Chapter 10

Kim came from a small independent country inside the vast Celestial Empire. The magic of her people is very different from the elemental magic of the Midland. While the magic of the Midland draws on the power of mana to control the elements in the air and nature, the magic of her people is more akin to pleading worship of the immaterial.

“So your shaman would form contacts with the spirits and use their powers?” A formal lady in a white suit asked Kim excitedly.

“Yes, Miss Wanders. Some powerful shaman can even put curses on people” Kim sat on a bench inside Miss Wander’s office. As a student from a minority culture who did not learn standard magic knowledge, she wanted to attend special lessons on Midland's magic theory. Fortunately, chatting with Miss Wanders has become a fun distraction for her.

“Hmmm, I think they are using mana as a conduit between dimensions. I am not quite sure what the spirits the shamans contacted are. The powers that you describe are not something that can be done with mana manipulation in our dimension.” Miss Wanders furiously writes something on the paper.

“Why do you do that Miss Wanders? Why not just use magic?” Kim asked while pointing at Miss Wander’s hand holding a pen.

“Oh, writing something by hand is a sign of sincerity in the midland. It takes time and effort. It's more personal.” Miss Wanders smiled while looking at the stacks of books behind her desk.

Kim smiled at her teacher. It's very difficult to dislike someone so passionate about their craft.

“By the way, you are not going to enter the tournament? You can spread your culture to the world and maybe even become famous.” Miss Wanders looks at one of the mana net screens in her room. The screen shows Miss Harlet’s smug smile, explosive graphics in the background, Ruin’s adorable face, Sir Runic’s expressionless face, a group of girls in suggestive poses, and the caption [The Witch of Beauty’s tournament! Amazing prize! Security ensured by the Republic and Sir Runic himself! Streaming Live on the Mana Net! Host by number one Net caster, Foxy Three!]

“When did she even find the time to do all this? She barely does any work normally…” Miss Wanders was amazed at Miss Harlet’s quick promotional work. The announcement of the tournament was only two weeks ago.

“......I don't like fighting……..but……I need the mana stones” Kim looked down at the cup of tea in front of her.

Miss Wanders looked at the quiet girl in front of her. Despite her delicate frame and beauty, Miss Wanders noticed the calluses on her hands and the deformed bones of her knuckles.

“..........This year’s freshmen are scary….” Miss Wanders suddenly felt excited about the tournament.

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“Are you fucking serious? How confident are you?” Cade looked at Jace with fierce eyes.

“You can heal yourself right now. You don't even need healing magic. You just need extremely precise mana control” Jace drew a picture of the mana heart in the air.

Cade’s eyes glow golden for a moment and then back to normal. Engraving the picture into his personal mana net.

“You don't have to believe me. You can take your time and learn healing magic then implement what I told you slowly.” Jace went back to his meditation spot.

“Wait! What do you want?” Cade has a desperate look on his face

“I want what you were always preaching about. Connections. Especially connections with someone influential.” Jace sat back in a meditative stance.

“Wait, wait a damn minute. We still have to discuss something!” Cade knew that if that guy closed his eyes and started meditating, he wouldn't be able to speak to him again today.

“What?” Jace looked at him with a somewhat surprised expression. What else could he possibly want?

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“This doesn't feel right. What you gave me is too valuable compared to what you asked for. What else do you fucking want?” Cade has a complicated expression

“Look at this guy, isn't he surprisingly honorable? Or naive? Also, he has got a foul mouth” Jace almost laughed out loud.

“There is something you can do to repay me.” Jace said, “I need a martial teacher”

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The tournament is making the whole world buzz with excitement. Even the ordinary citizens not involved in the magic world are posting mana net videos talking and speculating about the event.

“The wonderful Miss Harlet the glorious Smiling Witch released more information about the tournament on the Greylight Academy mana network yesterday.” An enthusiastic mana net caster can be seen on the screen overreacting to everything.

In a typical cafe in the capital city of Midland, a big mana net screen was projected on the wall for customers to watch. The food on almost every table has grown cold while everyone in the cafe has their eyes glued to the screen.

“First, participants do not have to worry about monster waves forming during the gathering of so many heroes. The Republic’s Sir Runic has personally taken charge of security. Mana-dampening runes will be placed all around the area during the event, and mana towers will be enacted in locations far away from the academy to draw the monster’s attention. Oh my god! So extravagant. Such high production!” The caster acted as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head after every word.

“Wow, The Smiling Witch is going all out? How expensive is this event? Hey kid, don't you have the gift?” A chef said to a small boy bending over the pot of soup, constantly stirring it.

“No……” The skinny white hair boy grumbled.

The entire cafe was watching the mana cast with excitement. Little children bugging their parents to go see the tournament in person. Groups of young people gossiping excitedly about what kind of rising star the world will see this time.

“It's been 4 years since the Smiling Witch did something like this.” An old man and his wife talking to each other while watching the screen

“I like the girl that became famous last time. She was only a freshman then. I hope she competes again” The wife has a warm smile

“Oh, that little girl. What was the martial name that she got?” The old man said excitedly

“Golden Sun. What a beautiful spell that was, I wish we could see it again” The old lady clasped her hands together while reminiscing

“Next we have the tournament format. There will be 4 brackets. Freshmen brackets are for first-year students. Junior brackets are for second to fourth-year students. Senior brackets are for students from the fifth year and up. The prize for all three brackets is an insane amount of mana stones. Whoa, isn't the Smiling Witch a genius? Whoa!” The caster ran around the room and yelled. “Finally, we have the most exciting bracket. The unrestricted bracket, a free-for-all, a brawl. Anyone can enter. The prize for this bracket is something that even kings, emperors, and archmages coveted” For the first time, the caster had a sincere and serious expression.

“The winner can enter the Smiling Witch’s vault and choose one item as the prize” The caster did not dance around or make a fool of himself, only a simple sentence was said.

The cafe is silent

“holy shit,” the chef said

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Twilight City - Midland

“You saw the news? The Smiling Witch is doing something again” a young man with a metal helmet and wizard robe said

“I saw. What? You want to compete?” A small boy wearing a suit said

A distance away a group of red robes mages threw various spells at the two men.

“You know what is in her vault right? Behemoth’s Heart” a voice full of desire came from the metal helmet. He stamps his foot on the ground and metallic spikes explode upwards, protecting the two from the red mage spell barrage.

“You are gross.” The boy said. “But, I am also interested. After all, that is a one-of-a-kind treasure. I will clear this up. it's taking too long”

The boy lifts his open palm towards the red mage group. As soon as the boy closed his palm, the group of red robe mages were flung together as if pulled by giant magnets, then they were suddenly crushed. The sounds of bones breaking were sickening, fortunately, it happened so quickly that the red mages did not even have time to scream. The group of red mages had turned into a ball of meat no bigger than a pebble.

“And you called me gross……..” the metal helmet said indignantly

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Moonlight Lake - Celestial Empire

A group of eastern young people approach the lake with hurried steps. Their callus hands and steady posture expose their martial training. The lake’s water was splashing and splattering everywhere, creating a mess. A giant otter is spinning, diving, and swimming around happily.

“Master, your disciple has arrived” A shadow appeared near the edge of the lake and spoke to the person dressed in a pure white robe standing in the sky.

“You will enter the Witch’s competition, and get me the Behemoth’s heart.” A gentle and beautiful voice of a lady came from the person in the sky.

“Your disciple hears your command” the group of Eastern martial artists answered as one.

The lady in white floats up into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. The giant otter saw the lady leave and quickly flew away after her.

“The Behemoth’s Heart. The value of that thing can't be estimated. We must get it for master, but our competition will be fierce. All the genius of the world will come for that prize.” The senior disciple said to his junior behind him. “Tell Dragon Fist and Eagle Claw to meet us there.”

“Senior brother, why did the master call us here? Her office is right next to yours in the sect’s main hall” one young girl asks in a whisper.

“..........the master have a taste for the dramatic ……….” The senior disciple answered a little embarrassed.

Similar scenes were happening at many locations in the world

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Beth ran into the gym and told Cade to get out. Jace was curious about what was happening and got up from his meditation/body forging. Beth was staring at him and for some reason, even Ruin flew away somewhere.

“This is for you. Good luck” Beth shoves the letter into his hands and hugs him for a few seconds. “I like it better when we used to be the same height.” She complained before running out of the gym

“Why did she even chase those guys away?” Jace laughed

He open the letter and read the title on the first page.

Analysis of Midland’s magic systems and weaknesses

He turns to the next page

Analysis of The Republic’s Rune magic system and weaknesses

The next page

Analysis of Aura Warriors’ weakness

The letter contains more than 40 pages.

“She is adorable” Jace felt his heart warming up.

Two months until the tournament begins.