Versatile Mage: Undying Fire

Chapter 231 Opening Battle
People from all over the world have been heading to Venice, so the small city of Venice soon had almost three times as many tourists. Now the boat lanes, bridges, squares and bus ferries are already quite crowded.

Venice is actually not very big, so the flow of people it can accommodate is very limited, so the government soon began to restrict the influx of people.

The reason why the quiet city of Venice was suddenly crowded with people was of course the World University Competition.

In fact, there are not many such duels between wizards in the world. Not all major magic associations encourage veteran wizards to compete in the arena for show and then show it on TV. After all, magic is solemn and sacred, and of course, it is also full of destruction and destructiveness...

Old wizards are not encouraged, but young wizards are encouraged, and only magic students are. Magic students are young and energetic, and they can best show the level of magic education in a country. As a result, the World Academy Competition has become the largest magic duel feast in the world every four years. Moreover, the strength of these students is neither too high nor too low, so they are the most suitable group of people for magic competitions.

In the Doge's Palace in Venice, all qualified countries have already hung their national flags high in Venice. Now there are 32 countries entering Venice. Each team has performed very well in the competitions and training tasks in various national pavilions. To be honest, this ranking can also indicate the overall magic level of the country to a certain extent, and the deviation of this measurement will not be too much.

Anyone who can enter the water city of Venice for a decisive battle can be considered a powerful magical nation.

32 flags were hung high over Venice. When the sun rose in the east, magic salutes instantly resounded throughout the beautiful city. Magnificent and sacred light slowly fell down, and then landed on the young and energetic faces of teams from various countries. These young people listened to the high-pitched magic war songs of Italy, and at this moment enjoyed the admiration, worship, and high hopes of people all over the world. I don’t know how many academy mages were fantasizing about the arrival of this day. From this moment on, they are no longer unknown little mages. They may enter the Parthenon, the Temple of Liberty, the Holy Inquisition, or even the dazzling and famous mages of St. Peter's Basilica. Wherever they go, as long as they report their names, they will surely cause a sigh.

All those present at this time are powerful wizards who are famous in the world.

"Here I would like to express my gratitude to the Temple of Liberty in America, the Dubai Mage Tower in Asia, the St. Paul's Cathedral in Europe, the Cape of Good Hope Magic Castle in Africa, and the Altar of Saint Kai in Australia. I sincerely welcome you to Venice! I am also very grateful to the Hunter Alliance, the International Clan Alliance, the Coastline Alliance, the Parthenon, the Holy Inquisition, the Forbidden City, the Tokyo Mage Shrine, the Tehran Magic Ridge, St. Peter's Basilica... I also sincerely thank you for coming from afar, ha ha ha, and of course, all the protagonists of our grand magic event. They come from thirty-two countries. They are the most outstanding young wizards selected from major magic colleges..." Fabio, the Doge of Venice, said in a loud voice.

The venue for this opening ceremony is not actually very large, but all those who can sit here are world-renowned wizards. The forces they represent are also the holy land that all wizards yearn for.

The representative of China is the chief court mage Pang Lai, which is the Forbidden Palace mentioned by the Governor just now. The court mages of China represent the strongest group of mages in China. They are even higher than the judges, the Pearl Mage Corps, and the Imperial Guard Mage Corps...

Of course, some other organizations named after famous places in a country also represent the national mage associations of major countries that enjoy a holy reputation in the world. Among them, the most prestigious ones in the world are the Parthenon and the Holy Inquisition.

Although the three giants, the Parthenon, the Holy Inquisition, and the Hunter's Union, originated from countries, their global influence is in no way inferior to the magic associations of the five continents.

If we talk about his social status, Lin Ran, as a hunter master, is actually very impressive. The mage positions of these major forces can basically become the measure of the strength of magicians in this world. A five-star hunter master is almost on par with the mayor of a city in a country or a city general.

However, Lin Ran has not yet reached five stars, he is still a little bit away from five stars.

If you become a seven-star hunter master, you can obtain the title of hunter king. The status of hunter king is very high. Many times, magic associations, armies, municipalities, and countries will seek help from hunter king-level figures.

Lin Ran naturally also hopes to become the Hunter King. Previously, because he solved the Drowning Curse incident, Lin Ran became a four-star Hunter Master. However, this is still a certain distance compared to the Hunter King. After all, they often have bounties of hundreds of millions or even billions. Let’s say Mo Fan is also a four-star Hunter Master, but his points are much lower than his.

Zhao Manyan still had some knowledge of these important figures of major forces. There was nothing he could do about it. After all, he lived among such a group of so-called "celebrity" mages, so he was familiar with all the major forces and their leaders. This was basic common sense in his family!

After the opening ceremony, the tense and exciting drawing session began.

The 32 national government teams here can form a gambling pool full of money when they compete with each other all over the world. Like some ordinary people, they are not so concerned about national affairs and magic battles, so why are they so keen on watching the world's academic competition?
On the one hand, this is a hot topic every four years, and it is also related to the prosperity and glory of one's own country. On the other hand, the flow of gambling funds opened during this period can even be compared to a country's import and export funds...

"Captain, go draw the lots." Instructor Feng Li looked at Ai Jiangtu and said.

There are a total of thirty-two teams here, and the captains of each team have also come out. The drawing of lots is usually the responsibility of the instructors. I don’t know when it started, but the drawing of lots is now the responsibility of the team captains. This can be considered a kind of honor. After all, the drawing of lots is broadcast live throughout, and the captains’ faces will be exposed to the eyes of people all over the world.

Ai Jiangtu was a very courageous person, so after drawing the lot, he did not fail to check which team it was. He handed it to the referee to look at, and then walked back with the draw card.

Today's strong teams don't want to meet strong teams at the beginning. They all hope to draw weak teams and then use the extra time to study their opponents.

Now the players of the Chinese University Team are very excited, but they all know that in the last World University Competition, the Chinese team had very bad luck. They met the United States team in the second round and were beaten terribly.

So this time, for the sake of results and face, they let Lin Ran join in. As long as Lin Ran was there, no one could take victory away from them.

At this time, several people's eyes fell on Ai Jiangtu's face. They all wanted to see from his expression how the draw went, but Ai Jiangtu always had a serious black face, and he looked like this no matter what time it was.

While they were still waiting for Ai Jiangtu to announce which country it was, the island country government team next to them suddenly shouted happily, speaking the Japanese international language non-stop.

"What a blessing."

The Island Country Government Team, Lin Ran and his team had dealt with them before. When they were dealing with the Caribbean Red Ornament Guild before, these people from the Island Country Government Team were showing off their strength. Lin Ran vaguely remembered that there was a girl in a sailor uniform.

The guy who just shouted lucky was Ming Bushong, who also wanted to obtain the Dark Lord's cloak before. This guy is now looking at them with ill intentions and a somewhat smug smile on his face.

"Are they our opponents?" Mo Fan asked.

"It seems so." Lin Ran said. In the island country, almost half of the people turned their heads to look here. Ming Bushong, Shao Hegu, and the soft girl in the sailor suit can all be considered old acquaintances.

“It should be.” Nan Jue showed the lottery card, with a slight smile on her face. Although the National Government team’s performance was very mediocre in the past, the members of this session will surpass the previous ones.

Of course there are strong and weak teams among the 32 countries. The island country government team is probably in the upper middle of the 32 teams. I didn’t expect to meet them right away. This is really fate!!!
"I really don't know what they are so happy about right now. They look like they have beaten us. Do they want me to close the door and release Lin Ran?" Jiang Shaoxu was very disdainful of their reaction.

Lin Ran's face darkened. Damn, he is not a dog.

"It's probably because of our miserable ranking in the last session, so they naturally put us in the weakest tier. Of course, we were not weak in the last session, but we were unlucky to run into bandits like the United States in the elimination round." Jiang Yu said.

"Let them have fun for now, and when the official competition comes, they won't even be able to cry!" said the arrogant Guan Yu with a cold snort.

……

On the other side, the island team had put away their pride and started to discuss professionally how to deal with Lin Ran. Yes, they thought that the only one they needed to pay attention to this time was Lin Ran. After all, they were very clear about Lin Ran's horrific performance before. They needed at least a few people to entangle Lin Ran. They didn't need to defeat him. They just needed to drag him until they dealt with the others and then they could besiege Lin Ran.

Their instructor, Nobuko Fujikata, was not as optimistic as the students seemed. She glanced at Lin Ran and Mo Fan from the Chinese team, who were definitely strong rivals. She said, "Mo Fan should be pretty good!"

"Oh, oh, I almost forgot about this guy!" Shao Hegu immediately came to his senses.

In the previous confrontation with the Red Ornament Guild, Mo Fan had shown amazing fighting power, so they had to be on guard against this guy. It was because Lin Ran was too dazzling that they had forgotten about Mo Fan's existence.

"There's absolutely no need for that. In my opinion, Lin Ran and Mo Fan are the only two who are good in their team, and the others are just so-so. Can they really carry the flag of a team?" Yosuke, who had just replaced the Japanese government team, couldn't help but say.

……

"By the way, it seems like we are starting the opening match?" Jiang Yu looked at the draw board and said seriously.

At first, the others were concerned about which team they were playing against, so they forgot to look at the order of the matches. When they carefully looked at the match list announced on the big screen, they suddenly realized that they were actually playing the opening match! !
The opening game is very important. After all, it attracts worldwide attention. If you can perform well in the opening game, you will basically become famous!
Although strength is the most important thing for a magician, luck is also very important!!
"I'm going to deal with these Japanese people!" Guan Yu seemed particularly eager to attack. He became excited when he heard that it was the opening game.

They have been training in the world for a period of time, which can be regarded as a year of hard training. Isn't it just to become famous in this arena, especially the huge forces behind each of them.

"The opening match is a 5-on-5 team formal match. We will select five people, and the island country will also select five people." said mentor Feng Li.

Since the tutor is present, everything will naturally be decided by the tutor.

Feng Li's eyes swept through the crowd. He first glanced at Mu Tingying, Nan Rongni, Li Kaifeng, and Zu Jiming, and then said in a calm tone: "You four haven't recovered from your injuries yet, so you don't have to go..."

The four of them suddenly widened their eyes. It was such an important opening match, but the instructor just brushed them off so casually?
"Teacher, actually my injuries are not serious anymore, just let me go on stage!" Li Kaifeng said immediately.

"Go away!" Mentor Feng Li said coldly, which made Li Kaifeng dare not continue speaking.

The four of them missed such a great opportunity, so Mu Tingying, Zu Jiming, and Li Kaifeng were so angry that they glared at Mo Fan, wishing they could burn Mo Fan to ashes with the anger in their eyes.

Mo Fan, on the other hand, had a look of gloating.

Lin Ran was also laughing, and Zhao Manyan was even happier.

“Mo Fan, what are you so proud of? So what if you are strong alone? This is a team competition, and in a team competition, you are not even as good as one finger of mine!” Zu Jiming couldn’t bear to see Mo Fan’s look, so he said angrily.

As a mage who majored in poison, his ability in single combat was indeed very weak, but in team battles, his poison ability was very strong and disgusting. After all, poison was one of the most dangerous and disgusting of all magic systems, and different poison mages were likely to produce different poison systems.

There is also Nan Rongni. Although her single-player combat capability is also very poor, as an auxiliary mage of the healing and blessing systems, she will usually appear on the scene. The reason why Feng Li did not let her appear this time is because she is still injured. Because Mo Fan attacked Nan Rongni very hard, the Tyrant Wild Thunder has probably tortured them for a week.

"We will follow the instructor's arrangements," said Nan Rongni.

Lin Ran and Mo Fan both looked at this woman. They both knew how insidious, cruel and vicious this woman was.

“This girl is a scheming woman. You’d better be careful that she might do something to you suddenly.” Zhao Manyan said.

"Come on, this way, I can deal with her openly." Lin Ran said.

(End of this chapter)