"Beginning in three, two, one..." Yang counted.
The containnt retracted, releasing the Big Stone Lurker.
The team deployed imdiately.
Maria and her armadillo took the frontal position, acting as the primary tank. The beast's shell glead as it created a living shield that imdiately drew the Stone Lurker's attention.
Simultaneously, Larissa executed a movent that left many spectators open-mouthed...
She attacked instantly, appearing with a flash at the monster's flank.
"A spatial jump," murmured a sixth-year student with amazent. "If only I had a beast like that..."
Larissa brought the Qilin horn at the tip of her spear to the side of the Big Stone Lurker. When she struck, the weapon pierced the rocky carapace as if it were soft clay, creating two perfectly circular holes. The horn's glow intensified at the mont of impact, then faded to its previous soft radiance.
It wasn't a big attack in terms of size, but it had penetrated all the defensive layers in a single blow.
Liora, anwhile, executed her own version of the spatial jump, although her technique seed slightly different, with a blue fire flare at the edges of the distortion. She reappeared on the opposite side of the monster, her Black Turtle sword tracing an elegant arc that cut cleanly through the rock.
The Stone Lurker, irritated by receiving attacks from multiple angles, attempted to execute one of its characteristic short jumps to first bite Maria, who remained firmly in her frontal position.
But it was then that Ren noticed sothing extraordinary.
"They were anticipating the movent," he murmured, observing how Larissa and Liora diverted their weapons toward the monster's hind legs, just before it finished accumulating energy to jump.
Larissa's negation of earth control also joined the effort.
Because of all this, the Big Stone Lurker couldn't gain enough montum to lift its enormous body and generate its jump, interrupting the process before it could begin.
"They're reading its attack patterns perfectly," Ren continued, genuinely impressed. "They can see how it prepares to jump."
This strategy allowed them to cancel each of the beast's movents and at one point they would leave it immobile, effectively negating any counterattack it attempted.
The girls inflicted small damage to the enormous monster with their weapons, but gradually accumulated it in a safe manner.
anwhile, Liora's will-o'-wisp had begun to divide into multiple smaller flas, each precisely directed toward the holes that the weapons had created in the monster's surface.
The visual effect captured the attention of all spectators.
The bluish flas penetrated the interior of the Stone Lurker, illuminating it from within like a rocky lantern. Light escaped through each perforation, creating a pattern of blue dots across the creature's surface.
Maria, perfectly fulfilling her role as tank, kept the Big Stone Lurker trying to bite her; the monster focused on her while her companions continued their slow dismantling. Her armadillo's shell absorbed each impact, its defensive capabilities clearly superior to what most first-years could muster.
Larissa and Liora continued damaging the entire surface of the enormous monster, alternating positions through spatial jumps, each attack leaving another small internal space exposed. Their weapons left a pattern of perforations that seed calculated while the will-o'-wisp continued degrading the monster's interior.
In just three minutes, the BIg Stone Lurker had been transford into a hollow structure, internally illuminated by the ethereal flas.
The huge beast disintegrated from within, collapsing into fragnts blackened by the will-o'-wisp's effort. The blue flas consud it from the inside out, thodically destroying its internal structure.
When the dust settled, only the crystalline core remained, completely extinguished, in the middle of a perfect circle of rocky fragnts and charred remains.
The almost reverential silence that followed was finally broken by Yang's voice:
"Victory for Team Five of Group B. Ti: three minutes, two seconds."
The applause began spontaneously, spreading throughout the stadium as students from all years recognized the revelation they had just witnessed.
"They beat Jin," Min murmured, clearly satisfied. "By more than two minutes."
Ren observed as the three nobles prepared to leave the arena, their beasts disappearing into their bodies with the sa elegance with which they had been invoked.
"They used concepts similar to those I suggested to them," he finally said. "But executed in an elegant and careful manner..."
"Do you think they've been paying attention to your advice?" Taro asked.
A slight smile appeared on Ren's lips. "Let's say mostly yes."
"I see, but even if you told them various things, the execution... That is aristocratic efficiency," comnted Taro, shaking his head slightly with reluctant admiration. "When they're allowed to show their true level..."
But he was interrupted by Larissa and Liora who exchanged a knowing look and pointed directly at Ren. Just before leaving the arena, both stopped and deliberately pointed toward the stands where Ren was seated.
The gesture was so obvious that dozens of heads turned simultaneously, following the direction of their fingers.
"The mushroom boy?" asked one of the upper-year students with disbelief. "Why are they pointing at the poor unfortunate one? Can't be a challenge so… End his misery?"
But the surprise was just beginning.
From another side of the stadium, Han's team, still celebrating their own victory, saw the gesture and responded by nodding and also pointing toward Ren. Roran and his group, seated nearby, also pointed at him, smiling in recognition.
The murmurs spread like fire among the spectators.
"What the hell does that an?" The question resonated among several students. "Why are the princesses and those other teams acknowledging the mushroom boy?"
A fourth-year student narrowed his eyes, analyzing the situation. "They've used unusual strategies and abilities for their beasts..."
"And now the girls from Royalty and the Ashenways are using weapons when all nobility despises them," added another. "Who could have given them that idea?"
Gazes remained fixed on Ren, who held his enormous spear and maintained a neutral expression despite the sudden attention.
Ren remained motionless under the sudden scrutiny, although his mushrooms pulsed with a slightly faster rhythm than usual.
"See what happens for advising half the world?" Min whispered, leaning toward him.
"It's not that big a deal," Ren whispered back. "I just shared so observations about their beasts."
"Observations?" Taro shook his head in disbelief. "You taught them secrets that not even their families knew. Do you know what this ans? More people will want to talk to you after the tournant!"
"Or kill him," Liu added dryly. "Half would be grateful, but the other half must be furious that soone with a spore has proven to know more than them."
The weight of many gazes pressed upon Ren from all directions. The once-mocked "mushroom boy" had suddenly beco the center of attention in a way that went beyond re curiosity.
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