Owen paid no attention to Benedict and the others.
With a thought, he used mana to gather their staffs and weapons, drawing them to his side.
He was particularly pleased to retrieve a ring from Erik's pile of remains.
The ring, with its sapphire hue, was crystal clear and emitted a unique spatial ripple.
A storage ring!
This was a valuable item!
Owen was thrilled because, in any kingdom, a storage ring was worth a fortune, typically owned only by nobles who could afford to buy and wear them with enough gold coins.
Owen's mind power turned into a vortex, diving into the ring and dispersing Erik's remaining mental imprint, leaving his own mark.
The internal space of the storage ring was vast, like a square room filled with a variety of items, mostly piled with gold coins, numbering in the thousands.
"Not bad!"
Owen was very satisfied and began placing the staffs and weapons from the mages into the ring.
These were high-value weapons from gold-tier mages.
Combined with the gold coins in Erik's storage ring, Owen realized he had suddenly become wealthy, possessing a fortune most mages could never earn in a lifetime!
Additionally, having eliminated so many gold-tier mages, his experience bar had surged, bringing him just a step away from reaching gold-tier level 1!
...
Meanwhile, in the royal palace, under the arena set up for the competition, Alfonso, Saint Annie, Andre, Princess Marry, and the young geniuses from important families of the Azure Kingdom had all gathered.
They had been waiting for over an hour, yet Owen had not shown up, prompting quiet discussions.
"The Magic Competition has already officially started, and Owen still hasn't arrived. Is he planning to back out and not participate?"
"I think he's hiding to protect his reputation, unwilling to show up!"
"Let's forget about him. There's no need to wait for this coward any longer. He might never show up again."
Many geniuses whispered among themselves.
This time, Princess Marry's Magic Competition had piqued everyone's interest, especially in Owen, the top genius. Many had come with the intent to challenge him.
However, with the key figure missing, they couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
In the audience, the royal family, the Council of Elders, some nobles, and other important figures like Edward from Academy City were also discussing quietly with furrowed brows.
The focus of their discussion was mostly on Owen.
Given his current fame and achievements, other geniuses couldn't compare to him, and even some older figures paled in comparison.
"Princess, I think we should start now. We can't keep waiting for him," Alfonso said impatiently.
He knew that Owen's absence was likely due to Erik and his guard mages ambushing him. He didn't deny Owen's strength, but Erik and his guards were all gold-tier mages. Even a platinum-tier mage would have to take them seriously if they attacked together.
Owen not showing up could mean that he had been killed by Erik and the mages.
Even if he wasn't killed, he was probably seriously injured.
If Owen did show up, Alfonso planned to take advantage of his weakened state to eliminate him. He coveted the Order of Fire within Owen.
If he could feed it to his fire dragon soul, his own power would undergo an unprecedented transformation.
After Alfonso's forceful statement, other geniuses quickly agreed.
They were proud and confident in their own right.
While they acknowledged Owen's extraordinary abilities, they too were prodigies.
They couldn't wait indefinitely for Owen.
Seeing this, Princess Marry nodded and said, "This Magic Competition aims to foster exchange and learning. You may take the stage to challenge or defend against other geniuses' challenges..."
Princess Marry briefly explained the rules and then announced the start of the competition.
The Magic Competition officially began!
Two figures shot into the air.
Saint Annie stepped onto the stage, barefoot, as if walking on water, appearing as if she had shrunk the distance between her and the arena.
At the same time, Andre, with a hearty expression, charged onto the stage.
His burly figure, like a humanoid beast, caused the ground to tremble slightly when he landed.
"Since Annie is so eager, let me be the first to challenge! I've heard that the saint's white magic is somewhat different from the white magic of Moonspring Kingdom."
Andre clenched his fists, wrapped in bandages, like solid rocks, his fighting spirit intense.
As a genius from Sahano, who had trained in dark magic for years, he was eager to exchange blows with other prodigies.
For him, winning or losing was not important; participating was what mattered!
Seeing that it was Andre challenging her, a rare smile appeared on Annie's usually cold face. She made a gesture of invitation, saying, "Let's keep it friendly. Please, go ahead."
From what she knew, Sahano was a small country where church and state were unified, and its people enjoyed participating in events.
They were generally good-natured.
Andre was also known to be a good-natured person, so she intended to focus on a friendly exchange.
With Annie's polite invitation, Andre did not hold back.
He leaped into the air, his entire body seeming to be encased in a sturdy magical armor, making him a formidable force in both attack and defense.
Annie, with a calm expression, simply adopted defensive measures, silently neutralizing each of Andre's fierce attacks, displaying a subtle yet effective technique.
Even when Andre used his strongest techniques, he could not threaten Annie in the slightest. Only then did Annie strike, sending Andre off the stage.
As they clashed, the crowd's discussions grew louder.
"Annie's strength is unfathomable. She effortlessly deflected all of Andre's attacks, clearly not using her full power!"
"Yes, the first battle is already so interesting. I wonder who will come out on top in this Magic Competition."
"I think Alfonso has a good chance. He comes from Kyrik's Gowato Sanctuary, a place full of geniuses!"
Amid the crowd's discussions, Annie continued to battle various prodigies.
Although she won all her matches, the mana consumption was significant, forcing her to leave the stage to recover.
After Annie left, Alfonso rushed onto the stage. Instead of waiting for other prodigies to challenge him, he provocatively stared at the geniuses from Azure Kingdom.
"Azure Kingdom scum, dare to fight me?"
His words shocked and angered the Azure Kingdom prodigies. Azure Kingdom and Kyrik were far from friendly neighboring countries. On the contrary, numerous wars had broken out between the two.
Kyrik, with its spellbeasts and fierce, domineering nature, frequently harassed the border cities of Azure Kingdom.
Azure Kingdom, generally at a disadvantage and plagued by internal power struggles within its royal family, often chose to tolerate Kyrik's provocations, even resorting to paying reparations for peace.
This made the people of Azure Kingdom resentful of their royal family and harbor animosity towards the people of Kyrik.
Now, with Alfonso's arrogant taunts on their home turf, how could the Azure Kingdom prodigies tolerate it?
"Arthur of Azure Kingdom, here to challenge!"
A chubby young man, a silver-tier level 8, leaped onto the stage.
As the two stood on the stage, the audience buzzed with discussion.
"Alfonso may be a prodigy of Kyrik, but he is too arrogant, completely disregarding the Azure Kingdom's prodigies!"
"Though he is indeed arrogant, he has the right to be. A gold-tier level 7 at his age is rare, and his combat power is even more terrifying. It's rumored that he once fought a platinum-tier level 3 expert and emerged unscathed..."
"This time, it's Azure Kingdom's home turf, hosted by Princess Marry herself. If they can't suppress Alfonso, Azure Kingdom will lose a lot of face."
As the crowd watched in anticipation, Arthur roared and charged at Alfonso.
With his steps, the ground of the arena shook, transforming into sharp spikes that attacked Alfonso from all directions.
"Weak! Too weak!"
Locked onto by the spikes, Alfonso remained unmoved, standing proudly in place as he coldly mocked, "Are people like you considered prodigies? It seems Azure Kingdom is full of arrogant weaklings!"