The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1164: Pageant Queen

But he had enough practice making items to assess them at a glance, and he quickly realized that as far as practical function, none even came close to Dana’s. They even had mending and self-cleaning charms on them, just because he had some room to show off.

Azov chuckled as Karl came to the same realization that everyone else did.

Runcrafting was simply overpowered.

The other items weren’t even close, though there were many Totem and Mythic Ranked Epic Grade items being worn. If there was a category for pure combat power enhancement, Dana might lose. But even against Mythic equipment, she wouldn’t be losing by too much with the targeted bonuses Karl could add.

The staff came and collected the results, then the announcer came back on stage.

”Next, we have a more subjective award. Practical fashion. It’s easy to add combat bonuses to accessories. But can high fashion be something that you would wear more than once?” He asked.

The ladies in the crowd laughed. High fashion wasn’t intended to be worn more than once.

They knew what he meant. If there were multiple events during the day, like today, would you be able to wear the same dress all day and be comfortable not only on stage, but also in the street and at dinner?

Some of these dresses were only chosen for the stage, to the point they had even changed before the presentation, or had remained standing for the entire event, so the dress wasn’t wrinkled.

”Ladies, make yourself comfortable. This might take a few minutes.” The host declared.

Naturally, this was part of the judging, and an excuse for Dana to show off the Darklight Host’s skills.

She took out a large Elven Steel loop and hook from the Guild Inventory, and the others were immediately baffled. Then, she hung one of Rae’s hammock chairs from it and elegantly reclined, slowly crossing her legs, then fluffing her tail through the back so she could swing comfortably.

The hammock chair hook was made by Ashbringer for just this reason, with a single upright, so that the species with wings could lounge without them getting caught on anything or pressed into their backs.

Even the host was shocked by her actions.

When he said ’Get Comfortable’ he had meant that they didn’t need to be so stiff, but few would dare to actually lounge in a chair like that, for fear of damaging their dress.

There was one other eager crafter among the ladies on stage, though. She was circling Dana’s chair, trying to understand how it hung just right.

”The weave is stretchy and weight sensitive. Would you like to try?” Dana asked.

The Blue Dragon girl nodded eagerly, and they switched spots.

Dana’s dress shook out perfectly as she stood, and the Blue Dragon sighed happily as she reclined into the chair. Then, she crossed her legs underneath her, tucking her skirts like a young child would, and a few members of the crowd chuckled.

She was definitely making herself more comfortable than the host had intended.

In fact, she had completely forgotten that they were judging anything, and she took out a book to read while they waited.

A Mythic Ranked man behind Azov chuckled. ”That counts as a technical knockout for the Darklight Host, doesn’t it? She’s completely lost, and they’ll have to pry her out of the chair to get her back in the competition.”

Karl shook his head. ”It’s fine. Dana knows the trick to dealing with juvenile dragons. You just need to get them to focus on something else, and they’ll snap right out of it. I think that we can let her keep the chair as well. So she can study it later.”

The judging ended and Dana poked the dragon on the nose, getting her attention.

”Time to stand and show off your dress. You can keep the chair and stand. We’ve got more.” She whispered.

”Oh, right. Thank you.”

The dragon pressed an item into Dana’s palm, and she tossed it in her inventory to check later. It was better not to haggle prices here, as they weren’t selling anything valuable. Well, not excessively valuable, as the stand was Elven Steel, but not enchanted or elaborately engraved.

”Now, for the category that everyone has been waiting for: the combined voting. Form, function and fashion. Who wears it best? Please cast your votes.” The host declared.

The ladies posed and turned to show off the features of their outfits, giving everyone time to make their final decisions, if they hadn’t already picked their favourite.

That was an easy choice for Karl. It wasn’t like he was going to vote against himself. Well, against Dana, but she would surely hold it against him if he did.

Again, the results were collected, and then a list was handed to the host.

”It looks like we’ve got a clear winner today. In the Practical Function and Practical Fashion categories, as well as the judge scoring for the combined voting, we have Dana of the Darklight host as the winner by majority vote!”

Dana waved at the crowd, and the host handed her a huge bundle of flowers, as well as a small trophy.

Matilda snapped her fingers and a magical painting appeared in the air beside her, nearly as real as a photograph.

”Wonderful showing. Yes, this is a good outcome.” The Supreme Lady decided.

Dana returned to the table with her prizes, and Matilda gave her a crushing hug from behind so that she didn’t squish the flowers.

”Sit, sit. Now, we get to see the interesting part.” She explained.

The announcer cleared his throat. ”Today, we have a run-off for fan choice. Diana of the Budaram Alliance, and Narcissa of the God Crushers have an identical number of fan votes, tying them for the lead in the fan choice award, with Miss Dana having come in a close third.

The ladies will now have the chance to compete to gain the approval of the crowd one final time.”

Matilda’s smile told Karl all he needed to know. This was not about posing on stage.