Author's Note:

Took Nevets idea for the competition.

Ren quietly sat across the table from the two dwarven instructors, who were busy downing a few pints of local ale, patiently waiting for the point when they would tell him what was going on. By their fifth pint they seemed to be ready to explain what was going on.

"Too understand what’s going right now you first have to know a bit about dwarven culture." Yurbek said. "As a whole, we dwarves like three things; Fighting, Drinking, and Crafting. We are a race of craftsmen and warriors so we put hard work and skill above just about everything and that's reflected in how we choose our leaders. You humans would say we're meritocracy or a society where the most skilled are pick as our leaders. The reason why all of us dwarves are here is because one of our leaders has died so we need to pick a new one. Our society has three kings that control various aspects of our society. We have the War King, also known as the Blood King, who is in charge of our military and monitoring external threats. The second king is the Hearth King, who is sometimes called the Saint King, who takes care of all of the internal matters of the kingdom. The last king is the Gold King, who is also called the Trade King, who is oversees anything and everything related to money as well as being in charge of diplomacy and our relations with other races. While some of their powers overlap sometimes, like how the Hearth King can command an army to defend the kingdom or the War King can negotiate peace deals, most of the time they don't butt-heads. The problem though is that when one of them dies the other two can't take over the dead one's position even for a short time. This is what is happening now. The War King has died unexpectedly so we must choose a new one. That's why all of us are here." Master Yurbek took a long swig from his tankard as soon as he was done.

"That great and all but I’m not a dwarf so why am I here?" Ren said, "Also where is here?"

"Right now you are underneath the Guardian Mountains," Anurt said, "The Guardian Mountains is a ring of nearly impassable mountains situated in the center of the Igan continent. Inside this ring is a place known as the Valley of Hope, an absolutely enormous area filled with fertile plains and rich woodlands. In the center of the valley is the city of Bofcral, or Ancient Home in old dwarvish, the capital of the dwarven kingdom. As for why your here, I'll let your teacher here explain why I brought you along." Anurt slapped Master Yurbek on the back as he said the last part causing him to choke a little on his ale.

Yurbek glared at Anurt before turning to Ren and speaking.

"Every time a new leader is selected there is a grand festival that lasts an entire month. This festival is full of all sorts of things to do, food to eat, and the alcohol flows like water but the main attraction is The Battle of Blood and Iron. This competition is the main reason why Anurt dragged you along. Remember how I told you that the dwarves are a race of craftsmen and warriors? This competition proves that. The Battle of Blood and Iron tests both the competitors’ martial prowess and skill as a craftsmen. This event lasts for three weeks and starts one week after the Selection of the new king. Anurt here wants you to enter it. The competition has six tiers that separate the competitors based on their skill so you don't have an apprentice going against a grandmaster." Yurbek paused for a moment and looked like he was struggling with something before sighing and speaking again. "If you want to enter I won't stop you but let me just say that I am against it. This competition is brutal, not because people die or use underhanded methods to win, that doesn't happen, but because of the wager system that's in place. For every battle, whether it's combat or crafting, competitors have to register a wager. These wagers are not money, items, or any material good. Competitors have to wager intangible things that are worth far more then any object you could hope to find. The wagers consist of thing like knowledge, experience, and even things like a persons strength or intelligence. I've seen rising stars absolutely crushed and never recovering. Once I even saw a grandmaster fall into despair and kill themselves after losing. This is not a competition for the weak-willed or faint of heart."

Ren was quite for a moment, mulling over what he had just learned and debating with himself about entering the competition or not. On one hand it would be both exciting and beneficial to compare his skills with those at a similar skill level on the other hand though Ren didn't have a ton of confidence in his skills right now. Sure he knew he was good when compared to other players but to NPC's? He had no idea and the thought of the cost of losing didn't sit very well with him. After a few more moments Ren came to decision.

"I've decided." Ren said, grabbing the attention of the other two, "I've decided that I wo-"

"Yurbek? Yurbek Whurlode? Is that you? Ah excuse me, it would be Yurbek Glanvar now wouldn't it?" A voice called out from across the room.

The trio turned to find two dwarves walking towards them. The one in the lead was an older looking dwarf wearing fine clothes and had a beard braided with colored beads that reached his waist. The dwarf behind him wore plain clothing and also had a beard but it was short and unadorned.

“Bik Ogal.” Yurbek growled, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off polishing the rear of some upper nobility with that glib tongue of yours? And who’s that poor soul behind you? An unlucky kid you managed to trick into being your servant?”

“This young lad just happens to be the eldest son of the distinguished Norvral clan.” Ogal said, “You would know of them as the clan who have been in charge of making the equipment for the royal guard. He also happens to be one my apprentices. He's here to enter The Battle of Blood and Iron as a journeyman blacksmith. He's expected to take first place you know. Well we need to get our rest. Lots of things to do before the competition. I look forward to seeing how your student does. Oh wait, I forgot you have any students. Oh wel-“

“He does.” Ren said, getting out of his seat.

“Huh?” Ogal said, confused by Ren’s sudden outburst

“He does take students.” Ren said, towering over Ogal

“Does he now. And how would you know that?” Ogal asked

“Because I’m his student and I would be more than happy to face your apprentice in the competition and take first place away from him” Ren said, heart pumping and a feeling of electricity coursing through his body as his lips curled into a small, almost savage, smile.

“R-right.” Ogal said, taken aback by the energetic, and slightly oppressive, aura he felt coming off Ren. “Well we’ll just have to see about that. Come now Azgalt, It’s time for us to retire for the night.”

As the duo walked of the feeling of excitement Ren was had gotten diminished but didn’t disappear. The only place Ren had previously felt this excited was at the high school robotics world championship his freshmen year. Ren cracked his knuckles, eager to get started.

“What do you think you’re doing boy?” Yurbek said, “This is a matter between me and him. You have no reason to get involved.”

“I do have a reason though.” Ren said, looking Master Yurbek in the eye, “He said you have no students so obviously I had to correct him.”

“You…” Yurbek didn’t know what to say.

While technically Ren had been his student that relationship had ended when the previous semester had ended, or so he had though. The fact that Ren still considered Yurbek his instructor touched him greatly. After a few moments Yurbek finally got his thoughts in order.

“You’ve bitten off more than you can handle this time lad. The Norvral clan is known for producing exceptional craftsmen and, as much as I despise that orc-spawned bastard, he knows his way around a forge. As talented as you are you’re still not at that level yet. Those pieces you made for your friends a while back? That lad could probably turn out a couple of them a day if he was working fast and if he was actually trying? You haven’t touched that level yet. While I appreciate the sentiment you’re just not ready to compete against someone like him.”

“I’ll just have to train some more then.” Ren said with an attitude that said backing out wasn’t an option.

“If you’re serious about this I know someone in the capitol who owes me a pretty big favor who could help.” Yurbek said, “Go get some sleep lad, you going to need it.”