On the second day of the big martial arts director's performance, it was still that grand convention hall, and the audience seats were filled again.
When the thirty guild mages entered the stage, the cheers from the audience were deafening.
Compared to yesterday when only MakaiHammer and others were chanting from the audience, today about one-fourth of the audience is cheering for them.
This is all due to George's one-shot kill yesterday.
Strength-seeking is a natural inclination of most humans. As long as you demonstrate enough strength, you will not lack followers and worshippers.
After the host finished the opening speech, he handed the floor back to the pumpkin man from yesterday.
"Now, please welcome our Mr. Pumpkin to introduce the rules for today's competition!"
Mr. Pumpkin's magic projection appeared in the upper part of the hall.
"Today we are to hold an individual match, utilizing our magical system to randomly match fighters for combat while excluding members of the current guild from participation.
The winner will earn ten points for their guild, the loser earns zero, and in the event of a draw, both receive five points."
As Mr. Pumpkin's magic projection fell, ten magical arrays appeared throughout the hall, and ten circular arenas rose simultaneously.
"Please note that a match is over when one side loses their combat capabilities or surrenders, and killing an opponent results in the player losing their chance to compete. If any member of a guild is eliminated, the entire guild will be disqualified."
"This space magic array is quite interesting. After the grand martial arts performance ends, perhaps I can go to the Royal Magic Development Bureau and the Royal Library to take a look."
Yesterday, he noticed that the magic arrays in the hall could not only transmit items but also retrieve them.
In fact, there are also large-scale teleportation magic arrays in this world; the Magical Council had used them before, but he couldn't find any related magical books in the library of Fairy Tail.
It is estimated that large-scale teleportation magic arrays like this are strategic magical arts that are monopolized by the Royal Family and the Magical Council. Perhaps it is because their use is very demanding, such as consuming a lot of magical crystals.
But even if the usage conditions are demanding, he feels there is value in learning it.
He has just learned how to make door keys, which can also be used for teleportation, although they can't transport too many people at once. By referencing the large-scale teleportation magic array, he might be able to make some improvements.
Moreover, the Royal Magic Development Bureau and the Royal Library are quite well-known entities in the kingdom, and it is worth visiting.
Maybe he can also find some clues about time magic.
"Now, let's begin the first group of draws!"
Mr. Pumpkin pointed to the large screen above the hall, where the names of one hundred and fifty mages began rolling quickly.
"Stop!"
After ten seconds, the names on the large screen stopped rolling, and the first group of competitors began to appear one by one from top to bottom.
And at the top of the list in the first group were none other than George from Fairy Tail and Ogre from Earth-Eating Tiger.
Seeing the two mages who made the biggest impression yesterday suddenly paired up, the audience in the stands all stood up excitedly.
Both of these mages managed to take down the terrifying mechanical magic gorilla with a single strike yesterday, and they are both lightning attribute mages. The battle is sure to be very exciting.
"There must be some sort of backlash."
George muttered to himself in his heart.
How convenient, for the two contestants who stood out the most yesterday to end up paired together today, and in the first group of matches.
It's clear that the host, the Royal Family, wants to start with some heavyweight contestants to liven up the event.
This is just like the entertainment programs in his previous life. To have something worth watching, it's necessary to design a script in advance and follow it. Otherwise, how can there be so many spontaneous and hilarious segments?
As this is the first time the Royal Family is hosting the grand martial arts performance, they naturally hope to attract the attention of everyone in the country and lay a solid foundation for future events. They need to provide enough entertainment.
The so-called random drawing is actually a backstage operation.
How the matchups are arranged to create more excitement, that's how they go about it.
Otherwise, if the powerful mages are paired against those of average skill, it would just be a one-sided kill in the match, and there would be nothing to watch.
While carefully examining the matchups listed above, George noticed that the levels of the mages participating in the battles were roughly on par with each other.
That means the top students are battling against each other, and the underperforming students are competing against each other.
In this way, it would prevent a situation where the individual matches end with such a big gap in scores between the various guild teams that the following two events become predictable without any suspense.
Of course, it could also be that the Royal Family wants all mages to show their full range of magic, so they can secretly register and collect information.
He always feels that something is amiss with the grand martial arts performance.
"Please bring the competitors of the first group to the stage!"
The nineteen people and a cat chosen in the draw stood on the ten arenas respectively.
"I never expected my opponent to be a mere cat. I've heard you defeated Laxus?"
On the arena, Ogar stood with arms crossed, his face full of arrogance.
George asked curiously:
"Do you know Laxus?"
"Not, I don't know him. I just heard that he was a mage who used the Lightning Destroying Dragon Magic, and he was very powerful. But it seems that he's not that great after all, otherwise how could he have been defeated by a cat?"
Ogar's face showed disdain.
Both of them have lost magic powers, and both are S-level. He always regards Laxus as his opponent, hoping one day to compete against him head-to-head and prove that he is the strongest Thunder Mage.
Unfortunately, Laxus was defeated by a cat and died in the hands of a dragon, which was too disappointing for him.
"It's good that we're not acquaintances. Then it won't be awkward."
George nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
Ogar's brow furrowed:
"What does that mean?"
"What do you mean?"
"No particular meaning."
George spread out his kitten paws.
If Ogar is Laxus's friend, then George won't dare to use too much force against him. Since he's not, it doesn't matter.
"Match, begin!"
As the host's shout echoed, two sturdy palace guards violently rang the large bell on the statue.
"It's your time to go down."
Hearing the sound of the bell, Ogar pointed at George.
"Black Thunder Ball, Disintegrate God Magic!"
The huge black sphere instantly enveloped George's body, countless black bolts of lightning flickered within the magic ball, one after another blasting towards George.
The audience, seeing this, exclaimed in shock, and many of them worried for George, especially the girls who liked cats.
However, to their surprise, as the black balls' lightning bolts hit George, they all seemed to encounter a mirror and bounced back automatically without actually hitting him.
"That's quite interesting."
George raised his kitten paws, and a blue lightning bolt occurred, enveloping and shrinking the black thunder ball into his paws.
The black thunder ball indeed contained a special power, much stronger than normal lightning, but this level of magic ball posed no threat to him who had already touched the essence of lightning.
"You and I are not even in the same league. There's also some gap between you and Laxus."
George's kitten paws flicked, and the blue lightning ball wrapped in black lightning was instantly shot flying in front of Ogar's face.
