Chapter 50: Sign up for the magic competition

"Isn't that the famous newborn angel? What was her name again.....?"

It wasn't until now that an angel looked up and noticed me in the sky, recognizing me at first glance. 

"I think it was called Feli... or something like that?" 

Another angel also saw me, but clearly, they weren't as familiar with me as the passerby angel Aria. It took them a long time to try to remember my name.

"My name is Feliciana."

I had no choice but to directly state my name.

"So you're also going to participate in the martial arts competition?"

The eight-winged angel who had banged on the table earlier finally realized who I was and continued asking me.

"No, you've got it wrong! I'm just here to register for the next magic competition." 

I hurriedly clarified upon hearing this.

"Oh, so it's the magic competition..." 

The other party seemed a little disappointed when she heard I was joining the magic competition.

"What's wrong? Is there something inappropriate about it?"

I cautiously asked, afraid of causing any accidental troubles again.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just that the magic competition is quite boring..."

A six-winged angel kindly explained to me, afraid I would misunderstand.

"Precisely because it's not interesting, few angels are willing to participate. Generally, only those top magic users would be interested."

I couldn't help but silently retort - was the martial arts competition really that interesting to watch? I still found it equally boring after watching it yesterday. 

Of course, I certainly wouldn't dare to say this out loud. It was normal for angels living in Edenmere with limited entertainment to have these thoughts. In contrast, humans had a much wider variety of entertainment.

"Well then, I'll be on my way..."

Since I had already obtained the new location for the tournament, I didn't hesitate and immediately flew south.

Although I had never been to the open area south of the city before, I had caught a glimpse of it from afar when passing by the area. It wasn't very far from the city districts either.

To tell the truth, I didn't like going into the forest outside the city. Although the trees looked lush and verdant, extremely tall and thick, and seemed to be growing very well, I always got a feeling that it was too quiet - as if there were no wildlife at all living in this forest. I hadn't even come across a single bird before.

Fortunately, when I arrived at my destination, I let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the current lively atmosphere, which replaced that feeling of silence. 

As expected, the arena from the Triumph Plaza had been moved here. 

Indeed, the light element-filled environment was much more energizing! It made me feel refreshed instantly.

Although the competition was still going on, there were fewer angels around. After all, without the "no sleep order" restricting them now, many angels preferred to go home and sleep rather than stay here watching the tournament.

Like before, the registration spots were still open 24 hours a day. 

I landed in front of the registration for the magic competition. I'm not sure if it was because there was almost no queue for now, or if there were fewer participants to begin with, but only one or two angels were standing there.

"Name?"

Beyond my expectations, it was incredibly fast - before I even had time to feel nervous, the previous registrant had already cleared, and it was my turn directly.

"Ah, um..."

I gawked blankly at the registration official sitting at the table, stuttering as I stated my name again. 

"Fe...Feliciana!"

"Alright, just remember to come back here for the competition at 6 pm tomorrow, it'll be in this open area." 

The registration official jotted down some notes and casually instructed me with just a few words before trying to dismiss me.

"That's it?"

I was stunned for a moment, feeling like something was missing. Shouldn't I be given some kind of receipt?

Compared with the flying competition next door - each participant there would be given a number plate, marking the order of the contestants. So why didn't I get anything on this side?

"Of course that's it! What did you expect...?"

Upon hearing this, the other party glanced up at me, seeming to recognize me.

"Aren't you that legendary newborn angel? To think you'd come to participate in the tournament just one month after being born, how incredible!"

"Uh, it's not as exaggerated as you make it sound..."

I started feeling uneasy again. This kind of flattering speech didn't make me feel good; on the contrary, it only made me more nervous. What I feared most was that the final competition results would disappoint the other party, leading them to ridicule me for overestimating my abilities.

"I'm just here on someone's request... to experience it in passing..."

I racked my brains for various excuses and finally found a more familiar one.

"Right, the main thing is to participate!" 

"If it's just to get some experience, that makes sense..."

The other party contemplated for a moment, seeming to believe my words.

"Indeed, for a newcomer the magic competition is more suitable to participate in. Just earlier, a light elf and a four-winged angel came to register."

"Light elves can participate too?"

I was completely caught off guard by this - I had always assumed this was just a competition between angels, and the participants I had seen were without exception angels.

"Of course, since it clearly states this is the 'Edenmere Tournament', naturally all residents living in Edenmere can participate."

The registration official pointed to the banner in the center of the clearing and explained to me. 

"It's just that the other events have more intense physical confrontations, so some weaker angels or light elves don't dare to participate for fear of getting injured. Aside from this special magic event..." 

"How exactly does the magic competition work?"

I of course knew why it was special - angel bodies are immune to ordinary magic! But how would the competition proceed in that case? I had been quite curious about it all along.

"It's very simple! You're given a target, and you just need to 'destroy' it within a certain time using light magic. The shorter time you take, the higher you rank."

All this information was probably written on the announcement board under the banner, but the registration official patiently gave me a brief explanation, keeping my status as a newborn angel in mind.

"I see!" 

No wonder those angels thought it was boring - even if the stage combat was unsightly, it was still much more interesting than this kind of "target shooting" competition. 

"So you can't hinder or drag down other participants, right?"

To play it safe, I further sought confirmation.

"You can't do that this time."

The other party shook her head and gave a definite answer.

"You could in the previous tournament, because even if you did that it didn't serve any practical purpose. But the rules were modified this time, prohibiting attacks on others. Because there's the possibility of light elves participating now, and they don't have magic immunity like angels do, otherwise it wouldn't be fair."

I thought it was already quite unfair. Logically speaking, light elves were inferior to angels by more than just a level, in terms of both innate physical qualities and magic capabilities. So they really shouldn't have any chance of winning at all. 

Moreover, there was also the flying competition that could directly exclude light elves.

"Since there's no more danger of being attacked, there should be a lot of participants right?"

Recalling what an angel had told me earlier about there being very few participants in this event, I thought they must have been exaggerating. 

"Not that many!"

To my surprise, the registration official's reply completely exceeded my expectations. I saw her glance at the registration list in front of her and say to me:

"Not many who just want to experience it like you... There are less than 10 participants in total so far. When the time comes, everyone will compete together at once, so there's no need for number plates to record anything."

"Uh..."

I looked over at the flying competition's registration spot, where the numbers were already nearing triple digits, while this side had less than 10... Wasn't this difference too far?

"It can't be helped, because it's not actual combat. For competition modes like attacking a fixed target, it's hard to make a comeback. Besides, everyone is very clear about their magic capabilities. Moreover, Edenmere's population is small, to begin with, so naturally, the number of participants is lower." 

The other party shrugged at me reassuringly. 

"But among these participants, there are several eight-winged angels - they are strong contenders for the championship. For you, having this learning opportunity isn't a loss!"

How was it not a loss? It felt like a huge loss! Competing with three eight-winged angels seemed tremendously stressful no matter how I looked at it.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Aetina had told me I could aim for a ranking, but how did it turn into just participating for experience and observation? Even if I wanted to observe, I'd much rather do it from under the stage!

So was I confident or arrogant in the end?

Maybe I should do some last-minute cramming when I get back... I suddenly started missing those few magic books left in my room again. Fortunately, I hadn't returned them to the library yet, perhaps I could still save the situation a little.

"Oh right, I forgot to ask - if you win the competition, are there any prizes? What are the rewards?"

I had already flown up into the sky when I suddenly thought of this question. I hurried back to the registration official to ask.

"Go take a look yourself..." 

The other party lazily pointed at the announcement board in the center of the clearing and said to me:

"Different competitions and rankings have different rewards set up, it's a bit complicated to explain..."

Is that so? As soon as I heard there were prizes, I became excited and dashed towards the center of the open space.

Since there were prizes for each ranking, and there were so few participants total, that meant the chances of winning something were very high, right? 

Maybe there would even be some celestial weapon prizes, and even if I couldn't get first place, a storage ring or something wouldn't be bad either!