Chapter 118

"Inter mage tournament?" Asked Aaron.

"You haven't heard? " Rogan shaked his head in dissapointment.

"You should perhaps get out a little more. I am not saying you should leave your research, but you should keep yourself updated with what's going on. "

" The whole Tulip city is abuzz with the tournament. It offers a nice distraction after the recent happenings. "

Indeed Aaron was too immersed in his work. He should have been more out going. If this tournament was such a big deal, atleast he should have known about it. His mansion was quite Isolated and he rarely ventured out, he even hadn't talked to Rogan for a while. No wonder he hadn't heard anything about it.

"What is the tournament anyways? "

" You have never heard of it? " said Rogan with a surprise.

" No sorry. I have perhaps told you about some issues with my memory. " Aaron went for the age old excuse to cover up his lack of knowledge.

"That must be it. Otherwise every mage in his right mind knows about it. "

" It is the greatest celebration of mages. A display of the skills and prowess of every kind of mages. Oh, how entertaining it is. " Aaron could see a twinkle in Rogan's eyes as he was talking about the tournament. He said everything except for what the tournament was really about. But he waited patiently for it.

" It's a shame you haven't seen it. But then you aren't from a big city. "

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"As the name suggests, it's a tournament amongst the mages. Its a one on one duel between the mages. "

" What really makes it interesting is the fact that it's kind of a competition between the mage association and all the four mage families. Everyone has their own participants entring vying for that top spot. "

" It's more about prestige than anything else. You have to be there to experience how is it like. "

" It is a competition open to the general public. You need to pay of course, but it isn't something that the rich can't afford. Everyone is cheering for one or the other factions. It's so intense. " Aaron could once again see entering that feverish zone. It seemed he really liked the tournament.

Aaron could understand. It was a showcase of ability. Who wouldn't enjoy watching mages fight it out.

Rogan seemed to come out of his daze and continued.

" The competition is a great opportunity if you want to test out your battle skill. But be warned that you probably won't even be selected for the main event. "

" Main event? " he asked puzzled.

" You understand their are thousands of mages participating in this competition? How long will it take if the tournament is carried out in one place? "

It would take long. Very long.

" 100 participants are chosen to fight on the final three days of the competition. That's the main event. "

" Before that their are preliminaries to weed out the participants. Each city selects their own participants. The five central cities represent the head of five zones selecting 20 participants for each zone. "

" You must understand that even the preliminaries have great following with the central cities. "

" I can't even start to explain the intricacies involved with the tournament."

" How different factions send out talented individuals to different cities in different zones so that they each have a chance to be in the top 100. How they hide the skills of people so that others don't strategize to defeat them. There are just so many things. "

It looked like Rogan was a big follower of this tournament. He could feel the same kind of emotions from him as you would feel from a sports enthusiast who follow a sport religiously.

But thinking about it, Aaron realized it might be the best way to test his skills against others. But there was one problem.

" I wouldn't mind participating in it. But wouldn't it be unfair for really old and experienced mages to fight against a new inexperienced mage? There would be no fairness at all. "

" As I said, there is so much you don't know. "

" There are two age groups to participating in the tournament. One if below 20 and another is 20-30. That's it. The old and experienced mages are not allowed to participate. The level of mages is of no concern, because if you are that weak, you would be eliminated in the first round of the preliminaries itself. "

Okay, that made sense. So, he was barely eligible for the under 20 bracket.

"When is the tournament? "

" You are lucky. The registrations are set to end in a week. The age group you will be selected for will be the age at your time of registration. Understand that the whole thing lasts for quite a while. "

" The tournament is organized every four years. Lot of places which are far have already begun their preliminaries."

" The only reason people from the furthest corner are able to participate in this is because all the families and the mage association together organize this. They allow the participants to use all their gates for the fastest movement. It is perhaps the only time everyone works together. "

" So, if I register now, I will be able to participate in the under 20 bracket? Even if I exceed 20 during the actual tournament? "

"Yes. Again it is something every faction tries to do. It is something of an advantage. "

" I see. So when is the 'main event' of the competition?"

"It's in six months time. But the preliminaries would begin soon. You will be allocated dates on which your rounds will be held. "

It was rather a systematic method. Sounded like an Olympic for the mage community of this world.

He hadn't really seen any sport played in this world. If this place had a flying broom, he might have intoduced that magical sport, but it didn't.

All in all, it was a good opportunity to test himself against the upcoming mages of this world. He really lacked the knowledge of the true abilities of a mage. He had heard about the border, read about great mages, but never in person witnessed a magical combat that he wasn't part of. Maybe there would be skills that could be used by him. He would also come to know about what he lacked in facing mages.

He didn't had the hope that he would win the competition, but he was sure he could win a few rounds.

" So, where do I register?"