Despite knowledge of the thirteen Great Families planning to compete quite aggressively over the Magic Contest, the students remained excited for the contest. Nothing short of a war could possibly dull their hype for the magic contest.
With eight competitions comprising the Magic Contest, four of which were team competitions, many students harbored the dream of participating, and many more were even confident of being able to secure a spot.
Had it been a handful of competitions with a single contestant and no division differentiation, then none of them would be nearly as hyped for the Magic Contest, for their chances of getting in were virtually none.
The diversity and the opportunity that the event provided were deliberately extensive and divided by year. Thus, even the apprentices could get in on the action, causing the excitement to truly proliferate across the entire academy.
"Thankfully," President Mileila continued. "The administration is very familiar with the Magic Contest, naturally, making them quite familiar with the process that generally takes place each year to select the contestants for each competition. Thus, they will be able to advise us on what is the most optimal way to deal with the selection and the training process. The experts can help shape and refine our plans."
"Are the competitions of the Magic Contest the same each year?" one student council member asked with a curious tone. "That would make things too predictable, no?"
President Mileila nodded. "Indeed, the competitions are not the same each year. There are a number of competitions that the Magic Contest randomly chooses from. This is to ensure that magicademies do not start preparing for them more than a year in advance. As important as the Magic Contest is, it is not meant to overshadow actual magic development, studies, and training."
This was understandable, although many students would undoubtedly not mind if it did overshadow their academics.
It was just too damn fun.
"This year's competitions are some of my favorites," President Mileila remarked with an ecstatic smile as she pulled out a document from the stack to her side on the table, flipping through the pages.
"For the first individual contest, we have the Vertir Duel Contest," she began with an enthusiastic tone. "Contestants will fight each other in a large vertir arena with a spacious battlefield, and the winner will pass on to the next round in an elimination-style tournament."
Vertirs were colosseum-like stadiums, native to Elendir, that were specifically designated for mage-fighting. While such structures were relatively universal throughout human civilization for one reason or another, they were uniquely structured in Elendir, comprising a large, closed dome-like structure with seating arrangements across the walls.
This allowed for a more three-dimensionally distributed perspective on mage battles that very often took to the air.
"The Vertir Duel Contest will begin with sixteen match-ups featuring the representatives of a total of thirty-two magicademies in the entire nation," President Mileila continued. "Only one can emerge victorious, of course."
Of the thirty-two magicademies that would be participating in the Magic Contest, only thirteen of them were branches of the Elendir Institute of Magic; the rest were public, private, or other public-private magicademies with diverse avenues of funding.
Naturally, although these institutes were among the best in the country after the Elendir Institute of Magic, they didn't quite match up with all the backing and funding. They tended to be the second-best offered by the entire country, making they never the favorites.
Of course, historically, there had been upsets, but they weren't common.
For the most part, the winner was likely to come from one of the thirteen great families of the Elendir.
"The Vertir Duel Contest is regarded as one of the prestigious competitions because it directly correlates with combat magic, which is one of the most important fields of magic," she remarked with a knowing tone. "Whoever we select needs to be among the very strongest of the strongest in our magicademy for both freshmen and seniors. Thankfully, our magicademy has many gifted students in that regard; it will be interesting to see who emerges on top."
Cæ stirred in his seat with faint interest as he remained silent.
He would be lying if he weren't curious about whether he could be selected for the senior combat role. It was arrogant for a newbie Senior who had only studied magic for a year to possibly think he stood a chance against senior students who had been mastering magic for many years.
And yet, he wasn't an ordinary student. Even putting aside his pure magic, how many senior students had actual field experience against apprentice mages, even if low-grade, in a battlefield with their lives at stake?
He suspected that it was likely not many.
Still, he couldn't be sure.
He wasn't sure about how strong senior mages were.
However, even if they were strong enough to trump him at the moment, could the same be said for after a year of training?
One year of training got him to a truly remarkable level of combat magic prowess, so what about another year of training?
His expression grew complicated.
Did he truly have the time to train for the Magic Contest?
He had his academics and his business ventures; these were more than time-consuming enough by themselves.
On the other hand, he was curious about how well he fared against others of his generation.
"This year, we have a lot of students who are gifted in combat," President Mileila remarked with a confident smile, drawing his attention. "But out of them, I suspect that…"
She turned to Vice-President Virlyd Mir with a knowing glance.
"You will most likely bag the roster this time, won't you?"
A wave of agreement and approval swept across the senior students.
Cæ's gaze shifted to the vice-president with a curious gaze.
He had a domineeringly muscular body that loomed over the meeting, giving him a heavy and solid presence. His light brown eyes were calm while his expression was solemnly composed. That, in addition to his short hair, gave him an even more serious feel.
"Hard to say," his deep voice was measured and thoughtful. "With Kiram having graduated last year, I do imagine that I'm among the very strongest in this magicademy along with yourself, President. However…"
He directed a brief glance towards Cæ and Silian.
"We have gained some geniuses this year," he remarked with a humble tone. "Compared to a relatively untalented man like me, they could very well catch up and overtake me by the end of the year."
"You're being too humble, Virlyd," one student council member complained. "If I had your power, I would be showing it off all the time."
"You were always the second strongest, along with Prez and Kiram."
"Yeah, you should have more confidence in yourself!"
Several student council members familiar joined the chorus of praise, simply earning a light shake of the head from the modest giant.
"You credit me too much. The only reason I am as relatively strong as I am is because I have spent seven years in the institution," he continued with a light tone. "At my age, all of you will greatly surpass me."
His humility merely inspired even more praise, until President Mileila quelled all of them down.
Cæ raised an eyebrow with interest as he studied the towering giant.
He was several inches taller than Cæ at about six feet seven, barely able to fit in his chair.
With that stature, as long as he had some training in combat, there was virtually no chance that Cæ could beat him unarmed. From the reactions of the others, it was clear that they held him in very high regard, making him even more curious about what kind of magic he wielded.
From the way he carried himself, Cæ could tell that he came from an affluent background.
He had also heard of the Mir family.
It wasn't one of the thirteen great families by any means, but it certainly was decently powerful nonetheless.
They were a military family that specialized in combat magic, having produced many prominent magetants and warrimages that went on to serve in the Elendir Magicarmy, participated in illustrious wars that involved the nation in the past, and received medals of honor for their outstanding service.
Despite his prestigious and esteemed bloodline and family, he harbored a stunningly humble disposition.
"If we're to speak of the strongest mages in this magicademy, then I think you would rank at the very top of the list, Mileila," he regarded her with a soft gaze. "I'm sure you have made great progress in mastering the metal magic of the Karjakin Family."
The Karjakin Family was also a family that had a deep foundation in magic, even going as far as to cultivate a great specialty and foundation in the niche of metal magic. It was a simple premise, yet over the span of centuries, the Karjakin Family had taken it to the extreme, achieving a remarkable mastery in metal magic.
It was one of the reasons that they were among the top thirteen families in Elendir.
"Karjakin Metal Magic is not specialized for combat, although it does have applications in the field," she replied with a soft sigh. "It is not easy to master when it has applications all over the place, and it certainly wouldn't reliably make me a more powerful combatant than a magetant like yourself."
"I suppose that's true." Virlyd nodded. "You won't be applying for the dueling contest then?"
She shook her head. "I won't. I don't have an affinity for combat. Instead…"
Her eyes lit up.
"I plan to apply for the Contest of Creation."
The student council member stirred at her words as their eyes lit up.
"You were extremely good at artificing, weren't you, President?"
"You will probably ace that contest.
"I planned to apply for that contest as well… looks like we'll be competing, Prez."
She smiled at the various student council members at those words. "Indeed, I have a greater affinity for creative magic fields, although I can certainly hold my own in combat. I do intend to apply for multiple competitions at once. It's been a while since my last Magic Contest three years ago, after all."
The otherwise serious student council session turned more into a student gathering, in sharp contrast to their regular seriousness.
It couldn't be helped.
They were students, many of whom were minors and teenagers, and the rest were young adults in the prime of their lives. It was hardly surprising that they let their excitement and passions get in the way of getting to business. Thankfully, the executive wing was built with failsafes that accounted for juvenile behavior.
They spoke about a wide variety of topics that had nothing to do with the actual agenda on the docket, instead sharing what competitions they were most eager and excited for, and what they were hoping to apply for.
"Oh god…" President Mileila's golden eyes widened as she realized how much time they had wasted. "We haven't even passed a resolution…! We will have to tackle this matter as the first thing tomorrow. Read through all the competitions, bring proposals for the selection methods, and we will finalize one tomorrow. Council dismissed."
And just like that, the first day of the magicademy had come to an end.