Lady Shana appeared a few meters away from Duke Lancaster after she also jumped from the first row. The duke paled when he saw the woman speaking; he was only an Advanced Mage and couldn't fight an expert one. The worse part was that if he steps back now, he will become an even greater joke.
"Miss Shana, is she your disciple?"
Instead of answering, Shana summoned a storm of fire around him, wrapping him with fire. The duke summoned a storm of wind to deflect it, yet it could only hold back the fire for a few seconds before it'd crumble.
"Lady Shana! Let me go!"
He changed his way of addressing to that one would use when addressing someone of a superior status. Shana canceled her spell and the duke's perspiring figure was revealed. By this point he had no more dignity remaining, so he just grabbed his son and left the arena.
"Welcome to the tournament everybody! I'm your man, Steve Howard!"
A powerful voice echoed in the colosseum, taking everyone's attention away from the Miyena Kingdom's participants.
"I will be your commentator today, and we already got to watch a short teaser from the Miyena Kingdom! As always, today we will start with the youngest bracket for magicians between 16 and 25!"
The tournament always started with the young bracket because it was the least exciting one; none of the kingdoms ever had a mage to offer for that bracket.
A man sat down by Shana's side at that moment and sighed.
"Ever since I heard of your youngest disciple, I hoped this year our kingdom will put a stop to the young bracket façade. The empire always prepares a 25-year-old mage to own that bracket, and their magicians often also get the second or third places. Did she really have to go and show off in the oldest bracket? The empire mostly sends an Advanced Mage there…"
Shana smiled in response and decided to give the man some hope.
"Don't worry, she left the youngest bracket in her little brother's hands. He is only 20 years old, but he is already a mage. As for the fight against the Advanced Mage, I believe she has a good chance of beating one."
"Huh, that's interesting. A 20-year-old mage? That puts even that girl's crazy achievement into proportion. Well, I hope he has enough mastery to defeat the kingdom's mage."
Meanwhile, all participants above age 25 returned to their waiting rooms where they could watch the matches through light magic items the empire supplied, or just rest and prepare for their turns.
"Fighters, please form a line and wait for your kingdom's turn to be introduced. When it's your turn, just go to the spotlight and bow when your name is mentioned. Try to perform a powerful-looking spell when you enter for hyping the crowd."
A judge gave them a debrief about what was going to happen, and they formed lines according to the order they were registered. Gale came last; thus, he was the last one in Miyena's line.
"Let's start with the kingdom that piqued our interest, they seem to be eager for a fight! Miyena Kingdom!"
Gale's group walked toward the spotlight and stopped a few meters away from it.
"First we have… Marco Rider! He is an Expert Magician while only 22 years old!"
A youth stepped into the spotlight and sent fireballs into the air, making them explode with different colors. The crowd was mostly from the Miyena Kingdom for obvious reasons, so they cheered loudly for their representatives. Steve called the other fighters one by one and they stepped and did their best to leave an impression on the crowd.
"Last but not least, Gale Stormborn, a mage at 20 years old! WHAT AM I SEEING? A 20-YEAR-OLD MAGE? The Miyena Kingdom prepared a surprise for us today!"
Gale entered the spotlight and used both earth and fire spells at the same time; a fit that only the more experienced and talented mages could perform. Simply put; a very strong connection to mana was required to request it to deploy two elements simultaneously.
Gale made dozens of round stones raise in the air and form a circle, and at the same time also called forth his wisps of fire. Each wisp wrapped around a stone, making it look like a burning stone. The stones then formed two crossed diagonal rings around him and kept rotating.
The crowd's cheers turned into screams of enthusiasm, some even started chanting Gale's name. He was the face of their kingdom right now, and those who were more knowledgeable knew it meant that for the first time, a kingdom might win the young bracket.
"Check who he is!"
"Why didn't I know the Miyena Kingdom had such a young mage? Didn't you say they had a female prodigy?"
Such murmurs could be heard if anyone listened to the booths of the different kingdoms, and even the empire's. Gale came out of nowhere; most people weren't even aware of his existence except for a short line written in their reports on Lena as her little brother that nobody remembered.
"Wait, Stormborn? As in Lena Stormborn? Are they siblings?"
Someone asked out loud and everyone was convinced this was the case instantly; if the sister was a prodigy, why can't the brother be one too?
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ However, most of the ones who kept tabs on promising youths doubted it, their reports said Lena had a moderately talented brother and a completely talentless brother, and Gale didn't fit either of those criteria.
"Hey, grandpa, is he really Lena's brother?"
"It shouldn't be possible. Although Lena's youngest brother should be of a similar age, he was talentless according to our investigation two years ago. Maybe the main Stormborn family was lucky. Besides, even if he was Lena's brother, it has nothing to do with us."
The old man replied to his young granddaughter.
"You're saying that, but didn't you come all the way here to watch her?"
The granddaughter smirked when she saw her grandfather refusing to answer and pursing his lips.
The weird thing was that a very similar conversation could be heard in a different booth, but with a grandson instead. That was the destiny of those who were believed to have no strength; neither of Gale's grandfathers recognized his name.
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