An extra long chapter this time, enjoy.

 

Thank you for the new followers, seeing more people enjoy my fantasy makes me more motivated to improve and write better.

 

Chapter 15 Tournament begins

 

The night before the tournament

 

In the far corner of the gym

 

“The movement and control of your own body got better, but that is about it. Without that body of yours, you would have lost to even just one of those three without much effort on their part.” Kim was in front of Jace in the gym, lecturing him on what he was lacking as a fighter. Jace held the still-unconscious Beth in his arms without letting go. “Put her down, we must spar. You are already awake Beth, don't get in the way of practice!”

 

Beth slowly opened her eyes and gave Kim a pouty look before getting off Jace and going to hug Ruin.

 

“I like the normal Kim……..” Beth sulk.

 

“Beth, do you think he can win the tournament as he is?” Kim asked her while stretching her body.

 

“In my estimation, he could get close to fifth place with a lot of struggling, but the top five are beyond him at the moment” Beth went into her analysis mode. “The top five of the ranking are mages and martial practitioners who have roamed the world for a long time. The only reason they have not reached the level of a master is because they were unlucky. Becoming a master requires a lucky encounter or an epiphany, they simply have not encountered such things yet. The only exceptions are rank 1, Senior Moonlight, and rank 7, senior Golden Sun.”

 

“Aren't you the fourth rank?” Cade said something that everyone ignored.

 

“What is up with those two?” Jace was stretching his body as well.

 

“Senior Golden Sun is our direct upperclassmen. Meaning that she came from our academy. She is only a junior in terms of seniority. Extremely talented and powerful, she created her original spell in her freshman year. You also did the same thing huh?” Cade walked into the gym with a bunch of food and drinks in his embrace.

 

“As for Senior Moonlight, you must have known about her as well, after all you are half eastern.” Kim put on protective gear made from Ruin’s scale shedding, without these things even she might die from sparring with Jace. “She is the Crown Princess of the Celestial Empire, the most noble bloodline. She only uses the original magic that she has created herself. Her magic stats are comparable to Miss Harlet's. She doesn't belong to any schools or sects. She was such a genius that she taught herself everything she knows.”

 

“She is being guarded by a famous warrior as well. Even you have heard of him, right? A warrior simply known as Sky.” Cade laughs and points at Jace. “I am sorry. You are my friend and you are quite a genius yourself, but there is no way in hell you are beating Sir Sky.”

 

“Even if he can't hurt your body. There are many ways to beat someone without hurting their physical body. Remember that! I am coming!” Kim finished getting ready and charged at Jace.

 

Jace got used to her fighting style to a certain extent. He has never gotten hurt by any attacks since he got this body, yet he has lost every sparring match against Kim.

 

She rushes in as usual. Jace tries to use his speed to his advantage and punches her then jumps away, hit and run tactics. That was his plan, but Kim did not even pay attention to his punches and spun her body away from his fists. Her elbow came down on his chin. Jace felt the world spin. Her attack did not do any damage to his body, but her martial arts sent mana into the opponent’s body to damage them internally. The strike to his chin shook his brain enough that his legs gave out under him.

 

“Relying on your speed is a good idea. However, you can't just plan on what to do and then focus on doing that. In a fight, you have to adjust to your opponents, watch your opponent, and know your opponents before thinking about doing something.” Kim watches Jace falling to his knees. Her small frame looks like a mountain to Jace at this moment.

 

“Her martial arts are so odd. She doesn't use any strength from her own body and she doesn't even use much mana.” Cade was intrigued by Kim's martial arts.

 

“Every time her body makes contact with the opponent’s body, I can sense mana use. Her martial arts is the inverse of a Warrior’s. Warriors coat their weapons or body with mana for offense and defense. Kim only uses mana on the opponent’s body itself, sending the mana inside like a virus. I don't know if it can be described as sophisticated or cruel.” Beth ate fruits with Ruin while ranting to Cade

 

“By the way, Kim is surprisingly powerful? Why isn't she in the ranking?” Cade said while watching Jace getting knocked down again. This time Jace tried to dodge Kim’s attack like he had seen Kim done to him before, but it resulted in him getting kicked in the temple.

 

“I am not sure how the ranking was decided. Some of the rankings make sense like Senior Moonlight, but some of the rankings seem nonsensical, like my own ranking. Or yours for that matter” Beth said while poking Ruin in the head. He didn't seem to mind and kept eating.

 

“Well, I am pretty strong, but I doubt I could beat Jace, and that guy is only 16th. I am not quite sure what is happening” Cade thought there might be some politics behind this.

 

—--------------------------

 

The next morning.

 

Confetti flew across the entire academy, food stands and various shops appeared overnight. Thousands of common folks are still coming into the academy, people are wearing masks of the participants and various factions took this opportunity to recruit. Students are being openly poached by other schools, each sect is competing with each other. It was a chaotic morning.

 

Hundreds if not thousands of eastern citizens are wearing the mask of someone so beautiful that only elves could compete with her. Perhaps the most famous person in the world of magic and the common world, Princess Moonlight.

 

Standing in front of a grilled mushroom food cart, an eye-catching lady wearing the finest mana silk robe and a red hood that covers her face. Next to her stood a man wearing silver armor and Cade’s mask. His silver spear stood out amongst the crowds.

 

“That's Lady Moonlight and Sir Sky, right? Are they pretending to be someone else?” A group of students walk by them, whispering.

 

“Let's just play along if that's what they want.” Another student replied.

 

“......lady, I don't think these disguises are effective.” A handsome eastern middle-aged man with gray hair said to the lady in red.

 

“Quiet uncle! you will ruin my fun. Look at these primitive foods! Meat on a stick over charcoal, how exotic!” Lady Moonlight excitedly bought all the food available in every cart she saw.

 

“Shouldn't we do some reconnaissance on your competitors? The Flowing Sword, Golden Sun, Wind Blade. Many famous names are here this time.” Sir Sky said while taking the grilled rabbit from the princess.

 

“Blossom Swordsmen are low quality aside from the Saint. I can just make another spell to counter Golden Sun. Wind Blade is a little dangerous since I won't have a frontline to protect me, but I can make a spell for that as well.” The princess happily ate many different foods. “The only one that is dangerous is Peerless, but her specialty is in strategy, not combat. Master-level competitors are not allowed, so I don't have any real competitor here”

 

“That little girl is so talented that the arrogant princess would give such praise?” Sir Sky’s mouth is filled with food.

 

“Watch your mouth, Sir Sky! It is not arrogance if it is true.” The Princess took all the food away from Sir Sky. “People's attention was drawn by the dazzling display of that brute, but Peerless was the one that controlled the situation when the fight started and the more powerful mages left to make their path. She was the reason the mage academies' common students did not get wiped out from the beginning,” she said with a serious face while munching away on a grilled mushroom.

 

—---------------------

 

Gym

 

The interior of the gym is a pocket dimension with almost endless space. The most convenient location for hosting this massive event, and one of the reasons that this event can happen at all. Mana is contained inside this place and since it is the lair of a dragon for many months even if the amount of mana were to increase exponentially during the matches, no monsters would willingly attack a dragon’s lair.

 

Thousands of spectators are sitting in the stands floating in the air. Sir Runic had inscribed space isolation runes all around the area to separate the stands from the gym itself, ensuring the safety of the people.

 

“What amazingly extravagant protection details. Miss Harlet is too kind.” Sir Runic looks at the runes growing in front of him. “These runes need to be fed with a constant supply of mana or it will shut down. Please have at least 50 mages connected to this rune at all times, that will ensure constant supply and won't be too draining on the mages”

 

Miss Wanders is still in the circle of dwarfs and magic researchers. The group is heatedly debating something.

 

A giant screen appears on top of Miss Harlet standing in the middle of the gym.

 

“Hello World! I am the most beautiful witch, Harlet! More than one billion people are connected to this broadcast right now! Wow! Let's get to the fun stuff quickly! Here is the host for the entire tournament, the most popular mana net caster, Foxy Three!” Miss Harlet jumped in the air and disappeared into the fog. Three suggestively dressed women walk on stage and start dancing and waving to the audience. Fancy and beautiful magics are shot into the air, exploding in artistic ways. The common folks seem excited and dance along with the girls. After the performances are done, the girls quickly introduce the first round of the tournament.

 

“Hello to the world! We will announce the rules for the first round of the tournament!” One of the girls said

 

“In the first round, each of the top 20 Rankers will be placed in separate groups and each group will have 50 random participants. The one that survives until the end will pass on to the next round!” Another girl said

 

“Only one participant can pass from each group so good luck to everyone! Each group will be teleported to the arena shortly, starting with rank 20.” The last girl said before all three of them ran off the stage.

 

A giant timer appears in the air

 

The next Round starts in:

5:00

 

—---------------------------

 

On the ground level of the gym, Jace and the other participants are warming up, putting on their armor, cleaning or sharpening their weapons, and some mages putting enchantments or buffs on themselves. The atmosphere is tense. Jace said good luck to Cade and Kim, they are most likely all going to a separate arena. Beth places her hands on his arms, getting his attention.

 

“Hey, grumpy. Don't get hurt, and good luck” Jace caresses her hair. Beth closes her eyes and felt his touch.

 

“This round puts the Rankers against 49 opponents, be careful” Beth rests her head in his arms for a few seconds then walks away.

 

“Both of you should just die…..” the people around them whisper in frustration and annoyance.

 

—--------------------------

 

The first arena is Princess Moonlight’s stage. This group ended extremely quickly. No one could put up a fight against her. As soon as the combat began, the princess flew into the air, and pointed her finger at the arena below, everyone in the arena was pressed into the ground. If she had pressed them with her mana even just a little, 49 people would have become pressed meat paste.

 

Group 1 ended after 8 seconds.

 

The audience did not seem shocked by this result, after all, Princess Moonlight is a famously powerful mage.

 

“Wow, people in group 1 have awful luck,” one of Foxy Three said

 

“No, no, if any of them had the ability, they could have resisted. This was just weeding out the weak” another Foxy said

 

Groups 2 and 3 finish quickly in a similar fashion, but not nearly as domineering as group 1.

 

—-------------------

 

Group 4

 

Many people are extremely interested in this particular group, and Beth’s talents as a strategist have already become quite famous. However, contrary to the people’s high expectations, Beth fought like a very typical mage and when she ran out of mana, she surrendered quickly.

 

“Oh, that was a bit unexpected. I guess she focuses on using her brain more than actual combat. Would you like to say a few words, Miss Harlet?” Foxy Three was busy casting the competition when Miss Harlet suddenly showed up.

 

“A big reason why Miss Beth ranked as highly as she did is because of her decision-making skills and intellect. The decision to retreat when the situation did not favor her is a smart choice. She is so smart like me when I was younger, but it's a shame she is not as beautiful” Miss Harlet was saying whatever she wanted.

 

—-------------------

 

Group 8

 

Cade was being chased by around 30 people. He has wounds all over his body, the 30 people chasing him were running out of mana. Cade’s hands were glowing green, he was healing himself as he ran.

 

“You bastard want to win it like this? Have you no honor? Who raised you? Were you raised by monkeys? You are just jealous of my beautiful face!” Cade threw random insults at the people chasing him.

 

“Someone shut his mouth!” The 30 people expand more of their stamina and mana to try to eliminate him quickly, but no matter how many injuries he suffers, Cade runs away and heals himself.

 

“Hey! You bastard! How much mana do you even have?” After a few minutes of chasing him. The 30 people were slowly getting picked off by Cade's occasional magic missiles that were precisely aimed at vital points on the body.

 

“Grouping up was a good idea to deal with a more powerful opponent. But if the skill difference is this much, it would have been better if you guys exploded all your mana into one single attack. At least that way, it might have been a mutual destruction.” Cade still can't stop talking even when he wins.

 

There was a deep slash on his face, his jaw bones were showing, and one of his arms was cut so deep that it was about to fall off, but Cade kept healing himself.

 

“Fuck! This fucking hurts! That bastard made it look like a normal Sunday jog. Insane bastard” Cade ranted about someone while shooting down the last opponent in the arena.

 

The audience watching this scene was scared, it was the most bloody group so far.

 

“That guy should be called Zombie.” A Foxy three said.

 

—-------------------

 

Group 10

 

Yulin immediately found a few people that she knew and formed a group to fight against the other 43 people. They fought valiantly and eliminated many competitors, but in the end, only Yulin and 10 opponents were left.

 

“I guess I should do my best this time,” Yulin said before disappearing from the spot.

 

She appears behind one person and punches him in the back of his neck. The person was immediately teleported out. She kept suddenly disappearing and appearing to attack over and over until everyone else was eliminated. Yulin was breathing heavily and showed signs of mana overload.

 

“Using Breeze so many times in succession was too much for me huh…” Yulin fell as well.

 

In group 10, everyone was eliminated.

 

“You did good, Yu.” Sir Windshear watched from the stand. He felt proud of his students.

 

—-------------------

 

Group 16

 

Jace opened his eyes and he saw the other 49 participants staring at him. He was already surrounded the moment he teleported in. Jace looked around at the 49 people, no face he recognized, a few hooded figures.

 

“Damn, is this even going to be good enough as training?” Jace said it out loud to provoke a response, but surprisingly, no one took the bait.

 

“These guys are too organized to be some random group of people that banded together. What is going on?” Jace wasn't quite sure what was happening. Aside from the ranker, each group’s participants are supposed to be randomized. How could an organized group appear here?

 

“No need for words, attack him together,” one warrior said. He lifts a great hammer above his shoulder, the mana concentrated at the head of that hammer is enormous. He charges in with about 10 other participants, the great hammer coming down directly on Jace's head. Jace grabs the hammer directly with his right hand. The mana was sucked into his body, and the destructive power of the hammer was reduced to only a normal hammer swing. Jace crushed the hammer with his hand and kicked at the warrior. The Warrior's armor shattered as he flew away. The other 10 people launched various attacks at him during this time. Aura Masters flying swords flew at him, breaking upon his skin and falling to the ground. A mage flew into the sky, throwing lances made from fire that had been condensed and compressed for penetration power. The lances shattered upon contact with his skin. Another Warrior swung a great Axe with the Warrior’s classic move, concentrating a vast amount of mana on the blade. Jace could not protect himself from everything, he couldn't react to all 10 attacks aiming at him at once.

 

Jace was sent flying away for the first time since he got this body. The destructive power of the Warrior. Jace realized his body could not endlessly absorb energy, if his mana vessel was full, he could not absorb more. He needs to expend his mana to free up his mana vessels.

 

Jace grabs the broken shards of the first Warrior’s Hammer scattered around the arena while keeping distance from the other competitors with his speed. He began to condense and compress the shards.

 

“Fuck! Stop him now! Don't let him use it!” The other competitors saw what he was doing and went into a panic.

 

Jace's speed was so fast that even Magic Missiles were unable to hit him. He ran to the edge of the arena and stopped. His proudest achievement and his first step into the magic world. The spell that gave him hope and his first-ever creation. Jace condensed several Hammer shards loosely in his palm, and put the loose ball of metal between his fingers. He wasn't sure what made him do it, but he thought it was the correct thing to say at this moment.

 

“Railgun” Jace said for the world to hear.