Standing across from the competition venue was an elven young mage, dressed in his finest attire. His face, brimming with excitement and joy, showed his confidence.
However, his confidence was short-lived. As he delivered his arcane construct to the competition venue, he saw his opponent, a human mage.
The mage's expression instantly changed, a look of frustration and resentment written all over his face. Perhaps noticing his opponent's change of expression, Leylin offered the mage a kind smile to reassure him.
Misinterpreting Leylin's smile as arrogance—perhaps seeing the quiet confidence as condescension—the elven mage's face twisted with fury. His eyes burned with a mixture of pride and rage, sparks of indignation igniting within him.
To him, Leylin's smile was a taunt, a sign of disdain for his opponent's weakness.
Leylin wasn't worried about the mage's wrath igniting him.
This competition would be limited to combat between arcane constructs. The rules were simple: the opponent's arcane construct lost if it was knocked out of the arena or unable to move.
Following Leylin's instructions, Frank entered the arena, and the opponent's arcane construct slowly made its way onto the field. The referee signaled the match was ready to begin.
He activated the arcane barrier and defensive array to prevent the arcane constructs fighting in that arena from disrupting the competition elsewhere.
For the first round, Team Leylin employed a more conservative, defensive new magic rune system. Leylin trusted Frank's wisdom and ability, but caution nonetheless compelled him to do so. To ensure a fool proof path to advancing, Leylin needed to do so.
After the arcane barrier was activated, the match officially began. The arcane construct standing opposite Frank displayed its impressive aggression from the outset, circling Frank like a cheetah.
Frank stood calmly in the center of the arena, his purple eyes gleaming with a steady light. This was Frank's first encounter with another arcane construct, but he showed no sign of panic.
The blue construct across from him moved, its speed immense. Using a short run-up, the blue construct used its momentum to deliver a powerful punch to Frank.
Frank's body was now adorned with defensive magic runes, but that didn't mean his reflexes were slow. A superb dodge was essential for defense.
Powered by six 'Leylin' arcane core arrays, along with a super-sophisticated core array, Frank's slightly bulky frame swiftly leaped back two steps, immediately dodging the blue construct's attack.
But that wasn't the end of the matter. Frank wouldn't attack directly like a typical construct; he would attack with his own thinking. After the blue construct's punch missed, it continued to run forward for a distance to stabilize its center of gravity.
This was an opportunity, Leylin thought. Frank didn't miss it either. Using his speed advantage, Frank circled behind the blue construct and struck it in the back.
With the same speed as before, the blue construct crashed directly into the magical barrier surging with arcane energy. Ripples of energy spread across the barrier, the ripples appearing chaotic.
Leylin's opponent, the young mage, had a grim expression. It was hard to believe that his construct, always renowned for its speed, had actually been outmatched by its opponent's.
The blue construct clearly still had some strength left, but Frank gave it no chance. Flashing with a high-frequency light, Frank approached the blue construct and stomped down mercilessly, leaving a dent in its chest.
"Boom!" The blue construct's arcane core exploded, and the match was over.
Victorious, Frank shrugged and turned toward Leylin.
Seeing Frank's performance, Leylin thought to himself: A sentient arcane construct is truly formidable.
After removing the arcane barrier, the young mage gathered the remains of his construct into a magical bag. Furthermore, according to tournament etiquette, the victor was required to bow to the loser as a sign of respect.
The young mage gave Leylin no chance. With an angry glare, he hurriedly left the arena.
Frank's fighting style just now was beyond Leylin's imagination. He was very sure that he had pre-installed defensive runes on Frank, but Frank's offensive ability was still very strong.
After Leylin's round of competition, the final round of the entire competition was over. A total of 64 contestants advanced today, and the second round will be held tomorrow.
After the competition, Leylin did not rush to leave. He carefully examined Frank's body to see if there was anything wrong.
"Your arcane construct is very strange, Leylin. According to current construct theory, the movements of constructs are very rigid and mechanical. Your construct looks quite flexible." Aminel appeared behind Leylin and said.
As expected of a dual-specialization great magistrix, she now noticed a clue.
"Actually, I was also very surprised by Frank's performance today." Leylin stroked his chin and said to Aminel.
Leylin's puzzled expression dissuaded Aminel from further questioning. She said, "Regardless, your arcane construct performed exceptionally well today. At least in my opinion, there are no more than ten constructs that could stand up to yours."
Turning to his notes, Leylin had only recorded ten arcane constructs. It seemed Aminel's intuition was quite accurate.
"I'll be back tomorrow, remember our agreement." Aminel said playfully.
"Of course." Leylin nodded.
After that, Aminel didn't leave. Instead, she accompanied Leylin to store Frank within a warehouse. After the Construct Tournament officially began, all participating arcane constructs, except those eliminated, were to be deposited in the Construct Tournament's temporary warehouse.
This temporary warehouse was guarded by several high-ranked spell breakers, ensuring the safety of the arcane constructs.
Arriving at the temporary warehouse, Leylin and Aminel encountered Elna and his mentor, Byleth. Elna's face darkened when she saw Leylin accompanied by another beautiful elven mage.
This human was always surrounded by girls.
"Elna, open the magic gate of the warehouse for Magister Leylin." Byleth took the card from Leylin's hand, which contained his entry information.
Elna led Leylin into the warehouse to store Frank. Frank was quite unhappy; it was dark and he didn't want to be here.
"Calm down, buddy. I'll come get you out tomorrow." Leylin said.
Was he talking to her or his arcane construst? Elna looked at Leylin in surprise. This man was truly strange.
"That magister is Aminel, right? I know her. She's a Councilor and a member of the Silvermoon Council." Elna said as they chatted in the warehouse.
"Yes, she's my mentor and friend." Leylin replied.
"Rangers and mages, you have quite a few friends." Elna said as she walked ahead.
Leylin explained, "Of course, including you, I have quite a few friends."
"Really? But these friends are all girls, right?"
He couldn't deny that, aside from his two mentors, Leylin's friends seemed to be all women.
"Well, that's it."