The fifth call came and the room felt it differently than any of the previous four.
Not because the names were significant. Not because the remaining students had been waiting for this pairing specifically. But because there were only two fights left after this one, and everyone in the observation space understood that the bracket was almost done narrowing for the first round. The tournament had a shape now—real, visible, the kind of shape that made each remaining match feel more consequential than the last. Five fights in and the floor had already taken six names. Two more first-round fights and the field would be cut to six. From six, the bracket would find its final four.
The math had weight.
"Silas. Jax."
