The fifth team of group A entered the arena with evident confidence.
The three students, with two wood beasts and one water beast, took advantage of the elental advantage similar to the third team. Although they only had Iron-level creatures, the combination proved devastating for the Big Stone Lurker.
The wood elent systematically absorbed the vitality of the rocky monster while the water beast enhanced the plants' power.
The battle, relatively easy and straightforward, lacked the surprise factor or strategy that previous combats had shown.
"Victory for Team Five of Group A," announced Yang when the beast finally died. "Ti: five minutes, thirty-two seconds."
"They almost matched Jin's ti," Min comnted.
"Almost," Taro emphasized. "Jin keeps the record by twenty seconds."
Ren observed with an unsatisfied expression. "The elental advantage was significant. They could have easily surpassed Jin, but their execution was diocre."
Liu nodded. "Even if your elent is favorable, you'll get into trouble one day if you don't understand how to maximize its advantage."
The auxiliaries worked hurriedly to prepare the arena for the next combat. The audience, now fully engaged in the competition, animatedly speculated about the strategies they would see next.
But they knew nothing…
"Team Five of Group B, prepare to enter," announced the auxiliary.
A murmur of anticipation ran through the stands. The approaching team wasn't just any team.
"It would be funny to see what the spectators would do if they knew she was the princess," Min murmured.
Liora, Larissa, and Maria advanced toward the arena with the characteristic grace of their aristocratic upbringing. Unlike most previous teams, they showed neither nervousness nor bravado, only serene determination.
"Sothing has changed," observed Ren, noticing subtle differences in how they moved, especially Liora. "There's less... restraint."
Since the attacks, Selphira Ashenway and the castle had changed their approach and increased security asures at the academy.
As a result, they had finally allowed the girls to use their beasts openly.
Of course, only their normal beasts... They still didn't know they were doubles.
"Are they going to..." Ren murmured.
Larissa was the first to invoke her beast. Her mineral fairy, normally barely visible as a subtle glow, erged completely: an ethereal creature approximately twenty centiters tall, with crystalline wings and a body that seed like solid mineral brought to life.
Liora followed, summoning her will-o'-wisp. Unlike normal flas, this entity seed conscious, an amalgamation of bluish lights that danced around its tar with movents that suggested intelligence. Occasionally, small sparks separated from the main body, orbiting around it before reincorporating.
Maria completed the trio with her armadillo, a compact creature about one ter tall but evidently resilient, whose segnted shell glead with a tallic luster under the light.
But everyone knew about Maria's armadillo...
"Those are two rare Tier 3 beasts," murmured a seventh-year student to his companions. "Like the Starweaver girl's shadow wolf."
The crowd began talking all at once. The shock was evident.
"Fifty percent in primary enhancents!" soone from sixth year shouted, evidently familiar with the classification.
"That's impossible!" replied another. "Two more beasts with gold potential from the sa first-year group?!"
"Wait, the Will-o'-wisp is controlled by the Ashenways!" responded a third. "The mineral fairy by the castle... Royal Blood and Ashenway... Obviously they would have tier-3 beasts!"
Professor Yang raised a hand, silencing the growing commotion. "Order in the stands."
This quieted the shouts but intensified the murmurs. It wasn't just that they had powerful beasts, but the implications of having them.
"Weapons?" offered the auxiliary, presenting the usual arsenal.
To the surprise of many, especially those familiar with aristocratic traditions and their disdain for those "ordinary plebeian" tools, the two cousins nodded.
"The 'princesses' using weapons?" The shock in the voice of the student seated in front of Ren was evident. "Since when does royalty lower themselves to use those sticks?"
"We brought our own," responded Larissa, extracting an object wrapped in cloth from Maria's hands.
When she unwrapped the fabric, murmurs of amazent were inevitable. In her hands, she held a rudintary spear whose tip was not tal, but a pearlescent material that emitted a soft golden glow.
The shape and texture made its origin clear to anyone with basic knowledge of mythical beasts.
"A F**KING QILIN HORN!" soone shouted, unable to contain themselves.
"It has to be fake!"
"It's the royal family, idiot! They have Qilins!"
Liora unsheathed her own weapon: an also rudintary black sword that seed to absorb the surrounding light.
"Black Turtle," recognized the seventh-year student, in a tone that mixed disbelief and envy. "Shell point. Another family relic."
The Will-o'-wisp gave Liora a 50% control in fire elent and mana, with superior specialization than Ron's salamander.
Larissa had a 50% increase in Earth and vitality.
Maria had 40% in defense.
Even so, they wouldn't have much advantage against the Big Stone Lurker, and initially planned to defeat it with lower quality weapons, made from Elephant Bull material that wouldn't let their families be known.
Although sowhat frowned upon, it served the objective of keeping their beasts hidden. But it wasn't needed anymore…
After revealing their beasts, they no longer needed nor planned to use their weapons... Or that would have been the case, but since they had been associating with Ren, they had largely lost their distaste for weapons.
"Are those Gold-level materials?" Taro asked Ren.
"Yes, but they've lost half their power," Ren murmured. "They might overco Silver 2 defenses."
"How is that possible... Do they tear them off?" Min asked.
"Tearing them would run it… They shed them after a few decades," Ren responded simply. "The Qilins shed their horns and the Black Turtles the central peak of their shell. They're among the few beasts whose attack parts maintain sufficient power even after detaching. Most other materials only serve for cultivation if you don't treat them like the tip of my spear."
Maria completed the trio with a mace embedded with faintly glowing inlays. Though less spectacular than her companions' weapons, it was clearly of superior manufacture compared to common tools.
They weren't very effective for Gold-rank parts, and the royal family and Ashenways didn't have too many… Qilins and Turtles rarely lost a horn or shell point. However, with these creatures being abundant in their families, they had enough to arm several dozen soldiers in extre cases.
Or lend to their kids…
The weapons were quite rudintary, as there wasn't much weapons developnt in Yano, but they served their purpose when high-level soldiers who were better with their high Silver or Gold beasts weren't sufficient, and they needed to arm Bronze-rank soldiers against abyssal hordes.
Finally, the murmurs subsided.
"Beginning in three, two, one..." Yang counted.
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