Arriving at the registration area for new blacksmiths, Benson saw the doorway open in front of him.
There was no line for the initial registration of new blacksmith candidates. The line was only for the 3 tests each blacksmith had to pass to be approved to join the association.
Stepping up to one of the three Association officials on hand to register those interested in taking today's test, Benson said. "Enroll my student. Deduct the cost of his enrollment from my merit points."
Immediately upon hearing these dry words, one of the officials began to register Vicente, collecting the young man's data but not charging him anything.
There was a fee of 1 gold coin for new blacksmiths to attempt the Association's exam.
Many young apprentice blacksmiths tried several times to get their licenses because not everyone could improve their skills as quickly as Vicente. However, blacksmiths needed to get a license to sell their items and earn their own coins.
Due to the number of young people constantly trying to pass the exam, the Association charged a fee, not only for the service rendered but also to discourage some young people from coming to the place daily.
However, the council members could exchange some of their merit points for the right to test their students, so Vice wouldn't have to pay anything for today.
After Vice gave that official his basic information, he said. "Young man, you are number 9 today. You'll have to wait your turn when the tests start." This man pointed to a black screen where red lights formed the symbol 0, indicating that the tests had not yet begun.
Vicente nodded and listened. "Do you know what you'll need to pass the Association's exam?"
"No."
The official explained while Benson was already talking to some elders in the area and people he hadn't seen for months.
"Well, the Association's license exam has three tests. In each of them, you have up to 30 minutes to meet the minimum requirements.
If you fail to meet the minimum requirement on one or more of these tests, you will be disqualified and will have to come back here in the future to retake the exam."
"What is the minimum requirement to pass?" Vice asked casually.
"60%. Whatever you're asked to do has to be at least 60% efficient." He said. "You'll be tested by three professionals from the Association in these side rooms in this area. You'll have 30 minutes on each test, the maximum time you have to produce something that meets our requirements."
"There's no theory or skills test?" Vice questioned.
He thought that in association exams like this, people would want to see how one's magical talents affected one's abilities.
However, these were exceptional characteristics of magicians, and such associations usually didn't test such things to protect their members. All they did was test these professionals' production capacity and determine the quality of the items they produced.
"No, if you can pass what we consider essential, the level of your talent, your creativity, or the way you act when producing items will not be considered. But these things can eventually be used to get you contacts within the Association.
There are contests and events where our blacksmiths can show off their skills and even win prizes. But that's for the stimulation of our members. It's not something that a new member needs to have."
For a long time, the Blacksmiths' Association served as a regulator of the profession. You wouldn't have to worry about the qualifications of the professionals classified by this organization.
By meeting a blacksmith and seeing their credentials, one could easily be sure that such a person had the minimum skills to produce weapons and items in general.
In a way, this group's license was like a seal of approval.
The official guiding Vicente then finished his explanation. "Each test will work on different types of items. Be prepared to produce armor, shields, and offensive items. It's our representatives who choose what you have to produce."
The production of defensive and offensive items required completely different techniques. Some might find it much easier to make defensive items, others the opposite. However, every blacksmith had to be able to produce every type of artifact in order to be approved by the Association.
Even one type of artifact, such as a weapons, could have variations that require very different production techniques. A bow and arrow, for example, was much more challenging to make than a simple dagger.
Knowing this, Vicente thanked the man for his guidance and then sat down in the waiting area.
As he did so, the screen changed its symbol after the clock struck 6 p.m., calling the first youth of the day to the test in room number 3.
There were 9 rooms in the area where Vicente was, 3 for each of the tests.
The teens with tokens number 2 and 3 were quickly called, reducing the number of people waiting with Vicente in the waiting area.
While his master disappeared from the area, Vicente saw some of the young apprentices from the forge looking at him with interest.
That evening, he was the only student of a 3rd-stage blacksmith there to take his test. What's more, Vicente's master was the most unusual of them all but also someone who had a long track record locally and was known for teaching prodigies.
'I want to see what this new student of Mr. King's is capable of...' One of them looked at Vice with an ugly expression, remembering the day he had been rejected by Benson.
Meanwhile, another young man there, a disciple of Henry's disciple, looked at Vicente with a smile.
"Hey, what's your name?" This young man, who also had black hair like Vicente, asked as he looked at him with interest.
"My name is Vicente."
"Vicente? Nice to meet you. I'm Eli. I hope we can pass this test together. Our masters are old acquaintances, so I'm sure we will be too." He said and looked at Vicente as if waiting for something.
Vicente didn't understand what this person wanted and just said. "Yes, I hope so. Good luck, Eli. Who is your master? I'm not very familiar with the local blacksmiths."
After hearing that, the young man's expression froze as someone behind him burst out laughing.
