Lord of Charm

3 days later, Gale and the girls assembled at Shana's mansion and set out to the tournament. Since Shana lived in the capital, and the Miyena Kingdom hosted the tournament this time, it wasn't a long trip.

"There are 5 kingdoms under the Amistrys Empire; they are mostly ranked by the number of sixth-stage mages they have, and by the number of magus backing them. In this sense, our kingdom is ranked fourth."

Seeing their frowns, Shana decided to elaborate.

"While it sounds low, the truth is that the difference between the five kingdoms is minimal, and nobody would dare attack the others even if the empire did nothing to stop us. Besides, nobody knows what hidden troops each kingdom has."

Shana started briefing the group about their political situation as she didn't want them to appear as uneducated village bumpkins in front of the other kingdoms' representatives.

"However, tournaments like this one are extremely important; every kingdom offered two territories that generate profits of millions of gold coins every year for this tournament, and the empire itself added 8 territories. Overall, there are 18 such territories. In each bracket, the kingdom whose participant ranks first gets to choose 3 lands, the second rank gets 2 lands, and the third gets one."

"What if the same kingdom occupies all the top spots?"

"Then they will get all the lands. However, it never happened because every kingdom has its own geniuses that enjoyed endless resources. Besides, the winner is usually the empire; the kingdoms send 50 participants combined, and the empire sends 14 to fill it to 64. Although they never send their best mages as it wouldn't be fair, they still send powerful ones."

"What happens to the lands if the empire wins?"

"The empire takes back its 8 territories and the other 10 are divided according to the ranking of the kingdoms. That's why the empire is generous; they don't plan to give it."

They got on the carriage and rode to the capital's colosseum where the event will take place. The colosseum was a huge round building; in its middle was a round arena with a radius of 150 meters, and surrounding it were 3 floors, each consisting of rows over rows of seats. Magicians and mages had much better vision than normal humans, so the rows stretched to a long distance.

Additionally, the empire provided light magicians for the event who projected the battle in the air for the back seats, which made it worth coming even for the weaker magicians if they could secure tickets.

"Remember, although we don't have a bad rivalry with any of them because wars between kingdoms are forbidden by the empire, we still have other competitions over lands with our neighbors – Igrebah and Evelonia. Those two kingdoms could be considered our rivals, so normally our contenders and theirs like to provoke each other."

With that, Shana's debrief was over, and they reached the Colosseum. There were six entrances, each protected by dozens of mages. Every entrance was held by a different kingdom and the last by the empire.

The group went to their kingdom's checkpoint and identified themselves using their emblems and their participation tokens.

"Lady Shana, we prepared a room for your group at the end of the hallway."

A guard bowed and led them to their waiting room. The room was spacious enough for all 6 of them and it had 3 small dressing booths. To the disciples' disappointment, Gale was sent to change in a booth and wasn't allowed out of there until Lena gave him green light.

When he came out, everyone was already dressed in their combat gear, which offered some defense and most importantly was durable enough to hold without getting torn off during a battle.

"You were called to attend the introduction ceremony in the arena."

A guard's voice followed a knock on their door, and they left the room. Upon entering the arena, they faced a bright light that filled the whole colosseum, and the deafening cheers of the crowd echoed.

"Hello Miss Lena, it's good seeing you again."

The fourth prince, Florian, received them and beckoned them to stand by his side. They were the last to arrive; the other 24 participants were already there.

"Let me introduce you to our kingdom's best in each bracket. Everyone, this is Lena Stormborn, the famous genius of our kingdom. She became a mage at the age of 23, and today will win the young bracket for us."

Florian wore a big smile as he introduced Lena first to show his appreciation for her. However, Lena shook her head.

pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ "No, there would be no challenge in the young bracket, and my little brother can easily win it. I will win the oldest bracket for our kingdom."

"There are already 10 participants for this bracket, you can't just decide to participate here. All of us are experienced mages who have a better chance of winning than a relatively new mage."

One man stepped forward and disapproved of her words. He was one of the weakest in the bracket and was worried that Prince Florian would comply with her request to please her; everyone could see his interest.

"I see, then protect yourself."

Ten fire snakes launched themselves at the man who spoke, making him open his eyes with horror. He did his best to summon winds to put off the fire, yet the snakes slithered through the winds and bit his limbs. 5 snakes dissipated before reaching him, yet the other 5 were enough.

"AHHH!"

His scream of pain resounded in the arena, pulling everyone's gazes toward them. The view of a man being bitten by fire snakes in four limbs and his chest was seen by everyone, and the snakes exploded, causing fractures and burns all over his bones.

"Unfortunately, the older bracket has one wounded participant. I will be happy to fulfill my duty to the empire and take his place to represent us in the imperial tournament."

Lena spoke with a respectful tone, yet nobody believed she was respecting them for a single moment.

"Brazen! Criminals must be punished!"

A fifth-stage mage jumped onto the stage from the first row on the top floor and shot blades of air at Lena.

"Duke Lancaster, please know your place. Since your son is weak, it's better now that he can't put our kingdom's name to shame now in front of everyone."

His blades burst into flames and the air was sucked out of them. Lady Shana appeared a few meters away after she also jumped from the first row. That was the truth of the world; power mattered more than status, or more precisely, power gave a higher status than a title.

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Author's notes:

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