Jac's face turned completely ashen. The crowd on the outside hadn't even gotten to say a thing when they noticed his uncontrollable trembling.
However, the process had already begun.
Elder Beinala's badge, which was still on the ground beside Leonel's Force Crafting glove, suddenly began to glow. With a subtle sweep, a gentle energy rose Leonel's short sword up to meet Jac's knife.
Jac gripped his fists, calming his breathing.
Polished Glass was used to refine edges of blades, normally. As a result , it was known for its sharpness, but lacked in other important qualities like ductility. Due to this, it could become extremely brittle when used in large quantities.
As an expert Crafter, Jac, of course, knew this. So he tried his best to limit the size of his Crafts.
When he saw that Leonel had made a short sword, he almost snorted in contempt. In fact, he would have had he not instantly been shocked by Leonel's staff.
But at this moment, he couldn't find the heart to sneer.
The gentle energy exuding from the badge rose up both short sword and knife. Soon, both weapons began to tremble.
The weapons medley tests all came in two parts. The first testing the structural integrity of the Craft while the second tested its strength. This trembling was a part of the first test.
Different frequencies of energy would be poured into the two weapons at varying speeds. Gentle and long streams of Force, fast and choppy, large and abrupt…
The integrity of the blades would be put through a gauntlet. However, this gauntlet was only a preliminary test. The threshold that needed to be met would be decided by the level of the badge of the Craftsmen. As such, both Leonel and Jac were being tested by the standard of a Tier 9 Crafter.
Unfortunately, for Jac, this round was nothing short of torture because he knew that the true test was only coming.
In that moment, the trembling finally came to a stop. Jac felt his heart was in his throat as the two weapons were raised against one another.
Then… They collided.
CLANG! CRIP! TSSS! DING!
Silence felt as half a blade clattered to the ground. Jac watched on with a vacant expression as his knife was sliced through. It felt as though his soul had left his body.
Kaela and the others were at a loss for words. Let alone them, every member of the audience looked like they had seen a ghost. Many had to pinch themselves to make certain that they were still awake.
Leonel opened his palm, allowing his short sword to fly back to his hand.
*Bloop* *Blip*
Leonel chuckled. "Yes, yes. You did good."
"Th… Tha… That… Metal Spirit?"
Jac was unlike his wives. Not only was he personally here in the flesh, he had more knowledge. There was not a single doubt in his mind what he was looking at.
All sorts of emotions shot through his body. Astonishment. Shock. Despair… Greed.
This Metal Spirit, just how much was it worth? If he had it and sold it, let alone enough resources to enter the Bronze Grade, he might not have to worry for a thing well into the Silver Grade.
Of course, Beinala was being delusional. Whether or not he still had the talent to become a Silver Grade existence was still unknown, yet he was counting his chickens before they hatched.
Before he could do much of anything, though, their two swords rose out as one. They began to tremble just like the others but soon stopped to be set against each other.
CLANG! CLANG! CRIP! TSSS! DING!
Jac's sword only lasted two strikes.
DING!
His saber only lasted one.
DING!
His battle ax managed to last three.
Two staffs rose into the air.
On one side, there was Leonel's double helix encased structure. On the other, there was Jac's cut out spine design. Much like each of the clashes before, Jac's weapon was only a fraction the weight of Leonel's… And it showed.
After a single strike, Jac already heard his spine structure crack. The sound was so jarring that he felt for a moment as though it was his own back that had snapped.
The second strike bent Jac's staff out of shape. If it wasn't for his spine structure, the weapon itself would have already long since collapsed.
But… This only meant that it didn't stand a chance on the third strike.
Five weapons. Five losses.
Jac was so shell shocked that he wasn't even sure how to react. Shouldn't it have been close? Shouldn't there have been some suspense? Some intrigue? Some small bit of face left for him?
'This… This must be the power of a Metal Spirit… It must … It must…' Jac's pupils flickered between greed, rage and another emotion… He might not have recognized it himself, but his wives most certainly had…
It was sadness.
'Hm… Seems I overestimated him a bit…' Leonel couldn't help but think this to himself.
This was the first time he had seen the standard of a supposed expert that was meant to be on his level. Though Leonel was close to the skill of a Bronze Crafter, he had still yet to actually Craft one so it could be said that he and Beinala were at about the same level.
If he had known the gap was so large, he wouldn't have wasted time using a Silver Grade technique that took so much out of him.
"Are you convinced?" Leonel asked.
Jac, however, didn't seem capable of responding. He stared blankly at Leonel.
The silence of the crowd was palpable. From the very beginning, most never breathed a word, watching this all playout in complete silence.
The freshmen, and even many white belts and blue belts watching on felt as though something had clicked in their minds. Something about their demeanors shifted… Though it was subtle, it was there.
However, before they could fully grasp onto that feeling, Jac finally spoke again, his eyes almost reddened with a tinge of madness.
"Your Metal Spirit… Give it to me… Give it to me now."