The twenty-nine people were divided into six groups. Seeing that Raphael next to him looked eager to try, Unas let him go up to make up the round number.
Qiaosen took on the role of referee, and with a horn, the first group of five sped off from the starting line. However, they soon had to slow down as various obstacles along the way tested the riders' skills in sudden stops, turns, and jumps. The participants displayed their unique abilities, Unas amazed and feeling ashamed of his own shortcomings.
The gap between the five widened as the competition progressed. The young man in the lead was practically one with his horse, his various maneuvers and shifts dazzling the eye. He left the others far behind, easily taking the lead, and a burst of enthusiastic cheers followed. Una couldn't help but stand up and applaud him.
"Ashina's horsemanship is arguably the best in our army," Centurion Feniel said, very proud of his men's performance. "He will definitely have a place in the elite squads."
"Your bragging skills are second to none in our army, Feniel," another centurion chimed in, "Just so you know, this is only the first round of the first competition, and it's far too early to say who will be selected."
Feniel chuckled, looking disdainful and as if victory was already assured.
Unas ignored his two subordinates' bickering; it was normal for young people to have minor disagreements.
The Copperhammer Brothers were assigned to the second group. They rode out on two black Ponies, which were only half the height of ordinary Pony and suited the Dwarves well. But how could those short legs possibly outrun a normal horse?
Sure enough, the Dwarf brothers lost at the starting line as soon as the horn sounded. Their Ponies ran steadily but not fast, and it wasn't just a speed problem; they also couldn't jump over any high obstacles.
The Dwarf brothers had to dismount, lift their mounts over the obstacle, and then climb over themselves. Although this demonstrated the Dwarf's superhuman strength, it also wasted a lot of time. Without even looking at the results of the next few groups, the Dwarf would definitely be at the very bottom of the bottom.
The Copperhammer Brothers crossed the finish line looking disheveled, greeted by a chorus of boos. Unas assumed the Dwarves would retaliate in a furious blast, since human competitions seemed rather unsuitable for Dwarves —not their fault in fighting.
Surprisingly, the Copperhammer Brothers were quite patient; they showed a hint of anger but did not lose their composure, which is rare among Dwarves.
The competition continued, with outstanding young players emerging from the third and fourth groups. However, it was clear to the naked eye that they were somewhat inferior to Ashina from the first group.
Liante and Raphael appeared in the fifth group. Unas deliberately lent his own BMW to his Knight squire, hoping the boy wouldn't embarrass him.
Finally, taking advantage of his horse, Raphael narrowly finished second in this group—not disgraceful, but not outstanding either. The kid kept complaining after the race, saying, "If I were more familiar with this horse, I could definitely have won first place." Unas kicked him in the backside to quiet him down.
Using the hourglass to keep track of time, Ashina, the winner of the first group, indeed had the shortest time. This young man with a ponytail rode his horse around the arena with an air of arrogance, and Feniel was as excited as if he had won the championship himself, rushing up to him and cheering him on all the way.
The rankings were quickly released, with Liante in second place, much to the regret of his subordinates. Raphael was in the upper-middle range, while the two names at the bottom were naturally the Copperhammer Brothers.
After a short rest, the second archery competition was about to begin. There were no restrictions on weapons; anyone who felt comfortable could use whatever they had.
In an effort to avenge their defeat, the Copperhammer Brothers made a special trip back to their residence to retrieve their usual muskets. Unas took out his twin shotguns and compared them to theirs. He found that they were not in the same league in terms of both appearance and magazine capacity, and he immediately became quite envious.
He had no interest in or desire for bows and arrows. As a modern man, Unas had always been fond of firearms, and of course he would want to get a better one if he saw one. Unfortunately, the Dwarves did not have any extras to give him.
From a purely entertainment perspective, shooting competitions are much more boring than horseback riding, with most people just aimlessly shooting arrows. However, one young man stood out. He was like a circus performer, switching between bows, arrows, guns, slingshots, darts, and javelins in quick succession, achieving a high hit rate and drawing cheers from the crowd.
The young man Amber ultimately ranked third in shooting, but everyone felt he should have been first, because in actual combat there are very few opportunities to shoot steadily, and his ability to adapt to changing circumstances was outstanding.
Ashina, the champion of horsemanship, did not perform well in this round and only ranked sixth. Feniel was dissatisfied with this and suggested to Unas that another round of horse archery be tested.
However, due to time constraints, Unas did not agree. It was already close to noon after the two matches, and he did not want to spend the whole day here.
The Copperhammer Brothers performed adequately. Their muskets were indeed quite advanced, with a capacity of ten rounds. Although they were bolt-action, their rate of fire was several times faster than Unas's hunting rifle. This made him secretly determined to have the Gnomes engineers find the time to remake one for him.
Next came the swordsmanship competition, where Feniel stirred up the debate again about whether to fight on horseback or on foot. This guy had become somewhat ruthless in his efforts to give Ashina an advantage.
Seeing that the argument was escalating, Unas used the excuse that the horses would affect fairness to directly extinguish Feniel's idea.
In mounted combat, the Copperhammer Brothers would be at the bottom again. According to them, the Dwarves ' traditional Mountain War Rams are no worse than human warhorses, but all of their War Rams have died in battle, so they have to temporarily use Pony that were originally only used for carrying goods. Mounted combat is undoubtedly very unfair to them.
Although it's called a swordsmanship competition, there are no restrictions on the type of weapon, as long as you don't use real weapons. The order of the matches is determined by drawing lots, and then one exciting match after another begins.
Raphael was young and lacked combat experience. He was eliminated in the first round against a veteran, and he accepted his defeat without complaint.
The Dwarf brothers, on the other hand, were unstoppable. They were tough, strong, and had a wealth of combat experience. They washed away their previous slump and easily made it to the top four. Unas thought to himself, "This is what the strongest Dwarf Warriors should look like."
The other two finalists were Liante and a somewhat familiar-looking older man. Unas glanced at the list and remembered that he was Marcus Thornton, the self-proclaimed champion Knight of the Third Legion of Lordaeron, who had been captured and incorporated into the Argent Dawn.
Unexpectedly, they met again here. However, he could no longer be the champion Knight and could only start as Private. Unas looked at his competition results. His horsemanship and archery skills were not bad, but they were overshadowed by the brilliance of others. However, his swordsmanship was even more impressive. His previous opponents could not last more than a few rounds against him.
Humans vs. Dwarves: The Dwarves were completely outmatched in the cheerleading contest, but we'll have to see how they actually perform in the end.