"If there are no more questions, I would like to declare the commencement of the trial,"
the Phoenix professor said in an absolutely bored tone, as if he were announcing the end of a dull lecture rather than the beginning of one of the most important events in the lives of thousands.
He swept his gaze across the colossal arena once more. Not a single hand rose.
The candidates stood frozen, some with clenched fists, others with tight jaws, and many with eyes burning with anticipation or fear.
"Good," he said flatly.
Then his voice rose just enough to carry unquestionable authority.
"COMMENCE THE TRIAL."
The moment the words left his mouth, the arena erupted, not with sound, but with light.
Thousands of figures vanished simultaneously in flashes of spatial distortion, pulled away by the academy's domain formations.
To the audience, it looked as if the arena itself had swallowed them whole.
The spots where the candidates had stood were suddenly empty.
