Regional Tournament was held to decide the best young Mage among the existing Counties. In actuality however, it was the Capital's way to pick the best 'seeds' to be nurtured there.
There were 84 Baronies, 58 Viscountcies, 32 Counties, 18 Marches, and 6 Duchies in the entire Braxtein Kingdom. It might sound many, but in truth, most of the lower status Nobles gave the authority over their territories to the higher status Nobles.
Therefore, to easily sum it all, Braxtein Kingdom was divided into six parts. Although that being said, the higher status Nobles also had an obligation to ensure the safety of the lower Nobles' territories.
In return, some of the income of the lower status Nobles' territories would be paid to the higher status Nobles. It was counted as paying tribute. With that policy, the political strife among Marquesses and Dukes was intense. It was the reason why most of Magic Academies were built in Counties.
It was to avoid the political strife of the Nobles. Most Mages normally wouldn't care about worldly matters such as political strife. However, the story was different when another powerful Mages were involved in the matter.
Due to how complicated the matter could be, it was better to avoid it at all cost. Surely, those powerful Noble Mages still had a way to pull yet to be powerful Mages to their sides. It was the hidden purpose of the Regional Tournament.
"Next!"
The registration committee shouted to the lining people so they could register themselves. The next person readied himself to step forward, however he was cut by someone.
"Hey! It's my turn. What are you doing?!"
"..."
"This prick! Hey, don't you...!"
The young man who had just shouted for his cut line froze in the middle of his words. His mouth went dry when he looked into the eyes of the one who had cut his line.
"If you think the competition starts when the tournament starts, you are wrong. Life itself is a competition. We compete for everything."
The person who had cut the line turned his back and looked at the registration committee. He paid no mind to the silenced young man whose line he had cut.
"Your name and category, please?"
"Basil Pacifer, Solo."
"Pacifer...?"
The registration committee looked at the bewitchingly handsome young man in front of him. He was quite puzzled at his last name. He had never heard of a Noble House named Pacifer after all. Still, he shrugged his shoulders after that.
Many people become a Noble each day.
With that thought in mind, the registration committee wrote down Basil's name and category on a Runic Board, then captured his picture with a Photograph Talisman.
"You may wait in the waiting room until the tournament starts. Alright, next!"
The committee shouted once again, and the young man whose line Basil had just cut quickly stepped forward. He didn't want the same thing happened to him. His eyes were planted firmly on Basil's back.
Basil didn't even glance behind once. He had no remorse for cutting twenty people's lines who were clearly younger than him in terms of mental age. Like he had just said, life is a competition. There is no need to look for something to step on. As long as there is a ground, you have something to step on.
To reach the peak, one should not feel remorse for stepping over someone. Competition is all about winning. Once you lose, you will lose for the second time and so on. To succeed, one has to be always a winner!
Upon entering the waiting room, Basil was assaulted by the Mana Pressure belonging to the people inside. He wasn't surprised, nor did he falter in his step.
'At least, these kids know how to compete.'
Basil smirked faintly as he looked at the surrounding people. While most of them were surprised at Basil's lack of reaction, some of them had their eyes glinted incomprehensibly. A glance was all he needed to know how many talented people in the room.
From the 96 participating academies representing 32 Counties, and over 640 participants, Basil had only found 12 people that could catch his eyes. Surely, the people in the room weren't everyone yet. Therefore, there would still be another people that could potentially catch his eyes.
Moving his feet toward the best spot, in the corner, he sat himself on a bench and stared at the vast arena ahead of him. Nostalgia washed over him. In his past life, he wouldn't have come here until three years later.
Being able to participate in the Regional Tournament after only eight months since returning showed how many things he had changed. Sighing lightly to himself, he was reminded with the change he might have caused to the future.
There would come a time where his future knowledge would be useless due to the change he had caused. Still, it didn't matter. It would be just another challenge he had to accomplish. There was no need to stress over it.
"Yo, Brother! May I sit beside you?"
"Hm?"
Basil quirked one of his eyebrows lightly when a voice interrupted his nostalgia. He turned his head to the side to look at who the voice belonged to. He was met with a short black haired young man with an androgynous face.
A feeling of camaraderie was instantly budding in his heart. With that considerably beautiful slanted eyes of his, Basil could somehow guess how much he had been bothered by the people from both genders.
Without saying anything, Basil nodded his head. The stranger's eyes lit up and sat himself beside Basil. He hummed a cheery tone while looking at the same direction as Basil, the vast arena.
"You are like me, Brother."
Suddenly, the stranger said offhandedly. Basil quirked an eyebrow at that, and merely nodded his head with a hum.
"Hm."
"Right! You must have been bothered a lot due to how handsome you are."
"Hm."
"Oh! How about an introduction?"
This time, Basil turned his head at the stranger. He could see the stranger's eyes lit up like a girl. It weirdly suited him. Sighing lightly to himself, Basil nodded his head faintly.
"Very well."
"Oh! Then, I am going first! My name is Wei Xiu Li, nice to meet you!"
|I am Basil Pacifer, nice to meet you too.|
Xiu Li was surprised at Basil's introduction. After all, Basil hadn't introduced himself with a Western dialect. Basil had introduced himself in Hua dialect, his dialect!
|Wow! You speak Hua dialect?!|
|I do.|
"Sugoi!"
This time, Basil looked at Xiu Li rather strangely. He had just spoken in Eastern dialect after all.
"I did not know people of Hua speak Eastern dialect too."
"We do! All of us are from the East. Therefore, we also speak in Eastern dialect to understand each other better."
"I see. I have just figured it out now, pardon me."
"Haha! No stretch, Brother! It is normal to think that way as the East is mostly governed by the people of Hon. Therefore, most of the people think Hon dialect is the Eastern dialect."
"So, do you mean there is also another dialects in the East other than Hua dialect and Hon dialect?"
"Exactly!"
Basil nodded his head in appreciation. He didn't go to the East until his late thirties in his past life. At that time, the situation in the East had been everything but peace. Obelisk outbreaks, economy crisis, tyranny, and civil wars filled the East.
The once united countries of East, had separated themselves. It had been to the point where everyone hated each others. Therefore, Basil didn't know that people of Hua also spoke Hon dialect.
After all, in the past, any people of Hua who spoke Hon dialect would be executed by the government.
"Why did you come to the West if I may know?"
"I am an exchanged student from the country of Hua!"
Again, Basil was slightly surprised. "I didn't know the country of Hua trained Mages." Xiu Li once again exclaimed in enthusiasm, "We do, Brother. I am the first Mage of the country of Hua!"
Basil smiled faintly. Xiu Li must be a prodigy in Magic Principal, but really bad at Daoism. People like him who were bad at Daoism couldn't really prosper in the East. Sad but true, Xiu Li must have been not well accepted in the East.
'Huuh... He is just like me.'
Basil formed a bitter smile inwardly. He had never believed in fate even once. However this time, he was met with a coincidence that was close to a fated encounter. Shaking his head to clear the absurd thought, he opened his mouth.
|How old are you, Xiu Li?|
|Oh! I will be 16 in 3 months.|
Basil had already known Xiu Li's age by judging from his posture and bone density. However, he had still asked to see how much trust Xiu Li had toward him. Just as he had expected, Xiu Li had entirely trusted him.
'Naive.'
Basil was sure Xiu Li didn't even know he was banished from his country rather than being an exchange student. There was no Mage learning Daoism in the East and vice versa.
|You are quite young. How many Magic Circles do you have?|
|I have three! One of them is—|
"Hah! Look at this Easterner speaking like an alien in front of us!"
Xiu Li recoiled in surprise due to the unexpected interruption. He turned his head away from Basil and looked at the owner of the voice. He was met with a blond haired young man looking at him condescendingly.
"Oh, I am sorry if I have bothered you, Brother." Xiu Li bowed his head toward the blonde and apologized sincerely. Then, he raised his head and said, "It won't happen next time, I assure you!"
"Quit yapping! Just return to your homeland if you want to speak that alien language."
"Brother, it is called Hua dialect not—"
"This pretty boy dared to talk back to me?! Insolent!"
The blonde lost his patient. Xiu Li's cheerful but polite tone seemed to irritate him. Without thinking much, he swung his fist at the flabbergasted Xiu Li.
Bam!
Xiu Li had closed his eyes as he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything but take the hit. He would be deported if he were to fight back. He didn't want that to happen! He was expecting the pain to come, however it didn't.
Surprised, Xiu Li opened his eyes.
"You... What are you.. doing?!"
He was met with the scene of Basil holding the blonde's fist with his index finger. Xiu Li's eyes lit up in awe at the display. He couldn't stop his mouth from gaping. He felt like he was looking at his Senior Brother.
Basil didn't use any Mana but still able to block that fist after all. Just like his Senior Brother!
"If you want to speak like a Westerner, you should go back to Exonet."
It was the only response Basil gave to the blonde who was gritting his teeth. The blonde had wisely stayed silent as he knew what Basil meant. Exonet was the region where Exon dialect that was used by Westerner came from.
Anyone who had learned history would know about it. However, Basil didn't merely spew fact at the blonde. It was also a jab as everyone knew Exonet was no longer habitable due to the monsters fluctuating the region.
"You! Aren't you a Westerner?!"
"Who knows? I might change my nationality after this as I am disgusted to have the same nationality with a brain dead person like you."
"This...!"
The blonde who had retracted his hand couldn't take it anymore as he tried to swing his fist at Basil. The keyword is tried. He didn't manage to do that as Basil swiftly stood from his seat and lifted the blonde by grasping his throat.
"Brother Basil, violence is not good!"
Basil merely gave Xiu Li and the surrounding people a brief glance. Except Xiu Li, the others were ready to go for his throat. Basil merely smirked at that.
[Ding-dong!]
[Attention: Registration is complete!]
Suddenly, a transmission of a woman's voice was reverberated through the whole waiting room. The people's attention went from Basil to the voice. All of them hadn't expected that to happen.
[The Selection Stage will be started soon. Please do mind the rules before you start.]
[Rule number one: to pass the Selection Stage, the participants have to at least take down another five participants.]
[Rule number two: the amount of participant tags will be regarded as the count of the people the participants have taken down.]
[Rule number three: any ways are allowed to take another participant tags, you can also forfeit your participant tag willingly.]
[Rule number four: the committee will not be responsible for any deaths occur in the process.]
Silence descended upon the room. They looked at each other's face. The rules they had just heard was enough to make them assume an absurd expression. They had thought they could fight in the arena with another participants directly.
It seemed they were wrong. They had to be qualified to be able to fight in the arena. With determination, they readied themselves to go for each other's participant tags.
"Agghhh! Kuhuk... Let me.. go. You pri—"
Crack!
A sound of someone's neck breaking could be heard throughout the room. All of them whipped their heads at Basil instantly. Cold water washed over them as reality was presented before them.
—The committee will not be responsible for any deaths occur in the process.
Basil smirked, and the others shivered.
Let the carnage begin!