Just caught up after 2 days. It was easy, of course, this series is still quite new. So, thoughts. . .
Ok, I'll be totally blunt here: This manga is a mixed bag for me. First of all, after chapter 30 or so, the quality skyrocketed. That out of the way, truth is: before that, it was quite mediocre. Average. Even below average. All of the clichés, boring back stories, boring character designs, worn out routines. . .I wasn't engaged by it, I kept reading cause I read on this thread that with time it gets better, and hell, it does. It's a shame though, I cannot for the life of me enjoy the romantic parts, and it's actually a very huge part of this manga. And I'm not getting sucked into it. I'm more interested in the world building (which still needs work), the magic and the fights (which started off really weak and got quite impressive during the tournament arc final act). Also, gotta admit Shion's back story got quite interesting during said arc, and that small Echidna appearance during that water elemental's flashback was pretty awesome too.
Soooo, long story short: I'm kinda liking it for some reasons, and disliking it at the same time for many other reasons. Call me heartless, but I'm glad Oda is not using romance in his manga.
Still, gonna keep reading, if done right, future battles might turn pretty epic, and shit will have to get real sooner or later with Echidna.