In the arena, the three students invoked their creatures.
Han's weaver spider erged first: a creature the size of a large dog, with a white exoskeleton and eight gleaming eyes.
Jun's monkey manifested in his body, covering him with reddish-brown fur, making his arms longer and all his muscles grow. They still weren't particularly large, but they clearly indicated considerable strength. His posture also changed subtly, becoming more primal and balanced.
Finally, Sora invoked her deer: an elegant animal with pale bronze fur and branching antlers.
"Weapons?" offered the auxiliary.
Unlike many previous teams, all three responded affirmatively, each selecting a heavy hamr from the available arsenal. The weapons looked almost comically large in their hands, especially in Sora's slender grip.
The choice provoked murmurs of surprise among the students. Hamrs were powerful but difficult to handle, especially for first-year tars with beasts that weren't specialized in physical strength.
The only exception being Han…
"An unconventional approach," comnted Liu. "Especially for Sora. Her deer should give her good advantage in agility, but low enhancents in everything else, particularly in strength."
"The deer isn't that simple," replied Ren, a slight smile forming on his lips. "Watch the fur."
Indeed, as they prepared to begin, the deer's fur began to change subtly, acquiring greenish tones while small buds appeared with increasing frequency along its flanks and back.
Liu, Min, and Taro couldn't understand what they were seeing. Weren't deer neutral speed beasts? they wondered.
"Spring coat," Ren murmured with satisfaction. "Most believe the deer is a neutral elent, but it's actually a wood beast in hibernation. With the correct mana pattern..."
The barrier receded, releasing the Big Stone Lurker. Imdiately, the three tars executed movents that evidenced previous practice.
Han directed his spider toward the right flank, where the creature quickly began weaving a web. The threads, surprisingly strong, extended in a pattern designed to limit the monster's movent.
Simultaneously, Sora and her deer positioned themselves on the opposite flank. The deer, whose coat now clearly showed its elent, began emitting an aura that seed to interact directly with the rocky surface of the Big Stone Lurker.
Where the aura touched stone, small fissures appeared.
Jun remained in the center, fused with his monkey and watching attentively while holding his hamr in a defensive position. Unlike his companions, he seed to be waiting for sothing specific.
The Big Stone Lurker, confused by the attack from multiple angles, turned heavily trying to face the most obvious threat: Han's spider, whose threads were beginning to limit its mobility. The creature's slow movents only served to entangle it further in the sticky strands.
"Phase one complete," announced Han with a calm but firm voice.
The weaver spider, responding to so invisible signal, intensified its weaving, focusing on the monster's strange legs. Each movent of the monster only managed to entangle it more in the silk trap.
"Now, Sora!" Han indicated.
Sora's deer charged directly toward the Big Lurker, its antlers glowing with green energy. The creature moved with unexpected speed, crossing the distance in a blur of motion.
The impact produced a vibrant sound. The antlers fixed to the stone, and the deer began absorbing pulses of energy that seed to flow directly from inside the Big Lurker. The stone around the contact point began to crack and weaken even more.
"It's absorbing its vitality," Ren explained to his companions. "Its wood elent ability can absorb energy from earth and rock."
While Sora and Han's beasts kept the creature occupied, Han and Sora approached Jun and began hitting him with light blows to his back.
"What are they...?" Taro began to ask.
"Watch the monkey's fur," Ren indicated.
Jun had subtly changed. His fur, previously a uniform tone, now showed more intense reddish patches, and his eyes shone with an almost red glow. His muscles tensed visibly with each breath.
"Rage Mode," Ren explained. "An ability that allows the monkey to temporarily amplify its strength at the cost of slightly less control if you use the correct mana pattern."
Jun, now holding the hamr as if it weighed nothing, nodded to his companions. He was the only beast fused in the arena: Jun's muscles were now visibly expanded, and a reddish energy began emanating from his body.
"Final phase!" Han shouted.
Jun charged toward the Stone Lurker, hamr raised high.
The first impact was devastating.
The hamr struck exactly where the deer's antlers had weakened the monster's structure. Cracks spread across the entire surface of the Big Stone Lurker. The sound of stone fracturing filled the arena.
The hamr, however, didn't withstand the impact. It broke cleanly, the handle separating from the head with an audible crack. The tal head remained embedded in the stone creature while the wooden shaft splintered in Jun's hands.
In a coordinated effort, Sora and Han threw him a second hamr. The weapon spun through the air in a perfect arc.
Without losing montum, Jun spun to catch it and launched the second blow. This hit the sa area, deepening the monster's cracks. But like the previous one, this hamr also broke from the force of the impact, its tal warping before giving way.
Sora and Han quickly provided the last hamr, tossing it in perfect sync.
For the third blow, Jun concentrated all the energy of Rage Mode. His fur glowed brighter, and his muscles bulged further.
The final impact resonated throughout the stadium. The hamr, unlike the previous ones, completely broke through the Big Stone Lurker's defense.
Sora's deer charged with more intensity, attacking the now defenseless point and absorbing more vitality. The antlers plunged deeper into the creature's body, drawing out its essence with increasing speed.
With the monster vulnerable, the battle tipped in favor of the students.
After a short ti, with a sound reminiscent of a house collapsing, the Big Stone Lurker disintegrated. Jun remained attacking at the front until the end, now panting but victorious, the third hamr deford but still unbroken in his hands.
The ovation was imdiate.
"Victory for Team Four of Group B," announced Yang, genuinely impressed. "Ti: eight minutes, twenty-three seconds."
"Impressive," Liu murmured, looking at Ren with new respect. "You taught them well."
"Only Jun and Sora," Ren corrected. "Han would still flee and not let approach him."
"But he still fit perfectly into the strategy," Min observed.
Ren nodded, his mushrooms pulsing with a rhythm that his friends now associated with satisfaction.
"Han is intelligent," he responded simply. "He knows how to recognize a good strategy when he sees it."
As the three tars left the arena, Han briefly looked toward where Ren was seated. Ren returned the gaze with a slight nod. It was a small advance, but significant.
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