By the time Nero got seated, the starting ceremony and speeches were already over. It was a shame since Nero wanted to see if he could pick up a few hints about the greater reasoning behind this event, but at the same time, they probably wouldn't divulge such information in such a public setting so it was no great loss.
There were a total of 128 participating cadets or the equivalent, and almost all of them were Arcanists. The reason it was almost wasn't because a few lucky Initiates had made it in. No, it was because there was a Mystic in their midsts.
Nero made a mental note that if he wanted to participate in next year's tournament, he needed to reach the Arcanist rank - twelve months to reach a rank a large number of Initiates never reach. But if that one guy can make it to Mystic as the equivalent of a cadet, then this should be an achievable goal.
