The afternoon sun filtered through the enchanted glass of the arena dome, casting a faint golden glow over the stone tiers. Most of the matches were wrapping up—only a few remained. The crowd had grown quieter, more relaxed.
Noel remained seated, arms crossed, eyes lazily following the current duel on the field.
'At least here I've made progress,' he thought. 'Unlike in the Holy Capital, where after weeks of nothing, I had to improvise. Here I can actually breathe for a moment. I know who the Fifth Pillar is… and I know what he does.'
He narrowed his gaze slightly.
'From what I remember in the novel, he's not even that strong. Capturing him won't be the problem. The real issue will be the aftermath. If the director of the Tharvaldur Institute of Arcane Might suddenly disappears, it'll cause a massive scandal.'
"What are you thinking about so much, lad?" Balthor's voice snapped him out of it.
