Free Web NovelChapter 271: Chapter 269: Mage League
Hilia quickly learned the schedule of the opening ceremony from Abros.
First, everyone prays to the gods, tells the gods about their growth, and then Abros gives a speech on the stage to encourage everyone. He also explains the curriculum changes and cultivation directions for second- and first-year students, as well as various arrangements.
He revealed to all the students the situation of the Mage League in July, and said that second-year students are already qualified to participate. However, he also said it’s best to wait until the third or fourth year to consider entering, since the Mage League restricts participants to below Tier Four. As long as you haven’t reached Tier Four, you can enter regardless of whether you’re a magic school student or not.
But the Magic School has extra entry slots.
You don’t have to go through the preliminary rounds and such.
After revealing information about the Mage League, the ceremony in the auditorium came to an end.
Each homeroom teacher led their class through a tour of the classrooms, showing everyone where second-year classes would be held.
Finally, each class’s teacher led their students to the cafeteria. The school treated them to a grand feast to mark the end of registration and the start of the new term.
Except for students who missed the ceremony, everyone was full of hope for their new life.
During the meal, Hilia overheard many people discussing the Mage League in July.
"It’s said that this Mage League covers the entire continent. Any mage who isn’t above Tier Four can take part."
"Yeah, but in regular magic schools, or for non-student mages, you have to go through all kinds of selection. I heard you need to pass the city qualifiers, fight for a handful of national selection slots, and only after that can you go compete in the national selections. If you win those, you finally get to enter the Mage League."
"Anyone who stands out through the national selections must be seriously impressive."
"For sure, but the advanced magic schools of each empire don’t have it that rough. Our school seems to have three team slots and ten individual slots."
"So few? Will there be an internal school selection then?"
"That’s already a lot. Some schools only get one team slot and one individual slot."
"There’s gotta be a selection process. There are hundreds of students, and only that many slots."
"We’re just second-years. We don’t stand a chance."
"Even those first-year prodigy mages who are already Tier Two probably don’t have a shot, right?"
"Yeah, we should just forget about it for now. Let’s wait until we’re Tier Three next year to think about it."
"..." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
On the way back, Hilia kept thinking about the Mage League.
After listening to the discussions, Hilia became curious too.
"What kind of tournament is the Mage League, really?"
Hilia chose to search on her magic ring.
The information was actually easy to find.
This is a continent-wide tournament held once every four years. A century ago, after the Four Great Empires became independent, the Holy Court and the four empires went to war year after year, causing countless people to yearn for peace. After peace talks, the five major empires were formed and jointly created this league, with the aim of opposing war and turning it into a contest of peace.
Since mages above Tier Four cause too much destruction, the competition is limited to below Tier Four, not distinguishing by tier, only by team and individual categories.
Both Tier Two and Tier Three compete in the same arena.
Later, elves and beastmen also joined the league and received entry slots, as did various independent small duchies, making the Mage League a truly continent-wide event.
Before the July tournament begins, each empire and magic school holds selection tournaments. Setting aside the empire selections for now, the magic school selections usually take place in May, lasting until the end of the month. After a month’s break, they travel to the designated competition venue for the final tournament.
"Quite a few schools, after the previous league ends, search for super-talented mages from all over, spend four years training them, and tell them not to rush to Tier Four. They let them stockpile power at the peak of Tier Three and only ascend after winning the tournament... Wow, isn’t that cheating?"
Hilia had experienced the peak of Tier Three before.
Like the Bluewing Seahorse.
"A five-person team of Tier Three peak mages... Why bother with the tournament? They could be raiding ancient ruins!"
Rose’s voice chimed in, "Even a full team of Tier Three peak mages might not be able to beat an enraged Bluewing Seahorse, and how do you know they haven’t raided ruins before?"
"Good point..."
Maybe those completely cleared out ruins were conquered by these school-trained Tier Three peak mages.
"Let me check our school’s situation..."
Hilia checked the school’s Star Spirit Curtain Wall, then went to ask Ms. Alina, and finally reached a conclusion.
"The school doesn’t have a dedicated tournament team. For the team event, students have to form their own groups... No wonder we haven’t won the cup for several years."
Hilia stared at the rules about scroll and potion usage: "But this doesn’t have anything to do with a Tier Two mage like me anyway. Without scrolls, facing a Tier Three monster like the Bluewing Seahorse, there’s just no way I stand a chance as a puny Tier Two."
Rose laughed, "Aren’t you going to check the rewards?"
"Nah, no matter how good the prizes are, if I can’t win them, it’s meaningless."
Even so, Hilia couldn’t resist looking up past tournament rewards.
"Let’s see, aside from tons and tons of gold coin rewards, the individual top ten, and everyone in the top three teams, can all get custom Tier Four magic puppet materials supplied by all the empires."
"For the top three individuals, and all members of the champion team, there’s also a really amazing... passive magic skill: [Demonic Puppet Meditation Skill]?"
Hilia’s eyes lit up. "Magic puppets can meditate?"
She immediately looked at Rose and asked with curiosity, "Master Rose, do you know this passive magic?"
Rose shook his head, "This is a new magic, less than a thousand years old. Back then, magic puppets only assisted in battle. There were no natural puppet hearts installed, so they couldn’t unleash even a tenth of the current combat power. Nobody was researching meditation for puppets either."
Hilia quickly searched the effect of [Demonic Puppet Meditation Skill]. Since it’s one of the Mage League tournament rewards, its effect isn’t a secret on the Star Spirit Network, so Hilia found it quickly.
"Once you learn the Demonic Puppet Meditation Skill, you use it together with the Puppet Storage Skill. When you recall your puppet into storage space, it triggers, letting the puppet ’meditate’, gradually increasing the mage’s magic power concentration. The effect varies between users, but it can be up to 50% as efficient as the Basic Meditation Skill... That’s like +50% meditation efficiency. That’s amazing."
Hilia was rather tempted.
Suddenly, she thought of something and asked, "Master Rose, do you have any similar passive magic?"
Rose smiled slightly, "I do. It’s a Tier Three passive: Deep Meditation. I’ll teach you once you reach Tier Three."
Hilia asked, "Is there something I can learn at Tier Two?"
"If there was, I’d have already taught you. The meditation skill you’re using now is already optimal. It’s just that ever since you entered the depths of the Divine Realm, your magic power cap has broadened to the Tier Two limit, which makes your progress seem slow."
"Remember what I said at the end of last semester? Master every second-year course in one month—starting tomorrow."
Hilia tensed up. "I’ll do my best..."
"Not your best. You must succeed."
"Okay! I’ll make sure of it!"
