The training yard had been transformed overnight.
What was normally a simple practice ground now resembled a military theater. Viewing stands had been erected on three sides - the king and his court occupying the central platform, military officers and mages filling the others. The Solmaran delegation sat in positions of honor, separated from the audience to give them clear sightlines.
Leon stood in the center of the yard, surrounded by formations he'd spent the early morning hours preparing. Not simple demonstration circles - these were combat-ready arrays, the kind used in actual gate warfare. Complex, layered, designed to show exactly what they had been using to hold seven gates with limited resources.
Mage Kaelis sat forward in her seat, chromatic robes catching the morning light. Her five mages flanked her. They watched with professional attention -colleagues evaluating a peer's work.
Good. That's exactly what this needed to be. Not a nervous academic presentation, but one commander showing another what his forces were capable of.
Leon didn't announce himself or offer pleasantries. The High Archmage of Pelenna didn't need to justify his presence. Instead, he simply began.
"Gate warfare is a war of attrition," Leon said, his voice carrying easily across the yard. Good. Not loud - he didn't need to shout. Just be clear, authoritative. "Creatures pour through without end. Mages get burned out. Defensive lines collapse. Traditional magic treats each mage as an independent unit, which works for normal combat but fails against sustained assault."
He walked to the first formation - a large circle with three triangular anchor points, already glowing faintly with prepared energy channels. Twenty soldiers stood at attention around the yard's perimeter, carrying shields that had been deliberately damaged in previous battles. Real equipment, real wear, real stakes.
"Senior Mage Aldric," Leon said. "Standard defensive formation. Three mages, independent circles."
Aldric and two other mages stepped forward - not trainees, but combat veterans. They took positions and raised defensive barriers the traditional way, each maintaining their own independent circle.
"Engage," Leon ordered.
The soldiers attacked. Not practice strikes - full combat assault against the barriers. Swords slammed into shimmering shields. The mages held, but Leon could see the strain. Independent circles meant each mage bore full defensive load for their section.
"Time," Leon called after two minutes. The soldiers backed off. "Report."
"Mana reserves at seventy percent," Aldric said, slightly breathless. "We could maintain for perhaps eight more minutes at this intensity before cores deplete."
"Unacceptable for gate warfare," Leon said flatly, addressing the Solmaran delegation. "Gates don't attack for ten minutes. They attack for hours. Days. Traditional approaches exhaust mages too quickly."
He gestured to the prepared formation - the circle with triangular anchors.
"Integrated geometry. Same three mages, same defensive output. Captain."
The three mages moved to the triangular anchor points. No hesitation, no uncertainty - they'd done this several times in actual combat. They channeled mana into the anchors, which fed into the central circle, which raised a unified barrier.
"Engage."
The soldiers attacked again, same intensity. But this time the barrier held with noticeably less strain. The mages stood steady, breathing normally, maintaining power flow without visible effort.
Leon let it run for five minutes. Then ten. At fifteen minutes, he called the halt.
"Report."
"Mana reserves at eighty percent," Aldric said, and there were murmurs from the Solmaran delegation. "We could maintain for another thirty minutes minimum, possibly forty."
"Four times the duration," Leon said, turning to face Kaelis directly. "Same mages, same output, but the geometry distributes the load. Triangular anchors are inherently stable - no stress accumulation. The circle preserves perfect mana flow. Result: forty percent efficiency gain, which translates to sustainable defense against sustained assault."
He didn't wait for questions. This wasn't a classroom - it was a military demonstration.
"Offensive coordination," Leon continued, moving to the next formation. This one was more elaborate - an eight-pointed star with circles at each point, triangular channeling paths, central amplification array.
Eight combat mages took positions without needing instruction. They knew their roles.
"Traditional combat magic has mages attacking independently," Leon said. "Chaotic fire, overlapping coverage, gaps in sectors, inconsistent timing. It works against individual threats. Against massed creatures, it wastes mana and creates vulnerabilities."
He gestured at targets set up around the yard - not practice dummies, but actual gate - creature remains. Preserved carapaces, hardened bone structures, the kind of materials mages would face in real combat.
"Synchronized assault pattern. Eight sectors, coordinated timing. Begin."
The eight mages channeled through the formation. Eight streams of mana flowed through geometric paths, converging at the center, synchronizing, amplifying, then launching outward in perfect coordination.
The carapaces lasted approximately twelve seconds.
When the barrage ended, the practice area was scorched clean. Not a single target remained intact.
"Mana consumption equivalent to six mages fighting independently," Leon said into the impressed silence. "Combat effectiveness closer to twelve. And sustainable for twice as long because the circle eliminates waste. Every point of mana goes toward destroying threats, not fighting formation instability or redundant coverage."
A Solmaran mage, Magister Therin stood abruptly. "High Archmage, the calculated precision required for such coordination-"
"Is handled by the circle," Leon interrupted, not unkindly but firmly. "Triangular paths channel mana optimally. The star configuration ensures complete sector coverage. The central circle synchronizes timing. Once the formation is drawn correctly, mages simply channel through it. The structure maintains itself."
He walked to the third major formation - the one that would really impress them. Multiple circles layered over each other, integrated with square distribution grids, anchored by triangular supports. It looked impossibly complex.
"Layered amplification," Leon said. "Three circle layers, square grid for load distribution, triangular anchors at stress points. Traditional thinking says you can't stack circles - the mana flow destabilizes, wastes energy, potentially backlashes."
He paused, meeting Kaelis's eyes directly.
"Traditional thinking is inefficient."
Four of the kingdom's most experienced mages took positions. These weren't demonstrations - these formations were used at active gates. The mages knew exactly what they were doing.
"Power amplification works if - and only if - the load is balanced across layers," Leon continued. "Square grid distributes incoming mana evenly. Triangular anchors prevent stress accumulation at junction points. Each circle amplifies in sequence, ensuring perfect balance throughout."
The mages began channeling.
The formation blazed to life - three concentric circles, each amplifying the layer beneath, creating a defensive barrier that shimmered with barely-contained power.
"Standard output from four mages," Leon said, his voice cutting through the awed silence. "Now watch."
He raised his hand - a simple gesture, but one that carried authority. The mages increased their output slightly, maintaining perfect balance through the formation.
The barrier intensified. Grew stronger. Reached a level that should have required at least ten mages working independently.
"2.3 times amplification," Leon said. "Same mana investment, more than double the output. Or inversely - same output level at less than half the mana cost. For sustained gate defense, this formation extends combat duration from two hours to five."
He let that sink in. Five hours of full combat effectiveness from mages who would normally exhaust their cores in two.
"These aren't experimental techniques," Leon continued, his tone matter-of-fact. "These formations are currently deployed at all seven of Aldoria's active gates. They work."
He turned to face the Solmaran delegation fully.
"The Horizon Gate will require these techniques on a scale never before attempted. Not dozens of mages - hundreds. Possibly thousands. And they'll need to fight for days, maybe weeks, before the initial creature surge subsides. Without circle optimization, without efficiency, without coordination-" He paused. "-we will lose. All of us."
The silence in the training yard was absolute.