Chapter 49: First round [8]

Chapter 49: First round [8]

In the observation room above the grounds, the noise of the tournament was a distant thing — muffled footsteps, the occasional crack of a spell somewhere in the forest, the ambient hum of several hundred cadets doing something simultaneously. Up here it was quiet. Controlled.

A wide floating screen hovered in front of Vance, its surface cycling through different feeds from the examination — pairs fighting, pairs running, pairs making decisions under pressure that would matter later. His eyes had settled on one feed in particular and stayed there.

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