Hal clenched his fists.
His entire being burned with excitement as he walked back to his dormitory room, pondering what was to come.
'Arcana Primis Cup...'
As per Deputy Headmaster Korvus, the Arcana Primis Cup is a grand imperial event where all young wizards under the age of twenty are allowed to join, which means that only those in their first or second year of studying the ways of wizardry are eligible, highlighting the budding talents of the empire.
New Magna Prospects would certainly emerge there.
And Hal himself, should he perform to such standards, could potentially be officially recognized as one.
He would then be able to catch up to Ennya by then, if only in terms of status.
Only, standing out would be almost impossible, as not only would the Grand Magic Academy's five-star students be in the tournament, but the personal disciples of retired Magnas and other old powerhouse factions would join as well.
Perhaps those crouching tigers and hidden dragons would be the more dangerous opponents.
Such a prestigious tournament...
Hal would've been satisfied with a slot in the elimination stage of the preliminaries, where the unseeded individuals would vie for a place in the Arcana Primis Cup's Main Tournament, so it was truly an unexpected yet welcome surprise for him to be given direct entry into the Main Tournament, courtesy of the Deputy Headmaster.
He would be among one of the chosen 128 youngsters and would have a chance to prove himself to the empire!
Many would probably question his qualifications, but Hal was ready to prove to everyone that his slot was well-deserved.
He had to check the progress of his rivals from the Grand Magic Academy—the five-star students.
The last time he checked, they were already casting decent but weak spells, so with a whole month of practice...
Hal quickly locked his dormitory room door upon entering and sat in the cot, summoning the Spirit Sparrow shortly after.
The tiny avian swiftly flew out the window and headed to the five-star training field, where a formation that rapidly replenished one's mana had been set up, allowing those with access to master their spells far faster than the average students.
A few minutes later, the summon arrived and hovered above the massive field.
Hal couldn't help but frown at what he saw.
Roaring fireballs menacingly shot forth and devoured strafing wooden dummies, some suddenly curving in unnatural arcs.
There were also Glacial Shards, Rock Bullets, Wind Cutters, Sparkblasts, and a few conjured daggers and summoned creatures destroying their targets in different ways, each spell showcasing the unique advantages of its caster's mana-bound artifact.
Their power now almost matched the power of his spells, fast approaching the standard novice level.
The five-star students were swiftly catching up to him and would probably surpass him soon in terms of firepower.
Hal could only imagine how strong they would be eight months later in the Arcana Primis Cup.
But then again, his strengths lay not in his spells' raw power but in his unpredictability, so Hal wasn't too intimidated by their talent and quick progress.
Most wizards, unlike him, had to follow a path and train strictly within it.
If they were Elementalists, they would have to specialize in a single element—two at most if their mana-bound artifacts allowed it.
Summoners would naturally summon, and Conjurers would conjure.
It was simply foolish not to follow the path one's artifact leaned toward.
Hence, an anomaly like Hal, who could do everything depending on what cards he had and what level they were, would be the ultimate wildcard and would, more often than not, catch his opponents off guard.
He only needed to be clever in how he fought each battle and he would always have a chance to win.
Only, the most problematic opponents weren't even the first-year five-star students, but the sophomore five-stars.
After one last look, Hal controlled the sparrow and headed for another training field with the same advantages as the freshmen's, though the spells he saw there couldn't be farther from similar.
There were tornadoes, charging flame beasts, rains of sharp ice, spirit bears, two-meter-tall conjured greatswords, thick barriers, and more.
The sophomores' five-star training field looked more like a natural calamity zone.
There were still the mysterious personal disciples of retired Magnas and the young representatives of ancient, private powerhouse factions...
Hal clenched his fists as he dismissed the Spirit Sparrow.
He thought his current arsenal would grant him at least a shot at victory, but after scouting the opposition, he knew the most he could achieve was perhaps defeating his first opponent in the Arcana Primis Cup, maybe even his second if he was lucky with the draw.
However, this would be far from enough to make him stand out, let alone become a Magna Prospect.
He had to train hard in his own unique way.
Of course, everything started with earning more Chaos Points.
It was then that his eyes widened as he remembered his earlier rewards, along with the unexpected notification that appeared after he secured his slot in the Arcana Primis Cup's Main Tournament.
'Right! How could I forget?!'
He had focused all his attention on the prime opportunity given by the Deputy Headmaster, momentarily forgetting the Joker System's notifications.
[Congratulations! You've earned 60 Chaos Points!]
[You've surpassed 400 Chaos Points. Quests have been unlocked!]
Snapping his fingers, he summoned the System's interface.
One change stood out right away: the [Quests] function, just above [Draw Card], was now active.