Unlike the other contestants, who chose to use more advanced tools, Simon didn't use a Pneumatic Enchantment Hammer to shape the blade. Instead, he hammered it by hand.
"I'm starting to like this kid."
Bane had to admit that, even considering the animosity between Dwarves and Elves, he really liked this young Elf's craftsmanship.
A manual hammer is vastly less efficient than a pneumatic one. When the latter was first invented, there were even competitions pitting "mechanical teams" against "manual teams."
But after a while, no one bothered to bring it up anymore.
The manual teams stood no chance.
These days, the only artisans who still used a hand hammer were either too poor to afford the machinery or supremely confident in their own abilities.
The feedback from a hand hammer allows an experienced artisan to make much finer adjustments.
Simon was clearly in the confident category.
'I hope this kid puts some pressure on the younger Dwarf Artisans in the future.'
