"The first stage of the tournament is officially completed. The following have successfully reached the conditions for clearance and will proceed towards the next stage." Fogre announced on the sixth day of the tournament.
"With first and second place called out respectively. Group A: Wendel Castellan..."
Among the progressors (students who passed the first stage), there were two from each of the sixteen groups, hence thirty-two students. For Group A, they were Wendel and the only other notable individual in his group, a direct descendant of a Marquis. Group B's situation was very similar except that the progressors, apart from Ashton Graham, was a duke's direct descendant.
Group C's topper was a marquis' direct descendant and a count's direct descendant. Group D was Asher in first place and Ezra Klein in second. Mischael, despite having home support, had lost to Ezra and placed third in the group.
Group E had the same arrangement as Group C. Group F had Aurora as the group topper and Koln following closely. Koln's appearance in second place came as a result of his victory against the other tough competitor in the group, a direct descendant of a duke, on the first day of the first stage of the tournament or the second day of the tournament.
Group G had a considerably different situation from the other groups. The group topper happened to be a count's direct descendant and the second place was a mage with no affiliation to a noble family. He was one of the few in such a situation that progressed in the tournament and had attracted quite a lot of attention. As for who it was, the person was someone Asher was familiar with; James.
What stood out the most about James in his performance was his usage of the Wind element as well as the fact that he had a second element, the Mist element. This dramatic reveal during a difficult battle he experienced on the third day, had made James a prized target for the Saunters family, who valued the Mist element dearly.
Having James become a member of the family would ensure that there would be a next generation Mist element user, and this was a chance the Saunters couldn't let go off. If it weren't for the rules that stated that patrons, nobles and other interested characters aren't allowed to extend invitations to the students until the tournament was over, Nicholai would have invaded the stage then.
What was quite surprising was that when the interested parties began investigating James, they found out that he was connected to Asher. All of them couldn't help but think 'again?!' after recalling Raven.
Group H saw Raven top the group after his victory, based on tie-breakers, against the only direct descendant of a duke in his group. The latter took the second place in the group. Interestingly, Noah Connors happened to be in this group and had taken third place, but that was not enough to progress to the next round.
Group I had a direct descendant of a duke take first place and second was a non-affiliated genius just like James. Group J had an interesting figure on first place; Melissa Miller, the daughter of Count Miller and a close friend of Asher's. Second place was a branch member of a duke family.
Group K had a side member of the Grahams at first place while Dylan Sutton, the cousin of Alexander Sutton and a side descendant of the Sutton family. Group L's topper was Lyn Castellan and Ethan Croft followed right behind.
Group M was dominated by Hanru, and second place was another person Asher was familiar with, Owen Briston. On the fourth day of the tournament, Owen and Hanru had faced each other and that was one of the most interesting fights, although it ended quickly. The result of the fight had also solidified the rankings of Group M.
As for Group N, duke Mozart's direct descendant led the group followed closely by the son of a viscount who had seized the second spot despite a count's direct descendant being in his group.
For the last two groups, Group O had Emma Saunters in first place and Alex Sutton at second. As for Group P, they had unimportant characters.
With the losers and winners decided, the next stage of the tournament was to begin. However, Fogre announced that the sixth day, which was today, would be a rest day. At the same time, there would be a performance by a dance troupe followed shortly by a trade fair organised by the two academies where the guests could buy artefacts, herbs, and other items at a discounted price.
The audience members could either return back to their homes for a break, or visit the trade fair.
The VIP members had already been informed about this earlier, and along with the notification letter was an attachment of the students that progressed onto the next stage as well as the ratings and rankings of the others.
The intention of the two academies was clear; they treated the nobility different from the commoners, to the point they somewhat aided the former in their recruitment scheme.
. . .
"Hey, Asher." Noah called out the the departing figure.
Asher turned around and glanced at the direction of the voice, spotting Noah, James and Melissa heading his way. He waved at them and paused, he waiting for the trip to catch up to him.
"Where are you headed?" James asked enthusiastically.
"I'm planning on checking out the trade fair to see if I can find something interesting." Asher replied.
"Oh, can we tag along?"
"Aren't you supposed to be making the best out of your time?" Asher looked at him strangely.
Although James was quite strong, the next stage of the tournament wouldn't be easy as all of his possible opponents were talented students.
"Yeah true, but he needs to take a breather. He's been on the edge for the past five days and barely gotten a proper rest." Noah came to his rescue.
Asher took a second look at James and nodded.
"I guess you're right. Even then, you can't spend the entire day slacking off you know."
"No problem." James smiled.
While Asher might be thinking of the second stage, James wasn't bothered about it. He had done better than he had expected and was confident that he had garnered some attention from the nobles and powerful people in the crowd. It could be said that he had successfully made a name for himself.
As for the next stage, James was well aware that it was above him. The only reason he managed to even qualify for it was because his group was one of the more easier ones, unlike Noah and Alex Sutton's. Compared to the majority of the remaining competitors of the tournament, James lacked the foundation and resources to compete with them. It was pretty much destined that he would lose his next match unless he gets pitted with someone in a similar situation like him. Since that was the case, James wanted to take a break.
Throughout the past five days, he had only slept four hours a day and spent the majority of the time after the tournament either training or revolving his mana along his mana points. This was a sort of special mana training that helped a mage to get accustomed to moving their mana faster and increasing the durability of their mana points for intense battles.
"How about you? Same thing?" Asher asked Melissa.
"Hmph. I just wanted to say hi to you and congratulate you on your victory, although it was a bit too bland." Melissa said.
"So, you're not following us?" Asher ignored her statement and asked.
"...I'm going too." Melissa puffed her cheeks.
"Should have said so from the start." Asher yawned and turned towards the gate, heading out once again.
"Oh yeah, congrats on your victory." Asher said.
With his back facing her, Asher failed to spot the slight redness that appeared in Melissa's cheeks as he turned her head to the ground.