A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

40: The Banquet

Eventually, late in the night, Bazuul fell asleep and the next day rolled in.

Today the whole embassy of Lumin would come to visit, and the embassy of Ralun would hold a banquet for them in thanks to the birthday party.

Unlike the birthday party for Bazuul, that was held in a rather small circle of both parties. This banquet would host almost all current residents of both embassies. Royalties, nobles, and commoners alike. Of course, the magnitude of this event raised some eyebrows. Some present even theorized the political undercurrents of this banquet.

Meanwhile, Bazuul was in the master study with his uncle Faolan, going over the information of the competitors in the royal tournament they had acquired. Obviously, there were some candidates that they had more information on, and on some less. Three other competitors for the tournament were merely known by name and affiliation. Other than that, those three were shrouded in obscurity.

The first one would be the candidate sent by the Circle, the institution of magicians on the continent of Ytolan. William Sinclair, a sixteen-year-old prodigy of theirs that had already reached the rank of grand magister.

Then came the duo sent by the Directorate, the political leader of the Seven Kingdoms. A sixteen-year-old boy that went by the name of Horlet Richat and a fifteen-year-old girl named Nazela Amenti. Nothing was really known about them apart from their names and their age. Two names, that caused Bazuul to raise a brow.

Luckily, information on the other participants was much more transparent.

For one there would be Hugo Dias's eldest brother, Massimo Dias. As the crown prince of their kingdom, he was the true heir and thus enjoyed vastly more resources than his other siblings. While Hugo was merely two years younger than his brother, he had only reached the third stage of the true qi realm. Massimo, on the other hand, had long reached the seventh stage.

Another figure one had to watch out for came from the royal family of Jian Zheng's homeland, Shasta. That was the first princess, Sawako Fujimoto. At fourteen years old, she had already reached the seventh stage of the true qi realm. Her brother, being three years older, was still stuck at the sixth stage. Emphasizing her talent even more.

Then came the information about the crown prince of Donar, Eirik Donarim. Of course, since his multiple "bouts of debate" with the shadow of the blade, Bazuul was fully aware of the crown prince's nature and paid even more attention. Naturally, as part of the royal lineage of Donar, he was attuned to the element of lightning and air and had reached the eighth stage of the true qi realm shortly after turning seventeen.

Next up Faolan mentioned, Arkenon Luminaire, the older brother of Elanar, was seventeen years old and had an affinity for the element of darkness. He was only a magister since his talent in martial arts was cut short by his rather weak body. Yet, this should not deter caution from this teenager. Highly talented as a magician he was rumored to take on the exams to ascend to the rank of grand magister soon after the royal tournament.

Other names that were to be watched included, Markus Bender, the crown prince of Eras was at the seventh stage of the true qi realm, and another was Eirik's twin sister, Ragna Donarim, which was also at the seventh stage of the true qi realm.

Obviously, Jian Zheng's name also came up but as Bazuul had already met him before it was rather unnecessary to go into further detail on him. The other participants, apart from Elanar and his brother Kuzan, should not be much of a problem for Bazuul considering the efficiency he had displayed in the sparring battles the last couple of days. At least that was Faolan's opinion, Bazuul, on the other hand, had even fewer names he registered as...tenacious enough to stand their ground in battle.