It was the seventeenth day of the Champion Mage Challenge, and today featured the eagerly awaited match involving "Philly."
To keep today's audience in their seats longer, the organizers had deliberately moved "Philly's" match to the second-to-last slot.
Although many spectators knew this arrangement was merely the organizers' way of keeping more seats filled, they still willingly arrived early.
The entire main venue now looked as it would on the day of the finals. Nearly every seat was occupied, and even half the private viewing boxes along the arena had sold.
These boxes generally only sold during the semifinals because they were simply too expensive. A box cost fifty gold coins for a single match, an expense few mages could afford.
Since this was not the semifinals, the committee offered a discount on the original fifty-gold-coin price. Even so, they had not expected anyone to book a box during the Top Thirty-Two round.
Even Fran could not help marveling at how many rich people there were!
If she had to pay that much just to watch a bunch of Second Order Mages compete, she certainly would not be willing to part with the money.
"Contestants, please take your positions in the Duel Arena. The match will begin shortly." Hearing the referee's urging, Fran quickened her pace, picked a spot at random, and stopped.
The Top Thirty-Two round of the Champion Mage Challenge used the same realistic duel grounds as the preliminaries, with obstacles placed in the center of the arena.
But Fran's match was the second-to-last of the day, and the grounds were only replaced once a day. Just like the arenas in the preliminaries, this one was already battered beyond recognition.
Following her habit from the preliminaries, she stood on a patch of high ground. Her opponent, however, seemed