The journey to the new land felt like crossing into another world entirely, the green forests and stone cities slowly giving way to endless dunes of golden sand until the great desert coliseum rose from the horizon like a mirage made solid, its massive circular walls carved with ancient runes that glowed faintly under the scorching sun. By the time they arrived, the city surrounding the arena was already alive with celebration, banners fluttering from every balcony, musicians filling the air with rhythm and laughter, and countless street stalls lighting up the evening with warm lantern glow as the competitors and visitors poured into the streets together.
The night before the battle became a festival of its own, with people drifting through markets selling spiced meats, glowing fruits, enchanted trinkets and tiny illusions that danced in children's palms, while fireworks bloomed above the coliseum in bursts of gold and crimson that reflected in wide, awed eyes. Some wandered in groups, others in pairs, some loud with excitement and others quiet with nerves, but everyone could feel that something important was about to begin.
When morning came, the celebration was replaced by tension as crowds flooded into the massive coliseum, nobles filling shaded balconies, royal knights lining the upper walls in ceremonial armor, and merchants, adventurers and commonfolk packed tightly into the lower stands, all eyes drawn toward the vast arena floor where the first trial would take place. The rules were announced clearly: each participant would be given a single magical stone, and for ten minutes they would need to sense danger, avoid threats, protect their stone, and survive the appearance of roaming magical beasts released into the arena — no direct fighting between competitors allowed.
The test was not about strength alone, but awareness, judgment, restraint and survival instinct, and as the horn sounded and the gates opened, the sand itself seemed to shift with hidden movement beneath it.
Beasts emerged from the dunes and shadowed tunnels, serpentine creatures that burrowed and struck from below, winged predators that swept low across the ground, and hulking forms that thundered through the arena floor, forcing the competitors into frantic motion as they scattered, dodged, shielded their stones, and made split-second choices between fleeing, hiding, or risking a strike. Some fell almost immediately, their stones shattered or stolen by beasts that sensed the magic within, while others lasted only moments longer before panic betrayed them, but those who remained began to move with clarity and control, reading the rhythm of the danger rather than fighting against it.
When the final horn sounded, the chaos slowly settled, the beasts were withdrawn, and only forty participants remained standing, dust-covered, breathless, and marked by exhaustion or relief, knowing that this was only the beginning and that whatever awaited them next would be far more dangerous than anything they had faced before.