The Rune Mage Starting at Hogwarts

Then came his counterattack.

The other person is now less than a meter away from him.

This is the perfect attack range for their Durmstrang martial arts and magic; watch as he knocks this brat down!

However, as he turned around, he noticed something on his left shoulder.

Why is there a light on his shoulder?

When he noticed this, a smile appeared on Reiz's face.

Indeed, close combat is riskier, but it is also easier to hit the opponent.

As long as the spell hits its mark, it can mark the person.

Of course, it's not just for people; when a spell hits those protective charms, it can also trigger the mark and use magic to detonate it.

Normally, with his current spell power, it would take two or three spells to break through the protective spell of a sixth-grade student.

Seeing that Pierre had noticed the change on his left shoulder, Rez immediately chose to detonate the mark.

"Boom!"

A dull thud rang out from Pierre.

Pierre felt as if a horse had rammed into his shoulder, sending him flying backward.

His massive body slammed heavily against the edge of the dueling ring, and the wand in his hand slipped from his grasp due to the violent tremor, falling to the ground below.

Chapter 190: First Round Victory

Even after seeing his opponent fall on the stage, Ryze did not stop immediately.

The moment his opponent landed, he swung his wand again.

"Immediately imprison him!"

Several thick black ropes bound Pierre tightly, who was still struggling.

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence.

From the moment the referee called the start to the moment Pierre was tied up like a dumpling and lying on the side of the table, the whole process took less than half a minute.

Sirius Black, sitting in the audience, suddenly stood up. He paused for a moment, then slammed his fist on the railing and burst into laughter.

"Well done, Ryze!"

Immediately afterwards, the students at Hogwarts also cheered for Rizzi.

Although it was only half a minute, and they hadn't even seen clearly how Ryze knocked Pierre away at the end, Ryze didn't use any light magic except for an Ultimate Flash of Light.

On the stage, Ryze turned to look at the referee.

The referee then realized what was happening, quickly ran up to the stage to check Pierre's condition, and then loudly announced:

"The winner, Hogwarts, Rhett White!"

As the referee announced his verdict, Ryze put away his wand, calmed his breathing, glanced at Pierre lying on the edge of the stage, his face blank and still in tears, and then gracefully bowed to the audience.

"It seems that it really doesn't take even half a minute."

After the referee declared the winner, several senior students from Durmstrang rushed onto the dueling ring with serious expressions.

One of them waved his wand and used a spell to free Pierre from the ropes binding him.

The other person handed him a potion to restore his eyesight.

Pierre stood up with the help of his companions. There was a noticeable char on his left shoulder, a mark left after the magic mark was detonated.

After drinking the potion, his eyesight had mostly recovered. He stared intently at the mark on his left shoulder, then turned to look in Ryze's direction.

"What just happened... My armor charm shouldn't have shattered so quickly, and that last charm that hit my shoulder, that was definitely not an ordinary disarming charm. What changes did you add to the charm?"

Hearing Pierre's question, the Durmstrang students also frowned and looked at Reiz.

Indeed, none of them understood how Pierre was defeated.

It was just a regular disarming spell; there was no way it could have caused the final explosion.

Upon hearing the question, Ryze stood still, looking at him calmly.

“That’s my special skill. I don’t think it violated the rules of the dueling tournament. If you suspect that I used any forbidden magical items or took any drugs, you can ask the referee to conduct a re-examination. Whether it’s a ‘pre-flashback spell’ or a search of me, I will fully cooperate.”

The referee glanced at Durmstrang's students, then looked at Reiz.

“I did not sense any magic from contraband on Mr. White,” the judge said sternly to the Durmstrang students. “Do you wish to request a review?”

The Durmstrang students looked at each other, their expressions somewhat unpleasant.

Before a wizarding duel, wands and contraband are checked.

If a review request is submitted after the competition but no problems are found, it not only means losing the competition but also losing face for the school, and will be seen by everyone as a sore loser.

Especially for Pierre, a sixth-grade student, losing to a first-grade student was already embarrassing enough.

“No…no need,” Pierre took a deep breath. “I’m just curious about the way that magic bursts out. Since it’s your special technique, there’s really nothing to say about it.”

He glanced at Ryze, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

“I underestimated you. If I hadn’t given you the chance to unleash that powerful light spell from the beginning, if I had been able to activate the full-body armor spell earlier… the outcome might have been different,” Pierre’s voice was somewhat low.

Although Ryze was indeed quite strong, he still felt that the reason he lost so quickly was because he was caught off guard.

If he could do it all over again, he would never lose to Ryze in close combat, nor would he be hit by the opponent's spells.

Ryze simply smiled politely and did not refute it.

In a duel, underestimating your opponent is a fatal mistake.

He is the winner now, that's the result.

Ryze stepped down from the dueling ring, and Sirius strode over to him.

He patted Reiz on the shoulder forcefully.

"You won the first round smoothly. I knew you were a genius in combat!"

"Hey, Ritz, that duel was so cool!" Anthony and several other Hogwarts students excitedly gathered around to celebrate with Ritz. "That big Durmstrang guy turned green when he and his classmate came off the stage. They underestimated you and said they'd finish the fight in half a minute, but you won this round so easily."

Professor Flitwick also walked over quickly, his face full of satisfaction.

"A truly brilliant spellcasting, Mr. White!"

“Thank you for your compliment, Professor,” Rez replied humbly.

“The magic you possess is indeed very amazing, but with that, I'm afraid other students will no longer underestimate you when facing you.” Flitwick knew about the ancient magic, Ryze.

However, Rhett rarely used this ancient magic on people at Hogwarts, and now it seems that the effect of this ancient magic is indeed quite powerful.

This spell is, in some ways, even harder to defend against than the light magic they've developed in recent months.

If even one spell hits, or just grazes, it will leave a mark on the target, and once the mark explodes, it will cause damage that is difficult to defend against.

If Ryze had used this ancient magic more often at school, he probably would have had a greater advantage in duels against sixth-year students.

However, Ryze doesn't rely on it too much, but instead focuses on improving his fundamentals.

Professor Flitwick noticed that the students and their teachers in the stands not far away were also watching this scene and discussing the magical technique that Ryze had just used.

After all, this was the first major upset of the competition.

A first-grader defeating a sixth-grader in half a minute—even in this century, there has never been such an outrageous match.

They must now be wondering if this is a new, special magical technique developed by Hogwarts.

This misunderstanding isn't necessarily a bad thing for the Hogwarts students; it makes them more wary of ancient magic, and naturally, less wary of light magic.

The only problem is that Ryze will definitely not be treated as a rookie participating in a duel tournament for the first time anymore.

Chapter 191: Arrangements for the Second Round

Ritz didn't see anything wrong with Professor Flitwick's reminder.

He came here aiming for a high ranking, and being able to "steal a win" in the first match by taking advantage of his opponent's underestimation of him and saving some energy was already an unexpected bonus. Such things won't happen all the time.

He knew very well that as the competition progressed, the remaining opponents would only become stronger and stronger. If he wanted to truly gain a foothold in the duel, he would still have to rely on his real strength.

The first round of matches lasted until evening.

As the sun set, huge torches were lit around the arena.

After six hours of competition, most of the defeated contestants sat dejectedly in the stands reflecting on their failures, while the winners looked much more relaxed.

However, this does not mean that the students who failed have been eliminated; in fact, they have another chance to be revived.

Theoretically speaking, even a player who loses on the first day could still make it into the main competition.

But those who failed knew that if they lost on the first day, their chances of making a comeback were extremely slim.

"The first round is finally over," Anthony said, rubbing his sore neck and letting out a long sigh of relief as the referee announced the end of the match.

This afternoon he watched many duels. Since it was the first round of selection, the skill gap was astonishing. Basically, it was either a one-sided crushing of the junior by the senior, or a battle between two low-level players.

There are only a handful of truly high-quality, evenly matched games.

Anthony patted Reese on the shoulder, who was meditating, and reminded him, "Reese, look, the second round of the draw is about to begin. After the draw, we can go back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep."

In the center of the arena, the chief referee walked to the silver lottery box and began drawing the match-up list for tomorrow.

Of course, since it's not the main competition yet, the drawing process wasn't very ceremonial.

As the chief referee waved his wand, slips of paper from the lottery box floated rapidly in mid-air; these were the names of those who had lost on the first day.

Under the effect of magic, the two slips of paper were attracted together, forming the list of opponents for the next round.

The entire arena fell silent, everyone staring at the slips of paper that, after being combined, fell one by one into the head referee's hand.

The chief referee quickly announced the order of tomorrow's losers' bracket matches, then conducted the draw for the winners' bracket, and finally completed today's draw.

According to Sirius, the effect of this spell is theoretically a random combination, but in reality, there are ways to manipulate it in the process.

After all, this year's tournament is hosted by France, so they have to give the Beauxbatons students some face and make sure that their seeded players are not eliminated before the main tournament.

Anthony looked somewhat dejected.

He drew the Beauxbatons' Fleur de la Cour.

"Looks like I'm going to fall into the loser's bracket, but making it to the third round is enough to achieve my goal," Anthony said. He was well aware of his own level. Beating a third-year student was his limit. As a fourth-year top student, Fleur was much stronger than him in every aspect. Even using light magic, he didn't have much of a chance to win.

However, he was only there to soak up the atmosphere, and winning one round was already a great joy for him.

Seeing that Anthony was calm, Rizzi didn't offer any further comfort, but instead looked at his opponent for tomorrow.

Hiroshi Sato, a fifth-year student at the Magic Institute.

Ryze sensed it only slightly and saw the boy in the rest area of ​​the magic institute whose robes shimmered with golden light.

This is a characteristic of magic.

All students at the beginning of the school year wear pink robes, but as they progress through the grades, the robes of high-achieving students automatically turn gold.

It looks pretty cringeworthy, but it's actually a rule written into the school regulations by the magic school.

That Sato Hiroyuki, who was in fifth grade and wore a gold robe, seemed to be a formidable opponent.

"Fifth-year students from the Magic Institute?" Sirius frowned slightly after seeing the battle list. "Those Japanese wizards are known for their casting speed and accuracy, and they should have noticed your previous duel. They're watching us now."

The news of Ryze defeating a sixth-grader in his first year had, over time, spread throughout the tournament.

Sato Hiroshi's expression now looks very serious.

“Let them see if they want to,” Ryze shrugged.

Sirius patted Ryze on the shoulder lightly: "Indeed, they are the ones who should be nervous now. Your ancient magic is not a technique that can be cracked in a short time. As long as you can stay calm and not relax, you will obviously have a greater advantage."

Professor Flitwick also carefully reviewed the match information of all the students participating in the Hogwarts tournament.

The second round of matches has indeed become more difficult, with most of the matches at Hogwarts being tough opponents.

Therefore, after returning to the hotel, no one went straight to rest. Instead, they gathered in Professor Flitwick's room. Professor Flitwick, who had watched all the matches and taken many notes, and several senior students took out their notes from the day's matches and presented them to the students in their own style.

Professor Flitwick also briefly mentioned Reiz's opponent, Hiroshi Sato.

However, the opponent's first opponent was only a third-year student, and the opponent easily defeated the opponent with those conventional magics without revealing any special characteristics.

However, Professor Flitwick, who was in charge of Japanese magic at the magic institute, also had some knowledge of it, so he gave a lot of advice, telling Ryze to be careful of some of the opponent's more obvious hand-raising movements.

As for Anthony, Professor Flitwick didn't just abandon him because he thought Anthony was doomed to lose.