The 200 2nd Circle Mages were all gathered in a hall, waiting to get their tokens and know what opponent they would be facing for the first round. This was a common practice in the Elemental Clash, although the Mages are called out individually in front of everyone, in truth, everything, starting from their opponents and the Stage they fight in, all of it is predetermined.
The gathered mages observed each other carefully, all of them were known elites from the region they came, this however, was the Central Domain, this was where the strongest and most elite of the mages gathered.
This was the peak of magic competition and just by judging from the atmosphere, one could feel overwhelmed. Some Mages looked confident and walked with their heads raised, others, however, were nervous as they looked around.
Everyone calculated their chances of winning, trying to figure out the rank they would get or how they would impress the Vesta Family that will be observing their performance today.
This air inside the hall was certainly lively, but suddenly, a huge shout was heard.
""Young Master Vaan!""
Five Mages shouted as they knelt down in front of Vaan.
Seeing this, Vaan 'frowned' in confusion and then questioned, "What are you all doing?"
"Young Master Vaan, we have a request."
Asher spoke.
"Do you think it is time to be taking any request? It is time to take your tokens and get onto the stage.
With the speed at which they are fighting, it won't take long before the Winner of Tier One is decided.
Go and prepare for your battles, you must be in your prime situation if you want to get the best possible results."
Vaan spoke.
By now, most of the two hundred mages had turned towards Vaan and the five mages who were kneeling on the ground, as mages, containing their curiosity was something they were all bad at.
"Young Master Vaan, it is regarding the Elemental Clash, please listen to our humble request." Asher sounded adamant.
Vaan sighed, "What is it?" he questioned in defeat.
"Please allow us to surrender if by chance we are up against you." Asher requested.
"Huh? Why would you do that?" Vaan furrowed his brows in confusion.
"In exchange, I hope that Young Master Vaan remembers our names. We know that Young Master Vaan has recently become one the of Potential Heirs of the Vesta Family. We may not have the power to directly help you, but please see our surrender as a sign of our support to you."
Asher spoke and the moment he did, the other mages frowned in confusion.
"What are they talking about? And why are they kneeling on the ground?" A mage questioned another mage who stood near me.
"How would I know?" The other mage replied.
They weren't the only pair, all the mages in the hall had started murmuring to each other as well.
"Asher, the Elemental Clash is an event where the Mages show off their strength. Even if you do not win, if you manage to impress the Family recruiters by your skill, the chances that you will be recruited by the Family are extremely high.
No mage would want to surrender before the battle and lose that opportunity. Why are you trying to surrender before the battle even begins just so I can remember your name? I am telling you right now, being recruited by the Family is much more advantageous than being remembered by me.
This is my honest advice to you, no matter who you face, give your best. The worst that can happen is that you will lose. What is so bad about it? What if you get lucky and catch the eyes of one of the recruiters? Your entire life would change in an instant."
Vaan spoke as he patted on Asher's head, the other mages agreed with Vaan's words, they didn't come this far just to surrender before even fighting, this opportunity, there is no way they were going to give it up. After saying his piece, Vaan was about to leave, but then,
"I am not talking foolishly, Young Master Vaan! I have considered this decision for days before finally deciding to go along with it.
I have analyzed the results of Elemental Clashes held before this one. Most of the time, the Vesta Family only recruits Mages from the Third and Fourth Tier, while the First and Second Tier get nothing.
Last year, only 3 out of the 200 Mages from the Second Tier were reported and this was considered good since the year before that, there were no recruitments from the Second Tier, and the year before only one mage was recruited.
The chances of us low-level mages getting recruited are extremely low.
On the other hand, Young Master Vaan is a Mage with a bright future. We have already witnessed your strength when you fought those mages who challenged you before, with you Advance Circle, you can already be called the strongest 2nd Circle Mage in the world, if we are unfortunate enough to get matched against you, then rather than embarrassing ourselves, it is much better to surrender and get into Young Master's good book.
Young Master Vaan, please be generous and let us selfishly hold your thighs. I promise we will work hard in the future and make sure that you do not regret your decision.
Please let us surrender, Young Master Vaan!"
Asher spoke and as he did, Elara's four other punching Bags repeated after him as well,
""Please let us surrender, Young Master Vaan!""
"…"
"…"
The entire Hall turned silent. The mages couldn't understand what was happening. Most of the Mages here were new, however, even the ones who were quite talented and got to join the Elemental Clash every year were taken aback as well. This was the first time they were witnessing a situation like this.
"Hey, isn't that man Young Master Vaan? From what I know, he is only a 1st Circle Mage and never dared to participate in the Elemental Clash because he was weak. What is he doing here? And why are those 5 kneeling in front of him? Do they have a screw loose in their heads or something? Or is it all an act?"
A mage from a ward that was located in the outskirts of the Vesta City questioned with a confused look on his face. It was clear from his question that he was not quite up to date about the recent events.
"Tsk, this is the recent they shouldn't allow some bumkins to stand together with people like us! Do you even know what you are talking about? Are you perhaps living in past!? Young Master Vaan has long revealed his real talents to the rest of the world!
Weak? Weak my ass! Young Master Vaan is probably, no, surely the strongest out of all the mages here. So strong that the well-informed Mages aren't even vying for the Top Spot this year and are desperately hoping that they do not face Young Master Vaan before the finals."
Another Mage from the Central Region snorted.
"That is correct! A screw loose in their heads? I'd say that they have come up with a fine idea. What's the point of fighting Young Master Vaan anyway? How are we supposed to face him when his Magic Circles are 1.5 times bigger than ours and have a total of 12 Inner Circles? At this point, Young Master Vaan is already comparable to a 3rd Circle Mage, there is no way normal 2nd Circle Mages like us would be able to hold off against him."
"I agree. Young Master Vaan has the ability to defeat us so one-sidedly that even if we gave our all, rather than impressing the recruiters, we would only become a laughing stock. I'd rather we do what they are doing, surrender, and show our support to Young Master Vaan.
If Young Master Vaan remembers our face, then in the future when he grows even stronger, than we might benefit more from it."
Another Mage nodded.
"That… doesn't sound like a bad option…"
"Indeed…"
One by one, more and more mages started agreeing, these were the mages who had either seen or heard about Vaan's achievements. After all, the fact that Vaan defeated 6 mages in one go was already well-known in most parts of the Vesta City. Not to mention one of those mages was even a 3rd Circle Mage, although he used Instant Spells to win the battle, just the fact that Vaan won and even killed a 3rd Circle Mage made him quite fearsome.
More mages nodded and started considering what to do, then suddenly, a white-haired woman walked out and knelt,
"Please let me surrender as well, Young Master Vaan."
Seraphina spoke with her head bowed.
A mage had already taken action.
'Shit! The later I take action, the weaker my impression will be!'
Knowing that fact, another Mage jumped forward and,
"My name is Isolde Varanas from the Varanas Family,
Please let me surrender and show my support to you, Young Master Vaan."
'Shit! We are late!'
Other mages rushed forward as well.
""Please let us surrender, Young Master Vaan!""
Taken back by the situation, Vaan momentarily glanced at Seraphina and a small smile appeared on his secretary's face.
