The 3rd Wizard Saint tournament finally started and it's still as popular as ever. A lot of people came to watch just like when it was held for the first time in Fiore. It's a event held in every continent, so people from every nation in Ishgar wants to participate.
Ben had taken Fairy Tail mages to the last 2 tournaments and this year's competition as well. He asked Makarov to bring all the young members and leave some of the senior members at the guild. This is a good opportunity for the younger members to learn because they can watch battles between very powerful mages here.
"Argh, I want to join this competition and fight strong people." Natsu said in frustration as they walk to the stadium.
"You can't. We have a Wizard Saint in our guild, so we aren't allowed to participate." Lucy pointed out.
"That's not exactly true." Kenshin corrected her.
The Tenrou boys' ears twitched in excitement. "REALLY?"
"Yeah, but in order to join the tournament there is a condition you need to meet." He added.
"What is it?" Gajeel asked.
Kenshin gestured to Ben.
"You have to defeat him first. If that happens, he'll resign from his position and you'll be allowed to compete because there won't be a active Wizard Saint in our guild."
Their smiles vanish and they all look away, sweating. Then they continue walking without saying anything. They've tried to fight Ben many times since they returned from Tenrou Island, but he defeated them with a simple flick to their forehead.
Their gaps in power had grown a lot wider in the last 3 years because Ben kept growing while they didn't. They couldn't even defeat him 3 years ago, not to mention now. He managed to surpass Gildarts, so they don't have a chance.
When the boys became silent, Fairy Tail can watch the tournament happily. They had front row seats due to Ben's privilege. Ben was invited to watch from a special room with Ellie and some high-ranked individuals, but he refused because his guild mates were there.
The first round finally started at 9am and it was a battle royal like usual. Unlike the one in Fiore and Seven, this battle royal round had only 4 groups, not 8. They will choose 4 winners from each group, so there will be 16 people in the next round.
That's why the size of each group is big with more than 300 participants in each group. The arena looks very cramped with more than 300 people fighting in it. But it will also make the competitors work hard to defend themselves and attack their opponents.
The battles in this round were interesting and the Fairy Tail mages learned a lot of things from this round. Well, Ben explained a few things to them like the right and wrong things that the competitors do in this kind of battle.
They can also see mages who use the same or similar magic as them. But these mages can utilize their magic better or have stronger spells. The ways these mages use their magic in battle have inspired the young Fairy Tail mages.
Even Ben can learn a lot of things in this tournament. Each person had a unique fighting style even if they learn from the same teacher. That's why there are always things to learn from other mages even though Ben had seen them fight before.
In the 3rd battle royal group, Ben saw something interesting. Mike, the man who had his Wizard Saint title taken by Ellie is fighting in this round. He became the favorite competitor in this tournament right away because he was a former Wizard Saint.
Of course, Mike passed the 1st round and then the 4th group is up. Ben sighed when he saw a familiar face. It was the woman who used Plant Magic that won the last tournament but lost to Ben in the title match.
She participated in all Wizard Saint tournaments so far, truly a persistent woman. Ben didn't know if she would target him this time, but she is certainly a candidate to win the competition. By the way, her name is Jessica Mile, and of course, she passed the 1st round.
The next day, they start the 2nd round, which was a knock out duel system. There are 16 people in this round, so there will be 8 battles in a day. Mike and Jessica pass this round easily and go to the next round.
For the next round, they use a point system, not knock out again. They will fight each other one at a time, each person will fight against 7 people, so there will be 28 matches. Each battle would only last 20 minutes.
The winner of each battle would receive 3 points and the loser doesn't get any points. If the 2 fighters remain standing when time is up, it will be considered a draw and each of them will receive 1 point. After all 28 matches come to a end, the 2 mages with the most points will take each other on in the final round.
It's an interesting system because the audience can see all 8 mages fight against each other. It's fair even though it's time consuming. There will be 7 matches in a day, so this round lasted 4 days.
For the next 4 days, the audience can see different kinds of battles. It's quite interesting to see someone lose to an opponent who lost to a mage that they defeated before. Their magic is incompatible.
At the end of the round, Jessica and Mike get the most points. Jessica has all her points while Mike lost one after being defeated by her. So for the final round, Jessica became the candidate to win the competition.
She lived up to that expectation and won the final match that took place 2 days after the previous round. It's an overwhelming victory and Mike's Art of Paint was easily destroyed by her plants. Jessica won the match in 5 minutes flat because she knew how Mike's magic worked from their previous match.
Ben thought she would challenge him again, but she chose another Wizard Saint. It seems that she gave up on challenging him because she knew it would be useless. She wasn't confident in her ability to defeat Ben last year, let alone now as he had gotten a lot stronger since last time.
Jessica challenged a man who is the oldest among the Ten Wizard Saints directly below the 4 Gods of Ishgar. The man's name is Arman, a mage who uses Bending Magic. He can bend objects and magic but he can't bend living beings. Arman is 53 years old but he was big and muscular like a bodybuilder.
They fight the next day because Arman wasn't here and needed to come here through the use of the teleportation device. Their fight is quite intense because Arman can't bend Jessica's plants. They are considered living beings, so he can't bend them.
Arman can only bend the arena's ground and wall, making it look like he used Earth Magic. His use of earth isn't as good as Jura's but it's better than most earth mages. However, it wasn't good enough against Jessica.
In the end, Arman lost after an hour. He is still a veteran and a strong mage so he can hold his own against Jessica despite all the disadvantages. Arman looked like he was happy despite losing the match.
"Good for you, old man." Ben said as he teleported next to Arman.
"Hmm? Oh little Ben, what are you talking about?" Arman asked with a smile.
"There's no need to hide it. I know you want to retire from the Wizard Saint position." Ben said.
"He he he, I really can't hide it from you." Arman chuckled.
"Well, everyone knows already, even Ellie." Ben told him.
Arman had a surprised look on his face. "Really? It would seem I'm too old to not realize it. Well, I really want to retire and live a peaceful life. However, I can't allow anyone weaker than me to take my title. That's why I went all out, but I lost so I'm happy with the result."
"Yeah, yeah, good for you. Anyway, Master wants to meet you after this, so hurry up and heal." Ben insisted.
"Hey, unlike you I can't heal in mere seconds. Well, I also want to talk to Master Makarov too. It's been a long time since I last saw him." Arman said.
There were some plots taking place, but the tournament had come to a end. Ishgar now has a new Wizard Saint, Jessica the Plant Mage. The young Fairy Tail mages also learned a lot from this tournament, so they were satisfied.