Birth Of The Crafts-God

With the accusation of cheating being laid out, the duel was put on hold. The overseer, who was also a vestige-smith, approached the equipment and performed a status check on them. He also did the same with the other equipment, to prevent a possible reoccurrence. The entire process wasn't time-consuming and was eventually wrapped up within

"Everything is fine."

The middle-aged man announced after looking through the equipment.

"How can that be?" The freelancer was bewildered. He couldn't believe that Lucas had actually won fair and square.

"I understand that while I might be somewhat unknown, you might not trust. Do, however, not doubt my judgement as an overseer." The middle-aged vestige-smith coldly said.

The freelancer decided not to cause a scene any longer, lest he offends the man. Vestige-smiths took pride in their occupation as it was one that the entire hyumankin civilisation relied heavily on. Offending one of them through false accusations could harm his career in the long-run, so it wasn't worth it.

With the results being confirmed, there was nothing else to say. Even if the crowd was surprised, they still went on with it after the investigation.

The Hozier-class Halberd wasn't extraordinary in terms of sharpness, so losing out on this round didn't really affect the spectators' belief in its victory. However, they were impressed at Lucas' vestige and couldn't wait to see if there were more surprises it could give.

"Begin the next test."

The hardness test was next. It wasn't particularly difficult or complicated as it was a test to see how much a vestige could resist surface deformation like scratching, indentation or piercing.

There was a machine that was roughly half a metre tall. It consisted of a special hydraulic component with three different types of attachment. One was an attachment with a sharp tip, another with a blunt tip, while the final one had three tips. All three tips were made a Deophene alloy for better effectiveness.

For the hardness test, the three attachments would be used on each vestige while a sensor takes note of when the vestige approaches its limit. The sensor was to ensure that the limit would be discovered before any irreparable damage was done to the vestige, as that could potentially affect the other tests.

After the halberd and the dagger were tested, the results were once again calculated. This time around, the halberd came out on top, unsurprisingly to the spectators.

The values were of the same parameters as the sharpness test, and this was so for all the other tests; a decision made by the Hyumankin Galactic Vestige League (HGVL). The halberd had scored an impressive 191, which was typically a score for thick vestiges like a staff. The dagger however, only landed a 182 on the score board, which was still pretty high, but lacking compared to the halberd.

Typically, winning the hardness test would mean the same for the strength test and vice versa, although this wasn't always true. However, it did happen this time around.

Once again, the halberd snatched another win, scoring 192 in the strength test while the dagger scored 185.

At this point, even though the crowd believed that Lucas would lose, they were still impressed by the quality of the dagger. It was a vestige that could be sold as a premium model, yet it was unknown. This made them interested in the vestige-smith as some believed that if the latter gave their all, they could probably make something on par with the Hozier-class Halberd or close.

Some had already decided that once the vestige duel was over, they would meet with Lucas and try to speak to the vestige-smith to close a deal.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Even the freelancer was a bit tempted, but knowing that he had offended Lucas, he wasn't confident he could make a deal with the latter.

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'I'll just meet with the vestige-smith instead. He should be easier to talk to than this crappy bastard.' The freelancer thought.

With three tests done, only the durability test was left for the physical aspect, after which the latter three tests would all focus on the stellar energy aspect of the vestige. Since both vestiges were of the same grade, the power test didn't matter, so the results of the six other tests would define the winner.

With the Hozier-class Halberd on a two test win streak and Lucas' dagger having only won on the sharpness test, there were three more to go. Due to the fact that the Hozier-class Halberd was a premium model of a popular company and the blueprint was originally designed by a Tier 1 Grandmaster, many believed it would win the stellar energy categories.

In other words, defeat was already certain for Lucas. All he could do now was lessen that by winning the durability test. That would at least prove that the dagger was a good premium model.

The durability test was aimed at a vestige's ability to withstand wear or tear and to last long under pressure.

While the strength test focused on finding out the maximum force a vestige could handle before breaking or cracking, durability was a bit similar but with respect to time [1].

It was conducted with the same equipment as the strength test but with different settings. The equipment specially ensured that there was no need for the vestiges to experience irreversible damage to figure out the values.

Since it was time-based, the durability test was the easiest test to determine a winner as the audience could spot a winner without having to wait for the sensors to display the results.

It usually took thirty seconds for the durability test of a Grade 2 vestige to be completed with this equipment. But even after that time had elapsed, both equipment were still being tested.

"Past the thirty seconds mark is usually reserved for premium models, yet both are still going."

"That's to be expected for the Hozier-class Halberd, but this dagger is truly a premium model."

"Indeed. All that remains for confirmation is its performance in the stellar energy category, but asides that, it's doing just fine."

While the crowd discussed, a chime was suddenly heard, signalling that one participant was down.

Many weren't surprised by this and glanced to the site expecting to see the dagger, but they were surprised when the vestige signalled out was the halberd.

"How come?"