"Ladies and Gentlemen, Theydies and Gentlethems! Please direct your attention and support to the Centre Arena, where First Years General Class 1-9F and Elite Class 1-9F will be competing in fifteen minutes!"

"I have no idea how you manage to sound so enthusiastic about it," Yeorg yawned as his brother Fret turned off the announcement microphone. "It's gonna be the most boring match of the day. No idea why they were scheduled for Centre arena."

"They might surprise us! Maybe the teachers know something we don't. I'm just the commentator, man, I don't make the decisions."

"Yeah yeah. I guess good seeds could come from even 1-9F if they're Elite, but... General students?"

"Putting Core against Elites would be cruel, right? General versus Core even more so. It's the only reasonable match-up."

"I guess, but it's still boring. At least a full curb-stomp would be flashy and quick."

"Says you! What's the point of a curb-stomp, I ask you? The rush of a close battle is where it's at!"

"Not that it matters for this match..."

"Ugh..." Fret groaned, ruffling his short orange hair. "I know, I know... Let's just do our job and get paid, yeah? I'll commentate, you'll handle the audio, and we'll make it sound exciting so people think of stopping by for the next match."

"At least we know some early birds will show up to save seats for later in the day, right? We won't be performing for an empty crowd!" Yeorg laughed, throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders.

"What's going on?" Anjie asked as she opened the door to the commentator's booth, lugging a heavy bag behind her. As the one in charge of spicing up fights with visual effects, she was always laden down with reagents and various supplies for setting up performances.

"Yeorg is sad the first fight's gonna be boring," Fret spoke quickly, nudging his brother in the ribs.

"Hey! Snitch."

"First fight... That's... General and Elite 1-9F, right? The first years?" Anjie frowned, then slowly slipped into a sly grin. "So you two haven't heard. Tsk, you'll never get on the school newspaper if you're always behind like this."

"What?" Fret muttered.

"Like there's news about Elite 1-9F," Yeorg scoffed.

"Not Elite, General."

"What?!"

Anjie, who always had the latest and most accurate gossip, suddenly had the boys' full attention. She smirked, slowly setting down her heavy bag and rolling her shoulders. "Man, my shoulders sure hurt from carrying that stuff all this way..."

Yeorg and Fret scrambled to bring her a chair, comically and hurriedly rubbing her feet and shoulders until she laughed and swatted them away.

"C'mon Anj, tell us!"

"Pleasepleaseplease! What's so good about them?"

"There's a Human Geomancer in that class."

"WHAT!?"

"And!" Anjie held up a finger to silence their simultaneous exclamations. "She's a Clanless 《 Relic 》, an Ancient Human! You really think those Core class jerks don't know about it? Those stands are gonna have some interesting folks attending the first match, mark my words!"

If the claim came from anyone else they'd never believe it, but Anjie's parents ran a popular ethical newspaper that had offices in several different cities. Her gossip was always timely and truthful.

Fret and Yeorg exchanged glances, then started to grin.

Maybe the first match of the day wouldn't be so boring after all!

The fake suns were shifted out of perpetual twilight mode to provide optimum lighting for the combat trials, but it also served to make the arena as warm as a summer day. Kira was glad she'd opted to wear a simple top and shorts for fighting, instead of the cute dress Brigit had picked out.

Brigit, who'd initially been sulky about Kira's fashion choices, stopped looking upset once she saw Kira sweating under the fake sunlight. "You're gonna burn with all that pale skin exposed," Brigit said, clicking her tongue as she pulled some sunscreen from her inventory.

Kira didn't even have time to ask why the Drakke had bought such a thing, or when, before she had a smear of oily lotion spread across her face. She was used to adults doing that thanks to the Hawthornes, so she sat still and let the Drakke apply sunscreen without doing much more than blowing a raspberry to show her disgust.

"Feels gross," she muttered once Brigit finished. Her skin was crawling from the sensation of oily cream spread on it, and she felt oddly sticky.

"It's g-good f-f-for y-you s-so d-don't w-w-wipe it off!" Ribbon said, and Kira nodded. The poor little Kobold was stammering more than usual, but that wasn't anything surprising. She was probably ready to explode with nerves.

The Centre Arena, where their fight was scheduled to take place, was a big coliseum-style building. A platform in the center was visible to everyone in the stands, with extra aids in the form of giant floating system windows acting like sports replay monitors from Kira's time. There were more people spectating than Kira expected to see, which made her feel nervous, but nowhere near as bad as her classmates.

In the little area set aside for their class to make preparations, most everyone was silently sitting on the provided benches. Aside from Ribbon, who stammered nearly every word she spoke as she paced back and forth muttering to herself, and Brigit who was calmly checking her equipment, the other classmates couldn't glance up from their feet. None of them would even meet Kira's gaze when she tried to wish them luck with a friendly thumbs-up.

'They must be even more nervous than I am,' Kira sighed to herself. 'I already have a scholarship, but their futures totally depend on this stuff, and the school went and made a huge spectacle of it. I hope they win.'

"Theydies and Gentlethems, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Centre Arena! It's now time for the Combat Trial between First Year General Class 1-9F and First Year Elite Class 1-9F! I hope you've all got your snacks and drinks because you're not gonna want to miss a moment of this!"

Though the announcer sounded enthusiastic and excited, the crowd didn't reflect his emotions. Everyone sat quietly, mumbling to any neighbors they might have in the seats, while keeping their eyes fixed on General Class 1-9F. A few people jumped in surprise when music started playing over the loudspeakers, and the crowd noise volume increased ever so slightly.

"Since everyone wants to get into the action, let's just hop right in! Ref, spin the wheel!"

A lady dressed in neutral beige clothes stepped onto the arena platform. Behind her appeared a screen resembling a game show wheel, which she promptly spun. The words written on the wheel were blurred as it spun around and around and around, until finally...

"The first Combat Trial event is 'Killsteal'! Two people, one from each class, must work together to defeat a random higher level monster illusion! But what's this? Only the killing blow receives points!? First Year representatives Chen Tuskhorn and Boot, step up to the arena and draw your lots! Since the Elite class has more students, only the ones who have their lots drawn can participate in this round. Sorry, folks!"

There was a round of grumbling and cursing at the announcer from the Elite class students, but they went quiet after a few moments to watch the arena with intense, burning gazes.

A hulking Demi-Orc and a stout but oddly muscular Kobold strongly resembling an American Pit Bull met in the arena to shake. The reps took turns pulling metal plates from a series of System-generated boxes, which the referee hung on a floating System screen behind her. Once all lots were drawn, the match-ups and their monsters were displayed on the viewing screens for all to see.

【 Dani Blackrose VS Gallan Recet -- Mossy Rock Golem 】

【 Chen Tuskhorn VS Daviin Blueleaf -- Spruce Treant 】

【 Ribbon VS Boot -- Southern Neas Parrot Roc 】

【 Minthe Arvex VS Clip -- Vine Trawler 】

【 Asim Kattan VS Charlie Matthen -- Desert Sand Spirit 】

【 Meriandra Arvex VS Delicia Tarveux -- Clouded River Guardian 】

【 Simon Elderwood VS Vieux Len -- Prickleboar 】

【 Brigit Cinderscale VS Axel Redtree -- Rusted Animated Armour 】

【 Kira Hawthorne VS Hunter Goodvane -- Greater Hobgoblin Lord 】

"Great," Dani sighed, chugging the last of her coffee. "So I'm first."