The Book Eating Magician Chapter 28:

Mana-vil Capital #3

“A scramble?”

“That’s right . ”

Loren, an Average from the Blue Tower, walked ahead of them while speaking .

His explanation was quite detailed, unlike the suspicious expression he had shown at their first meeting . Theodore, who knew nothing about the Pupil Tournament, was able to understand it easily .

“The participants received an application and, at the same time, one of the token payments . Now, you are called Theodore, right? You should’ve received something from the reception desk earlier . ”

“Ah…!”

Theo pulled out the item .

It was a gold medal which looked like a coin, but it was attached to a string, so it could be hung around the neck . The number 132 was engraved on it, indicating his registration number .

Loren confirmed it and nodded . “Yes, the participants demonstrate their superiority by leaving this token intact . The loser will be deprived of all the tokens he has, and the number of tokens last owned will become the official record . ”

Vince said, “This method wasn’t used in the past . ”

“Well, there were several things that happened . ”

It was a strange story for Vince, who had left Mana-vil seven years ago . Although he had heard news periodically from his friends in the capital, Vince never heard anything about the Pupil Competition .

Loren noticed Vince’s attention and quickly opened his mouth, “The root cause is that there are too many participants . ”

That’s right . As the number of participants who joined the magic contest increased, problems occurred .  The rise in the number of incoming magicians meant the number of disciples brought with them also increased .

For high ranking magicians, a direct duel was burdensome, so the fight spread unconsciously to the Pupil Tournament . In addition, the goods set as prizes from the Meltor Palace fanned the flames .

“As you know, the competition was originally a round-robin tournament, but that start is too late . The Pupil Competition must be finished before the magic contest starts . ”

“…So, it became a scramble . ”

“There are some who say it is barbaric, but I don’t think it is a bad change . You can challenge an opponent and lose in the first round because you have no luck . ”

His words weren’t wrong .  This competition format had been decided at the end of a rational discussion . Compared to a round-robin, there were advantages and almost no disadvantages .

A competent participant could quickly rise in the rankings by knocking out participants with a large number of tokens, while incompetent participants would fall first . Obviously, this dog-eat-dog type of competition was recommended because it was faithful to the laws of the magic towers .

However, Vince didn’t miss the loopholes in rules of this competition format .

“What happens if a person aims for a tired opponent, or a participant gains a moderate number of tokens and then avoids having another fight? Is there a means of urging the participants?”

“Hoh, good points . ” Loren slightly admired the magician from the Red Tower .

He had never seen Vince’s face before, so he had thought Vince was just someone from the countryside . Never would he have imagined that the other person would be famous in the Red Tower .  However, it was too late . With a scoff of derision, he pointed to the stadium at which they had arrived .

“I’ll explain first . This year’s Pupil Tournament takes place in the multi-stadium, Pentarium . It consists of five independent stadiums, with the main space open only in the finals . ”

“Hmm, they look moderately durable . ”

“Hahaha! Even if both of us used all our power, we wouldn’t be able to scratch the outside wall of the stadium . ”

Without such durability, the lives of the audience members would be in danger .  A 4th Circle magician had strong attack spells which affected a wide area . Like Loren said, the solidarity of Pentarium could be compared to the gates of a large city .

Of course, Vince didn’t agree with the words .

Loren spoke up to there and looked back at Vince and Theo . “Well, my explanation ends here . I don’t know if it helped you . ”

“…It was a lot of help . Thank you . ”

The explanation that Loren gave was truly informative . Vince had to discard all the strategies he had planned for a round robin .  One disagreeable point was the reason why Loren was being so friendly .

As expected, the question was resolved in an unexpected way .

“Huhu, that isn’t necessary . From now on, it will be your turn to help me . ” Loren smiled, giving off a sly feeling .  He gestured to a boy standing nearby, revealing the reason why he had brought Theo this far . It was closely related to the loopholes Vince had pointed out a little while ago .

“Say hello . This is my disciple and the son of Viscount Gullock, Philip Gullock . ”

“It is nice to meet you . ”

However, Vince remained silent .

Loren was uncomfortable by the reaction and said a beat late, “Hmm, cough . It was pointed out last year, but some participants were slow to fight . So, this year, there are a few rules to speed things up . ”

“Too verbose . Can you cut to the chase?”

“Yes, for example… can a person with only one token deny the challenge of another participant?” Loren asked his disciple Philip, who smiled and applied for a match with Theo .

If this rule was true, then there was no way to avoid a fight . Loren had brought Theodore as a meal for his disciple . It was a cowardly trick taking advantage of the rules .

“Kuhuhu, don’t think that this is cowardly . Don’t magicians from the Red Tower often do this? It is your fault for overlooking the mistake . ”

However, instead of getting frustrated, Vince just clicked his tongue . Loren, who didn’t understand how to be vigilant, had probably just reached the Average status .  Thus, he was trying to increase his career through his disciple .

“The Blue Tower is still using such petty tricks . Are you acting like this despite knowing that reputation?”

“W-W-What?”

“What will you do, Theodore? I think the date of the match can be decided by the person who was challenged,” Vince asked Theo, blatantly ignoring Loren .

Theo had no intention of avoiding this fight . The fool’s disciple didn’t seem that great, and above all, his personality wasn’t the type to delay annoying things .  Rather, Theodore asked Vince, “Professor, is there anything else scheduled for today?”

“Uhh… I booked a restaurant for dinner this evening . ”

Theodore’s eyes shone as he heard the words .  In recent years, he had been filling his stomach in the academy’s cafeteria . Bergen Academy’s meals weren’t bad, but they couldn’t be compared to a restaurant in Mana-vil .

Theo felt motivated and nodded enthusiastically . “I will finish it as soon as possible . ”

His first fight in the tournament occurred like this .

 

*     *     *

Was it because the competition had yet to really start?

Pentarium, which had four stadiums, immediately started Theo and Philip’s match .

The two people each received a robe with three hanging crystals from the host . According to the host’s explanation, these crystals would be able to block spells belonging to the 4th Circle and below .

It was the same as the participant’s health . Once all three crystals were destroyed, the participant was defeated .

Theo asked the host, “Aren’t these quite expensive artifacts?”

“They are disposable, so they aren’t that expensive . I heard they are a few gold . ”

“A-A few gold…” Theo stuttered in amazement .

Philip sneered . “As expected from a hillbilly . It is only a few gold, yet you are making such a commotion . ”

“I bet you’ve never earned a single gold coin yourself . ”

“…It seems like you haven’t been educated properly . ”

The atmosphere between the two people became more tense, but the host approached and pushed them to either side of the stadium .

Ready to fire a spell at any time, they looked at the spectators wrapped in a transparent shield . Theo and Philip were nameless, so there were no people in the stands . There were only Vince and Loren sitting across from each other .

Since that was the case, there was no need to wait any longer .

The host confirmed that the two competitors were prepared and immediately signaled the start of the match .

Peng~!

The 1st Circle magic, Light, was used .

As a small ball of light appeared in the centre, the magic power of each magician started to rise .  Philip, who was proud of his superior magic power, acted first . “Icicle Bolt!”

The ice magic caused the ambient temperature to drop rapidly .  Icicles formed from the cold air, and dozens of ice arrows soon formed in front of Philip .  The strength of the refined ice magic power was temporarily equal to iron . The solid mass meant that the arrows could contain a power which Fire Bolt and Lightning Bolt didn’t have .

“Go!”

The blue arrows flew through the air . The speed of the arrows was less than that of actual arrows from an archer, but the wounds caused by the icy bolts were deadly .  If one of them hit, Theo’s speed would slow down, then he would lost his life with the next one . This was the scary part about ice magic .

However, Theodore countered it without the slightest bit of discomfort . “Shock Wave!”

The arrows were different from the hobgoblin’s attack . Straight arrows would lose strength immediately upon colliding with something .  Therefore, he had refined the existing Shock Wave formula by making its area wider and improving the way it blocked . In this manner, Theo’s magic power blasted against the blue arrows .

Pew pew pew pew puk!

Despite not completely killing their strength, the arrows lost their momentum and struck the ground .  A shot which didn’t hit its goal was wasted effort . The confused Philip hesitated, and Theodore took the initiative .

Theo promptly aimed his finger, triggering a magic formula which had already been calculated .

Ttaak!

Ignite was invoked without an order and suddenly appeared in front of Philip .  Even if there was no damage, few people would be able to feel brave with fire right before them . It was no wonder that Philip tried to take a step back .

“U-Uh?” Philip then slipped due to the Grease magic that Theo had activated along with Ignite .

As people usually turned their heads when falling, before Philip could even recover, something hit him in the neck .  It was the 2nd Circle attack magic, Wind Cutter .

Pakang!

In exchange for taking the damage, one of the crystals hanging from Philip’s robe was broken .

He stared at Theo with a blank face .  Theo faced him with a comfortable expression .

Then Theo said, “What? This is tidying up . ”