The applause for Roran, Mira, and Trent's team continued as they left the arena. Their victory had set a high standard, especially considering they had defeated the monster in less ti than Ron's team, who possessed beasts widely considered superior.
"The next combat will begin in three minutes," announced Yang, his voice cutting through the excited murmurs. "Team Two of Group A, prepare yourselves."
"This organization is confusing," Min comnted, studying the announcent board with furrowed brows. "Why not simply number the teams from one to sixteen?"
"Tradition," Liu replied with a shrug. "Each group first competes with teams from their adjacent section to maintain competitiveness between classes. Soone told that counting us together up to 16 would 'make us feel' like one group."
"What about your group, Liu?" Taro asked, looking around the crowded stands. "I thought they'd be with you."
"You're in Group D, right?" Ren also inquired.
"Since we compete in another stadium, they're waiting for their turn. They're probably not even with our group, just like I'm not with them." Liu explained, a shadow briefly crossing his face before he masked it with indifference.
"He prefers being with us," Min added in a low voice, leaning toward Ren and Taro. "Since he repeated a year, his classmates haven't been... kind. I think the sa goes for the other two on his team."
The auxiliaries had finished preparing the arena for the next combat.
A new Big Stone Lurker, almost identical to the previous one, waited motionless in the center like a natural rock formation.
Team Two of Group A entered with expressions of forced determination. Two girls and a boy, all with air elent beasts.
"Weapons," offered the auxiliary, presenting the rack with tools.
The three students exchanged glances and shook their heads, though there was hesitation in their movents.
"We trust in our beasts," declared one of them, though her voice betrayed a certain uncertainty.
What followed was sad to watch. The students attempted a mobility strategy, constantly running around the Stone Lurker, creating air blades and gusts that barely affected its rocky surface.
Their beasts weren't bad, but they lacked the necessary power to penetrate the monster's defense. They attacked from different angles, trying to find a weak point, but with no apparent success.
Each strike seed to fade away against the creature's stony hide, like waves breaking against a cliff.
"They're not causing any real damage," Taro observed after ten minutes of fruitless attempts.
The Stone Lurker remained mostly unaffected, occasionally turning with its characteristic slowness to follow the students. Its mouth opened periodically, but the young tars were agile enough to avoid its attacks.
Five more minutes later, the situation hadn't changed. The students showed obvious signs of fatigue, their attacks becoming less frequent and more desperate. Sweat streaked their faces, and their coordinated movents had deteriorated into individual, increasingly frantic efforts.
Finally, Yang raised a hand.
"Enough," he declared with a firm voice. "The trial concludes."
The auxiliaries activated their containnt abilities, restoring the barrier around the Stone Lurker, which didn't even show significant marks after fifteen minutes of constant attacks.
The creature settled back into immobility, looking almost exactly as it had at the beginning.
"Team Two of Group A, you have failed to defeat the target," Yang announced, his tone neither harsh nor sympathetic. "However, you have demonstrated acceptable coordination and evasion technique. You will be evaluated on the obstacle course."
The three students left the arena with downcast expressions, their shoulders slumped in defeat. One of the girls seed on the verge of tears, though she struggled to maintain her composure.
"They never had a chance," Min comnted. "Three wind elent beasts against a solid rock creature..."
"The elent wasn't the only problem," Ren corrected. "It was their approach. There were many ways they could have used their beasts to win. They also seem unaware of two of their beasts' abilities."
"And they rejected the weapons," Min added. "At least they could have tried sothing different."
Ren nodded, his mushrooms also pulsing with agreent.
While the auxiliaries prepared the arena for the next combat, Ren observed Team Two of Group B waiting their turn. Hector, Vern, and Rosalind conversed with expressions of absolute confidence.
"They're still followers of Klein's group after all this ti," Taro observed, following Ren's gaze. "But if you ask ... it seems like they don't have another choice."
"They're from purist families," Min nodded. "Families under the Goldcrests... They're among those who most believe that using weapons or tools is an admission of weakness. They only trust in the natural power of their beasts."
"Team Two of Group B, prepare to enter," announced the auxiliary, his voice cutting through their conversation.
Hector led his team toward the arena with an arrogant stride. His minotaur was fully manifested. Beside him, Vern also invoked his centaur. Rosalind completed the trio of 2-ter-tall beasts with her three-horned horse.
"Very good-sized beasts with impressive strength for Iron rank," Taro comnted, showing appreciation despite his dislike of their owners.
"Tier 2, all three," Ren confird. "They offer 40% increases in their primary attributes." His mushrooms pulsed as he analyzed their mana signatures.
When the auxiliary offered them weapons, Hector responded for all with a dismissive gesture, his nostrils flaring with disdain.
"We are pure tars," he declared, head held high. "We don't need artificial trash."
"Idiots," Min muttered under his breath.
"The centaur and minotaur could have utilized weapons very effectively," Ren observed, shaking his head slightly. "Both beasts are excellent for combat with implents."
"Why reject sothing that would give them an advantage?" Taro asked, genuinely confused.
"Ego. They think they're above others because they don't use them," Min responded, rolling his eyes. "And they're Klein's followers. They wouldn't dare contradict the group's philosophy."
The combat began with an impressive display of brute strength that drew gasps from the crowd.
"Joint attack!" Hector roared.
The beasts of all three charged simultaneously against the Stone Lurker from different angles. The impact was thunderous, reverberating through the arena.
During the first few minutes, the strategy seed promising. The powerful physical attacks of the three beasts generated visible cracks in the Stone Lurker's surface. The minotaur's horn thrusts, especially, seed capable of penetrating the hard rocky shell.
"Maybe they didn't need weapons after all," Taro murmured, impressed despite himself.
Ren shook his head, his eyes seeing what others missed.
"Observe more carefully," he indicated. "The cracks are superficial. They're not achieving much, just chiseling thin, external layers of the rock."
Indeed, as the combat progressed, it beca evident that the strategy had serious limitations. Although their beasts were Tier 2 and the Big Lurker Tier 1, the monster was a rank above and fully specialized in defense.
What had initially looked like significant damage was revealed to be rely costic as the creature continued to move with undiminished strength.
The Stone Lurker, after absorbing the first impacts, began to react with more aggression. Its crystalline mouth opened completely, launching calculated bites that the students' beasts barely dodged.
Gradually, the movents of the three beasts lost precision and power. Their attacks, initially coordinated and powerful, beca increasingly desperate and uncoordinated.
"They're getting exhausted," Min observed, leaning forward. "The complete manifestation abilities consu too much mana to use them this many tis."
By the ten-minute mark, the situation had changed dramatically. The Stone Lurker, apparently learning from the battle formations, began concentrating its attacks on Rosalind's horse, the most defensively fragile of the three.
"Watch out!" Vern shouted, trying to kick and deflect the attack with his centaur. His hooves struck the Stone Lurker's flank but failed to divert its attention.
Too late.
The monster's crystalline mouth closed around Rosalind's horse. It didn't do enough damage to break it in half, but enough to neutralize its manifestation. The beast flickered and partially dematerialized, its form becoming translucent as Rosalind cried out in pain and surprise.
The spectators gasped collectively as the tide of battle shifted dramatically. What had begun as an impressive display of power was rapidly transforming into a demonstration of the limitations of brute force against a defensively superior opponent.
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