Nova was a little worried as Vicente watched Layla walk away, swaying her hips as she climbed the grandstand steps.
"Who is that woman?" She asked Eve as Nina seemed distracted.
"That person..." Eve hesitated, knowing who Layla was, but not sure what to tell Nova. "She's an acquaintance of Vicente."
"Why do they seem so close? Did they ever have anything, Eve? Be honest with me. Has Vicente been with anyone else before me?" Nova looked into Eve's blue eyes somewhat seriously.
"Not that I know of. You're the only one he ever took to his residence, Nova. Don't worry, it's probably nothing. Vicente is too busy to have time for other women."
"Is that so?" The blue-haired woman asked in an uncertain tone when she saw Vicente stop to greet Shelby and Livia.
"What about those two? At the Symons family funeral, Miss Staples kept looking at him as if her life depended on him. Why is she acting like that? Does she like him?" Nova asked.
"Shelby?" Eve looked at the beautiful orange-haired woman who was wishing her ally good luck. "Impossible. Miss Staples is not that kind of woman. Her business with Vicente is more commercial than anything else."
"Are you saying that allies can't be intimate? There are many instances of marriage between allies, Eve." Nova said as she glared at Shelby.
If looks could hurt, Shelby would be seriously injured right now!
Eve smiled inwardly, seeing that Nova was having a jealous crisis over Vicente. She asked. "What if there's something else? It's not uncommon for talented young men like him to have relationships with more than one woman, Nova. I'm not saying he does, but you have to consider the possibility that it might happen one day.
When you've made up your mind about what you think is acceptable and what is not, talk to him about it. Tell him what can and cannot happen in your relationship. If he wants to be with other women and you don't accept that, it's best to let him go. Otherwise, try to deal with it without hurting yourself."
Nova paled at the thought, for this was indeed a polygamous society. Her father had had several wives in his youth, and for a time, her mother had had to share him with others. Only after such a woman became pregnant with their first child did Nova's father change and become utterly faithful to her mother.
'Could I bear to see him with another woman?' She clenched her fists as she wondered.
Meanwhile, Vicente had only stopped by to say hello to Shelby and Livia and then returned to Benson's side after receiving their good wishes.
Benson was already standing next to the 3rd stage smiths at this post, as well as Landon, Vicente's opponent that night.
Arriving there, Vice greeted his opponent with a handshake before gesturing to the elders there.
"Elders..."
They all nodded with smiles on their faces because everyone there knew that this young man was very talented. Not only that, but they thought there was no way Vicente could win so the local association could have him as their representative for years to come, even after their previous refusals.
Henry asked him. "Vicente, before we go any further with you and Landon, I want to know if you agree to the terms of this challenge. Your master must have told you what's at stake, but you must tell us that you accept these conditions.
There's still time to back out, but if you go ahead with this wager, there will be no turning back."
"Thank you for the warning, elder. But I'm ready to go all the way. If I lose, I'll represent the local association in forging competitions for years." Vicente said, showing that he was aware of the contest's rules and was willing to follow them.
Henry nodded his head in agreement and laughed. "Very well. Since you agree, let's get to the rules of this contest.
First, this is a bet, not an exhibition. So you can and should make your artifacts with the best you have. In a normal forging competition, you can only use your skills. But in the real world, blacksmiths use accessory artifacts all the time. So, you are free to use your artifacts as long as they are limited to the 2nd grade."
This rule seemed to put Vicente at a disadvantage since Landon was more experienced and had the support of the best blacksmith in town. However, Benson had suggested this rule because his student wouldn't show his full abilities, so he would have to use accessory artifacts to defeat his opponent.
"The second rule is that there will be no minimum time to complete your artifacts. Whoever can produce the highest number of winning items that night will win, no matter how long it takes.
Third, you will create 3 items the Association's Council of Elders has already selected. Whoever makes at least 2 winning items wins the game.
That means the contest can end in the second round if the winner of the second round is the same as the first round".
Landon and Vicente listened to the rules side by side, accepting each one as they looked at Henry.
Henry finished. "Finally, the winners will be chosen based on the quality of their final products. Do you have any questions?"
"No." They both said.
"Then you may begin to prepare yourselves. We'll start the first round as soon as you're ready."
As soon as he said that, they greeted each other one last time before moving to the two corners of the circular platform, while everyone on the platform left the area and went to various places in the surrounding area.
The chatter in the bleachers died down, and people like Lukas stopped talking to pay attention to the competition that was about to begin.
Nova's and Shelby's groups also fell silent as they watched Vicente and Landon quickly prepare their tools while looking at their available materials.
The only thing the association had provided for them were the materials. All other components were part of a blacksmith's ability to use their skills to the best of their ability.
Individual powers didn't need to be explained. They were obviously the merit of their users, and there was no wrong in relying on them. But someone might question the use of support artifacts.
However, support artifacts were part of the overall power of the blacksmiths. The ability to gather influence and resources to obtain good tools was also a trait related to the blacksmith's skills.
Outside of competitions, these skills gave blacksmiths an advantage, allowing them to advance faster and sell more.
Precisely because this was a competition for the ability to grow quickly and sell very well, almost no one in the arena found it strange that both sides could use their accessory items.
When the two sides showed they were ready, Henry kicked off the competition by saying that the first item of the night would be made.
