Magic's Return: I Can See The Spirits

"People of the Vesta City!"

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the Vesta City.

One must understand that Vesta City, while commonly referred to as a city, is, in reality, colossal. It is as vast as the Four Great Kingdoms of Agresia, spanning over ten million square kilometers.

The Colossal City was divided into 8 Mystic Domains and one Central Domain where the Vesta Mansion is located, each of those Mystic Domains had around 20 Districts, some domains having more while some had less depending on different factors like area, demographics, unique characteristics of the said domain, and other things.

Anyways, these Districts further consist of hundreds of Towns or Municipalities, there are also different wards and communities to manage densely populated areas.

All these administrative divisions are organized in a strict hierarchal system that is managed by the Vesta Family living in the Central Domain.

Of course, the entire Administrative System that managed such a huge city was complex and needed a lot of manpower working in a systematic way. The Vesta Family had perfected this System after constantly improving it for thousands of years.

Even then, there are sometimes people who manage to find loophole in the system and use it to their advantage. Anyways, that is the matter for some other day, today, the air around this big city was different.

Even the people living on the very edge of this colossal city could hear the announcer's voice. Even the smallest of wards and communities had at least one big screen floating in the sky, showing the huge stage where the Mages would battle each other.

Of course, arranging such a broad event was not simple and required huge amount of resources, the fact that the Vesta City could manage it for free showed just how strong the Vesta Family's foundation was.

Soon, the screen shifted to show a beautiful blonde-haired woman with an energetic air around her, she then pointed at the screen and,

"Are you prepared to bear witness to the most exciting Magic Tournament in the entire Agresia!?

Are you eagerly awaiting the spectacle of our city's most skilled Mages engaging in fierce battles to assert their dominance? And, above all, are you ready to meet the Mages who will be crowned as the champions in their respective tiers!?

The long-awaited moment has arrived!

The Elemental Clash of Year 5039 is about to commence!"

"YEAAHHHH!!!"

The entire stadium erupted in cheers. Just from the sheer excitement people showed and the amount of resources the Vesta Family invests into it, one could tell just how big of a tournament the Elemental Clash was.

People all over Agresia came to the Vesta City just to get a chance to witness this tournament.

Despite being held every single year, the Elemental Clash was much more popular than many Tournaments that are held once in a decade.

The crowd cheered for more than 5 minutes, shouting the names of the Mages they supported, showing their overflowing excitement and once the people finally calmed down, the announcer took this as her cue and continued,

"But before we kick off the tournament, let's extend a warm welcome to our distinguished guest. She is the leader who has consistently governed our city with fairness and safeguarded us from all potential threats. Please stand up and show your respects to the esteemed head of the Great Vesta Family, Astra Elysia Vesta!"

As the announcement rang through the grand arena, all eyes turned expectantly to the entrance, awaiting the arrival of Ruler of the City. The crowd buzzed with excitement, their murmurs and whispers rippling through the air like a gentle breeze.

Moments later, a hushed silence descended on the arena as a vision of elegance and authority, Lady Astra, swept into the arena. Her presence was nothing short of regal. She wore a breathtaking black gown that seemed to emphasize her ethereal beauty and noble aura. The attire, intricately designed and adorned, accentuated her grace and the proud insignia of the Vesta Family that adorned it.

Her black hair cascaded like a silken waterfall, matching the depth of her eyes, which were the same rich shade. Lady Astra's face was exquisite, radiating a timelessness that marked her as a true paragon of her noble lineage.

"Lady Astra!"

"Long Live the Vesta Family!"

As Astra moved gracefully, the crowd couldn't help but erupt into applause and admiration. Their cheers filled the arena, a demonstration of the profound respect and adoration they held for their esteemed leader. The applause and cheers were like a tidal wave of devotion, echoing her name and reverberating through the grand space.

Lady Astra acknowledged her people's heartfelt reception with a gracious smile, her eyes sparkling with gratitude. She paused for a moment, relishing the deep connection she had with her subjects and their unwavering loyalty.

After she became the Family Head, she couldn't leave the Family House that easily, so opportunities where she could see the people of her city were rare. Therefore, Astra always made sure to thoroughly enjoy such moments and personally assess how the people of her city were doing.

Finally, Lady Astra made her way to a specially prepared seat in the arena. The chair, meticulously arranged, was a symbol of honor befitting the head of the Great Vesta Family. As she took her place, the audience's respectful hush grew even deeper, every gaze fixed upon her, their devotion as unwavering as her noble presence.

Astra smiled, then, she glanced at the Host of the event and, "Start the Tournament." She ordered. Unlike the Host, she didn't have any equipment that amplified her voice to make it audible, but even then, her calm and gentle voice carried so much strength that every being in the huge arena could hear it clearly. 

The host quickly nodded, then, she turned towards the crowd and,

"Since we already received Lady Astra's permission, let's start what we all have gathered here for!

Just like every other year, the participants of this year's Elemental Clash have been divided into 4 Tiers as well!

1st Tier having 300 1st Circle Mages.

2nd Tier having 200 2nd Circle Mages.

3rd Tier having 100 3rd Circle Mages.

And the last and the you people are the most excited for,

4th Tier having 64 participants, all of them being one of our cities' finest 4th Circle Mages."

Of course, this wasn't the total number of mages who wanted to participate in the tournament, with how grand the tournament was and how many opportunities it opened up for different mages, every Mage wanted to participate in the Elemental Clash.

According to the reports, the total number of applications received from the 8 Mystic Zones combined was 842,581, and from such a large number, only 664 Elite Mages were been selected.

Each Mystic Domain selected their best Seventy 1st Circle Mages, Forty 2nd Circle Mages, twenty 3rd Circle Mages, and twelve 4th Circle Mages, the rest of the Mages came from the Central City, which mostly consisted of Mages from the Vesta Family. Most of the other families in the Central District usually sent their children to other domains to participate in the tournament from their side, avoiding the Vesta Mages at the start.

The Elemental Clash was not only a tournament between Mages, it was also a Clash between different noble families who wanted to show their might, not only that, even the 8 Mystic Domains completed each other, with the Domain with the best performance receiving resources to cultivate more and more mages.

This in turn made the Mystic Zone Administrators work hard to produce young talent, they arranged special tournaments in the Districts, Towns, Municipalities and wards under them, throughout the year, trying to find the strongest mages for each tier who could represent them in the elemental Clash.

This promoted Magic throughout the Vesta City, allowing the colossal city to continuously produce top-tier Mages from generations.

"So, without further ado, let's start with our 1st Tier, let us see how our 1st Tier Mages would perform this year, please put your hands together for Elowen Frostfury and Cassius Flamestrider.

The two mages, please come to the Stage number 1."

Just like that, the tournament started.

The Arena was huge and had a total of 16 Stages the Mages could fight in, each Stage had 2 Healers who were always ready to treat the injured and its own personnel referee who started and decided the result of the Magic Duel.

One by one, the announcer continued to call the participants and assigned them to their designated Stages.

Under the crowd's excited cheers, the Magic Duels started, of course, the people here couldn't possibly focus on all 16 Magic Duels at the same time, they only focused on the battles that excited them the most.

To gain the attention of most of the crowd was also a form of achievement for some mages.

The winners qualified for the next round while the losers were eliminated from the tournament without having any second chance, it was unfair to Mages who faced strong opponents from the beginning, but so was life. 

The Clash between different 1st Circle Mages continued for the long time, 

As for the Hall where the 200 2nd Circle Mages were gathered... 

Something completely out of the expectation was happening.