The magic tournament feels more like a visual entertainment show. The competing mages are showing off their most visually exciting magic. That being said some of the less visual magic is getting a lot of positive attention as well. One mage stepped into the arena propelled himself up with something that looked like propulsion magic, though he called it wind magic, and hovered for a few minutes. Nothing that looked too spectacular to me, but the announcer and the audience was clearly excited about it. I guess flight magic is a big deal.

Using the topic as a springboard I try to strike up conversation with some of the mages watching the displays. One scruffy old man shows interest in talking to me. "Flight magic is still the realm of dragons. There are stories of humans mastering some form of flight magic, but nothing has been passed down. There are many mages in the magic city researching how to make humans fly like dragons." Wonder why it is so hard. Magic should make it much easier for man achieve flight in this world.

The old man seems far more open to talking than any other mage I have met so far. He is perfectly happy describing the magic taking place in the arena. Some of it turns out to be more bark than bite. Visually enticing, but not remotely practical. "This sort of magic is why the mages in the magic city look down on hunter mages." The old man stops and points at a female mage. "Now her magic isn't just for show. Looks fancy, but that lightning packs a punch." I recognize her as the female mage from Lago who helped me max out my stun and paralysis resistance.

"Looks like you know her?" His tone tells me he is curious to know. "I stole a kiss from her once." The old mage bursts out laughing. "That must have stung." "You have no idea, even increased my resistance skills when she hit me with her magic." The old man clearly wants to hear what happened next. "You old pervert. If you must know she has been avoiding me ever since that kiss." Can't blame her, she knows I am resistant to her magic.

"How did you learn magic?" I have been waiting to ask this question as it might open up to getting this old man to teach me some magic. "I had a teacher of sorts. Only showed me the basics, and left me to fend for the rest. Apparently I did not have enough talent for him to bother with more. He was an alumni of magic city." Seems clear where his grudge for city mages come from. "Could I convince you to show me the basics of magic?" In this world everyone wants something for something. No one does anything for free. I leave it open, hoping I have something worth his time to teach me.

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"Maybe, show me what you can do." I whip out my fire magic taught to me by Kira. This time I make sure to show the blue flame of pure combustion. The blue flame hovers over my open palm burning clear and true not far off a blowtorch. The old man looks thoughtful. "Looks like you have a good grasp of nature." After a short pause the old man continues: "To master magic you need to gain a wide grasp of both mana and nature. Being able to do a blue flame without any structured training shows an unusual good grasp of nature."

I can't really tell the old man that I am drawing on my high school science knowledge to do this, but he seems to write it off as a talent. The old man has already deduced that I have had no structured training, but still managed to pick up a bit of magic knowledge, so I tell him as much as I can about my current training regime. "So one of your wife's taught you to sense and use mana along with a bit of fire and healing magic, and the rest you learned from reading guild magic books and experimenting."

"Well, the books were not much use. They contained a bit of explanation but were confusing when it came to the mana handling. I know there is such a thing as mana structures used for more complex magic, but it still eludes me." The old man grins at my summary. "Unfortunately quality magic books are hard to come by. Any mage can write a book. Few can write a good one. The guild has a tendency to take whatever books they can get their hands on and put them in their libraries. Almost all magic books in their libraries are written by hunter mages, most of whom have never benefited from the more structured magic training at magic city."

"I hate to admit it, but the few basics I learned from my previous teacher is actual gold dust compared to what those books will teach you." While the old man is lost in contemplation I wonder if he will offer to teach me those basics. Should I offer him anything? What can I offer? I got money, but not enough to tempt a mage. "I don't want to take on an apprentice, nor do I think you are free enough to be an apprentice, but I guess I can show you the basics this afternoon if you pick up my drinking bill in the evening."

The old man might think he is offering too little, but for me this is more than enough. I happily accept his offer, confident that by the evening I will most likely have learned all the basic mana structured skills he can teach me. We head over to an unused guild arena to practice.