Free Web NovelChapter 189: Chapter 178: Bladesmithing Competition
"Whatever," Bane said dismissively.
He couldn’t lose face in front of the younger Dwarves.
"Why don’t I see our opponents for the competition?" said the lead Elf, Antinoya.
She had delivered a classic but effective jab at the Dwarves.
Theoretically, this kind of verbal attack would not only harm Dwarves, but would also hit Gnomes and Half-Elves with splash damage. Here, however, only the Dwarves truly cared about height.
In truth, their main concern wasn’t height itself, but being powerfully built.
A taller stature meant a larger frame, which in turn meant you could pack on more muscle and become stronger.
In their eyes, any race taller than a Dwarf that chose to lose weight was wasting its natural gifts.
So the Elves, who were all tall and slender, were practically "sinners of the highest order." freewebnσvel.cѳm
Thankfully, hormonal drugs hadn’t been invented yet. Otherwise, this gang of Dwarves would have probably started training until their heads grew to a point.
"Who are you kidding? You’re not that old, but your eyes are already failing you!" Bane shot back, hopping in anger.
Antinoya smirked. "Well, if it isn’t the Melting Furnace? You don’t seem to be the one I knew. How many have there been now? Is that how a junior speaks to his elders? I’m old enough to be your great-grandmother, you know."
’She’s pulling the seniority card! A classic seniority gag!’
Zog never would have guessed. The Elves seemed so high-class, yet they weren’t above using their age to pull rank.
’That’s a new one on me!’
"You!" Bane was so enraged he could only resort to the most traditional form of Dwarven verbal assault: a string of curses centered on one’s parents, with a radius encompassing all relatives within three generations, randomly combined with various reproductive acts.
The Common Tongue was too restrictive for his art form, so he switched to the Dwarven Language, confident that the old broad opposite him would understand perfectly.
"Alright, alright! Production crew! Get over here and give these two their scripts."
Zog quickly cut them off. Any more of this, and the two sides would start throwing punches.
"Where are the four contestants participating in the first episode?"
Two figures from each team stepped forward.
The contestants from the Dwarven side fit the stereotypical image of craftsmen perfectly.
The Elven contestants, however, were completely different. Despite being blacksmiths, their aesthetic was more like those artsy influencers on social media with their meticulously staged photos.
Moreover, one of the Elven lads didn’t even look like he had come of age.
You could only judge an Elf’s age by their appearance during two periods of their life. One was the final stage, when they were near death from old age, looking as decrepit as El.
The other was before they reached adulthood. These two phases combined accounted for just over a century; for the vast several hundred years in between, their appearance hardly changed at all.
This Elf had Golden Hair so pale it was almost white. He looked timid and meek, roughly the equivalent of a small, underdeveloped fifteen or sixteen-year-old Human boy.
"Ha! You pick some snot-nosed kid who hasn’t even hit puberty? Are you trying to look down on us Dwarves?" Bane jeered.
Antinoya replied nonchalantly, "Time doesn’t close the gap between mediocrity and genius, does it?"
"Assistant Director, take these two away and go over the script with them," Zog called over a similarly young man.
Aside from the goblins providing technical support, the rest of the on-site staff for this shoot were basically all inexperienced rookies.
They were sharp young men and women recruited off the streets, being trained as the variety show’s initial crew. After the blade-forging competition, this core team would then train new recruits to produce other programs.
In truth, most jobs in the world only required a middle-school level of education and a bit of training.
As for jobs that didn’t require much professional skill but still set a high educational bar—well, that’s just a case of too many applicants for too few positions, forcing them to create artificial screening criteria.
"A script? What script?" Bane asked, puzzled.
Zog explained, "It’s a rough outline of the show’s segments, and what you and this Elven lady will be responsible for as judges."
Antinoya was also an experienced and highly skilled artisan from the Silver-White City State; otherwise, she wouldn’t be leading the Elven team.
Zog had originally worried that putting an Elf on the judging panel would mean she wouldn’t be able to squeeze out a fart all day.
He was much more relieved after seeing her bicker with Bane. With the two of them as judges, the show should be pretty entertaining.
"Her? I’m not being a judge with a Sharp Ears."
He hadn’t even finished speaking when his eyes darted and he suddenly changed his tune. "On second thought, it’s not out of the question. I will certainly fulfill my duties as a judge with the utmost seriousness."
"Hah. I suppose someone wants to use their position as a judge to undermine the Elven contestants," Antinoya said.
Bane shot back instantly, "Impossible! Am I that kind of Dwarf? I’ll be a completely fair and impartial judge."
"Then swear on the honor of the Furnace Clan," Antinoya went straight for the jugular.
"I... Why would I need to swear? I’m a fair Dwarf by nature," Bane said, trying to change the subject.
"That’s fine," Zog said.
"See? Even the production crew says it’s fine! You’re the only one who doubts me, you old hag!" Bane said, as if he’d found an ally.
Zog added, "What I mean is, it’s fine even if you *do* undermine the Elven contestants."
Bane’s eyes widened. "You don’t believe me either."
"Haha," Antinoya burst out laughing. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"I’m counting on you to be biased against the Elves. Likewise, the Elven judge can be biased against the Dwarves."
"I would never do something so despicable," Antinoya said.
’Elves were still amateurs when it came to lying.’
Zog could hear her heart rate pick up as she spoke. Then there was Bane, who could lie through his teeth without his expression changing or his heart skipping a beat.
"The judges are only responsible for commenting on the contestants’ live performance," Zog said. "They won’t be involved in the final testing and scoring that determines the winner."
