Prologue

A bird's screeching reverberated off of the walls of a dimly lit arena as a gargantuan eagle, made entirely of wind magic, soared across the stadium before crashing down with intensity toward a boy on the opposite side. The crowd was silent as the bird flew, though their silence turned into an uproar upon the attack landing.

Above the arena, a holographic board appeared with the young man's name, showing the amount of Health Points he had prior to the attack.

[Genji Ishiwatari - HP: 900 MP 42]

Within just a second, the scoreboard changed, showing the numbers decrease before it began to violently flash crimson, signaling that he was then entering a critical state. As it flashed, an AI read his score aloud, and the display updated itself with his then-current amount of Health Points.

[Genji Ishiwatari - HP: 200 MP: 42]

As the boy recovered, a man wearing a black suit with bright, multicolored neon accents began speaking into his microphone in front of an enormous crowd of spectators. "Ladies and gentlemen! These next few turns will determine this year's Magic Metaverse champion! Will it be Genji Ishiwatari from South Tsundora, giving the region their fifth win in a row? Or will it be Joshua Bale from New Chelmsford, giving the region their third win within the last five hundred years?"

The crowd roared in response to his words, bringing an almost grotesque smile to the man's face.

Inside the stadium, similar to the ones where a sport that used to be known as tennis was played, the seats were completely packed full of people wearing various cyberpunk-styled clothes with neon designs. The seating area in the stadium would've been pitch black if it weren't for the neon lights on the luminous advertisements and the lights attached to the people's clothing.

In the center of the stadium, there was a black rectangular field surrounded by a neon border that was constantly cycling through the color spectrum. In the center of that rectangle, there was a line separating it into two halves. At the center of each half, there was a young adult standing in a circle, both appearing to have sustained heavy damage as their tech wear-styled garments were tattered and their breaths were harsh.

Joshua was an English boy from the region of New Chelmsford, which resided in what used to be known as the United Kingdom. He stood hunched with his fair skin, blonde hair, and brown eyes, as he held onto his right arm with his other robotic one, he was injured but he hadn't given up yet. His blue coat with white and red neon lights was nearly shredded to pieces, barely hanging onto his body. He clicked his tongue as he watched his opponent, Genji, begin to prepare for his next attack.

Genji, an Eastern boy from the region of South Tsundora, which is the southern region of what used to be known as Japan, stood with one hand in the pocket of his white coat and scarlet trimmings as he cycled through his move list using his Chronicle.

A Chronicle is a digital magic book, holding the sorceries and incantations that each magic wielder is capable of using. To summon one's Chronicle, the user must simply will it while extending their hand outward while standing inside of a Summoning Circle, prompting the book to levitate in front of them.

Genji was breathing heavily, having sustained heavy damage as well, however, he hid his pain with his confident stance, along with his half-mask and hood covering most of his face. His pride for himself, his family name, and his home of South Tsundora wouldn't allow him to show weakness as his hazel eyes shone with determination from beneath his hood.

As he skimmed through the pages of his Chronicle, he scowled in frustration, unable to find what he was looking for. In his vision, he could see his own HP and his opponent's, along with other statistics and the timer for his turn. Seeing he was nearly out of time, Genji began flipping through more sporadically until his eyes showed a clear reaction.

If he wasn't wearing a mask, his confident smirk would've been seen by all as his eyes locked onto the Attack Spell in front of him.

He had found it.

The winning move.

The technique that would end this battle once and for all and crown him as champion.

[Ice Dragon: Frozen Bite of Death - 40 MP / 200 DMG]

The boy glanced over at his Magic Points, noticing that he had more than what was required to pull off the technique. It was risky since Joshua still had a Trap Spell placed on his side of the field and if it were to counter Genji's attack, Genji would have nothing left to attack with if he somehow received another turn.

Taking the risk, Genji swung his right arm to the side, dismissing his Chronicle and choosing his spell. Seeing that he'd made his selection, the crowd roared, ready to witness the supposed overwhelming strength of the South Tsundoran warriors firsthand. His magic points depleted upon his commitment, going down to just 2 MP, prompting the announcer to speak.

"Here it comes! This is Genji's final attack! Will it all end here!? Only one way to find out!"

As the crowd boomed, the Eastern boy placed his hands in front of him as if he were holding an invisible ball before gradually beginning to spread them apart. As he did this, a ball of ice began to form between his palms. He could feel the freezing element on his palms and fingertips as he pulled them apart and began warping the ice into the form of a tatsu. With a stirring motion, the boy began to marionette the dragon to fly into a circle between his hands as it continuously grew in size.

The then child-sized dragon spun around the boy's body as his stirring motions had then become wide, prompting the dragon to continue to fly around him until it became as big as the mythological creatures were once told to be in legend. The boy's freezing hands began to rise, and so did the tatsu, as Genji continued his swirling motions above his head, using his whole body to tame the beast.

The tatsu had reached full size, all that was left was for the boy to unleash his attack. "Ice Dragon: Frozen Bite of Death!" Genji roared as he used his entire body to send the dragon forward as if he were physically throwing it. The crowd looked on in awe as they watched the massive frozen beast soar gracefully through the sky toward the English boy with a slight arc. Once it reached the peak of the arc, the tatsu sped up, making its hasty descent toward Joshua.

Joshua, seeing the massive beast approaching him, could do nothing but watch as he accepted his demise. He did have a Trap Spell on the field, one that halved the damage of the next attack, but it didn't matter. He only had 95 HP left, therefore halving the 200 DMG attack would be pointless.

Hearing the dragon's icy breath drawing near, Joshua stood up straight and closed his eyes. He was afraid, scared to death, truly, but he was proud of himself. Out of the two hundred and fifty participants, he achieved second place. His homeland of New Chelmsford and his family would receive his prize, his gift to them upon his untimely departure.

He thought of his mother.

His brother.

And his best friend.

A single tear began to fall from his eye, just before the mighty, frozen dragon unhinged its gaping jaw to swallow him whole. The beast's mouth consumed the boy, hitting him with an explosive ice attack and causing an icy fog to cover that side of the arena.

The crowd was silent, looking on at the chilling cloud in astonishment as it began to slowly fade over time.

Once the fog cleared, Joshua was seen standing in the same place, this time, his body was completely frozen as if he were an ice sculpture. Above him, a hologram of his Health Points did nothing but confirm what we already knew.

[Joshua Bale - HP: 0 MP 25]

The crowd stared at once living sculpture silently as the announcer declared the winner.

"And the four hundred and ninety-ninth winner of your annual Magic Metaverse Tournament is Genji Ishiwatari!" As those words left the announcer's mouth, the crowd erupted, giving Genji his well-earned applause for his hard work.

Regardless of the applause, Genji's masked face showed no emotion as he glared forward at the boy to who he just delivered a swift, icy extinction.

Having no interest in celebrating, the boy walked away from the stage with his hands in his coat pockets, walking past his victim without even batting an eye at him, nor did he show any remorse.

South Tsundora was once again victorious, becoming the third nation to ever win five years in a row.