The slowed replay showed Michael spinning aside, mist parting around him as wind blades shredded the rock.
Then, in seamless rhythm, he answered with layered spells—Magic Arrow, Acid Shot, Bone Spear—each one forcing the mage further off balance.
Professor Veylin's fingers tapped against his knee, his usually calm expression tight with focus.
By now, clashes were breaking out across the trial grounds.
Every state's channel had their own "star" to highlight.
In one place, it was a prodigy swordsman carving down a Hunted with graceful violence. In another place, a healer who had miraculously turned a near-loss into a comeback.
But in Dawn State, the camera never left Michael.
From the very moment he appeared, he had captured their focus. And after the three-on-one? The producers didn't even consider switching away. The broadcast fed entirely on him, replay after replay, panel after panel.
