It was going great…

But then Team Three sent their next fire beast, the one Ron hadn't faced, and it proved too much for the wood element. Flames consumed even the wet vines faster than they could regenerate, turning Bolo's advantage into a liability as his Treant became fuel for inferno.

Score: 4-2

Trevor entered next with his earth beast, exactly as Ren had anticipated in his planned sequence.

The earth beast facing the almost fresh fire opponent used a different strategy than direct confrontation to save energy. It burrowed underground, becoming an invisible target while creating sand traps and unstable ground that made the fire beast's movements encumbered.

The fire beast couldn't hit what it couldn't see, couldn't burn what was protected by layers of earth. It spent energy uselessly shooting flames at ground that absorbed heat without transmitting it to the beast below.

Five minutes of frustrated attacking before the fire beast exhausted itself. Then Trevor's earth beast emerged directly beneath it, rock-hard paws striking upward in a devastating uppercut that ended the match.

Score: 5-2

Trevor's beast fell in the next match against a water element that countered earth through erosion and pressure, wearing down its rock hard defenses until they crumbled.

Score: 5-3

Iris stepped forward with her wind beast, an agile creature that moved like it was dancing rather than fighting.

Against the water beast that had just claimed victory, her wind element had the advantage. But Iris had learned from Ren about using mobility rather than only elemental clashes that would save some energy.

Her wind beast was faster than the water beast by a significant margin, and could dodge attacks the opponent launched while counterattacking from unpredictable angles. It never stayed in one place long enough for water jets to land solid hits, constantly repositioning while wearing down the slower opponent through accumulated minor strikes.

It was a masterclass in using speed advantage, turning what should have been a relatively easy victory into an almost free one through superior tactics.

Score: 6-3

Team Three was beginning to panic visibly, their leader shouting increasingly desperate instructions to the combatant in turn. They'd lost more than half their team against beasts that should have been the same level as theirs based on rank alone.

They'd underestimated the importance of correct elemental selection and lost more than necessary through poor matchup planning that Ren arrangement had exploited ruthlessly.

The battle continued with momentum clearly in Team Five's favor. By the time the dust settled from multiple exchanges, Ren's team had only two fighters remaining besides himself...

But it was sufficient for what was needed.

Score: 9-7

Team Five needed only one more victory to secure a match win and advance to the next round.

Dennis, Team Three's tenth member who'd been saved for the final position, entered the arena with their strongest beast. A Giant Rock Mole at Silver 2, higher rank than most beasts on the field. They'd held their ace back hoping to make a dramatic comeback.

It faced Team Five's fresh beast, wood element but lower rank at Silver 1, creating a difficult matchup where type advantage fought against power differential.

The combat was close and brutal, both beasts evenly matched through a combination of factors. They exchanged blows that resonated across the field with impacts that shook the ground. Dennis received intense 'coaching' from his defeated teammates on the sidelines, all of them exhausted from broken bonds but still shouting advice and encouragement.

The Rock Mole burrowed and emerged in ambush many times. The wood beast used roots to track underground movement and counter with entangling vines. Back and forth exchange where neither could establish a decisive advantage.

Then Dennis's mole found an opening after ten minutes of careful probing. It emerged directly beneath the wood beast with perfect timing, lifting it from the ground and throwing it with force sufficient to knock out on impact.

Score: 9-8

Team Three had hope now, could they actually reach Ren?

But the next fight crushed that hope quickly.

Dennis's Rock Mole had exhausted a non insignificant amount of energy in that victory, its stamina depleted by the wood beast's root absorption during their exchange. Against Team Five's final beast, a fresh Silver 2 that had been saved specifically for a situation like this… it couldn't maintain the same level of aggression.

The fresh opponent overwhelmed the tired mole through superior stamina rather than superior skill, wearing it down through relentless assault that didn't allow recovery time.

Victory for Team Five and 'war match' victory.

Score: 10-8

Ren hadn't needed to fight even once during the entire match.

His strategy had functioned almost perfectly. He'd arranged elemental advantages so each team member faced situations where they had a very reasonable chance of victory rather than random matchups. Not everyone won… that was impossible to guarantee given human's inherent unpredictability in some choices, but enough succeeded to secure overall victory.

The ninth member had defeated the tenth opponent with an accumulated advantage that Ren had built through a carefully planned battle order that maximized team strengths while minimizing individual weaknesses.

It was a textbook example of how leadership and planning could overcome raw power differential when applied correctly.

And Ren had done it without revealing any of his own capabilities.

♢♢♢♢

SECOND ROUND - RORAN'S TEAM

By the following day all broken bonds with beasts had recovered through natural regeneration, students returning to full strength for the next round of elimination.

The second round paired Team Five against Team Twelve in a matchup that made Ren's expression tighten imperceptibly.

He saw the opposing leader's name and sighed internally with resignation that came from recognizing complications.

Roran... His classmate since first year and part of the trio of perverts, as Ren called them for their recently 'too-transparent' interest in girls that made normal conversation increasingly awkward.

The boy with the Giant Troll Dog, another beast Ren had helped evolve during past years through cultivation guidance and combat training. Silver 3 in rank now, higher than any Team Five member except Ren himself.

And Roran wasn't just perverted in his social interactions... he was intelligent about combat strategy. Ren knew this because he'd spent considerable time training with him over the years, explaining elemental control concepts, helping refine techniques that turned raw power into effective combat ability.

In fact, Ren had helped almost everyone in their class during the year through various training sessions and cultivation advice. Some students had even reached Gold 1 through his assistance combined with their own dedication. It was gratifying seeing everyone's progress accelerate beyond normal slow and boring advancement.

But now that progress worked against him in ways he'd anticipated.

Those same students he'd helped were now opponents who understood their own capabilities better than they would have without his intervention.

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