Start Of The Tournament

"I can't believe they're making it into such a large event."

"I know, right? It's just the third years who are having a tournament."

"Who knows, maybe they want to use this opportunity to showcase their improvements or something?"

Two mages discussed as they took in the sight before them.

At the entrance of the First Dawn Academy, there were more than the average number of protector mages posted. Apart from that, there was a large influx of visitors to the academy, which was something that has never happened before.

The reason for this was none other than the tournament scheduled to begin today between the third years of the First Dawn Academy and the Second Dawn Academy.

After the event that had taken place in the Manchurian forest, which led to the First Dawn Academy having to make a ton of compensation to the various affected families, the treasury of the academy had gone low. Whether it be paying salaries, or purchasing resources like materials, herbs, and so on, all required gold to achieve, but the academy was precisely low on that. Hence, the reason why they made this tournament open to the public at a price.

The tickets were divided into two, the single-day ticket and the full experience ticket; where the former was the cheapest at 1 silver coin, and allowed one to attend only one tournament day.

As for the latter, it allowed one to participate in all the events, every day of the tournament. The cost varied depending on the grade of the ticket, with the lowest grade being worth 5 silver coins and the highest, VVIP, being worth 5 gold coins.

There was also a special grade of the ticket, the Reserved tickets, which was only offered on an invitation basis. Only the five top dukes of the kingdom and the king were offered these.

With these arrangements by the academy, they were expected to make a whopping sum as many of the citizens found battles between mages entertaining. What's more, the participants were of nobility and third years of the best academy in the kingdom. Not only could they witness impressive fights but they could also gauge the strength and potential of the future generation.

Finally, they could take in the atmosphere at the First Dawn Academy and even participate in an excursion. In regular times, entering the academy was impossible unless you were a student, but the tournament was now an exception; the first at that.

"The dog thinks differently from the past directors." Ol' Fang commented as he rode into the academy in a carriage.

"Uncle Fang, please watch your tone. You could harm the young master's name." Isabella pouted.

"Me? Haq! I'm pretty sure that kid has made a name for himself all this while." Ol' Fang countered.

Since this was an important event in Asher's life, Ol' Fang wouldn't miss it for the world. Although he was already confident Asher would pass, having an opportunity to see Darius' son in action was something he wouldn't want to miss. Apart from that, he also had to stand in for Darius.

'Who would have guessed that the situation at the border would become more heated? Luckily, the king sent in reinforcements otherwise Darius and Co would have been caught by surprise and put in a tough spot. Did he see this coming or was it mere coincidence?' Ol' Fang sighed.

From the news they got from the border, the enemy had increased their forces as well as the intensity of their assaults. It was to the point that two seventh-stage Guardian mages had joined the battle, forcing Elijah and Lucius to enter the fray.

Being an eighth-stage mage, it was easy for Elijah to make sure that things didn't get out of hand while suppressing his opponent. However, the fact that the Kingdom of Terra was now utilizing third-phase mages (7-9th stage) meant that they were preparing to turn this into an all-out war. With such prospects looking more feasible, it was important for Darius to be close to the battlefield at every moment, to handle any changes.

'Dear Darius, is all of this worth it? Is it really worth it to fight for a kingdom that has made you lose a lot?' Ol' Fang sighed.

Just as Ol' Fang made his way into the academy, various other parties and families were similarly entering the academy and heading towards the arena. Even the citizens from the neighbouring provinces had decided to attend the event, especially the noble families from the surrounding regions. This was destined to be the biggest event of the year for the two academies since the fourth-year division's tournament event was scheduled to hold the next year.

. . .

At the centre of the arena, a stage has been erected atop which

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, mages and mortals, nobles and the common folk, to the pristine event of my academy."

The dean in charge of public relations, Fogre, addressed the public.

Just like Zero, Fogre was a dean who was in charge of an arm of the academy and not a division like Alfos. When it came to matters regarding public relations and events, Fogre was the go-to mage. Even the negotiations with the families affected by the mysterious organization were handled by him.

"Before we begin the event, I'd like to invite a special guest to present the opening speech. Please welcome, the eminent king of the magnificent Great Dawn kingdom, his Royal Highness, King Fedor Castellan."

An intense round of applause sounded out as the king walked from behind up to the podium.

"Greetings, my people. Today, we are here to witness the development and growth of our little ones; the future generation. The participants today will all be pillars of the kingdom and help lead it to greatness. For that reason, I would like to say to you all,"

Fedor, with a benign smile on his face, glanced at the roughly nine hundred students standing by a corner of the arena.

"Do your best, but don't let the results destroy your confidence. This is merely a show of your current strength and your potential is far from extinguished. You're all future pillars of this kingdom and it would please this king if you don't push yourselves at the cost of your life. Nonetheless, don't give up so easily, and strive for your best. That will be all."

Clap. Clap.

After Fedor concluded his speech, the public was moved and they gave a round of applause without any signal. Even the students -nobles or commoners- were touched by the words of the king, after all, he recognized them as the future of the kingdom and cared for them.

"Long live the king!"

No one knew who yelled the sentence out first but everyone joined right away.

"Long live the king!"

"Long live the king!"

Witnessing the scene, Asher's face was calm, but internally, he couldn't help but be surprised.

This was the first time Asher had witnessed Fedor make an appearance in public, with both commoners and nobles present, and he had to admit that Fedor wasn't a tyrant with just brawn.

'This will be such a headache for my future campaign.' Asher thought, but he quickly erased it.

The future was the future, whereas the present was what Asher had to focus on now.

'I wonder which position should I take at the end of all this?'