Chapter 30- The Tournament Starts

A:N- Surprise! I'm not dead, don't really have an excuse other than I'm lazy. ~5k words as an apology. Chapter updates will be very random, but I'm going to spend some time working on a story line since one of the reasons I was unmotivated to write for a while was that I did not have a real clear direction for where I was going to take the plot. Anyways, Enjoy!

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*Snap Instantly a new set of clothes appeared on his body out his spatial storage while he turned to face a blond haired girl with a mature look who looked to be around her mid twenties. A tint of red appeared on her cheeks since she had just a handsome guy naked in front of her, but other than that she kept herself together as she looked at him warily.

Itachi was a little surprised since he could sense she was a super tier mage in at least a few elements which was amazingly talented for her age which since she couldn't be older then 28.

"Who are you and what are you doing here" she said cautiously watching him. She had sensed powerful lightning magic being cast, so she immediately flew here to check things out to prevent any threats from attacking the school

"Just experimenting a bit with something"said Itachi completely unfazed by his previous state of undress.

"How do you have wings of lightning on your back" she marveled a bit seeing the elegant wings behind Itachi's back that radiated an intense aura.

"Trying something new with my lightning element, sorry for bothering you" he said towards the curious woman. She looked at him in a bit of surprise as she took in how young he looked. He looked around 21, yet he gave off such an intense pressure. She couldn't even sense what his cultivation was, but he was at least a super mage she thought to herself.

"Who are you?" she once again asked

"Itachi, member of the American national team pleased to make your acquaintance" he said smoothly

"Aren't you supposed to be competing right now in Venice" she said raising an eyebrow wondering why he would be out so far out all the way in Switzerland

"Yeah, competition doesn't start for another day and I made a last minute breakthrough so I came out here to test things out" he said carelessly unconcerned at how far he had traveled. After all, he could simply make a few jumps with teleportation to get back or use his new discoveries in the lightning element to fly at a breakneck speed to quickly arrive back in Venice.

'Such a powerful man is competing in the national tournament' Blanca thought to herself in shock as she tried to compare him to their top student who was around a similar age. 'Heidi is close to 22 now, yet she still has a good amount of time before reaching super tier. He has too be one of the youngest Super Tier mages in the world'

Regaining her composure the mature looking blond responded

"You are too close to our school, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the area" the blond woman said

"I'm assuming your from the Alpine University?" Itachi responding remembering what country he was in.

The Alpine university was one of the top universities in the world, but it was an all girls school. They did not participate in the world competitions ever, so they were less known, but they were not to be looked down upon since they had some of the strongest young mages in the world.

"Yes"

She responded curtly not dropping her guard at all

*Sigh "Well it was nice meeting you. Maybe I'll have to visit sometime Later"

Flipping around he shot back towards where he came from in the direction of Venice. 'I've finally broken through to super tier.

I can't wait to see what elements I am going to get' he excitedly. He would probably do it sometime after the tournament since he wasn't really in a rush. He wondered what level of strength he would arrive at after all his elements broke through. Each jump would increase the amount of magic energy strengthening his demonization along with strengthening his dragon form.

He was already strong enough to fight weaker emperors, so he wondered when he would become stronger than an undefeatable entity such as the Frost Emperor after he brought all his elements up. All of the sudden, an important question came to mind "What comes after emperor rank" he muttered aloud looking into the bright sky.

He wasn't really sure what he would do after he became invincible in his world since that wasn't too far away.

"Maybe the wishes I asked for were too overpowered. I could at least have toned down on the upgrade to cultivation speed" he thought frowning slightly before his face turned resolute 'I already know there are much stronger beings in realms I can't even understand' he thought remembering the angel that could control his very life. 'Instead of intentionally limiting myself, I will break the boundaries of this world and explore the universe.' he thought

'There are so many places to explore, people to meet, comfortable beds to sleep in and I'm looking forward to the future'

*Sigh "Whatever, I'll figure it out when I reach that point."

He spent the rest of the time nearing the tournament to increase his control over his new strength. He manipulated his lightnign into many different forms while he tested the limits of what he could do before he thought of one thing he should try.

Closing his eyes, he held out his hands with lightning arcing between his fingers as he weaved together something different. He focused on his task moving his hands quickly with lightning covering him as the energy gathered together creating something.

A silver glow shown as he began creating spacial barriers coating his creation to help contain the energy without it going berserk.

Opening his eyes, in front of him stood a purple dragon made of highly condensed electricity.

It looked deadly, but Itachi placed his hand on the smooth barrier around it and the energy was not affected at all. He began controlling it to fly around as he controlled it. 'I can create creatures out of lightning, but it is not sentient at all" he thought he thought before dispelling it.

'Maybe I can figure out a way to fix that later.' Looking up into the sky, the sun was setting, and he estimated it would be starting soon. He rose into the air disappearing into the fading light with a sonic boom trailing behind him.

He slowed down as the island like city came into view with the long streak of lightning that flew behind him finally catching up. Switching to the more normal wind wings, he dashed down to the ground only startling a few people since he chose a more secluded location.

The crowds got larger and larger as he made his way towards the gigantic arena where the games would be hosted. In front of the grand entrance was 32 flags of the competing teams waving proudly in the air while an three acre large fountain stood in the middle.

There was a long line of security checking everyone in. Even though the arena was one of the largest every built with a capacity of over 1,000,000 people, the expensive tickets had sold out weeks ago while many families around the world had their eyes glued to the tv to watch the next generation of prodigies compete to find out who was the strongest.

Flying into the arena, Itachi made it just in time as they were finishing up opening ceremony.

"Allow me to express my gratitude to America's Sacred Hall of Liberty, Asia's Dubai Magician Tower, Europe's Saint Paul Church, Africa's Cape of Good Hope Magic Castle, and Australia's Void Temple! I sincerely welcome you to Venice! Many thanks to the Hunter Union, the World Renowned Clans Association, the Shoreline Alliance, the Parthenon Temple, the Holy Judgment Court, the Ancient Royal Guards, Tokyo's Shrine of Mages, and the Tehran Magic Ridge…thank you for joining us despite the long distance.

Last but not least, the main protagonists of this grand magic tournament, the candidates consisting of the most talented young Mages chosen specifically from every school in thirty-two countries…" Venice's governor, Fabio, was giving his opening speech in high spirits."

As discreetly as he could, he landed around the top seating's with only a few people noticing him. A few flights of stairs later, he reached the ground level unhurriedly walking past the packed area with many concession stands. He grabbed a sprite because why not? and he walked through a few hallways.

He was stopped by security, but he showed he was a participant, and he walked over to the reserved room for their team. 'I better not have to go up yet, I could use a good nap' Grabbing the handle he swung the door open.

ahhhhhh-hhaaaaaa he yawned streching out his arms "Itachi Takahashi reporting for duty Sir" he said grinning lazily looking at the irritated Mr. Adams who looked ready to kill

"YOU Were Supooosed TO be HEre twO HOurs ago!" he yelled pissed off as he gazed at the unfazed Itachi who looked eagerly towards a comfortable looking couch in the corner before turning back to the middle aged head of the team

"Had some things to do to better prepare for the competition" he said walking past the man before sitting down at the large table next to Matt

*Sigh "Alright I will say this one more time. Your first opponent is the Australian team. While they were ranked near the bottom, you shouldn't underestimate them and give it your all.

He handed out the profiles which contained the known elements of the team members which would give them an advantage in the competitions. They spent a couple minutes looking over them before Matt looked over the students ability's. Alright now we need to work together to figure out a way to counter th- he was interrupted by a silver flash ... "Well that eliminates having Itachi for the first round. Well thats probably for the best anyways" he said gazing over towards the fluffy couch in the corner which now contained Itachi wrapped in a heavy blanked peacefully sleeping with his eyes already closed.

"It will be best to not show our strength too much, but don't hesitate to go all out if you need to"

Meanwhile

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"The American team should beat a weaker team such as Australia. The French team is not very talented, so you better not let me down" said an arrogant looking brown haired man in his early twenties gazing at the 12 members of the Spanish national team.

Prince Benny was one of the main contributors of money and resources, so he pretty much controlled the team.

"When you face the American team, you must cripple that wretched man Itachi, and you will be rewarded handsomely" he said grinning maliciously as he imagined the despair on that mongrels face after he couldn't use magic anymore.

A few of the team members had a greedy glint in their eyes as they took in all the details the target. They all knew that they should suck up to him since he was most likely to be the future King of Spain. While he was decent at magic, he wasn't near the team members level, yet the resources and power at his disposable could determine whether they broke through Super Tier in their life time.

"Hmm maybe I should take his girl too since he is dating that Chinese slut. hehehe maybe I will take that bitch too and teach her a lesson while I get him to watch." he thought lustfully licking his lips at the thought 'I wont let him kill himself either. He will definitely die a slow painful death, which is what he deserves for messing with the me'

"Sir it is time for the matches to start" said an attendant bowing down

"Very well; You better enjoy your life while you can Itachi since it won't be too very pleasant soon

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"I can't believe that asshole didn't even come to watch the match" Gabriella angrily said as she walked away from the field

"Well, he seemed pretty tired maybe he is just resting up so he can perform at his best the next match since this was the weakest opponent we will face for the whole tournament." Lucas peacefully responded

"Well, we face the Spanish team in 4 hours, so he better be prepared, he is probably our most reliable member to win not counting whether he shows up or not" said Matt walking beside them.

Neither he nor Itachi had participated in their first match since it would be best to hide the two strongest members for the later matches. Even if they did go up, they would likely not use their full strength or hide an element such as Itachi with his space element that only his team knew.

This was a common thing to do for the stronger teams, but Matt wanted Itachi to compete next just to be safe since it would be embarrassing to lose a match because they were too hesitant to put their strongest members in.

They walked into the room to see Itachi eating a juicy burger with a plate of fries next to him with a bag labeled 'Five Guys'

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"I thought that was an American chain" said Catherine curiously wondering how he managed to find that place nearby

"It is"responded Gabriella looking at him cynically feeling a headache coming

"I was feeling a bit hungry so I went back to America to get some food" he said cheerfully as Gabriella face palmed "one of the benefits to being able to teleport" said Itachi with a smug look on his face

*Sigh "Fine whatever I shouldn't even be surprised anymore, anyways the upcoming match will be you, Ryan, Olivia, and Grant." said Gabriella before she seemed to remember something as she had an annoyed look on her face "Did You Throw The Prince of Spain Into a Canal?"

"Yeah, I'm quite proud of that. I even got a fun little trick for the match" Itachi said muttering the last part under his breath sinisterly as he smiled.

"Damn, don't overdo it and you better watch your back for assassins" she snickered half joking half serious while Itachi looked away "They can try, but they better pray they kill me on the first attempt"

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"Greetings today we will be finishing up the round of sixteen matches. On the right field we will have Spain vs the USA while on the left will be China vs Canada. Now, both the USA and China have shown solid performances so far in the round of 32 with a flawless knockout of their opponent.

We will have to see if either of these strong teams will be taken out early, or they will continue to blow away the competition. Now, the format of the round of sixteen matches will 4 v 4 between the competitors. If you direct your attention to the board we will see what terrain the contestants will be facing on."

Looking up at the large screen Itachi could see a dial surrounded many different options spin before landing on a small side that said water terrain.

"Aaaaaaannnnnnnnd We Have Landed On The Water Terrain! What an amazing pick. This is going to be the first look at the water terrain for the tournament so get ready folks this is going to be quite interesting"

The arena which was already a few meters lower than the seats shrunk down even farther. The normally transparent barrier turned cloudy as a few earth, water, and even a few plant mages jumped into the fray.

Itachi using magic to see through couldn't help but whistle in appreciation "They sure know how to build a field"

Sure enough it was finally revealed after a couple minutes, and the entire arena was flooded with a 10 meters depth of water. Between the two halfs of the entire field was a giant wall surrounded by spatial barriers to prevent destruction which separated the two battlegrounds. On each side was two islands where the team would begin which even came with a few trees and shrubbery.

An 8 meter wide long strip of land connected the two with water to either side of the strip. The two main islands were both quite large providing a secure foothold to the contestants while a few mini islands dotted the surroundings. Quite an impressive set up changing a normal field into an Island Oasis which was only possible since it was so large.

Both sides made their way on to their respective sides as they discussed a plan going into it. While they didn't have any water mages which would put them at a disadvantage, Ryan and Grant were both earth mages so they should be able to give them an advantage in defense. They also had a few plans they could activate if they felt the position was right.

On the other side were the 4 Spanish opponents who Itachi helpfully referred to as Ginger bitch, Fatty, Alexa Tomas (; and blacky since even after a few minutes of brainstorming they didn't have the time to come up with a funny name for a guy who looked completely normal with black hair.

"What else can we call him?" Ryan muttered under his breath with a serious look on his face as he stroked his nonexistent beard

"The names don't matter" Yelled an annoyed Olivia

"And why Alexa Tomas? That one doesn't make any sense. Is that her name or something?"

The boys shared a knowing look "She just looks similar to our idol who shares a common nationality" said Grant proudly while Ryan fervently nodded his head in agreement

"Who i-" she was wisely cut off by Itachi *Cough "That's not important, we should get ready for the match" he said looking over at the board which showed a 30 seconds before the match starts

Soon, the timer ticked to zero and immediately Ryan initiated his summon beast calling out his commander ranked Bone serpent while Olivia sent out a few early lightning bolts to test drain their magic.

Holding back a bit, Itachi created a few different wind Tornados dancing among the water which immediately sucked up some water turning into water spouts.

Seeing this, the Ginger sent out a few mid tier fiery fists to try to disrupt the magic, but besides shaking a bit, it held strong when Itachi supplied a bit more energy to it.

The female behind him sent out wind blasts to disrupt it and He let her waste quite a bit of wind energy before finally disrupting it. He looked over to check on his teammates to see how they were faring.

A few other attacks flew towards his teammates, but between Grant and Ryan their defenses were pretty good. Olivia was faring even better as she darted around with wind wings trading blows with the black haired guy who also had the lightning element. Instead of dodging the attacks like Olivia, he would block them with his earth magic which had was recognized as the best defense method for lightning.

She seemed to be doing alright at the moment. Looking over he noticed a power surging which showed they were finally getting serious. A blue glow surrounded the somewhat chubby guy on their team while the strength emanating off gave the strength of the attack away.

"High Tier Water Magic" Ryan called out in warning while the others made preparations to block it. A second later out of nowhere a giant wave flew towards them like a tsunami crashing over the previously somewhat tranquil water with a roaring sound.

Itachi and Olivia simply flew up with wind wings as the wave washed over the Island below while the other two were both adept with Earth magic, and the wave had no chance of breaking through their shell they encased themselves within.

Emerging after the wave dissipated Ryan loudly cursed at the guy "Oi, Fuck you fatty, you should have just jumped into the water then maybe the wave wouldn't be so weak"

*Wince "Why you gotta do the man like that" said Grant trying to look nice, but the slight grin he tried to keep off his face gave him away.

"What did you just call me you filthy commoner?" the chubby man yelled back across the gap his eyes filled with rage

"Damn, You weren't just born with a silver spoon in your mouth were you? You were born with the whole Silver fucking shovel you pig" Ryan yelled back

"You asked for it" he said trembling with rage as an icy blue surrounded him

"Oh, two elements in high tier? I guess you weren't all talk, I guess I'll have to respond in kind" as a fiery red glow surrounded him

The entire temperature of the field dropped as a powerful Ice leapt across the field. resembling a spear it gave off bone freezing chills as the water underneath froze as it leapt across the sky

"It is even strengthened quite a bit. Still nothing important though" Ryan said arrogantly as he finished up his fire star constellation. A fiery red glow lit up the sky as what resembled a giant meteor collided with the ice attack in a loud explosion filling the entire arena up with steam.

The smoke cleared with the two teams facing each other unharmed while the Fatty seemed to be shaken a bit since his attack was overpowered and exploded closer to him.

The brief period of peace was quickly interrupted by Grant who sent a bunch of calling out "Mid Tier Light Javelin" as a few hundred light projectiles shot towards the other team.

Olivia flew towards their side probing with a few more lightning attacks while Itachi also sent a few half hearted strikes over not really bothering to put much of an effort in unless he had to.

"Selina, thats our target, we will give you an opportunity to take him out since we can't last much longer if this continues on." the black haired guy said which Itachi made out with his enhanced hearing from his high mental layer combined with the enhancements from his dragon genes.

Immediately, the opponents made their move with powerful high tier moves that sprang out to attack Itachi's teammates. The Ginger sent a powerful Heavenly flames burial towards Olivia while the fatty once again sent a giant deadly ice spear which rocketed towards Grant. The black haired man sent Lonely death lightning arcing towards Ryan and all three immediately began hurriedly making preparations.

Taking the opportunity, the beauty with long black hair shot towards Itachi on the west side of the island. She sped through the air quickly arriving as she coldly looked at him "Sorry, but there are some people you shouldn't offend" she said arrogantly as she lifted up her hand "Death's song" she uttered coldly as a shrieking sound wave eerily shot towards him like the sound of death itself.

Itachi instantly felt a mental attack shatter against his fortified mental shields akin to an egg shattering against a rock. The woman was flabbergasted when instead of falling unconscious he looked up with a grin "Sound magic huh? Quite interesting. Sadly I guess I'm not the best match-up for you."

There were 9 mental layers which were mostly related to the Space and Physic elements, but you could raise them even without having them albeit it might be harder.

They were very beneficial and they increased your senses along with strengthening the mind from soul attacks. For the space element, having stronger mental tiers would give you more control and strength over manipulating the space element. For example, when Itachi began practicing Telekinesis at the first mental layer, he couldn't lift anything that heavy, and he could only move one thing at a time.

Now at the 8th level, his telekinesis was so strong he could shatter buildings.

He could affect gravity to a very high level. They were achieved by simple meditation, but it is harder than it sounds and it takes alot of talent along with hardwork to breakthrough them. It is easier to breakthrough them if you have the space or physic element since you can better sense and feel it.

Many elements that had dealings with the soul such as Sound, Physic or curse would have less effect if the recipient of the attack had a high mental layer level. Since his mental layer was so high it was no surprise her soul attack had no effect at all.

She looked at him in shock not knowing what to do. This was her strongest soul attack, and even if it couldn't take him down he should at least be shaken up.

Itachi gave her a smirk as a familiar purple energy lit up his hand "Go tell your prince there are some people he can't afford to offend otherwise, a country might disappear overnight" he said returning her earlier words. Shaken out of her stupor, he watched as she desperately tried to get away like a bird fleeing from an impending storm

Itachi calmly stood there in no rush as he slowly raised a finger towards her "CRACK" a bolt of lightning chased after her hitting its mark with a loud "zzzzzzzz" as the smoking figure fell from the sky.

"Thats one down" murmured Itachi who watched as a medic on stand bye flew in picking her up before retreating from the arena. 'Shouldn't have done too much damage, I lowered the voltage quite a bit' he thought while returning to the match. His teammates recovered wonderfully and Ryan's commander bone serpent was harassing the other team while the other three pressed on them.

The Ginger tried to defend with a light-shield, but it was viciously broken though by a tail-whip of the commander beast as he was flung back into the magic barrier knocking him unconscious.

The match was pretty much over at this point as the remaining two were completely outclassed as Itachi returned to help. Itachi could have just let them clean it up, but he wanted to try something. Lining up the angle right he shot a bolt of weaker bolt of lightning which flew over the black haired kids shoulder "Oops I missed" he said loudly as it flew towards the barrier.

Strangely, when it approached the barrier, a tiny opening appeared in it that was too small for anyone to notice. The bolt slipped through the crack startling the spectators as it zapped a certain Spanish Prince "Ahhhhhhhhhhh" he loudly screamed pathetically before falling unconscious.

Itachi meanwhile, pretended not to notice what happened while he helped clean up the last two opponents while some of the management of the tournament immediately ran over checking the barrier and the runes

"The barrier has plenty of energy and their is no gaps in it" said one guy looking at the barrier with a strange look on his face

"Hmm, it should be fine, add an extra layer just in case, we can't have another incident like this" said an older looking guy with a white beard who was rubbing his head already feeling a migraine coming at the shit he would have to deal with due to a foreign prince almost being killed from stray attack. 'Stupid barrier, must be outdated runes' he thought grouchily watching the medics hurry to treat the hurt prince.

Meanwhile The others had finished up the rest of the Spanish competitors who were quite easily taken care of. The black haired man surrendered after the Fatty knocked away by a fiery fist marking the end of the match which was quickly announced. The barrier was taken down and they were instantly met by the loud cheers of hundreds of thousands of people watching at the powerful display. While the spectators were protected from the attacks, they could still feel the power that was coming from the attacks and this was one of the best battles they had ever seen.

Most of the attention was on Ryan since he had a commander level contract summon which was very rare, but they were also surprised at how strong the others were. Overall the American team was estimated to be a top contender for the number 1 spot and they did not disappoint.

Looking over to the side Itachi got to watch the rest of the match between China and Canada, and luckily he got to watch his beautiful girlfriend. "She had probably already told them about her breakthrough to super tier, but they are most likely saving that for the harder matches" he thought since she hadn't used super tier magic yet, but she was still destroying with powerful ice attacks left and right while she was supported by her Snow white commander fox summon. "Maybe I should introduce it to Felix sometime" he thought wryly Imagining what others would think if they knew he was trying to match-make two dignified commander beasts together.

She did seem to be holding back quite a bit and from what he could recall, those competing with her should be some of the weaker members on the Chinese national team.

Soon they returned back with their teammates who greeted them cheerfully

"Ayyyy Itachi, Nice work" said Lucas walking up to him with a grin "She was a sound magic user yet you took care of her no problem. Gave us the easy win to the match with the 3v4" he said cheerfully patting Itachi on the shoulder

Ryan walked over "You bet, My boi Itachi ain't no simp" he said happily although he looked a little sad "she was hella fine though hopefully she isn't scarred, I still gotta get that number"

*Sigh "She would probably run away since who would date a playboy like you" said Gabriella scornfully before turning to face Itachi

"On that topic have you ever been in a relationship before?" she said curiously

"Might as well tell you now, I am currently dating someone and she is competing here at this tournament" Itachi said much to the shock of the others.

"WHO!?!" everyone said in unison while Itachi smiled playfully "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes! You better tell us" said Gabriella threateningly

"Hmm all I will tell you for now is that she is on the Chinese team. I will introduce her later." he said while a few immediately began listing names of the females on the Chinese team trying to get a reaction out of him, but he remained impassive.

"Errr fine whatever don't tell me, I'll figure it out on my own" Gabriella declared before storming off.

They all returned to the hotels since they were not competing for another two days. Giving them a nice period to relax. Itachi walked into the room collapsing on the comfortable bed 'peace at last' he thought burying his face in the fluffy pillow.

'I have a bit of time on my hands. Maybe I should go visit a certain someone.' he thought before drifting off in the comfortable embrace of sleep.