January 28th, 9 a.m.
In the western part of the Royal Capital, inside the grand arena—shaped like a giant dome and supported by thick cylindrical pillars—the opening ceremony of the Spring Martial Tournament was underway.
The arena, capable of holding thirty thousand spectators, was filled with deafening excitement. The crowd's cheers pierced the sky, stirring even those outside with a sense of exhilaration.
All across the Royal Capital, promotional materials for the Spring Martial Tournament could be seen everywhere.
And those paying close attention would notice that many of these posters bore the label: "Sponsored by Element Card."
At the opening ceremony, Ron held Nora's small hand as they sat in a private box provided by the officials, sipping pine-needle tea while watching together.
Each year's Spring Martial Tournament was divided into five regions: the North, West, South, East, and the Royal Capital region.
Each region selected twenty participants for the individual competition and five teams for the team competition.
Naturally, the tournament was also split into two formats.
One was the individual match, testing personal combat strength.
The other was the 5v5 team match, testing teamwork.
Ron casually bit into a grape that Nora fed him, leaning comfortably against the sofa in the box. He couldn't help but think—if he had transmigrated here as an ordinary person, he'd probably be standing down there among those teams right now.
After all, rising step by step from a small place, then shining in a grand competition in the Royal Capital, and taking first place—that was the standard protagonist template.
And along the way, there'd probably be all kinds of tangled relationships—
A beastkin girlfriend who never left his side;
A princess who fell for his unruly personality;
An aunt who suppressed her feelings due to taboo blood relations.
A nun who devoted herself silently because of church doctrines;
Maybe even an elven empress who fell in love across racial boundaries.
Really… all the classic elements gathered in one place.
Ron spat out the grape skin and couldn't help chuckling.
"Boss, what's so funny?" Nora tilted her head curiously.
"Haha." Ron took Nora's hand into his palm and gently rubbed it as he asked, "Nora, do you think there's really a man in this world who could make multiple outstanding women with completely different personalities fall in love with him at the same time?"
"Huh?" Nora froze for a moment, then hesitated. "M-Maybe… there is?"
Ron smiled but didn't continue the topic. It was just a passing thought.
The two continued watching the ceremony.
Nora leaned her head against Ron's shoulder, hugging his arm with both hands, her face full of contentment.
From time to time, she would point at a team and ask where they were from.
Ron would pick up the promotional booklet beside him, flip through it, and read it out to her.
"The West's strength is clearly lacking…" Ron said, shaking his head after finishing the booklet. "Out of dozens of people, there's only one third-tier warrior? Not a single third-tier mage?"
"The Royal Capital teams are amazing," Nora said, leaning closer to look. "Almost all the individual competitors are third-tier, and more than half of the team members are third-tier too. The gap is huge."
The West being weak wasn't anything new.
It was still in the development stage, after all—both talent and resources lagged far behind other regions.
The South and East were slightly better, but still couldn't compare to the Royal Capital.
Only the North, which faced constant wars with the beastkin, produced strong warriors due to its rugged culture—but even then, it still lagged behind the Royal Capital in terms of mages.
"Why didn't you participate, Boss?" Nora asked. "You're already a third-tier mage and a second-tier warrior—you seem much stronger than them."
"Ahem…" Ron said shamelessly, "As a prince, there's no need for me to join in the fun. What if I end up taking away someone else's glory?"
In reality, he hadn't belonged to any academy before, so he didn't qualify to participate in last year's tournament.
When the original Ron was younger, he had attended school for a while.
But after being targeted and ostracized, he withdrew into the palace, refusing to go out.
He neither meditated nor trained in battle aura, remaining in a state of self-abandonment.
If Ron hadn't transmigrated with a system, even if he had started training since leaving the Royal Capital last September, he'd probably only be at first-tier strength by now.
And that wasn't even guaranteed.
Besides, the current Ron was already a sponsor of the Spring Martial Tournament—there was no need to prove himself through rankings.
If he spotted any promising talents, recruiting them afterward would be the smarter move.
After the opening ceremony, the first match was already a highlight—
The top team from the North vs. the second-ranked team from the Royal Capital.
The two sides shook hands at the center of the field, then returned to their positions and set up their formations.
Spectators from the North, who had traveled great distances to support their team, stood up and shouted in encouragement.
Unfortunately, this was the Royal Capital's home ground.
Even if individual voices were strong, once the majority of the local crowd joined in, the Northern supporters were quickly drowned out.
Both teams were composed entirely of third-tier members. As the horn sounded, the battle erupted instantly!
Ron and Nora sat in their private box, watching the dazzling display of combat techniques and magic with great interest.
The visual spectacle was even more thrilling than watching a blockbuster movie in Ron's previous world.
After all, movies were fake—but the battles unfolding before them were completely real.
The two sides fought fiercely for over ten minutes.
In the end, the only one left standing was the towering, muscular captain of the Northern team.
He gripped the neck of the opposing team's final mage—a girl—and roared. Blood streamed over his body, much of it caused by her ice spells.
The ice element, formed from the fusion of water and wind, had caused the Northern team plenty of trouble.
As the horn sounded again and the host announced the Northern team's victory, the captain finally released her neck. Swaying slightly, he turned around, helped his fallen teammates up one by one, and stood at the center of the field to receive the crowd's cheers.
Perhaps because she had grown up in hardship, Nora didn't feel uncomfortable at the sight of blood. Instead, she seemed more engaged, her small hands clenched tightly as she watched the match until it ended, only then relaxing.
The participants left the field for treatment.
Nora turned to Ron, about to say something, but noticed he had fallen into deep thought.
"Boss, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?"
"Hm? No, nothing's wrong…" Ron stroked his chin, looking at the lively atmosphere around him. Suddenly inspired, he said thoughtfully, "What do you think… if we held a tournament using Element Cards to battle magic—wouldn't that be pretty interesting?"