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Chapter Two: The Magic Competition

Rex travelled to the town of Rashnu, went to the nearest inn he could find, and rented a room. He flop himself on top on his bed and took out the rule book the attendant had given to him.

The main rules can be summed up to 5 points:

There was a month left before the start of the actual competition.

The next day, Rex prepared for his journey to the Capital of Erath, Sachael, where the competition was being held. He stopped by towns and cities along his way, to check out the changes that had occurred in his father's lands. He finally made it to Sachael with only 3 days left before the start of the competition.

Rex arrived at the Sachael Magic Tower wearing black shirt, black pants, black gloves, and a balaclava to cover his face to prevent his sister, or anyone else, from recognising him. He registered his arrival, and to his surprise the tower had opened up the dorms to the competitors a week prior to the start of competition. A lot of competitors took advantage of this and settled into their rooms early. To Rex, who had a total savings of only 10 Gold, this was a blessing.

During the next couple of days, Rex purchased minimal things such as two common daggers, sharpening tools, canisters of water, small amount of food, sewing tools, and etcetera. Compared to the other competitors who arrived at the tower with large trunks and carried backpacks filled with items to the arena, he resembled a Soldier going into battle naked.

When Rex reached the arena, it was already filled to the brim with spectators. After looking around, he spotted his parents and siblings on the front row, right below the balcony. He continued to look around to see if he could spot his sister, but to no avail. After approximately 10 minutes, an elderly S Rank "Sachem" Magician from the tower appeared on the balcony, overlooking the massive crowd of competitors.

With his voice amplified by magic, "I am very happy to see so many young people participating in this year's Magic Competition. With so many young and promising Magicians here, the future is now safe from stodgy, dull, and insipid ancient fossil such as I." The crowd burst into laughter.

When the laughter died down, he continued with a stern face, "I hope everyone here has read the Rules and Regulations, and will adhere to it. If, at any time, this old man sees someone not complying with the rules, such as necklaces not being visible, or casting a strong magic enough to kill, we will immediately send you out of the playing field and disqualify you. But without further ado, everyone, please behold!"

At that exact moment, a roaring thunder echoed throughout the arena. The ground vibrated, and an enormous and tall silver castle-like shaped building appeared out of nowhere.

"That is the Voiceless Labyrinth of the Welkin. It has a total of 100 floors. All of you will be sent inside in various random locations. When you're inside, the competition begins immediately." The Sachem Magician continued, "Inside the dungeon, all your movements will be silenced. Even if a meteorite were to fall on you, the explosion will not be heard by others inside. It's up to you and your abilities to find other competitors. Remember, only the strong and determined individuals will have a chance to participate in the one on one battle."

Right after his speech, the Sachem Magician waved his staff and the bodies of the competitors were teleported inside the Labyrinth hundreds at a time.

Rex, who was waiting for his turn to get teleported, finally spotted his sister. She was surrounded by students who wore the same uniform as she. Although the students around her were jittery, she was calm, collected, and prepared for battle, with her right hand on the hilt of her sword. As if she knew he was looking at her, she turned to his direction and stared at him. But not for long. The moment their eyes met, both she and Rex were teleported inside.

* * *

"Ha, ha, ha..." More than seven hours into the competition, Rex, who had just took another Magician's magic necklace, hid behind a tree. He was currently in in the 75th floor. He started on the 27th floor and decided to make his way up the tower since there was more chances of encountering other participants and also finding water and food supply.

So far, he had taken the necklaces of everyone he had come across. According to the stats broadcasted through his Magic Necklace last hour, there were less than 500 out of the 1,348 competitors left.

Suddenly, a voice rang inside the supposedly soundless labyrinth, "To all competitors, the clock has struck 8 in the evening. Because the sun is about to set, we ask for all competitors to have a good rest. Battles and taking other competitors' necklaces will be forbidden from this point on until tomorrow at 10 in the morning. Anyone who breaks this rule will be disqualified. You will now receive the last count of remaining players and the ranking for today."

*Beep*

The announcer continued, "It seems like our young ones are dominating the charts! The future of Erath is shining brightly!"

"WHOOOAAA?" The crowd stared at the chart with surprise.

Psst, psst, psst...

"Yvonne Merrick isn't first?"
"Look! Someone from the Pirate family is second and fourth."
"Maybe Yvonne Merrick will lose this year?"
"Shhh, don't say that. But the Ludwig siblings are also doing well."
"Viscount Elley looks so proud of his son."

"But... Who is Phantom?"
"No idea. He's using an alias, and I wasn't paying attention to his battles."
"He's 13, so this year is his first time competing..."

Rex heard everything the crowd outside was saying. He recognise some of the names on the chart such as the Ludwig siblings from the House of Ludwig, Kiyoshi, and the Grimmer siblings from the clan of Pirates.

The sounds coming from outside had died down and Rex walked towards the lake he had spotted while he was running away. Since it was banned to take anyone's necklace until tomorrow morn, he no longer had to worry if he was being pursued.

When he arrived at the lake, he saw another boy about the same age as he, taking a drip in the water. He looked at his own body and decided to do the same to wash the sweat off his back, spend some time relaxing in the water, and procure dinner. However, the moment he took off this clothes and hit the water, his senses pricked and knew the same boy he saw bathing metres away was now mere a metre behind him.

Without turning around, Rex said with a remarkably commanding tone, "Battles are forbidden. It'll be wise of you to put away your dagger." When he sensed the boy's killing intent was gone, he slowly turned around.

With a stern expression and domineering voice, he asked, "So, explain to me, why did you attempt to attack me?"

The boy bowed his head in shame, "I didn't sense anything coming from you, and then suddenly, you were just there. Danger sensors started ringing in my head and the ban on battles slipped my mind, my apologies. My clan specialises in stealth, you see, and so our sensory is also top class."

Rex said nothing and raised a brow. The boy panicked and thought, 'If looks can kill, I'd be dead at least three times now.'

The boy had sensed him even at his top speed including the type of weapon he wielded without having to face him. When the other boy spoke, it sent shivers down his spine. Even at such a young age, despite the boy's good looks, he was a dangerous individual who possessed impressive strength. After taking a closer look at the boy's physique, he saw an almost transparent aura surrounding his body. He was aghast at the sight.

"I-I am Touma Kiyoshi, 13 years old." Touma stammered. Without trying to do so, the boy in front of him was oppressing him with just his aura.

Rex nodded and extended his hand, "Rex Avery, also 13 years old." Since he wasn't wearing his "Phantom" outfit, he saw no harm in telling someone the name he usually used.

'He's ALSO 13?!' Touma's forehead started to form invisible sweat drops as he took the proffered hand.

"Sorry to have startled you with my sudden appearance. I saw you bathing, and I thought to do the same, catch some fishes and relax."

"Nice to meet you Rex. Sorry again for attacking you." Touma relaxed when he noticed the boy, Rex, had eased off on his aura, "As an apology, why don't you join me for dinner? I've already caught a lot of fishes."

Rex, who paid a lot of attention on the rankings, recalled Touma's name. Touma Kiyoshi, currently ranked 9, part of the Kiyoshi clan, a family of ninjas. If he had to wager a guess, Touma was part of the main family, and most likely, their heir. His stealth was to perfection, without leaving a single ripple on the surface of the water. The way he held his dagger was also commendable.

Rex contemplated on Touma's offer, and decided to accept it in the end. It has been a long time since he had spoken to someone of his age. Since he had left home, most of the people he had encountered were older than him, and their kids.

Although Rex was weary of him in the beginning, he eased up and started to relax. They sat on the nearby logs next to the lake and talked about various random things while eating dinner. Touma was very knowledgeable and a good cook, but not as good as he. Rex promised that the next time they meet, he would cook for him in return...

Rex found Touma's company refreshing considering they had many things in common. Touma was also travelling, along with his elder brother, while going on missions. He visited places such as the Elven Forest of Lyndis, which was close to the town the Kiyoshi clan inhabited, Dwarven Ruin City of Mikal, Ogre Village, Orc Villages, Barbarian Village, and much much more. What interested Rex in particular was a dungeon he spoke of.

People had found dungeons all over the world. Many had entered those dungeons but failed to ever return. His father had also told him the tale of when he entered a dungeon. He spoke of the dangerous traps, the amount of knowledge needed to solve the puzzles, the monsters lurking inside, and most of all, the forgotten treasures.

At first, Rex was uninterested in the treasures, yet his father insisted they were invaluable, such as magic weapons, armours, accessories, runes, sigils, and other unique items. And the rarest of all was Lost Aberrant Magic; magic spells invented by Magicians but not passed down to any.

When they finished eating dinner, their conversation continued for a while longer before Rex thanked Touma for the meal and said his farewells. Rex had decided to leave because he didn't want to face an awkward situation when the ban gets lifted tomorrow morning.

Touma thought the same way. However, there was something that bothered him in the back of his mind. From his conversation with Rex, he deduced that Rex was travelling the world, earned his expenses by finding Guilds and taking on the quests they provided. Since the moment he first saw Rex, he gathered he was extremely powerful. Thus, it was a puzzle to him as to why Rex's name was not in the top 50.

'Maybe his reason is similar to mine? Battling with stronger opponents my age, but he doesn't want to stand out...' Touma shook his head, 'He really is a puzzle. I hope I meet him again.'

Meanwhile, Rex was in the middle of the forest, sharpening his daggers, when all of a sudden, a wicked yet amusing thought crossed his mind, 'I remember the rule book saying the top 50 remaining will get a chance to battle with each other... but what if, just what if, there's less than 50? Heh~ This will be interesting...'

From that moment on, Rex decided to decrease the participant count by a large margin. However, he wasn't the only one who thought of it. Many others were already executing their plans, but their plans weren't as kind as Rex's. They wanted to be the only one left.

Although it was prohibited to battle with other competitors, it was not forbidden to set traps around them. By the first chime of the hour after the ban was lifted, there were only 10 players left. The remaining 10 were the same people who were in the top 10 from last night's chart, with their places shuffled around.

*Beep*

"Because of the enormous decrease of competitors, the Magic Tower has decided to cut the preliminary stage short." The announcer continued, "All competitors, please take a look at the competition bracket and prepare for your opponents."

*Beep*

"All competitors will now be sent out of the labyrinth. In one hour, we will proceed to the one-on-one battle segment. The first match will be between Nox Dexter, Baron Dexter's son, and Joanna Ludwig, the Ludwig family's only daughter." After a brief pause, the announcer continued, "Next match would be against Ursa Lavlaska and Touma Kiyoshi. As everyone already know, the Lavlaska Tribe is famous for their Ancient Magic, while the Kiyoshi Clan is well-known for their Ninjutsu. The winners of both these matches will then take on the Rank 1 and 2 of the preliminary round, Phantom and Yvonne Merrick..."

The announcer continued to announce the order of the matches, Christopher Ludwig against Peter Elley, the Grimmer sisters against each other. He then waited for his words to sink in. A person started cheering, followed by another, and another. Soon, the whole arena erupted in cheers.

The competitors were then teleported out of the labyrinth by the same Sachem Magician who conducted the opening speeches and, teleported them inside. The moment Rex found himself outside, he used a skill to divert everyone's attention from him and used stealth.

* * *

In the corner of the arena...

Psst, psst, psst...

In the background, there were a lot of people betting on who will come out as the winner. As the attendant had told Rex, his sister was the favourite, with a percentage over 50% to win. There were also others who betted on Christopher Ludwig, the second son of the Ludwig family, to repay his last year's defeat against Yvonne Merrick.

Rex, disguised as an ordinary servant boy, went over to them, forked out 5 Gold, leaving only 2 Gold of his savings, and betted on himself. His father had always told him "The Merrick family only gambles to win, and it's not really gambling when you always win".

* * *

As scheduled, the match started one hour later, in a forest landscape. The first match ended in a rather anti-climactic manner. Because of Joanna Ludwig's overconfidence in her skills and family status, she underestimated her opponent by large and lost. Nox Dexter had surprised the spectators by his speed and his ability to catch his opponent off-guard. Joanna Ludwig focused her Earth shield in an area, confident her opponent wouldn't be able to break it, when Dexter swiftly ambushed her from behind with his own Earth magic, knocking Joanna unconscious. Although Joanna's Magic aptitude was higher than her opponent, she was inexperienced with real combat, and thus, lost.

The second match was conducted in a rugged plains; a match between Ursa Lavlaska and Touma Kiyoshi, had provided entertainment for the spectators. It was the first time in over 10 years that both the Lavlaska Tribe and the Kiyoshi Clan had participated in the Magic Competition. Last year, although Ursa was old enough, he had unfortunately caught a summer cold, and therefore not able to participate.

The match went on for quite a while. Throwing stars flew in various different directions, tree vines appeared out of nowhere, bodies being substituted by tree trunks, and tornadoes appeared in a place with nothing but subtle wind. In the end, Ursa experience from being part of Sachael Academy Student Council had prevailed. The match did not end in a knockout, but the total points and number of hits he had accumulated in the span of 30 minutes.

The third match ended as soon as the bell signalling the start of the match had finished ringing. The spectators, including the announcer and the Tower Magicians, were left awestruck. They had not seen Phantom making a move. However, when Nox Dexter landed unconscious on the ground, Phantom was already on the other side of the lake. When he saw Nox sinking, vanished out of thin air, appeared right next to Nox's body within a split second, and pulled him up. No one knew what happened, all except a couple — his mother and father.

The move he used was taught to him by his father, in case he got into trouble and needed to retreat as fast as possible. Rex, however, had modified the usage of the skill and used it to counterattack, instead.

It was at that moment when the Duke and Duchess of Merrick realised their son was taking part in the competition. They did not know why, but nevertheless glad to see him. Rex could see the glow on his parents' eyes, especially his mother. Rex bowed towards them, his parents smiled, while the spectators cheered, mistaking his actions as thanks for their support.

The fourth match was Ursa Lavlaska against Yvonne Merrick. From the crowd's perspective, Yvonne Merrick will win easily without a hitch, and she did not disappoint. With just one spell, she blasted Ursa Lavlaska with Whirlwind. Caught in the middle of the spell, Ursa was unable to regulate his posture, and landed 20 metres away from where he was. Ursa was unable to recover, and bowed out of the competition.

In the following matches, Christopher Ludwig defeated Peter Elley, while the elder of the Grimmer sister appeared victorious. During Christopher Ludwig's match, Rex watched him closely and found the holes in his defence. Although Christopher was more experienced than his sister, it was not by a large margin. One only needed to look and be able to discern that siblings had not entered any battles outside of school or competition. In competition, there were a lot of limitations and experience was crucial to winning.

Compared to Rex, who has travelled across the Kingdom and far far beyond, Christopher was comparable to a poisonous snake, only to be eaten alive by a raptor. It was exactly what happened when Christopher lost in the same manner Nox Dexter did. However, since he had seen the previous match, he was able to put up a modest fight. He immediately cast a circular wall of Earth around himself, but he wasn't quick enough for Rex. Instead of facing Yvonne Merrick in the finals, the only thing he faced was the ground.

Pyra Grimmer and Yvonne Merrick had first faced each other since Yvonne started competing a couple of years ago. On her first appearance, she defeated Pyra, taking the crown from her. The following year, Yvonne had defended her title. Pyra had already sensed Yvonne's abilities were far beyond what she had attained thus far. However, she was unwilling to give up without a fight.

The match started out evenly, but eventually, the difference in their abilities started to show. Yvonne was not only talented, she was also self-disciplined and worked hard on improving her abilities.

In Pyra's case, since she graduated from Sachael Academy's Intermediate Course the year before, she had been swamped with the mentorship program.

After graduating from Sachael Academy, each student has to study under their chosen mentor (if they agree) for a year, before continuing to the Advance Course. Pyra had chosen her Village Chief in order to learn more about the ways of Pirates; their speed and accuracy in marksmanship. Although she had increased her speed and accuracy, it did not make up for the abilities Yvonne already had. Thus the match ended in Pyra's defeat due to insufficient mana.

When it was down to the final match, no one, except the Duke and Duchess of Merrick, had expected such outcome. Many were expecting the finals to be a fight against Christopher Ludwig and Yvonne Merrick, and have placed their bet as such.

The surrounding designed for the finals was kept secret until the very last moment; both finalist were also not informed of where they will be fighting, and were teleported inside a large cave filled with stalactite. Rex stood across his sister, waiting for the signal of the start of the battle.

When Rex first saw his sister, he had complex emotions. He didn't know what to do. However, when he saw his sister's serious and determined expression, his confusion was blown away.
Compared to the rest of the people who were in the top 10, his reason for joining the competition was very dishonourable. He knew his reason was already an insult to them, and he didn't want to insult his sister even further by going easy on her.

On the other end of the cave, Yvonne was squinting her eyes, trying to see more of her opponent's face. Right before the preliminaries, she sensed he was familiar the moment their eyes met. However, for the life of her, she couldn't remember who he looked like. When she saw the announcer lifting his arm to fire the pistol, she decided to push her worries aside and concentrate on the battle before her.

When the sound of the pistol rang, both Rex and Yvonne took off, heading towards each other. Yvonne knew she was no match for her opponent's speed. She predicted he would be behind her, to try and catch her off guard, conforming to the method he used in his previous matches. But when she turned around to face him, he was nowhere in sight, 'What?! Where did he go?'

Rex knew never to underestimate his sister or anyone with the Merrick's blood running through their veins. Rex made it appear to everyone that he was running behind Yvonne. But when Yvonne turned, he immediately teleported back to where he started. No one knew how he did it, but one thing was for sure, he had incredible speed. Rex knew he couldn't defeat his sister the same way he did with others, but nevertheless, he didn't want to injure a girl, especially his sister.

Rex used a high ranked skill called Earthquake, however, he used less than 10% of its actual strength, to cause vibration on the ground. Yvonne, who was unprepared for the attack, lost her balance. Rex used the opening and cast another Earth skill named Magnetic Blast, a skill that allows the user to gather the mana in the area and forcefully infuse it into another person. Although the skill was usually used to heal depleted mana, however, if someone receives more mana than they originally have, it will cause them to faint. Rex only knew of the side-effects because he hand first-hand experience.

Yvonne was first confused to why her opponent was healing her mana, but she soon felt something was awry. She fired one of her Wind spell, Chaos Storm, but she knew it was too late. When she saw her opponent dodging her attack, within a split of a second, her consciousness faded into nothingness.

For a moment there was nothing but silence. It was almost as if no one even dared to breathe. And then it came. Clap. Clap. Clap. Slow and methodical, but with such force and determination that everyone had to turn and look to see who had dared to break the shocked silence.

It was the Duke and Duchess of Merrick.

They had stood up from their seats with their arms high held up high, clapping loud and proud, beaming with pride and delight.

And then someone else began to clap, Adrian, and then Aibelle. Another, and then another. More and more until the entire arena was cheering.

Rex once again faced the direction of where his parents were sitting, and bowed. He then carried his sister's unconscious body and placed her in a stretcher carried by the Tower Magicians. The cheering continued until the third place match was announced. The match went on exactly as predicted; Prya Grimmer defeating Christopher Ludwig.

*Beep*

"The matches are now complete. Thank you all for coming to see this year's Magic Competition. I'm sure everyone will agree that this year was incomparable and the best year yet!" The announcer continued, "In third place, member of the famous legitimate Pirate clan, Prya Grimmer. Second place is someone whom we're all familiar with, last year's champion, Yvonne Merrick. And our champion this year is none other than Phantom, only 13 years of age. According to his application form, he is a Rank C Magician, who specialises in Earth Magic..."

When their names were announced, each of them stepped into the podium and were given their individual trophies. When the Elderly Sachem Magician reached him, Rex bowed. Right when he was about to receive his trophy he heard a voice, 'Please come and see me in the in highest floor of the Magic Tower for your other prizes.' Rex looked up and saw the Sachem Magician smiling at him.

That year was the first of the 2 other years Rex won the Magic Competition. Not only did he win the promised 100 Gold prize money, he also won 3,000 Platinum, which is equivalent to 3,000,000 Gold. However, since any currency higher than Gold was only used by high ranking Nobility and Royalty, he received his winnings in Gold.

* * *

From the Author

Hello again, AnmesicCat here.

I don't really have much to say but to thank the people who created the resources I've used on this chapter:
Challonge : Tournament Bracket Generator.

- AnmesicCat

PS: You can also view the chapter here: Fable Wind: Whispers of the Immortal - Chapter 2

* * *

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1. AnmesicCat

   June 17th, 2014 at 08:39:33 AM

   @mwamwen: Rex is 16.

   @BBeLin: I fixed 2 and 4, as for the last comment, I have no idea how I missed that.

2. AnmesicCat

   June 18th, 2014 at 08:13:21 AM

   @iamayam27: It’s at the bottom of the Chapter.

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