The arena remained silent beneath the starry, unreal sky. The massive orb of white light above them pulsed once—like the heartbeat of the world itself—before Eira's bright, ringing voice flowed down from it.
"Now then… participants, get ready!"
Her words rippled through the vast stone field.
"To equalize all of your strength, the arena will now calculate your team's average battle power… and adjust every one of you accordingly!"
The air tightened.
A low hum vibrated beneath their feet.
Then—
WHOOOOSH—!!
Mana suddenly burst from all eight students in a spectacular flare of color—red, green, blue, gold, shadow violet, and pale white arcing upward into the air before being pulled sharply back down, wrapping around each of them like luminous chains.
Ron staggered half a step.
"I… feel weaker," he muttered, flexing his fingers as his usual fiery strength felt muted, compressed, suppressed into a controlled baseline.
Across from him, Maera furrowed her brows.
