to work.
"The best defensive enchantment that I know of is Invulnerability but it only lasts for 10 minutes and has a 20 minute cool-down time," Remus said. "I will combine it with Death Ward that protects against only critical hits, Truth zone to protect against illusions, Anti-Life that forms an invisible shield against anything living, Mirror image that defends against illusions and Shield of faith protects against the undead and necromancer attacks. I will layer it on armour to eventually give to my Stone Guardian."