A while ago, before the students were swallowed into the Vice Principal's dimensional arena, another scene was unfolding outside.

The grandstands were restless, buzzing with murmurs. Nobles shifted in their seats, commoners craned forward, and apprentices pointed eagerly toward the shimmering barrier that sealed away the battlefield. Nothing of the combat could yet be seen—only silence and distortion.

The Vice Principal rose then, his aged figure dignified, his presence alone commanding quiet. "You came to witness," he declared, voice deep and steady. "And so you shall. My beast will open the battlefield to your eyes."

At his gesture, the spatial beast appeared—a towering, obsidian-bodied entity lined with glowing silver seams. The very air bent around it. With a single motion, it drew apart the distortions, weaving them into a vast projection that unfurled above the arena like a curtain of light.

Gasps erupted. The endless forest was revealed, every scattered squad and spirit beast now visible within the hovering screen. The crowd roared, their anticipation reignited as the Vice Principal clasped his hands behind his back.

"Now," he said softly, though his voice carried across the arena, "witness the forging of the next generation."

—

From the projection that hung like a celestial mirror above the grandstands, the image shifted—zooming in on one of the scattered squads. The crowd leaned forward as Aston's team came into view, five students moving with precision, beasts at their side.

"They're not charging in?" someone in the stands frowned.

"No—they're… digging?" another exclaimed.

Gasps and laughter rippled as Brennar's construct scuttled across the forest floor, its mechanical arms whirring while it planted rune-studded devices. Beside him, Ivy pressed glowing sigils into the ground, her enchantments threading into the soil like veins of light.

"They're laying traps!" a scholar in the balcony shouted, voice edged with admiration. "And layering them with enchantments—look at the synergy!"

Then it happened. A rival squad blundered into their perimeter, a spirit beast's paw snapping a buried rune. The trap erupted in a flurry of steel and frost, enchanted spikes bursting from the ground. The enemy's cries echoed through the broadcast before a coordinated strike sent them tumbling into the glow of elimination.

The stands erupted. Cheers mingled with laughter as the first squad was teleported away.

"Brilliant!" shouted a man in the Trade Division's colors. "They picked them apart without lifting a blade!"

—

The projection shifted, its shimmering window rippling to reveal another battlefield. The crowd's roar softened into hushed awe as the new squad came into focus.

"Look at that formation…" someone whispered.

Five students moved in perfect synchronization, their spirit beasts arrayed like the points of a star. At the center, a handler lifted his staff, and an aura spread outward—threads of light binding beast and master alike into a seamless web.

"They're using a resonance weave," a scholar cried from the upper stands, nearly spilling his inkpot. "Coordinated amplification across five different beasts—do you see how the pulses overlap?"

The audience gasped as one beast, a wolf wreathed in pale flame, lunged forward, its strike magnified by the enchantments flowing from the others. Another squad fell in their path, overwhelmed not by numbers but by flawless execution.

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"Elegant," murmured a nobleman, stroking his beard. "Not one wasted motion."

—

The projection rippled again, carrying the audience's gaze deeper into the spatial forest. This time, a hush fell before the stands erupted in startled gasps.

"What—what are they doing?!" a spectator shouted.

One of the teams had set the forest ablaze. Fire roared outward in controlled rings, their spirit beasts channeling the inferno not in wild destruction but in precise waves. At the heart of it, an alchemist handler uncorked a glowing flask, tossing its contents into the fire. The flames shifted from red to searing azure, heat shimmering across the battlefield.

"Alchemy enhancement," murmured a professor, leaning forward. "They're using concoctions to fuel elemental amplification."

The crowd's noise swelled as the blazing perimeter corralled another squad. The trapped opponents tried to break through—but the flames twisted, guiding them into a funnel where a hulking beast waited, its fangs gleaming with molten fire.

"My god…" a noble gasped, rising halfway from her seat. "They turned the battlefield into a crucible."

The audience roared as the enemy squad was overwhelmed, vanishing in silver light. And then, as if to punctuate their dominance, the alchemist handler clapped his hands, signaling his teammates. The flames abruptly drew back, snuffing themselves out in controlled bursts until only ash remained.

"They fight like artificers," an instructor muttered in grudging admiration. "Not brutes. They reshape the terrain itself."

Already, speculation ran through the crowd. Whispers spread of alchemic dominance, of a squad that wielded the battlefield as their weapon. Some even dared to wonder if these students were more dangerous than those who relied purely on blades and beasts.

—

The projection shimmered, sweeping back across the battlefield. The crowd stirred the instant Aston's alliance came into view—two squads moving as one, setting ambushes with uncanny coordination.

Gasps followed as the image magnified—Brennar's construct burrowing underground to plant reinforced traps, Ivy's enchantments flaring with icy precision, and Kai's Shelldon anchoring itself into the earth, its barrier blooming hexagonal light across their perimeter. Above them, Mirage's translucent wings caught the sun, scouting ahead, while Gray slunk through the brush, his small frame belying the violence in his eyes.

"They're too efficient," a noble muttered, half in awe, half unsettled. "Two teams moving like five. Look—did you see that strike?"

The broadcast caught the moment Gray lunged. The enemy handler he'd marked barely had time to flinch before the cat was on them, claws glinting obsidian-black. A flash of silver light signaled elimination, and the opposing squad vanished in a heartbeat.

The stands erupted.

"That's how they're doing it! They only need to pick off one, and the whole team goes down!"

"Insidious," someone scoffed, though their voice carried reluctant respect.

"Smart," another countered. "That's survival."

The image panned away, shifting to another corner of the battlefield. This time, it revealed a far greater force—an alliance of four squads, their formation sprawling like an army.

"Oooh…" the crowd exhaled as one.

The four groups marched in practiced ranks, their beasts arrayed to cover every gap. Shield-bearers in front, ranged attackers and elementalists behind. Their combined presence crushed the forest beneath them, leaving smoldering ground and splintered trees in their wake.

"Now that is power," a merchant declared proudly. "Strength in numbers!"

"They're sweeping the battlefield clean," another agreed. "No trap will hold them when they come all at once."

The audience buzzed, divided now. Some were enamored by Aston and Kai's cunning strikes, others by the overwhelming might of the larger alliance.

High above it all, the Vice Principal's expression did not waver. His beast's silver seams glowed faintly brighter, the projection adjusting to show both alliances on split panes—cunning precision against brute-force coordination.

—

After an hour of watching the participants eliminate the other teams, the arena projection pulsed with silver light, the image flickering across the stands as a booming voice echoed:

"The rumble royale has concluded its first phase. We have our top sixteen teams."

The words washed over the crowd like thunder. The silence that followed lasted only a heartbeat before the grandstands erupted into chaos.

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