“Master… I’m panicking!” Sapphire looked in tears.
Lapis had come up to inform her of the importance of this event, but that put even more pressure on her to perform well. It wasn’t just a matter of the national treasures of her entire kingdom, but also her status as a deep dwarf and the acceptance of her people. While Lapis seemed like a gentle mother, she certainly didn’t waste time dumping a lot of pressure on her daughter.
I put my hands on her shoulders, forcing Sapphire to look up at me. “You can do this. We can do this. Remember, you’re not alone. We’re together in this.”
“O-okay…” She responded, still looking down, but her cheeks turning pink.
“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Gabbro spoke up. “Let’s go over the terms. We will each mage a silvthril dagger. Whichever blacksmith whose dagger is deemed the better weapon wins. If I win, then I will take back the accumulated treasury of the deep dwarves. Also, we will consider our debt to you forfeit. We will owe you nothing, and once passing this crisis, we will split ways to forge our own path.”
“What is this?” Sapphire lifted her head in surprise.
“Hmph… I added that last part after thinking about it. Those resources were already ours. I prefer to close debts promptly, and I’d rather my people not remain in some kind of unspecified debt with a foreigner. Do you accept?”
I squeezed Sapphire’s shoulder and gave her a wink. “I will accept your terms, but since you added a condition, I will also add one.”
“That depends on what it is!” Gabbro growled.
“If we win, I will keep control of the resources.” This caused a few of the deep dwarves to grumble, but after a look from Gabbro, they silenced, since they were implying Gabbro would somehow lose. “And for my second term, if we win, then you will personally take on Sapphire as your personal disciple!”
“Ah!” Sapphire cried out.
“That’s preposterous!” Another dwarf couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“Gabbro hasn’t taken on an apprentice since two hundred years before Twilight.” Someone else added.
“I guess you’re right,” I spoke out, shrugging. “After all, if Sapphire can make a better dagger, is Gabbro even really needed?”
Such words caused all of them to cry out in anger. The only one who wasn’t reacting much was Gabbro himself. He had his arms crossed and was glaring at me suspiciously. When everyone finally quieted enough, he spoke up.
“Fine… I accept your terms.” He declared in a clear voice. “However, what metric will we use to determine victory.”
I nodded and gestured to Terra, who was sitting in the stands near Pait. “Terra will be the judge.”
He frowned, glancing over at Terra. “Her?”
“Don’t let her appearance deceive you. She is a Mineral Appraiser and Metallurgist. Her eye for well-shaped steel may even be better than any of yours.”
While I was leveling my Blacksmith with Sapphire, Terra was earning just as much experience. I had given her Earth Summoner and Mineral Appraiser to power level. After our extra leveling, they were 53 and 47 respectively. When Earth Summoner hit 50, that was when Metallurgist popped up, and then I managed to get that up to level 7. Either way, I was confident in her ability to tell the quality of our blacksmithing.
“As if I would allow that!” Gabbro declared. “If we use your judge, then they’d cheat for sure. That’s why we’ll use mine!”
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