First Stage

"NOW I WILL EXPLAIN THE FIRST STAGE," The announcer shouted.

"I might kill myself if it's a written exam," Manjiro thought to himself, "But by just looking around I might just die from fighting as well."

As Manjiro was thinking he's bumped by a boy with long black unruly hair with a ponytail.

Manjiro noticed some sorcerers from his academy however he didn't recognize the boy who bumped him.

Could he be from a different village? Or maybe he was a year older than him? Manjiro quickly lost his train of thought as the announcer continued talking.

"BUT BEFORE I DO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST STAGE LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF! MY NAME IS MEIWA" Meiwa went on, "IM GOING TO BE THE INSTRUCTOR FOR THIS STAGE!"

Meiwa looked like he was in his late 30s, he had black hair with a long blonde mustache.

"NOW YOU!" Meiwa shouts as he points at Manjiro, "BY THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE, YOU'RE PROBABLY WORRIED THERE WILL BE A WRITTEN TEST RIGHT!?"

As Manjiro opens his mouth he's interrupted by Meiwa.

"WORRY NOT, THIS EVENT ISN'T ACTUALLY CALLED THE SORCERER EXAMS"

A state of confusion emerged from the crowd.

"What the hell do you mean?" Asked a young sorcerer.

"WELL THINK ABOUT IT IF WE DIDN'T CALL IT THE SORCERER EXAMS WOULD YOU ACTUALLY GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO TRAIN AND STUDY?"

"What's the point of studying for an event where there are no written exams?" Asked Lavender.

"THIS EVENT MIGHT NOT HAVE A WRITTEN EXAM BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THERE WON'T BE A SITUATION WHERE THAT KNOWLEDGE WILL COME INTO USE!" Meiwa shouted

"IN THE PAST WE FOUND THAT IF WE DIDN'T TRICK CADETS THE EVENT WOULD END UP BEING FINISHED BEFORE IT EVEN STARTED, LACKLUSTER PERFORMANCES!" Meiwa went on "PEOPLE WHO WON THOSE EVENTS WOULD END BEING PROMOTED THEN END UP DEAD BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T TRAIN NOT ONLY THERE BODY AND MIND!"

"A SORCERER ISNT JUST DEFINED AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY THEIR SKILL BUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE AS WELL!"

"THAT BEING SAID THE TRUE NAME OF THIS EVENT IS…. THE SORCERER RANKING GAMES! SHOW EVERYONE WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF EVERYONE WILL BE WATCHING!"

"Now I will talk normally as I delivered my speech," Meiwa said laughing.

"I will now really explain the first stage," Meiwa went on, "As you can see were in an underground city, in this stage."

"There are 4 entrances the north, east, south, and west regions of the city where robots designed to have the same intelligence, fighting style, and skills of a D and C rank demons," Meiwa said as he pushed a button on a remote.

As he did this a screen displayed behind him showing a D rank and C rank demons.

"As you can see on the screen a D rank demon will be worth 3 points, while a C rank demon which will be rarer is worth 5." Meiwa took a deep breath, "The top 12 teams with the most demons eliminated will proceed to the next stage."

A whisper starts emerging from the crowd of sorcerers.

"Top 12? That's less than half of us."

"From the registrations, it looks like there's a total of 51 teams, we only accept the best of the best!" Meiwa shouts.

Meiwa then clicks another button on his remote, causing the screen to change showing another type of robotic demon.

"I'm not done yet!" Meiwa shouts, "There's also a 3rd type of demon, however, there will only be one demon like this and it will be worth 10 points! Be wary it's larger than the rest."

"So the teams who aren't in the top 12 can still qualify if there trailing by a little huh," Shita thinks to himself.

"This stage is designed to be a realistic scenario in a mission, you'll never know how many demons are in a specific facility, or the possibility of getting lost from your team and fending off by yourself," Meiwa says.

"Now are you ready to get started?" Meiwa asks.

As he says this a roar is emitted by the crowd.

"I'll take that as a yes, the leaderboard will be on the screen during the first stage," Meiwa went on, "On my count, the demons will be released and the round will start then you can make your way into the city."

"3"

"I'm going to win this event, and go on the erase all demons." Manjiro thinks to himself

"2"

"This is my first step into becoming a great sorcerer, I'm not going to mess this up! I'll prove why I can be a sorcerer without any nack for cursed energy I swear I will!"

"1"

As all participants start running into the city Manjiro trips on someone's foot and falls onto the ground.

As he gets back up he notices everyone is gone.

"Damn it! I lost my teammates!"