As for the wave of shouts from the excited crowds who were clamouring to see more amazing magic, they threatened to sweep away the soldiers who stood in the middle of it all.

"People, I think this is the first time that I'm having to say as the announcer that it's not so bad if you decrease your volume! We don't want you all losing your ears due to your own shouts. I mean, come on, that would be pathetic. Okay, jokes aside, it's time for the duel! I'm telling you, I would be lying if I said that I haven't been looking forward to this for the entire day. The rules, once again, are simple, and if you are noticing, this is a common trend that will be present in all the events, which is something really refres.h.i.+ng and welcome, if I may say so myself. Two mages will stand 20 m apart from each other on a designated spot, and their job is to knock the other off their feet or move them from their position. First, let me say that it isn't as simple as making the ground into clay below the opponent. All the compet.i.tors are allowed to hover a certain distance in the air, and the main challenge is to make the opponent completely move out of the designated area that they have been a.s.signed. To make it clear for you all, some mages who are proficient in light magic will make a box of light appear around each compet.i.tor. The moment the entire body leaves that box, they're considered to have lost. Again, no lives must be lost, so there are Exalted Human Mages on standby who will act to save contestants when they see that the situation is life-threatening. Also, contestants will be given standard barrier trinkets that have been provided by the Kingdom of Eldinor which would protect their lives as a backup. Of course, these trinkets will not protect from impact, so it will still hurt a lot. Alright alright, I know that you're getting tired listening to my voice! Let the dueeeeeeeel begin!"

With Sylves...o...b..ing as long-winded as always, the first batch of contestants who were chosen by random walked up to the ballot box to pick their opponents.

This compet.i.tion had a similar structure as the wrestling stage, where teams of 20 would have three fights each against opponents from other kingdoms. At the end of the first stage, those with the least victories would be eliminated.

Both the betting odds and the a.n.a.lysis suggested that Axelor and Eldinor would be the ones taking the top spots, with Lanthanor being projected to be third without fail as teamwork could no longer be used.

Yet, what was strange about today was that the entire team of the Lanthanor Kingdom all wore special clothes that hadn't been seen before.

Masks protected their faces, so no one could guess their ent.i.ty by using their facial features.

The usual garb of the soldiers of Lanthanor had so far been red robes with golden dragons that highlighted their insignia. The ones worn by these 20 mages were black, and they had no adornments, being rather plain and unremarkable.

This was identified by the announcers, who all wondered what the significance behind these clothes were.

As for the crowds, although they were also puzzled, they were looking forward more to an awesome show.

While the blades on her earlobes shook with antic.i.p.ation, Kendra, who was one of the partic.i.p.ants under Eldinor, looked at these 20 with dislike in her eyes.

As an elf who had been brought up with teachings which highlighted their dominance over other species, she had a natural arrogance which was actually justified by the fact that she was an Exalted Human level mage.

Although she had just broken through recently, she had elected to partic.i.p.ate in this event as she wanted to spread the glory of the Kingdom of the Elves to the entire continent.

If everything had gone as predicted, her level alone would have been enough to ensure her victory in each and every part of the event.

Yet, they had already been surprised twice: once when Axelor had somehow managed to pull 15 highly talented peak Amateur Human level mages from somewhere, and the second time when Lanthanor had used teamwork for their victory.

Hence, so far, the elves had actually accomplished nothing that would showcase their dominance in magic.

They all knew that this was their chance, and the entire team was ready to show their worth and clinch the top spot for sure in this compet.i.tion.

In fact, they had also been asked to try and make it so that the distance between the first and second place would be large.

This basically meant that as many elves as possible had to get into the top 50, as it was no longer an option to tuck their tails behind their legs and walk around with their pride lowered.

However, along with the dislike, Kends shook with shock as she suddenly felt a hint of danger from this team of 20.

She had been born with an innate sense of intuition that had saved her on the field multiple times before, and as she was just about to tell the others about this, the bell rang, making her walk forward to begin the compet.i.tion.

Hers was the first match, and it just so happened that the opponent was from Lanthanor.

Deciding to uncover the reason behind her feeling, she prepared herself mentally while the glowing box of light appeared around her.