On Nyla's platform, she felt the temperature shift—not dropping from her own cold manipulation but heating, a wave of furnace-intensity that fought against her natural aura. The thing emerging from the split ground was wreathed in flame, massive and humanoid but carrying proportions that suggested it had been built rather than born.
On Nibo's platform, the ground shook with impacts that matched his own footfalls, and what rose to face him was his size, his build, carrying a weapon that mirrored his axe but looked heavier, nastier, designed by someone who'd studied his fighting style and built a counter.
Aria's opponent emerged trailing wind that competed with her own manipulation—not canceling it but challenging it, creating turbulence that made the air around her platform chaotic and difficult to navigate.
