[You are selected to join the Magus Tournament]
[Number of Participants]
[Elimination round – 1000 acolytes]
[Advanced round – 200 acolytes]
[Final round – 32 acolytes]
[Your 5th ranking of privilege class placed you directly in the Final round]
Of the 6,352 acolytes who still attended the Magus Academy, only the best 1,000 were selected to enter and participate in the illustrious tournament. All of them without exception possessed the cultivation of Rank 9; the best of regular and elite classes.
According to their status, Emery and the other top 10 privileged acolytes did not need to participate in the qualifiers and were placed directly in the final round. As for the other 90 acolytes in the privileged class, they were placed in the advanced round.
This arrangement of course was for the sake of fairness by making sure that no lower-rank acolytes – which arguably weaker – would encounter an unlucky match against the top-rank acolytes.
“This means I won’t be participating for another ten days.” Emery said in front of his friends. They had all gathered to hold a discussion regarding the upcoming tournament.
The next information they saw was the reward from the tournament.
[Top 500 – 100,000 contribution points]
[Top 100 – 300,000 contribution points]
[Top 16 – 500,000 contribution points]
[3rd place – 1,000,000 contribution points]
[2nd place – 2,000,000 contribution points]
[Champion – 3,000,000 contribution points and a Tier 6 artifact]
Apparently, the tournament would also affect the privileged class’ final ranking reward, where those who finished in the top 30 would be awarded with a Divine rank spell of their choosing.
With the shadows of the tournament finally on the near horizon, everyone in the group could see that they were all fired up, determined to show off what they had learnt and prepared painstakingly for this occasion.
Clenching his fist into the air, Thrax loudly shouted. “All five of us need to at least reach the top 16!!” the Thracian spoke such words with so much fervor that it evidently made the others turn dumbfounded.
Klea proceeded to ignore the Thracian’s hot-headed dream and said a much more feasible goal for the group.
p “It would still be a great achievement if we all manage to reach the top 100.” She then turned towards Emery and gave a wink to him while saying, “As for you Emery, your target will be nothing less than the champion seat.”
A giggle broke out from her when she saw the startled look on Emery’s face. Unfortunately for the latter, the words of the only girl in the group were swiftly supported by the other boys.
“You’re probably going to be the first acolyte from the lower realm to win the championship, Emery!” Chumo said with a smile, which Klea didn’t miss to add on.
“It’s not probably. He would really be the first one if he won. I’ve checked it, none from the lower realm ever won the tournament”
Her words caused Emery to turn towards her with an incredulous expression, to which she responded with a cheeky smile. Seeing such an expression on her face, he could only heave a sigh of helplessness.
Emery could see that they all sincerely had high hopes for him winning the tournament, and thus he really wanted to make it happen. Not only for their sake but also for his own.
Even though clutching the champion rank against so many powerful opponents seemed difficult, even impossible, to achieve, the truth was Emery still wanted to attempt it. He would give his all for the endeavor.
However, as he read the rules of the tournament further, he spotted two rules that made him couldn’t help but sigh
[Maximum tier of equipment allowed for use by participants: Tier 5]
[Maximum tier of familiar/pet allowed for participants: Magical Tier]
These two stipulated rules meant that Emery couldn’t use his new dagger as well as his plant creatures in the tournament. Twik was out of the equation and so were the five Chizpur brothers, which of course greatly reduced his combat prowess.
This was something to be expected. After all, it would definitely be unfair if a participant brought a god-tier item or a mythical dragon to a fight.
While Emery was lost in thought, the Sage looked at him and asked, “How confident are you, Emery?”
The question, of course, was whether he really believed he could become a champion. After all, to do so, he had to come on top of the four powerful figures that stood above him in the privileged class.
He needs to be more skillful than Eeshoo Nephilim the Genius, faster than Olivier Arkaland the Sword Saint, more powerful than Maninder Nieves the Monk, and stronger than Zach the Dragon Prince.
Thinking about the four difficult opponents he had to face to reach the goal, Emery heaved a sigh before he said, “To be honest, I am not confident, Senior.” The look on his face clearly showed his doubts.
Hearing that, the Sage seemed to think for a moment before saying, “I don’t know much about your opponents, but if you need guidance on improving yourself, I’m always ready and happy to help.”
Emery nodded his head respectfully saying, “Thank you, Senior”
“I really can’t wait!! Six more days!” shouted Thrax suddenly.
It was apparent that the Thracian couldn’t wait for the tournament to start. Together with Klea and Chumo, the three of them will join the Elimination round. As for Julian, he would be participating in the Advanced round which will be held in eight days.
At this moment, Julian turned to Klea. “We should auction the items soon, we can definitely use the money for the tournament.”
It seemed that Julian was anxious about their current situation and hoped to use the spirit stones to further bolster their chances of winning. With only a few days until the tournament, it was undoubtedly the most effective way to achieve a quick increase in their strength.
Thrax and Chumo agreed with Julian’s proposition as they could certainly buy new spells, a divine one if necessary to add to their repertoire. Since everyone was thinking about going on a spree, just as the group was about to head out, the Sage gave them a piece of advice.
“Be wise in spending your wealth as such fortune is not easy to come by,”
He also reminded them that the tournament was only a friendly match. Instead, the covenant with the Kronos faction and the calamity that would come to Earth in 30 years were the real threats the group needed to prepare for.