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"There are different types of weapon sets prevalent in various ages of our history.

nAnd they changed largely based on the region and culture as well. When the wars were much more common and times were much more barbaric, the armor of any kind had much more significance compared to now.

nI must say, with the increase in politics and modern warfare, the armors also went to be developed to carry an element of stealth, by making they way too flexible and way too thin, almost like they are your everyday clothes.

nAs much as the technique needed to make them is refined, the rustic look and the majesty of the old armors are almost lost in today's time.

nSo, I am going to use this competition to my benefit and would like relive the days of the glory. A time when warriors were much more rounded and not one dimensional.

nThat is why you are going to make sets.

nLike I mentioned before, you will be assigned a set that you need to make. You will have the list of all the weapons that needs to be in that set. That is it.

nUnless you have all those weapons, your set would be considered incomplete and you are out of the race.

nIf you would like, you can add additional features to the sets. But it shouldn't hinder the original function of the set. Of course, no inscriptions or formations as well.

nThe rest is your choice.

nAs for the test, it will be a tournament between your weapon sets. We created some special wooden puppets for this occasion.

nThere are sixteen wooden puppets of the same length, same durability and same dimensions. You have to make the armor to suit that wooden puppet as well.

nAn absolutely same set of attacks are configured in the puppets. Then two puppets will be set against each other. Whichever puppet wins, will be moved to the next round in the exact same state. Until the finals where the last two remaining puppets will fight.

nFinally, after the battle is over, the weapon set worn by the winning puppet will be the winner.

nTo keep it very fair, we went ahead and chose the same type of weapon set for everyone to forge. A set that is very well known for its looks. A full plate armor set for a knight.

"

nHe then waved his hand, sending small scrolls to everyone of the competitors. Sam caught his. There is a very plain drawing of a full plate armor. It is very similar... almost identical to the full plate armor of the Europe in 1400s.

nThere is the standard long sword, the full plate armor, a shield, a short dagger and a cross bow with a bunch of bolts and not to leave out a polearm weapon. For some reason, the examiners gave them the choice.

nThey can determine which polearm weapon would better suit the Armor and can create it.

nSam looked at one of the sixteen candidates who is in the mix. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. A classing knight description from western fairy tales back on earth. He is from an academy region called Eden.

nLucifer also belonged to that region, so it shouldn't be hard to guess what kind of gods will be there.

nSam guessed that guy would have better knowledge of these armors and weapons than the rest. As for why he believed the judgement... almost every god he saw here and every consortium of gods that he has seen, they reflected the mythology and folklore back on earth.

nHe guessed that guy who is from that Eden region might have some cultural experiences similar to that of Europe.

nJudging by the excitement in that guy's eyes, Sam believed his guess is quite close.

nThe Elder continued after giving them a few minutes to take a good look at the scroll.

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"You can use any metals that you have in our inventory. You will be assigned some personal assistants who knows every single metal and the quantity that we have in our inventory. They will fetch you whatever you want.

nYou can just focus on your design and forging process.

nOf course, you can still not use your own modified and inscribed tools. You can only use the academy provided ones. I am stressing again, no inscriptions or formations.

nI want to see a master piece in metal work today.

nAs for the time limit, you have until midnight. You can submit it before that, or you can make it until last minute. However, if you don't have all the elements of the set by midnight, then you will be disqualified directly.

nKeep that in mind.

nNow, you can begin.

"

nAs soon as he made the announcement, everyone hurriedly started sketching. First they need to decide on a design that is both functional and visually appealing. Then only they can start with it.

nSam thought for a moment and called for the attendant.

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"I want a plain and smooth wooden table. Same dimensions as the work bench that you gave me.

"

nThe attendant nodded and waved his hand, the table appeared. Sam is impressed with the preparedness. Next with a wave of his hand, the upper layer of the table was sanded off, revealing a much smoother surface.

nThat surface is as clean as a paper if not better.

nHe then focused his light element in his finger, creating a laser. He started drawing on the surface by burning the lines in it. His mind worked at an impeccable speed as the laser acted like a laser should and finished the sketch in just a minute.

nHe is doing a gothic style full plate armor. It has the best balance between the mobility and defense. It is lighter than a mail armor or a lamellar. But it still had good defense overall. Obstruction to movement is less.

nAs for why he is using such a broad table. He intends to building the armor in parts and then assemble them later on. If he forged the plate larger is larger chunks it might become easier, however the material quality will be compromised.

nHe didn't want to do it. Also, he has some other use for this. He wanted to try a new metal treatment method and see how well it works. All the finished components can go on to that table and get treated, his work bench would be free.

nOf course, he also used that table to draw the designs of each component in the real life size, instead of scale.

nWhile he did so, instead of just one laser from one finger, he projected five lasers, bending them unnaturally and making five drawings at the same time.

nIt didn't take more than ten minutes for him to draw all the components. The parts of the

nplate armor and helmet, the blade of the long sword, the components of the cross bow bolt,

nthe shield and the blade and staff of the halberd separately.

nAfter the design is done, he didn't hesitate for even a second, there is no thought of

nrechecking or verifying.

nWhile the rest are still drawing and determining the dimensions, Sam is already heating up the metal in large quantities.

nAs soon as the knowledgeable spectators saw his choice of metals, it stirred a huge discussion.

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"Is that guy nuts? What is he doing with so much Umbryxium? To make armor? Why would he

nneed that?

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"Maybe he figured out something new regarding this? He has been pulling all kinds of tricks since the beginning. Maybe this time is no different?

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"What kind of trick can be pulled with that metal? Despite its high quality and malleability, you do know why it can't be used right?

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nThe Umbryxium. A dark matte black substance that is usually added to steel type metals to create a much more malleable alloy.

nUmbryxium increase the malleability of the hard metals that usually have high durability but

nno formability of their own.

nWhen you use an unusually hard metal and umbryxium together to create an alloy, during the stage of its creation when it is still in extreme temperatures, it as such flexibility that it could

nmade into anything.

nHowever, once the alloy hardens in that state, it will be hard to change it once again. This also increases the resistance to kinetic shocks and slash attacks as well.

nThe only drawback is, if the amount of umbryxium is not ideal. If it increases or decreases even a slightest bit from the ideal ratio, it is prone to failure. Either it makes the alloy way too flexible which will make it bend and deform too much in battle, or it will make it prone to fracture under high impact attacks.

nAnd there are only a very few known metals even in the academy realm that are good for using in tandem with Umbryxium. They figured out ideal ratios only for these few metals. However, none of those metals are known to be suitable to create an armor of a shield.

nThey are mostly used to create flexible weapons, some intricate puppet components etc. That is why its demand is still high despite having limited usecases in weapon making space. Now, they are way too curious to see what Sam is going to do with this metal, since he took it to make not just one metal, but rather a metal set.

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