Section 1 Selection

At dusk, the Crucible and Tomahawk tavern was packed.

At this moment, the tavern with the gold-lettered sign "Forge and Tomahawk" was filled with a noisy crowd. Singing, shouting, clinking glasses, applause, and cheers all merged into a deafening noise. From time to time, the drinkers chanted in unison the slogans of "Ho Ho" and "For the health of the High King", pouring cups of drink down their throats. This is the custom of the dwarves to show that they are extremely happy.

This "Crucible and Tomahawk" is not one of those nameless little hotels on the street. It is located in the great city of Karaz – Karak. This is the greatest and most glorious fortress city of the dwarves, inhabited by countless dwarves. According to humans, this is the capital of the dwarves and the royal city of the High King. And this tavern is located right on the doorstep of the Society of Engineers.

The "Engineers Guild" is an extremely well-known group of Dwarven organizations. They are generally considered to be the most mysterious organization in the Dwarven realm. This is due to the fact that they are constantly refining and developing various engineering and mechanical skills, and the second is that they are one of the highest status among the many guild organizations of the dwarves.

In modern times, no one has long been inquired into why the Association of Engineers has such a high status. Other dwarven guilds, such as the Runecraft Guild, have given up on challenging the Engineers Guild. Whether it's war or life, dwarves can't escape the influence of the Society of Engineers. In that case, then accept it. Today's dwarves have taken everything for granted, and many young dwarves even regard the highest honor of the Society of Engineers, the Great Foundry, as their lifelong ideal.

Today, the five-year "Great Foundry Selection" is being held. The preliminary evaluation was completed before dusk today. After a hectic and intense selection process, a large group of members of the Institution of Engineers (including many judges and many more candidates) naturally went into the "Crucible and Tomahawk" opposite the Society's headquarters to give their nervous nerves a chance to relax.

There is no feast without wine, and this is especially true for dwarves who like to drink booze. As a result, the members of the association filled all the large beer glasses and beer glasses, and drank the mellow and delicious new beer and special ale wine. Everyone was still smoking pipes, and the long pipes kept spitting out choking smoke, making the entire hotel lobby dark. However, although it was difficult for the members to see each other through the smoke, they could still hear each other, except when they were deaf.

Dwarven engineers holding drawings for design or construction are calm and silent when working. But as soon as they put down their work, they became the most chattering group in the world. When it comes to the various novelties that have emerged today, the excitement of the members is almost as good as that of the hunters who have returned with a full load. This is not a lie. The final is tomorrow, and maybe tomorrow they can choose a great caster. Every member of the Guild (even the Dwarves who had nothing to do with the Guild of Engineers) knew that the title of Grand Foundry had been vacant for years. Traditionally, the Society of Engineers was supposed to have a total of ten Grand Forges, and the dwarves who now hold this title add up to only nine. There have been many such selections, but due to the meticulous nature of the dwarves, they have set up strict selection conditions and a strict evaluation system, so that no one has been able to prove that they are worthy of this honorary title.

"Cheers to the health of our boss, Mr. Esseurofat, and thank you for bringing us such delicious wine!" someone shouted. It wasn't the drinkers who were shouting, but the clerks serving at the bar. As a demonstration, he was the first to raise his glass and drank the drink inside.

"I wish him eternal health!" cheered in unison from the crowd. Everyone knows that this sumptuous dinner was sponsored free of charge by Ashrufat, the owner of the Crucible and Tomahawk. Because he is a member of the Institution of Engineers, he is also a participant in this competition.

To say that this Aerufate is really a bit legendary. Ashruphat comes from the Lava Tribe, which is known to have little social contact with the Dwarven body due to its migration too far north. After arriving in the south, the Ashruphat first eliminated a giant dragon and completely erased a record of the "Book of Great Hatred". In the battle of the dragon slayer, he was injured not lightly and had to recuperate in the Anthropocene realm. But when he was recovering from his injuries, he relied on his sharp mind to make a fortune in business. After returning to Karaz-Karak, he purchased the "Crucible and Tomahawk". Originally, it was just a trivial business practice. But then Ashrufat did something unexpected—it turned out that he had invented the recipe for a new type of beer and a special ale in the Anthropocene. Soon, Ashrufat became the great wine merchant of Karaz-Karak, and gold was rolling in.

He accomplished so much in such a short period of time, which allowed Ashrufat not only to earn a lot of wealth, but also to gain a lot of fame. But it was clear that this was not enough for him. His ambition (and indeed the ambition of many young dwarves) is to reach a higher level, and he wants to become the Great Forge. This time, it is rumored that he is going on a rampage, trying to provide support and sponsorship to the union in order to get a better impression for himself. But this can be the result of jealous competitors. Because every dwarf knows the way, the selection of the great caster is extremely strict and unscrupulous. The judges would rather keep the position open than allow someone who doesn't match the position to enjoy the honor.

This sumptuous dinner is coming to an end. The hundreds of guests sitting around the banquet were all members of the Society of Engineers (as the Crucible and Tomahawk does not accept outsiders today). Each visitor was still enthusiastically discussing the works of the contestants who had passed the pre-selection. After a long day of detailed discussion, their throats must have been thirsty. Just look at the number of bottles in the scraps and the empty barrels in the corners of the hotel. The meal was over, and now the dessert wines were served, at the request of the engineers. Dwarves often think that dessert wine is not on the table, but they prefer to have a few drinks in their free time.

The bell rang for the dawn of night, and the increasingly drunk guests got up and left their seats. Truth be told, many of the dwarves are already drunk and staggering. However, the vast majority of the judges stood firm, they were tough and brave heroes, and they were accustomed to this kind of grand banquet that lasted for a long time. As long as there are vacancies for the Great Caster of the Association of Engineers, such events will be held every five years.

The lively selection after session made it a great event in the city of Karaz-Karak. It is not only the Association of Engineers itself that is affected, but also the entire inhabitants of Karaz, Karak. It is said that the High King was also very interested in this, and sent someone to inquire about the progress.

Incidentally, although the Grand Foundry was held in the city of Karaz, it was not only the inhabitants of the city who came to participate in the selection. In fact, the contestants come from all the fortresses and cities of the Dwarven World, large and small, and there are all kinds of them. At this time, countless young dwarves (as well as some not-so-young dwarves) with dreams of becoming great foundries come all the way here to participate in the selection.

The selection of great foundries has a long history. Under the proper management of the Society of Engineers, it is thriving. The increasing number of funding sources has made it possible for the association to organize large-scale exhibitions and to award substantial prizes to all those works that are "creative and intelligent", whether or not they are ultimately recognized by all. But from another point of view, the selection of great foundries is very strict. There are three criteria to participate: First, you must be a member of the Faculty of Engineers – which is easy because the Faculty of Engineers is always open to anyone who wants to join. The second is that the contestants must have done a great job. This "achievement" ranges from erasing the record of a book of hatred to achieving a universally recognized contribution - this alone stands in the way of ninety percent of dwarves who try to obtain this honorary title. The last thing is that he has to make a brilliant invention and pass the selection.

"I have a proposal!" Just a short time before the guests were leaving, a respectable, bearded engineer, one of the judges of this selection, suddenly came to the center of the lobby and shouted loudly. In order to speak better, he quickly jumped onto a table.

"Dear friends and colleagues. The respectable judge held his glass aloof in one hand as he combed his beard that had been messed up while drinking. "I have a proposal that tomorrow night when we should be here, in this hotel, for our most post-selection session. There's plenty of space here to accommodate a larger audience. We need more spectators to be witnesses to this audition. ”

"Ashrufat probably won't agree. Someone shouted.

Of course he agreed. The old dwarf replied. As a member of the Association of Engineers, he had long taken the initiative to make this suggestion. He told me that it was an honor for him. ”

"Yes!" someone in the audience shouted, raising their empty cups.

Cries of "yes!", "yes!", "I support!", and so on rang out everywhere. Everyone thought that this was just a statement by Ashrufat. In that case, why not? They had already enjoyed the free meal offered by Ashrufat for several days. It would be a bit too much to reject this reasonable (and win-win) offer at this point. The Society of Engineers will be given a more spacious and free judging venue, and Ashrufat will be able to record this glorious scene in the history of the hotel.

The last part of the selection started according to the prescribed time. The bell had just struck the early morning morning, and the Institution of Engineers contestants and judges were already in place in the tavern. Everyone did their best to dress themselves up and put on the most elaborate and beautiful clothes. The old dwarves all braided their beards and sprinkled them with gold dust to make themselves look noble and elegant. The young dwarves (whose beards are not long enough) use a different method of arranging their beards into various neat shapes, such as square, round, wavy, or some other shape, to show that they are different.

The selection process is as precise and accurate as the engineers build their machinery. First of all, several inventions that were "not atmospheric enough" were excluded. Then there were several inventions that were very ingeniously designed, but lacked practical results, and were eliminated. Among them is a new type of bomb. Although all the people present agreed that the bomb was excellently designed, it had to be withdrawn regrettably because it had not been put into actual combat and lacked actual results.

After the invention was declared a failure, a great foundry (of course, he was a judge) made a brief statement stating that there was nothing wrong with it itself, but that it did not conform to the principle that "an invention must be tested in practice". He comforted the failed contestant and said that the Society of Engineers was willing to promote the invention. After it participates in the actual battle and achieves results, it can participate in the next selection of the Grand Foundry.

By the afternoon, there were not many works left that could stand up to the harsh pickiness of the judges. Soon, only the last two works were still being commented on by the judges. Everyone knows that the victors will be (if any) born from them.