“A scramble?”
“That’s right.”
The blue-robed mage was Loren, an Average from the Blue Tower. He walked ahead of them as he explained the new rules. He was thorough in his explanation, belying the suspicious impression he had first given off.
“The participants would receive an application form and a token. Your name was Theodore, right? You should’ve received something from the receptionist too.”
“Ah…!”
Theo examined the gold token that the receptionist had given him. It was about the size of a coin and was engraved with his registration number, 132. A string was also threaded through it so that it could be hung around his neck.
Loren nodded. “The participants battle to break their opponent’s crystals. The loser forfeits all their tokens to their opponent, and is ranked according to how many tokens they had possessed before their loss.”
Vince interrupted, “This wasn’t how it used to be.”
Loren sympathized, “Well, there were several things that happened.”
This was all new to Vince, since he had left Manavil seven years ago. Although snippets of news would trickle in from his friends in the capital, he had never heard any gossip about the Pupil Tournament.
Loren noticed Vince’s attention and quickly explained, “Well, there were simply too many participants.”
When the number of participants in the Annual Magic Contest increased each year, the Pupil Tournament also swelled with their disciples. The magicians then began to compete in terms of their disciples, and the prizes offered by Meltor Palace only fanned the flames of their competition.
“As you know, the tournament usually took the form of a round-robin, but the whole thing started to take too long. Traditionally, the Pupil Tournament is supposed to finish before the Annual Magic Contest.”
Vince’s eyes narrowed. “… So, it became a scramble.”
Loren shrugged. “Some call it barbaric, but I don’t think it’s all that bad. After all, the first round pairings in a round-robin were usually a matter of luck anyway.”
This challenge battle format had been decided after a long discussion and offered more advantages than a round-robin. A skilled contender could quickly rise through the ranks by challenging opponents with lots of tokens, and the scramble for tokens would quickly eliminate any incompetent participants. It was obvious that this format was strongly influenced by the laws of the magic tower.
However, Vince didn’t miss the loopholes that Loren had glossed over.
“What happens if a contestant challenges a tired opponent, or hides after accumulating a certain number of tokens?”
“Hoh, good points.” Loren was surprised by Vince’s sharp insight.
Loren had never seen Vince before, so he had assumed Vince had just wandered in from the countryside. He hadn’t even considered that this red-robed magician was a well-known member of the Red Tower. He pointed at the stadium that they were walking toward.
“I’ll explain first. This year’s Pupil Tournament takes place in the multi-stadium, Pentarium. It contains five independent stadiums. The main stadium will be the location of the finals.”
Vince studied the stadium. “Hmm, they look moderately durable.” 𝘦𝘯.𝘰𝘳𝘨
Loren burst out laughing. “Hahaha! Even if both of us went all out, we wouldn’t even scratch the exterior wall of the stadium.”
The stadium needed at least that level of durability to ensure that the audience members would be safe. A 4th Circle magician could easily cast attack magic that changed the landscape around them. Thus, Pentarium’s durability was easily equivalent to that of a city’s gates.
Vince disagreed, but he didn’t bother responding.
Loren looked back at Vince and Theo. “Well, my explanation ends here. I don’t know if it helped you.”
“… It was a lot of help. Thank you.” Vince begrudgingly replied.
Loren had been quite informative. Vince was slightly irritated that he had to discard all the strategies he had come up with for a round-robin. He was also annoyed at Loren’s endlessly cheerful demeanor.
“Haha, don’t mention it. Actually, it’s your turn to help me.” Loren smiled slyly as he gestured to a boy standing nearby. The reason he had brought Theo and Vince to the stadium was actually closely related to the loopholes Vince had just pointed out.
“Gentlemen, this is my disciple and the son of Viscount Gullock, Philip Gullock.”
The boy bowed. “It is nice to meet you.”
Vince remained silent.
Loren coughed awkwardly. “Actually, it was pointed out last year that it took too long for some participants to actually begin challenging opponents, so they added a few rules this year to incentivize everyone.”
Vince was brusque. “Cut to the chase.”
Loren glanced at his disciple. “Ah, for example… It’s against the rules for a participant with one token to deny the challenge of another participant…”
Philip smiled as he applied for a match with Theo. It was now clear that Loren had lured Theodore to become a meal for his disciple, since there was no way to avoid a fight.
Loren chuckled. “Kuhuhu, please don’t think that this is cowardly of us. Don’t magicians from the Red Tower often do the same? You were simply too careless.”
Vince wasn’t as irritated as one would expect. It was easy to guess that Loren had probably just reached the position of Average and was trying to increase his reputation through his disciple.
He clicked his tongue. “So the Blue Tower still uses such petty tricks. Or is it that you want to actually uphold that nasty reputation of theirs?”
Loren spluttered, “W-W-What?”
Vince ignored him and turned to Theo. “What will you do, Theodore? I believe the date of the match is at the discretion of the challenged party.”
Theo had no intention of avoiding the fight. The blue-robed fool’s disciple didn’t seem all that skilled, and above all, Theo wasn’t the type to delay annoying things.
He scratched his head. “Professor, is there anything else scheduled for today?”
Vince cocked an eyebrow. “Uhh… I booked a restaurant for dinner this evening.”
Theodore’s eyes shone. He had only eaten from the academy’s cafeteria for the past few years. It wasn’t bad, but the academy cafeteria’s food couldn’t compare to a restaurant in Manavil.
Theo nodded enthusiastically. “I will finish it as soon as possible.”
That was how Theo’s first battle in the tournament started.
***
Theo didn’t know whether it was because the competition had yet to kick into full swing, but Pentarium immediately scheduled Theo and Philip’s match in one of their four stadiums.
Both of them received a robe with three hanging crystals. The staff member explained to them that each crystal could block spells that were of the 4th Circle or below. However, if all three crystals were shattered, the participant would be declared the loser.
Theo asked the staff member, “Aren’t these quite expensive?”
The staff member replied, “They are disposable, so they aren’t that expensive. I heard they only cost a few gold.”
“A-A few gold…” Theo stuttered in amazement.
Philip sneered. “As expected from a hillbilly. It’s only a few gold, yet you are making such a commotion.”
“I bet you’ve never earned a single gold coin yourself.” Theo retorted.
Philip scoffed, “… It seems like you haven’t been educated properly.”
The atmosphere grew more tense, but the staff person quickly directed the two to either side of the stadium.
Theo and Philip were both nameless competitors, so the only spectators behind the transparent shield were Vince and Loren. The staff person confirmed that they were both prepared and cast the 1st Circle magic, Light, to signal the start of the match.
Peng~!
As the small ball of light appeared between the two magicians, they started to rouse their magic power. Philip, who was proud of his superior magic power, acted first. “Icicle Bolt!”
The ice magic caused the ambient temperature to drop rapidly. Dozens of ice arrows formed in front of Philip, each as strong as iron. As corporeal objects, ice arrows held a different sort of penetrative power than a conventional Fire Bolt or Lightning Bolt.
“Go!”
The blue arrows flew through the air at a speed that was only slightly inferior to that of an arrow loosed by an archer, but they were no less deadly. A wound from an ice arrow would slow down its victim, making it more likely the next blow would land. That was the most deadly aspect of ice magic.
However, Theodore countered the ice arrows easily. “Shock Wave!”
These arrows were different from the volley the hobgoblins had used. Arrows could easily be stopped if they were intercepted, so Theo had modified Shock Wave’s formula to cover a wider area and focus on knocking its targets astray. It worked exactly as intended.
Pew pew pew pew puk!
It didn’t completely kill the arrows’ momentum, but the arrows were deflected in different directions and struck the ground. Confused, Philip hesitated, and Theo took over the initiative.
He snapped his fingers, triggering a formula he had already calculated.
Tss!
A spark suddenly appeared in front of Philip as Theo cast a wordless Ignite. Philip flinched in surprise, and hastily took a step back.
“Ahh!”
His foot landed on a patch of the stone floor that had been bespelled with the Grease spell that Theo had activated with Ignite. Philip’s arms windmilled as he overbalanced. As he fell, he felt a light impact on his neck.
Tch-ack!
The damage from the 2nd Circle attack magic, Wind Cutter, was transferred to one of the crystals hanging from Philip’s robe, causing it to shatter.
As the shards of the crystal bounced off the stage’s floor, Philip stared at Theo in disbelief.
Theo cocked an eyebrow. “What? I’m hungry.”