Ragnar Stonewhisper sat in his seat, looked up at the time, and then lowered his head again to check his full set of carving tools.
The knife bag has been spread out on the table, and the heads of the large and small carving knives are tightly attached to the leather sandwich. Only the buckle for mounting the knife handle is exposed. Ronnar took a deep breath.
Starting from the smallest and thinnest blade on the first handle, the last inspection before the competition is carried out.
With an almost imperceptible "click" sound, the buckle and buckle of the knife handle are connected together.
Pulling the handle of the knife, the knife head was unsheathed, and the blade separated from the leather layer shone sharply in the sun. Ragnar gently turned the handle of the knife, and the slender knife head was like a dancer twisting his waist.
Like a woman, she showed her perfect curves in front of him.
Nodding slightly, Ragnar stretched out the thumb of his left hand and gently rubbed the side of the blade a few times with his rough, calloused fingertips.
It's cool and scratches your hands slightly, which proves that the blade is well polished.
Ragnar nodded with satisfaction.
The familiar touch made him relax a lot, and the blade mixed with rune steel gave him a small sense of security.
Although the tall Forbidden Stone walls of the capital city cannot stop these mages, in any case, the ability of the Forbidden Stone to protect oneself from the harm of mages has become a steel stamp imprinted in the hearts of countless Demacians and has become a subconscious
part of.
Ragnar's breathing calmed down, he lowered his head, and after confirming that the head of the first carving knife was intact, he began to check the second and third knives.
For him, inspection is not only to prepare for the upcoming competition, but also the best way to relax himself. These carving knives passed down from generation to generation by the Shiyu family, as well as the techniques of operating these carving knives, together constitute Lang.
Narr's pride.
Because when Ragnar was a child, his father told him about the family's past, and according to his father, Old Stone Language, the Stone Language family, which has carved coats of arms and seals for nobles for generations, has an inheritance even greater than
Half of the nobles in the capital are ancient.
It's a pity that in this chaotic world, even the nobles are in danger. The Shiyu family, which used to have a regular source of customers, has no customers. If he hadn't been forced to do so, how could he have come here to participate in this event organized by the mage?
game?
Not life yet!
After checking the last carving knife, Ragnar finally raised his head and looked at the referee's seat in front of the arena, which was gradually filled with people.
Different from other venues, in the special carving competition venue, there seemed to be more referees than players - all the available mages had already gathered in the venue at this time.
They glanced expectantly at the waiting carvers, and many of them were secretly thinking about how to recruit the most skilled people to their project teams.
And if you want to poach people, the best way is to give them money.
Coincidentally, the Dharma Masters are very rich.
The treatment of the law protectors is almost the best in the North. Lux provides them with almost all the necessities of life, and there are also very high salaries and subsidies. Among them, the salary level is relatively average, compared with the same level.
Clerks and Northern Walkers are not much different, but the subsidies are quite astonishing.
Depending on the specific work that the Archon is engaged in, the types of subsidies they receive are also different - those responsible for teaching, those responsible for research, those responsible for combat, and those responsible for production. Some of the different types of Archon are organized into sequences, and some are
Independent project teams are formed, and some hold important positions in the construction team, but without exception they all receive quite generous subsidies that are linked to Forsbarrow's economic level.
Almost all legal practitioners who have worked for more than five years will have a considerable amount of savings in their hands.
In addition, and more importantly, many legal practitioners also hold dividends in certain project fields because of their meritorious service or rewards. These people are without exception the leaders of certain project groups or construction teams, as well as their subordinates.
The most lacking people, the people who most hope that the number of people in the zero sequence will increase.
Theoretically, the magic circuit carvers in the zeroth sequence are uniformly allocated, but when allocating, the organization will definitely take the carvers' personal wishes into consideration - therefore, the mages who have allocated quotas came to the arena early,
I plan to take a look at these craftsmen in Xiongdu with my own eyes and see their carving skills, so as to recruit carvers of the highest level possible.
If necessary, they don't even mind giving the engravers a private subsidy to draw people into their own project teams or construction teams. The quotas in each team are limited. If you can dig out technical experts for a small amount of money, then
It’s also a blood profit!
……………………
Ragnar obviously didn't know what these mages were thinking. He just felt that the attitude of these mages was a bit strange, and they seemed to be full of expectations - could it be said that they were about to become nobles?
Well, this is really possible.
Perhaps the purpose of this competition is to select people with better skills to carve the first batch of noble coats of arms and seal templates for these new nobles, right?
After all, for a brand new noble family, the first-generation coat of arms and seal represent the beginning of the family's honor, and no matter how hard you strive for excellence, it's no exaggeration!
Thinking of this, Ronnar completely relaxed.
When it comes to carving techniques... it can be said that he has full confidence.
There are so many carvers in the entire city, but only a few can be noticed by him. The more carvers just rely on their relationship with some declining nobles, so they make a living in this industry.
Just eating, do they have the ability to engrave the original article seal template?
They don't have this ability!
Moreover, the first-generation heraldry and seal engravings also require certain design assistance. I have carved as many as eight hundred aristocratic emblems over the years, and I can pick up various common elements at my fingertips. In this aspect, I also have a great advantage.
!
Ragnar, who became more and more confident as he thought about it, couldn't help but twist his neck. At this moment, he suddenly felt that maybe the competition was a good thing.
Just when Ragnar gradually gained some confidence, the game was officially announced to begin - and then, when the referee made the request for the game, Ragnar was stunned.
He received a test paper and a slate. The content of this competition was to carve prescribed lines and patterns on the slate according to the requirements on the test paper.
Looking at the test paper in his hand and the various parameters about the lines and lines on it, Ronnar was completely confused.
What is this?
Aren't you going to engrave a coat of arms?
This thing has nothing to do with heraldry, right?
After getting the test paper and slate, Ragnar almost instinctively wanted to make some small modifications to them.
However, before he could start thinking about how to modify it to make it pleasing to the eye, the referee spoke loudly.
"Everyone should note that engraving must be carried out strictly in accordance with the requirements on the test paper. Any unauthorized modifications and decorations will be regarded as a failure in engraving."
"Come to the judges' table as soon as the carving is completed. Your carving speed is also part of the score."
Uh, just carve these ugly lines?
At this moment, Ragnar could not help but feel some resistance in his heart.
However, this resistance was fleeting - because since he was a child, his father had told Ragnar to follow the customer's requirements when engraving heraldry.
"What if the request is wrong?" Little Ragnar asked doubtfully, "I obviously know that his family's coat of arms is not like this..."
"Then follow the requirements." Father said seriously, "We are just carvers. We mainly work according to the instructions. If we need to correct it, we will correct it. If we don't say it, it means it is not necessary. This way we will not make mistakes."
Ragnar had always insisted on his father's words and the tradition of the Stone Language family, so although these lines made him quite uncomfortable, he still started to select the knife head according to the carving requirements, and after calculating the carving path in detail,
Take the knife decisively.
……………………
The design and carving of magic circuits is not a simple matter.
Even Ragnar, who had rich experience in carving, was sweating from his ears and temples when he reached the fifth magic circuit.
There is no way. As the magic circuit becomes more and more complex, more and more lines are marked that need to be carved with one knife. This is a test of the carver's technique and experience. As long as the angle of the knife is slightly deviated, the carving path may appear.
question.
In the seventh magic circuit, Ragnar took out a sweat scarf from his waist and tied it on his head. In this magic circuit, the content of the engraving has appeared. However, it is different from the relief engraving. According to the label,
, there are also requirements for cutting the part where the positive engraving has been carved out.
To be honest, when he saw these markings, Ragnar was quite confused. He couldn't understand why even the parts carved out by the carving knife had to be completed in one stroke and follow the predetermined path.
Those mages, can they really tell whether they have carved it according to his requirements?
Although he was murmuring in his heart, with the idea of "doing it according to the customer's needs", Ronnar took a deep breath and started to follow the requirements.
However, not everyone is as down-to-earth as Ragnar - while Ragnar was still struggling with the eighth magic circuit, there were already several flexible people who took the slate and excitedly found the master.
referee.
To the naked eye, the magic circuit on his slate seems to be no different from the requirements of the test paper.
After getting the slate, the referee just glanced at it briefly, then stretched out his hand and clicked on the starting point of the first magic circuit.
Then, under the astonished gaze of the sculptor, the first magic circuit was quickly covered with frost.
"Well, circuit No. 1 is qualified."
After hitting the next check mark on the test paper, the referee stretched out his hand and pressed on the second magic circuit.
Frost once again covered the magic circuit, another check mark.
When it came to the third magic circuit, after the referee stretched out his hand, there was no response from the magic circuit - only then did he get closer to the magic circuit and take a closer look.
"You did not carve as required." After looking for a while, he finally raised his head, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the dull-looking carver in front of him, "I have already emphasized that you must carve absolutely as required."
The carver then woke up as if from a dream, and said hurriedly, "This is absolutely impossible to see."
But obviously, what the legal guardians want is not to be invisible.
In the end, the first person to complete the carving, because of his cleverness, only obtained a junior license, and many of the big-name archivists who had been watching behind the referee were not interested in him.
After this, other carvers who participated in the competition calmed down, and several carvers who had been fooled halfway had to start over - they already understood that the incomprehensible lines they carved probably had a lot to do with magic.
Relationships, problems that cannot be seen with the eyes, may not be fooled by magic!
Time passes minute by minute.
The final time limit is approaching.
Among the many carvers, no one dared to stand up yet - the ninth and tenth magic circuits were already quite complicated, and even specially trained magicians would find it difficult to carve them out.
Seeing this situation, although the mages watching the competition knew that the tenth magic circuit was a bit out of line and almost impossible for non-mages to complete, they were still somewhat disappointed.
However, at this moment, Ragnar stood up.
He let out a long breath, then calmly received all the knife heads, rolled the handles into the knife bag, and pinned it to his waist. Then he took the magic circuit and the test paper to the referee's seat.
.
Everyone at the referee's table instantly became excited. The referee even reached out and took Ragnar's slate. He glanced at it and pressed it directly on the first magic circuit.
Well, frost spreads.
Then the second, the third...
The first nine magic circuits are perfect, completely covered with white frost.
"Ronnar...Mr. Stone Whisperer." After glancing at the information on the test paper, the referee extended his hand to the last magic circuit with some anticipation, "Let me introduce myself, my name is Trenge Butt, I don't know about you.
Are you interested in joining the second sequence? We have cooperation with Northern Walkers and can provide pre-school military training to the children..."
"Hurry up and look at the magic circuit." Before Trengebut could finish his words, someone behind him urged, "There are no quotas for the second sequence this time, so don't make trouble here!"
"That's right, the second sequence and the zero sequence are not the same thing. You are just talking nonsense."
"Hurry, hurry, get out of the way after the verification!"
In Ragnar's confusion, Trungobutt shook his head helplessly, then stretched out his index finger and pressed on the last magic circuit.
The glistening ice crystals spread again, and the last magic circuit was filled with frost magic - Ragnar completed the competition assessment!
Although they were prepared in their hearts, watching the last magic circuit light up, the onlookers couldn't help but take a breath.
As the last tick was written, Ragnar was completely surrounded.
"Mr. Shiyu, are you interested in plant cultivation and planting?"
"Would you consider leaving your name in the sewers of every city in Demacia?"
"We have additional subsidies..."
"Our construction team has specially hired tutors - what, you are not married yet? It's okay, we also organize social gatherings..."
Ragnar, who had no idea what was going on, was dizzy and soon fell into the trouble of happiness.