"99%!" The 2nd examiner shouted as he picked up the spear that Vicente had just finished making.
The men behind the false wall of this room heard this. They realized that even without using his skill, Vicente had produced something of even higher quality than the previous shield.
Even though the difference between the two was small, even 1%, close to the upper limit of an item's quality, was worth a lot.
To give you an idea, if Vicente had one spear with 98% efficiency and another with 99%, he could sell the latter for about 130% of the value of the 98% one!
Every step one had to take to get to the top got higher as one got closer to the top. This was true for the quality of items in a rank but also for much of what existed in this magical world, including the magic rank.
A spear with 99% efficiency would have much greater durability and power than an item with 98% efficiency, even though the difference in efficiency was so slight.
Therefore, it was challenging to produce items that were only 1% or 2% better in quality when you were already at such a high level.
Even though Vicente had done well in the previous test, this current result still surprised the two men who didn't know him and saw his performance.
Isaac clenched his fists when he realized that this young man would not show his skill in the last test remaining to complete the 1st stage blacksmith's license exam.
Seeing that Benson had no intention of talking to him about anything, he didn't want to wait, so he left where he was and went to the waiting room where the apprentice blacksmiths could wait for their tests.
When they got there, Isaac and his apprentice saw Vice sitting down in one of the waiting chairs to wait for his final test.
As Vice sat down, Nate looked at the rankings in front of him without understanding and saw Vice's name in first place while his name was in third.
One of the young men there to get his license had even taken the last test and passed as a 1st stage blacksmith. But even with 3 results on his account, this young man still lost points to Vice, who had only taken 2 tests.
'How is that possible? Did he score over 90% on both tests?' Nate clenched his fists as he looked at Vicente and realized that this guy must be a genius.
He scored 86 points more in the last test but still lost to Vice and the runner-up. But considering that the runner-up had 3 tests, meaning he had accumulated more than 180 points, there was only one possibility for Vicente's position.
He had scored over 90 on each of his tests!
'What kind of genius is this?' Nate looked at Vicente wide-eyed, realizing that he had underestimated this guy earlier.
But the one who had a bet with the wrong guy had been Eli, so as much as he was shocked, Nate didn't feel too bad about the preliminary result of this test.
While looking curiously at Vice, Isaac and his disciple appeared in the waiting room, attracting the attention of all the young people there.
Seeing a 3rd-stage blacksmith was very rare for most of these young people, so when they saw the symbol on Isaac's clothing, several stood up from where they were and looked respectfully at this elder.
Isaac ignored them all and stopped in front of Vicente.
"Young Vicente, congratulations on your accomplishments so far. I didn't expect someone so talented to appear in my Association, but you really are a pleasant surprise." He said, praising the black-haired young man. "Vicente, you will have a bright future if you focus on the path of forging. I don't think it will be long before you reach my level, haha."
Upon hearing this, Vicente stood up and greeted the elder Isaac.
He didn't know what was on this person's mind, but Vice wasn't arrogant enough to despise this elder's act of coming to him.
Whatever the reason, he couldn't afford to do the wrong thing and miss out on the benefits he could gain from interacting with this person.
"The elder is exaggerating. I have a long way to go before those words describe me." He said with a subtle smile at the corner of his lips.
Isaac liked Vicente's personality, while the level 5 Acolyte beside him also liked the young man's words.
Then Isaac got right to the point. "Unfortunately, you're already Benson's disciple and can't accept me as your master. Otherwise, I would do my best to teach you, young man. But that's not why I'm here.
Would you like to be the representative of our Association? As a representative, you would have access to our entire collection at this post, resources, and regular opportunities.
In return, all you would have to do is defend the association and help it reach a higher level."
When Vicente heard this, he immediately understood that the man wanted to help him so that he could help him later. Basically, he would only receive benefits in the short term, and then he would have to help this post, probably giving up some of his freedom.
In a way, it was similar to financing college on Earth.
'No way...' He thought to himself. 'If I accept this, I'll have to get involved in commitments that will take up a lot of my time, and I'll be stuck in this city for a while.'
As nice as it would be to be supported by someone stronger and more influential, one always had to think about what one would have to pay for later. There were no free lunches, and Vicente thought about the future more than most young people his age did.
Then he laughed and said. "How could I represent the Association, elder? I don't even have a blacksmith's license. I'm just a junior who has just awakened his powers.
I need some time before committing myself to something so important. I don't want to profit now only to be disappointed in the future."
Isaac was experienced and knew that Vicente would simply reject him.
This young man didn't need time to decide about something so beneficial to him. Who would turn down such an offer because they weren't sure?
Almost anyone in Vicente's situation would accept it immediately. Only someone who was not interested would come up with such an excuse!
But he couldn't force Vicente to do it, lest he tarnish the Association's image. On the other hand, the way this young man had declined the invitation wasn't bad.
"Really? I guess I got a little ahead of myself when I saw your skills." Isaac commented in a humorous tone, but inside, he was very angry with Vice, especially with Benson for giving his students room to act like this.
"Then I'll give you some time to think about it, young Vicente. My words will still be valid for the next few days, so once you've made up your mind, all you have to do is go to the council." Isaac said before turning to leave.
But as he did so, he looked at one of the men in the area and said. "Give priority to this young man's third test. Once he's rested, continue with his final test."
"Yes, elder."
The men in the area did not refuse the magician's order and looked at Vicente curiously. But with this man's order, none of them would give young Fuller a hard time, and as soon as he was done resting, he would go to room number 7 for his last test of the day.
...
While Vicente was finishing his entrance test for the Millfall Blacksmiths' Association, Casey had already completed more than 60% of his work in Martell Village.
After arriving there a few days ago, he quickly wiped the memory of Vicente's weapons from the minds of the weakest, who had virtually no way to defend themselves against his actions.
But of course, he had discovered what Vice wanted to hide: the weapons identical to those used by Cesar's group...
As a man who worked with noble families and the underworld, Casey knew what was going on in Millfall to connect Vicente's and Cesar's weapons easily.
Now he knew for sure that Cesar's identity was really Vicente Fuller!
However, even with this information, he had a mission to complete before returning to Millfall, so he kept it in the back of his mind. But once he was back in his town, he wanted to meet Vice again.
Even if he couldn't reveal the truth about Vice to the world, he had no other way to get resources because of the knowledge he had recently acquired.
After resting from the last time he used his ability this afternoon, he looked at a list of names that had already crossed off more than 150 names and looked out the window of his house.
"Time to take care of the strongest in the village." He muttered before making his way to the royal guard post that existed in this village.
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