Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Chapter 277: A kiss for the golden hands Part1

The first round of the contest was nothing much. It was just a short test to weed out beginner skill level participants.

Each contestant was given a set of low-grade materials and those who were unable to forge an acceptable weapon were kicked out without a second chance.

Tang Yue rapped her fingers on the anvil as she patiently awaited her turn.

In front of her, there was almost a sea of anvils, a dwarf standing beside each one. Loud banging sounds echoed from all directions.

It was likely that many would find it extremely difficult to concentrate and work in this madness and chaos.

Perhaps that was part of the test. Tang Yue assumed.

Forging a low-grade weapon was a piece of cake for her and she had already finished her task long ago.

She was slightly surprised that the contest began with such an easy test.

It seemed as if they were testing for the potential of the smith rather than their current capabilities.

Either way, she didn't think that she had much of a chance.

Now that the testing for low-grade metal forging was almost over, they would probably test for mid-grade metal forging the next day.

As Tang Yue continued waiting, Master Blacksmiths slowly walked around Central Square and either approved or disapproved each contestant.

There were so many participants that the contest occupied almost all of Central Square.

The dwarves clearly valued this contest a lot and spent a lot of time, effort, and resources on this.

By the time a Master Blacksmith arrived near Tang Yue, it was already late in the day.

Tang Yue's inspector was a middle-aged woman with a very stern and pointy face.

She gave a rough glance at Tang Yue's forged weapon lying on the anvil and quickly approved her.

Tang Yue then packed up her things and walked over to Charlotte who was waiting for her at a distance.

"That's it?" Charlotte asked.

"I guess so." Tang Yue nodded and shrugged her shoulders.

The duo then walked back to the old smithy chatting about various things.

However, just as they entered the smithy, they suddenly stopped in their tracks, completely shocked.

The drunkard who was typically lazing around in the single stinking smelly cot was actually up and about.

"Who the hell are you two?" He asked with disdain.

Tang Yue's lips twitched. 

This bastard! She had even taken care of his debt collectors for him!

She begrudgingly smiled and replied. "I am your disciple. Don't you remember accepting me a few days ago?"

"What nonsense? I don't have any disciples." 

"Get lost and take these two beasts with you. I assume they are yours?"

The gruff-sounding dwarf attempted to kick Little Blue and the small panther cub, but the beasts were faster and had already run over to Tang Yue and Charlotte. 

Charlotte was about to angrily retort, but Tang Yue signaled her not to and held her back.

"Let's go." She said and pulled her away.

"What an asshole!" Charlotte gritted her teeth and grumbled.

"It's fine. The smithing contest has already started and once it gets over, the new apprentice trials will begin."

"We don't need to stay here anymore."

"Where is the little kid?" Tang Yue stopped before leaving and asked the drunkard.

"A kid? What are you blabbering about? How there be a kid in the smithy?" The dwarf angrily snorted.

"Are you sure?" Tang Yue asked again.

But the dwarf didn't bother replying this time and rudely went inside, not wanting to talk to them any longer.

Tang Yue could only sigh and leave. The two looked around for a bit and then rented a room in the inn nearby.

The entire city was extremely crowded because of the event and so they were only able to reserve a very cramped space.

Nevertheless, they had a place to stay for the night and everything worked out.

Tang Yue's only concern right now was the little kid who had mysteriously disappeared.

She had looked everywhere including the smithy but the small boy was nowhere to be found.

"Don't worry so much, Yue. That rascal probably ran over to his parents. They must have come back to the city for the contest." Charlotte consoled her.

But Tang Yue still felt uneasy. 

Unfortunately, he was not a contracted beast and there was nothing she could do to track him.

They had already informed a couple of shops near the smithy where they had previously stayed, including the grandma who worked at the sweets shop next door.

So if the kid ever came back to the smithy, he would know where to look for them.

Tang Yue would have been more concerned but even in the past, the kid always wandered around on his own and eventually came back as if nothing happened.

So she didn't worry too much. 

Actually, if the city was not this crowded and they hadn't been kicked out of that run-down smithy, she wouldn't have worried at all.

The two also looked around the city for a while searching for the kid and eventually turned in for the night.

The next day Tang Yue and Charlotte quickly freshened up and headed to Central Square again for the second day of the contest.

It looked like there were still quite a lot of participants lined up for the contest and Tang Yue arbitrarily selected a spot.

This time the task was to forge a mid-grade weapon just like she had expected.

Tang Yue bitterly sighed and quickly started with the task. 

She had already forged a couple of mid-grade long swords but that was by smithing low-grade materials to extreme perfection.

She was still failing miserably at handling the superior materials and the Hundred Bangs Refinement technique.

But fortunately for her, there was no set limitation on the materials that needed to be used in this round. 

So Tang Yue started working on the same low-grade materials that she was used to.

The day quickly passed by and Tang Yue was almost done with her forging when suddenly a shadow covered her working space.