The molten glass crater in the center of the arena was still glowing.
Arthur slid his hands casually back into his pockets, standing beside a deeply flushed Alicia. The silence from the VIP boxes above was deafening.
"Well," Arthur drawled, his voice carrying easily across the dead-quiet colosseum. "I think they pass the integration test."
Instructor Samantha Hall didn't look terrified like the bureaucrats above.
Instead, a slow, predatory smile spread across her face. Her blood-red eyes gleamed with a dangerous, thrilling light.
"Don't get cocky, Arthur," Samantha said, her voice amplified by mana. "A Vanguard squad doesn't pack up and go home just because they cleared the vanguard. You hold the line."
She raised her hand.
Up in the observation deck, a heavily armored mage slammed his fist onto a control crystal.
