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I went to the dining room and I saw a fuming Sasha with puffed cheeks glaring at me.

“What did you do to Elenia?!”

“Nothing,” I said as I frantically tried to calm her down.

“Then why was she blushing!”

I thought about why she would blush and I remembered how cute she looked which then just made me more confused.

“If I may, it is not his fault but rather because of me,” said Elenia, “Elves have a charm effect on the other races, humans are just much more susceptible to it.”

(S.M: seduction jutsu activated!)

She bowed down as she told us this and that made me calm down because I was really worried about what I was feeling. Sasha seemed to calm a bit as well but she was still a bit angry.

“Is that true?” she asked.

“Yes, I must have forgotten to control it. This is the first time I’ve left my homeland so I’m not in complete control yet.”

Sasha nodded and said, “I’m sorry that you saw an ugly side of me. I didn’t realize that you must have had your reasons.”

She held Elenia’s hands and moved it between themselves and she said, “Can we start over again as friends?”

Elenia nodded and I was saved from trouble.

Dinner was nice as we got to know more about Elenia and the High Elves. The charm effect that the Elves had work only to the opposite gender. It does not affect other Elves as they are used to it but only the other races. Humans are the most susceptible to this effect as they do not have a natural resistance to magic.

The Lunar Plains has been of great interest to me as it was a magically infused area. The way the High Elves think about magic was also of interest. They believe that magic was a power that they had complete control over. A gift from the gods to the chosen Elves. Magic is evident in their daily life and when I asked if they had any consequences on using magic all the time she said that they didn’t.

Magic had become a part of them that magic does not do anything to hinder their health. The downside is that they must be surrounded by magic at all times, but since magic exists everywhere they simply do not care about what would happen.

Elenia lived in the dorms so Sasha and Kaiser volunteered to take her there. I stopped Kaiser from going because he was way to excited to go and just sent Alex instead.

Kaiser looked pretty sad and dejected as he and I said goodbye to Elenia. Once they were gone, I went back to the training field and Kaiser went off somewhere.

The training field has become my own personal space and that is where I usually slept, unless Sasha or I wanted to do something in her room…

Months passed and it was now December. The snow arrived slowly and blanketed the school with a white gleam.

School had been the same and Elenia has become really good friends with everyone. Kaiser had tried to hit on Elenia but she had already heard about Kaiser from Sasha so Elenia hit him with a hammer that Sasha gave her. After that, Kaiser stopped hitting on Elenia and went on to hook up with 13 more girls.

Alex had become much better than before. I think it was the atmosphere that Sasha and Elenia created. He joined the two more often than Kaiser and I did and he was much closer to her than we were. Those three would often go to the nearby town and bring home either food or new clothes.

Elenia and I were more colleagues than friends. We debated magic principles and theories and every time we parted, I would test it in the training field. She had a wide knowledge of magic as if she had firsthand experience on it.

We always ate together whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. She has essentially become a part of our family.

Having found out that she was also a summoner, Alex and I showed her ours. Asher had grown to be as large as Fenrir. He had large canines that made him look more of a sabertooth tiger. Small clouds of Chaos magic surrounded his paws making him look as if he was walking on air. Upon seeing Malakir, Elenia went wide eyed and asked me a bunch of questions. She was surprised at seeing Asher but not as surprised as seeing Malakir, the Codex of Magic.

Alex then took it upon himself to talk about how great Malakir is and Elenia was taking it all in. Having her curiosity satisfied, she brought out her own summon. Her summon’s name was Rhumal and he was a Peacekeeper. Rhumal looked exactly like Chronos only instead of white, Rhumal was golden and he held half a shield in each arm.

Peacekeepers were one of the strongest summons. They had absolute defence against anything but they lacked an offensive capability. They do not fight but rather make their opponents lose the ability to fight. Their Spirit spells are unparalleled and they were much rarer than Timekeepers.

We spent that night talking about our summons and what they can do that by the time we stopped, it was already evening.

December 5. We were all assembled in the dome again waiting for our Principal to announce the start of the tournament.

She appeared after a flash in the large stage and began to speak.

“We are pleased to announce… that the 1000th Asmodeus Annual Tournament begins!”

Applause and cheers rang around the stadium from all the students gathered.

As the sound died down, she continued, “Each year we hold this tournament to see just how well our students have grown. This tradition was founded after the unification of the Rigel Kingdom. I’m sure everyone knows all the rules but as this is a special year, we have decided to change things up.”

“We will begin as usual with the preliminary rounds. These will be a measure of your overall power when in peak condition. You will demonstrate your best spells and your teachers as well as our special guests will judge whether you have earned the right. Yes, you all heard me, we will have special judges come in and see your growth. They are all the most famous and powerful mages in the entire world.”

“Ryker, the Wild god, who is not much older than the oldest of you, will be one of these judges. Lyrica, the Sound god, will also be here as well as many others. Make sure that you all show them what you have learned as they might take you on as apprentices and impart to you their magic.”

Much louder shouts and applause came after the revelation that the most famous and powerful mages of our time will be coming. They were our idols, people who we had held as our goals. Although in my case, I merely wished to have the chance to talk with them and understand their insights to magic.

“After the preliminary rounds,” continued Artemia, “the first round will have a round robin format with everyone fighting each day until everyone has fought each other. This may change depending on the results of the preliminary round.”

“The second round will be a timed fight against a creature. You will compete with your opponent to defeat the same creature and the first one to do so will win.”

“The third round will be a group fight. You will form your own groups with each other and each group must at least have 2 people. You can have as many members as you want but there must be at least 2. Once you have selected your groups, you will then fight until only one group remains.”

“The final round will be a fight between the members of the winning group. This round, will ultimately show who the strongest and most resourceful participant is to all.”

“This tournament will test everything that you know and is very dangerous. As such, for this year only, the students from the Western and Southern schools will be participating. The other students are too young to be experiencing this particular tournament as the way we are doing this is much more difficult than what we usually do.”

“That being said. We will not force everyone to participate, it is the best chance to be known worldwide but do not forget that your life will be in the line at least once. If you have the determination to face that trial, then come and participate.”

“We mages must not fear the consequences. We must embrace and accept it for if we cling to the consequences of our actions, we will not learn. Only by knowing the consequences and accepting what may happen can we grow to be better mages as well as better people.”

Loud applause and cheers rang around once more. The students from the Eastern and Northern schools were not as happy but some of them looked a bit relieved at the prospect of not participating. The students in the Western as well as us in the Southern schools were grinning so widely that I thought that we would break our faces. All of us knew that we would participate no matter what the consequences. To be recognized by these famous mages was a dream that we all had. For me, I was satisfied but I hid that and smiled along with everyone as it would be nice to meet these people as well.

Then the principal went over the general rules such as: trying not to use killing spells, destruction of limbs or souls, and weapons allowed so long as not used to kill. After she said all these things, we went back to the mansion as classes were suspended until the Tournament would be over in January 15.

Kaiser, even though he is a player, was still very mindful of his training. He and Alex decided to train together as they decided to team up for the group portion and would help each other reach that point.

Sasha, Elenia and I would be another group during that same round. As we trained, Sasha would use a mana gun as when I introduced the things I learned from Hell to my father, he made them be mass produced. Her mana gun was much better than the prototype that I made. There is no recoil anymore and its power output was stronger.

Elenia was using an oaken staff with a sapphire crystal wrapped by the oak at its tip. The staff was capable of casting magic like the mana gun but not as precise. In exchange, its power was much stronger.

I used Galahad and Abaddon in both hands. Making sure that I never hit them at all.

Our training was simple, we practiced how we would coordinate our attacks against a target. For now, our target was a simple dummy that we could make as many times as we wanted.

We got better and better at coordinating our attacks when it was time to eat dinner. We all took our baths and Elenia decided to sleep in the same room as Sasha. They wanted to have a sleepover like they have had ever since she first came.

Kaiser was nowhere in sight and Alex went to sleep. I decided to train in the training field again instead of sleeping.

Currently, it was late at night and all of my summons were out as we discussed strategies and tactics that I could do for the tournament.

“For the first round, master should cast pseudo-Takeover,” said Marduk.

“I agree,” said Malakir, “this spell is master’s strongest spell.”

“But its not his flashiest,” said Fenrir.

“Isn’t the point to show the strongest spell?” asked Shiva.

“I believe that its to show the best spells,” said Midgar.

“Then the Takeover would be the best option,” said Chronos.

“Those lowlives do not know that master is an Ethereal mage,” said Necros, “Why not show his true power?”

“The pseudo-Takeover… will it be alright to use that?” asked Shiade.

“It is an issue…” said Molx.

“It should be fine if afterwards, master casts Release,” said Abaddon, “this way, there should be no issue in regards to being able to cast this spell.”

“Then we shall do what Abaddon says,” I said, “his plan is the best one to take.”

Everyone agreed and we continued speaking of more strategies for the second round. While my summons were talking about that, I thought of the parts that I would take in my Takeover.

Takeover is a much more powerful spell than Adapt. This is because the spell would cause every single attribute of all of my summons to be a part of me. Just like Ralph’s bear hands, I would also be able to take in parts of my summons.

I needed to make sure that each part was compatible and that it would not cause a rebound. Since Takeover is such a powerful spell, it has a consequence. If the caster’s body is not compatible, his body will deteriorate and his lifespan would reduce.

Having finished our small strategic meeting I went to sleep as I needed to be fully awake for the start of the tournament.

The next day, we all were eating breakfast and everyone had different expressions. Alex and I were well rested and Kaiser looked as if he had just gotten laid… which he probably did. Sasha and Elenia looked a bit tired but they looked wonderful. I had to suppress that magic that Elenia had on me when I thought that as I knew that she wasn’t doing it on purpose.

After breakfast we changed clothes from comfortable ones to those that would shock the audience.

Alex wore the armor that I had used when I was in hell as well as the necklace that I gave him. Of course I resized the armor to fit him as he grew older.

Kaiser wore the bracers I gave him as well as armor similar to what Alex wore only it was made to be much more easier to move in.

Sasha wore a bright white dress with gold trimmings as well as the bracelet that I had given her. She looked absolutely stunning and I was happy that we were dating.

Elenia wore a forest green dress with a gold tiara. The dress made Kaiser stare at her but he was hit by Sasha as he did that. I was no longer enamoured as I was protecting myself and all I saw was a beautiful woman. Needless to say, Alex was also unaffected.

I wore my summons’ true forms as armor. Alex and Kaiser had actually asked me where I got these as I told them that the gifts I gave them were created by me but I never told them where mine came from. I told them that it was a secret but they insisted and so I told them that it came from my summons. I didn’t want to tell them that I had come from Hell as they would’ve worried about me and I didn’t want them to do that.

Anyway, the five of us headed towards the dome and we were instantly given a number and led to seat around the large central arena.

“Everyone, it is time to begin the tournament!” shouted Artemia who suddenly appeared in the middle of the arena.

Suddenly a fierce tornado appeared in the arena which made people shield their eyes. Since I had Shiade as an eye I could see through the tornado and saw the silhouettes of five people.

The tornado ended and Artemia said, “Introducing our special guests: Ryker the Wild god; Lyrica, the Sound god; Erica, the Sword god; Rashiel, the Prophetic god, and; Grundal, the Sand god.”

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