The fairy was disintegrating…

Larissa felt the sharp pain through the bond in the moment before it severed completely, a pain that made her inhale sharply despite her trying to maintain composure.

The fairy dispersed into thousands of light particles that floated briefly in the air before disappearing completely. Beautiful and terrible simultaneously.

Ren had an expression showing something that might have been regret. He spoke in a low voice that carried a genuine apology.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to go that far, but I had to ensure it fell with that strike... you were giving me problems and might have forced me to use things I preferred keeping hidden."

The Lynx was her last beast…

Larissa manifested it with movements that attempted to be confident but probably showed more moral fatigue than she wanted to admit. The creature appeared in its characteristic elegant form, silver white fur gleaming under sunlight, intelligent eyes evaluating the situation immediately.

Against the hydra that remained strong despite previous battles, the Lynx would need everything it had. Larissa knew exactly what was required to give real battle to Ren's hydra, and although the Lynx had excellent control over wind, it wouldn't be sufficient... but she couldn't use ice yet like Ren had suggested she would learn.

Element fusion into something new was a completely different level of difficulty.

The hydra handled wind even better than the Lynx despite not being specialized in it, simply because it possessed superior raw power and refined control that came from enhancements from two other beasts at the moment.

Larissa could use the Lynx's speed, its superior agility, but eventually the difference would impose itself.

The battle began with the Lynx moving immediately, not waiting for the hydra to establish rhythm. It ran laterally at speed that left blurred afterimages, using wind element to propel itself faster than its physical body would naturally allow.

The hydra's first head fired a light beam that passed grazing where the Lynx had been half a second earlier.

The second head fired toward where the Lynx was heading, anticipating its movement.

The Lynx changed direction abruptly, an impossible turn at a ninety-degree angle that defied normal physics. The beam missed by centimeters.

The third head... no, only two heads, Larissa reminded herself, but both were firing so rapidly it seemed like there were more.

The Lynx dodged four consecutive beams with a combination of speed, prediction, and wind control that deflected its trajectory at the last moment.

It was an impressive display of agility that made several spectators lean forward with renewed admiration. Perhaps Larissa could make this work after all. Perhaps speed would be sufficient to...

But then the pattern changed.

The hydra stopped relying solely on firing speed and raw power. Ren had observed sufficiently to understand the Lynx's movement pattern, the way it used wind currents for its impossible maneuvers that defied normal physics.

When the next opportunity presented itself and the Lynx attempted changing direction using an air current for propulsion...

The hydra controlled that same wind. Not completely overpowering it, but sufficiently to interfere with the technique.

The current that should have pushed the Lynx toward the left weakened at the critical moment, reducing the force of the directional change. The Lynx moved but not as rapidly as it needed for clean evasion.

The light beam caught it on the flank. Not a complete direct impact but sufficient to cause real damage that wouldn't heal quickly. The Lynx howled, more in surprise than pure pain, and stumbled in its landing.

Larissa felt the pain through their bond… not as devastating as what the fairy had experienced, but enough to know that another clean connection would end the battle decisively.

The hydra didn't fire again immediately to finish things. Ren kept it in position, observing the Lynx recover its balance while Larissa evaluated her dwindling options.

And then Larissa understood what he was doing.

He was giving her an opportunity to withdraw the beast cleanly, exactly as he'd done with Liu in their match. Without forcing bond rupture, without causing unnecessary pain that would linger for days.

Larissa withdrew the Lynx before the hydra had to attack again…

Master Zhao raised his hand with the confirmation everyone already knew. "Final victory: Ren Patinder's team."

The silence in the stands lasted three full seconds.

Then came the explosion of noise. Applause. Shouts. Conversations overlapping as everyone attempted processing what they'd just witnessed.

Because it wasn't simply that Ren had won decisively.

It was how he'd accomplished it.

Teleportation that nobody had anticipated. Combination of opposing elements. Perfect timing to exploit opponent's cooldown.

It was a level of control and tactical planning that separated good fighters from master tacticians.

And Ren Patinder, fifth-year student...

Had executed it with ease that tamers with decades of experience would admire.

Larissa remained motionless for a moment. Processing the defeat. Feeling the empty space where the bond with the fairy had been before it shattered.

She felt the weight of defeat settling over her in a manner she hadn't fully anticipated. It wasn't just that she'd lost… she'd known that would happen before even beginning. It was that she hadn't accomplished anything substantial with the Lynx. Had been neutralized with a relatively simple tactic once Ren understood how it moved.

And the hydra was probably tired after all those battles. Not much perhaps, but something. Should have been an advantage Larissa could exploit.

But it hadn't been sufficient.

Her expression remained carefully neutral, years of noble training allowing her to maintain an appropriate poker face. But internally she felt deflated in a way she hadn't expected. She'd given her absolute best and it hadn't been even remotely sufficient.

Ren walked toward her after withdrawing the hydra completely. He approached close enough for private conversation, his gaze studying her face in a manner that made Larissa wonder how transparent her emotions were despite the careful control of her expression.

"You won."

Larissa blinked, genuinely confused for a moment. "What?"

"The arrangement... The initial strategy. The scheming of how to position your team against mine," Ren elaborated, his words coming faster as if wanting to ensure she understood completely what he was saying.

"You won that part entirely. If it weren't for the enormous advantage I have with my main beast, if we were at the same base power level, you would have won the battle in the end with those positioning decisions."

He paused, making sure she was really listening before continuing. "And you gave me as good a fight as could be expected. No, better than I expected honestly... The fairy was the perfect choice that forced me to reveal capabilities I wanted keeping hidden from the start. The Lynx could dodge those beams with pure speed... And when you completely master ice, or when you have fusion as an additional option in your arsenal like some of us have learned..."

He stopped, letting the implication settle.

"I can't imagine what you'll be capable of then."

His expression softened slightly, something that might have been an encouraging smile. "Don't feel this way because you lost to someone with overpowered beasts when you don't have one. You're a great tamer, Larissa. Truly."

Larissa felt something in her chest loosen with those words, tension she hadn't noticed she was holding until it began releasing. She smiled then, genuinely instead of the political smile she used in social situations. She sighed softly, letting escape the rest of the disappointment she'd been carrying.

It seemed that in the end she hadn't disappointed him at all...

"Thank you," she said simply, because sometimes simple words carried more weight than complex elaborations. Then she added with tone mixing humor and genuine determination: "You're right. And now I need you to win this entire thing."

Ren looked at her with slight confusion. "Why?"

"Because if you win, then I can consider myself tied for second place," Larissa explained with logic that was perfectly clear to her. "I'll have lost only to the final winner, which means technically I wasn't inferior to any of the other competitors except you. It's..." she made a vague gesture with her hand, searching for the right words, "...better for my pride that way."

Ren laughed, a genuine sound of amusement that attracted some curious glances from nearby spectators. "Alright. I'll do my best then. For your pride."

"I appreciate the effort," Larissa responded with a dry tone but eyes showing real humor. They shook hands in a grip that perhaps lasted longer than Ren considered normal.

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