'They don't understand,' Ren thought while listening to professor Zhao explain detailed rules about turn order and victory conditions. 'They still don't understand how my beasts actually function.'

The wolverine had double elemental control compared to his other two beasts. That had been its nature and advantage from the beginning as the creature with the most elemental plasticity, able to choose between elements and in Ren's case all of them… with that extra fluidity the others couldn't match.

The hydra was stronger and more defensive than the wolverine with armor and physical bulk that could tank damage other beasts couldn't survive.

The mantis was faster and possessed better attacks plus secondary abilities that made it versatile in ways raw power couldn't replicate.

If you compared them individually to the wolverine body and not its skills, using it as a baseline beast with more balanced characteristics across all categories…

They were way better than it if the elemental control wasn't there.

But with the control being there and so many bonuses being shared among all three beasts through their bonds...

The power difference between his beasts when projected to similar ranks had become almost negligible in practical combat situations.

If they get that… Then they would be able to say they understand Ren.

And since any of his beasts could handle any elemental situation with competence that made any traditional elemental matchup theory irrelevant, which meant the "strategic change" that organizers had implemented to level the playing field by forcing careful elemental planning...

Wasn't going to change anything about his dominance when it came to actual combat.

Ren didn't even plan to use more than the mantis for the vast majority of fights. Because in almost every case, it alone would be sufficient to secure victory without needing to reveal the full extent of his capabilities.

"The pairings have been determined," Zhao announced, and a list was revealed on a board that had been covered until this moment.

He paused deliberately, allowing the information to sink in while students rushed forward to find their assignments.

"Victory is determined by eliminating all opposing team members through defeat of their beasts."

Ren listened attentively despite already understanding the basic premise. It was an interesting format.

"Each team will have a leader chosen by a vote among its members," Zhao continued with a tone that suggested this wasn't optional democracy. "The leader will determine the battle order, which member fights in which turn. This decision is crucial so even though you are leaders, listen to your teammates' input. You must consider elemental advantages, beast strengths, and how to maximize victory probability for the complete team."

Students began grouping according to the assignments appearing on the boards with varying degrees of enthusiasm or concern depending on who they'd been paired with.

Ren searched for his name among the lists.

Team Five.

He looked at the other nine names listed alongside his own.

Ron... the boy with the fire salamander. He knew him well from training sessions and weekends of cultivation assistance.

The other eight names were less familiar, though Ren had helped most of them with their cultivation at some point during the year when they'd sought his advice or been part of group sessions.

He walked toward where his team was gathering. Ron was already there, smiling with obvious relief when he spotted Ren approaching.

"Ren, thank the dragon gods you're with us," he said with genuine gratitude that came from knowing what having Ren on your team meant for victory chances.

The other members nodded in agreement with Ron's sentiment. It was a mixed group, four girls, six boys counting Ren himself.

But there was a problem Ren had noticed immediately when scanning all the team assignments on the board.

Taro, Min, and Liu were assigned as enemies on opposing teams. Also Liora, Larissa, and Luna... none of them were in Team Five with him.

Ren was going to have to face them eventually if his team advanced through brackets. And Min's group that included Luna plus Liora's team with Taro were going to be the most interesting opponents by far in terms of actual challenge.

Not in the first round fortunately, maybe not soon, but if his team advanced far enough... Those confrontations were almost inevitable.

"We need to choose a leader," one of the girls pointed out. Her name was Iris, and she had a wind beast. "Should we vote?"

"I vote for Ren," Ron said immediately without hesitation.

"Me too," another boy added quickly. Trevor, his beast was an earth element. "Ren has helped all of us at some point. And he probably knows more about our beasts than we do ourselves at this point..."

The votes came rapidly without debate or politicking. Unanimity achieved in less than one minute because the choice was obvious to everyone present.

Ren was leader of Team Five through acclamation rather than close vote.

He wasn't surprised by the outcome. It made sense practically speaking given his track record. He'd trained with most of them over the past months. Knew their strengths intimately, their weaknesses that needed protection, how their beasts operated under pressure.

"Good," he said while accepting the role without false modesty that would waste time. "Considering the exact rank of each of your beasts and their primary elements..."

They formed a circle while discussing capabilities. Beasts right at the boundary between high Bronze and low Silver in terms of power output and mana capacity.

Most were low Silver or bordering that rank through cultivation that had been unusually accelerated this year.

It was impressive compared to previous years where first-year students rarely surpassed low Bronze by year's end. Normal progression was slower, more gradual, less dramatic in advancement.

But for Ren, whose mantis at Bronze 2 already operated with capabilities that rivaled or surpassed many low Silver beasts through accumulated bonuses...

It wasn't a particularly difficult challenge in terms of raw power differential.

But there was important nuance here that most people missed when making simple rank comparisons.

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