The roar of the crowd was deafening.

The central arena—a colossal circle of white stone and steel—shook as a spirit beast emerged from the summoning platform. Its body shimmered with spectral light, enormous wings unfurling into dozens of glowing panels. With a resonant cry, the beast released streams of translucent essence that fell like cascading curtains of glass.

When the curtains struck the arena floor, they hardened instantly into glowing barriers. The single vast stage fractured into sixteen squares, each partitioned by shimmering walls of spiritlight.

Sixteen brackets. Sixteen duels running in tandem.

The crowd cheered louder at the sight. The format was simple: each bracket would contain eight or nine contenders, depending on attendance. Single elimination. Only one will remain standing in each square.

The sixteen who won their brackets would advance to the next stage.

The referee's voice boomed across the arena:

"Competitors! Stand ready within your assigned squares. This is the Singles Arena Preliminary round. The rules are simple—defeat your opponent, or be forced out of bounds. No killing. No striking an opponent who yields. Break the rules, and you'll be expelled."

One by one, the names were called and assigned. Aston stepped calmly into his square, Mirage gliding low above him while Gray watched from the viewing edge—since only one beast could participate at a time, Aston had chosen Mirage. Her translucent wings caught the light, nearly invisible until she shifted, scattering refracted frost.

His bracket filled quickly—eight in total. He recognized a few names whispered about in class: a boy from Spirit Combat with a bronze-scaled monitor lizard, a girl from Healing with a thorn-furred fox, and another from Scouting with a darting swallowbeast. The other names barely registered.

The walls sealed. The battles began.

—

Aston's first opponent stepped forward, smirking. A broad-shouldered student with an axe strapped to his back, his beast a lean, obsidian-furred wolf. Its eyes gleamed like burning coals.

"Clear-core trash," the boy sneered. "You'll be gone in one strike."

Aston didn't respond. His hand lifted faintly, and Mirage's wings pulsed once.

The signal.

The wolf lunged first, claws sparking against the floor. Its howl echoed in the barriered chamber, essence flaring crimson around its body. The boy followed, axe drawn, aiming to overwhelm with brute speed.

But Mirage moved like silence given form.

Her wings snapped once, releasing an Icy Gale. A freezing gust slammed forward, shards of crystalline frost slicing into the wolf mid-leap. The beast's momentum shattered instantly, its claws skidding across a film of ice that bloomed beneath its paws. The boy cursed, struggling to maintain balance as his beast lost traction.

Then Mirage vanished. Glass Cloak!

The wolf howled, senses whipping around wildly. Too late.

A shimmer above—Mirage descended like a falling star, talons wreathed in glimmering frost. She struck the wolf across the shoulder, sending it sprawling out of the ring in one brutal motion.

The boy tried to lunge forward, but his axe met nothing but ice. The referee raised his hand immediately.

"Winner: Aston Rhyner."

The crowd cheered, though some voices were muffled, uncertain. To them, it looked too clean, too efficient. No drama. Just dominance.

Aston exhaled calmly, Mirage circling back to him with a faint trill. One round done.

The second opponent was more careful. A slim girl with silver rings braided into her hair, her spirit beast a hawk with copper wings.

The instant the match started, she took to the air—both her and her hawk. She relied on height, speed, and rapid dives, trying to pick apart Mirage from above.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

But Mirage was in her element.

The hawk screeched, talons flashing, only for Mirage to vanish mid-air. She reappeared behind the bird, wings crackling with frostlight. An Icy Gale burst upward, freezing the air into shimmering daggers.

The hawk veered sharply, but the frost shards clipped its wings, slowing it.

"Not yet!" the girl shouted, weaving hand-signs to accelerate her beast.

Mirage shimmered again, nearly invisible as she threaded through the hawk's dives with impossible grace. Then came her next strike: Fractured Halo. Five frost sigils flared into existence, latching onto the hawk. Above, a shimmering halo of ice spun into being, locking the bird within its radius.

The hawk faltered. Its movements slowed, its essence channeling fractured. Aston's heartbeat stayed steady as Mirage delivered a final dive, striking with surgical precision. The hawk crashed to the floor, sliding across the frost-slicked arena until the referee called the match.

"Winner: Aston Ryner."

This time, the cheers were louder. More confident. People were starting to notice.

The last fight was against a boy from Spirit Combat—a seasoned one, judging by the way he moved. His beast was a horned boar, armored with jagged plates across its back. It snorted frost through its tusks, essence radiating raw force.

"This won't be easy," the boy said, voice steady. "But I'll give it everything."

Aston nodded slightly. This opponent was different from the last two. More controlled. More aware.

The boar charged immediately, its tusks glowing with condensed energy. Mirage swept upward, dodging, but the beast pivoted sharply—too sharp for its bulk—and released a shockwave that rattled the ground.

Aston's boots skidded slightly. Strong resonance.

Mirage flickered into invisibility, but the boy anticipated it. "Pulse!" he shouted.

The boar slammed its hooves, sending a ripple of spirit energy across the floor. It disrupted Mirage's cloak briefly, revealing her position. The crowd roared.

But Aston's expression didn't change.

"Now."

Mirage spread her wings wide, summoning another Fractured Halo. The frost sigils latched onto the boar's plates, slowing its next charge. The boy pushed, roaring for his beast to break through.

Mirage unleashed an Icy Gale at the same time. The gust slammed into the boar's weakened stance, sending it sliding backward. Ice coated its legs, locking its joints mid-stride.

The boy tried one last command, but Mirage's talons struck down, forcing the boar flat against the ground. The referee's hand rose.

"Winner: Aston Rhyner."

The crowd's reaction was thunderous this time. No hesitation. No doubt. Aston had swept his bracket.

—

While Aston stood victorious, the outcomes of his friends filtered through the announcements.

Seria fought well—Oriel's Skythread perception and Lumine's resonance had guided her through the early rounds with precision. But in the final match of her bracket, she faced an opponent whose beast was a direct combat powerhouse. Without offense to match, Seria was eventually cornered and forced out. She had reached the finals but fell just short.

Lyra, however, thrived. Chill, her Frost Treading Lynx, dominated with agile strikes and icy control, overwhelming her opponents. Each fight ended with the lynx leaving its prey slowed, cornered, and defeated. By the end of her bracket, she stood tall as the victor.

Two of the group advanced: Aston and Lyra. Seria smiled when she heard the result, taking her loss with grace.

—

As the last matches ended, the central barriers dissolved. The sixteen winners were announced, their names glowing in spiritlight above the arena.

[Bracket 1: Jonathan Galius – Division: Spirit Combat] [Bracket 2: Tristan Graves – Division: Spirit Combat] [Bracket 3: Isabelle Pierra – Division: Spirit Combat] [Bracket 4: Yosef Redrich – Division: Spirit Alchemy] [Bracket 5: Laios Pembroke – Division: Enchantment Arts] [Bracket 6: Francheska Guilbar – Division: Spirit Combat] [Bracket 7: Aston Rhyner – Division: Scouting Arts] [Bracket 8: Uriel Racks – Division: Support and Healing] [Bracket 9: Genevieve Ortega – Division: Spirit Combat] [Bracket 10: Vivianne Clairmont – Division: Spirit Combat] [Bracket 11: Alain Price – Division: Spirit Alchemy] [Bracket 12: Chris Dadess – Division: Scouting Arts] [Bracket 13: Dai Micho – Division: Spirit Combat] [Bracket 14: Lyra Yves – Division: Scouting Arts] [Bracket 15: Vincent Fairbanks – Division: Trade and Commerce] [Bracket 16: Devi Halsworth – Division: Spirit Engineering]

The crowd roared louder as the spiritlight banners rippled overhead, but Aston stood silent beneath the storm of voices. His gaze softened, shifting toward Mirage, who let out a quiet trill on his shoulder. He saw the names of Yosef and Genevieve, his classmate Vivianne, his teammate Lyra, and the arrogant Tristan…

Familiar or not… in the arena, we're competitors…

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