The Extra's Rise

The first event in the Inter-Academy Festival was the Mana Fortress Defense.

This event required the sixty participating students to deal with coordinated attacks from beasts captured by the Academy for the event. The setting was spectacular—a massive arena transformed into a battlefield with ten separate fortresses, each allocated to a team of six students from mixed academies. The fortresses weren't mere physical structures but advanced constructs that responded to their defenders' actions, growing stronger or weaker based on how well the team functioned together.

The design of each fortress reflected cutting-edge technological achievements—holographic reinforcement matrices overlaid on physical architecture, automated defense systems with advanced targeting algorithms, and central power cores that synchronized with the defenders' abilities. The arena itself was equipped with environmental monitoring systems and damage control protocols that could assess performance in real-time.

The rules were simple yet demanding: defend your fortress against waves of increasingly powerful mana beasts while maintaining your team's cohesion. Points were awarded for successful defense, tactical ingenuity, and efficient beast suppression. Each fortress contained a central power core that, if properly synchronized with, would enhance the team's abilities—but only if all six members contributed harmoniously.

Spectators filled the stands surrounding the arena, their excited chatter creating a constant background hum. Academy officials and talent scouts from military organizations occupied premium viewing boxes, their attentive gazes missing nothing. This wasn't just a competition—it was a recruitment ground for the next generation of elite fighters.

Vice Headmaster Valerie took the center stage, her dark hair gleaming under the morning sun. She raised a hand, and the crowd gradually fell silent.

"Competitors," her voice resonated across the field, "your first challenge begins now."

With a gesture of her hand, the ground trembled. Energy barriers sprung up around each fortress as massive gates opened in the arena walls. The beasts had arrived.

Fortress Three stood as a gleaming citadel of blue-white stone, its architecture reminiscent of Northern design with sweeping spires and reinforced battlements. Upon its highest tower stood Lucifer Windward, his blonde hair catching the morning light as he surveyed the approaching threats. The prince of the North cut an impressive figure against the skyline—tall, composed, his white academy uniform immaculate despite the wind that whipped around the tower's peak.

His eyes narrowed as he focused on the emerging beasts. The God's Eyes Gift activated subtly, his vision sharpening until he could discern individual hairs on creatures still hundreds of yards away. He raised two fingers and swept them right to left, signaling to his teammates below.

On the eastern battlement, Jin Ashbluff acknowledged the signal with a slight tilt of his head. The dark-haired necromancer stood with unnatural stillness, his pale skin contrasting sharply with his black uniform. Twin shortswords remained sheathed at his hips as his hands moved through subtle gestures, preparing for the coming conflict.

"They're testing our formation," Jin remarked quietly to himself, analyzing the beasts' movement patterns. "Predictable."

He turned slightly, catching the eye of their other primary combatant. A slight nod conveyed his thoughts—save strength for later waves.

On the western wall, Ava Peng received his message with a short nod of acknowledgment. The White-rank martial artist rolled her shoulders, loosening muscles that were already primed for combat.

"Right flank's mine," she called out, voice crisp and confident. "Let them come."

The remaining three team members—a water spear user from Serpentstone, a wind specialist from Starcrest, and a support mage from Slatemark—positioned themselves according to Lucifer's hand signals. They understood the hierarchy instantly; the three White-rank and Integration-rank fighters would lead, while they would provide specialized support.

The first wave emerged fully from the gates now—dozens of four-star crystal wolves whose fur refracted light like living prisms. Their eyes glowed with malevolent intelligence as they assessed the fortress, splitting into coordinated hunting packs. Above them, three winged serpents with scales that shifted color to match the sky circled in precise patterns.

The fortress's automatic defenses activated with a low hum. Advanced targeting systems locked onto approaching threats before releasing concentrated bolts of energy. The first volley struck with impressive precision, felling three wolves and forcing a serpent to execute a sharp evasive maneuver. But the beasts adapted quickly, their movements becoming more erratic, deliberately avoiding the predictable targeting patterns.

Jin watched as the wolf pack split into three coordinated groups. "They're learning fast," he observed to the barrier specialist beside him. "Adapting to our defensive patterns already."

From the tower, Lucifer made a cutting motion with his hand. The prince's expression remained calm as he assessed the situation. The wolves were approaching from three directions, clearly intending to split their defensive focus while the aerial units prepared for opportunistic strikes.

The time for observation had ended. Lucifer extended his hand, and white mana coalesced around his fingers before flowing outward to form his sword—not drawn from a scabbard but manifested directly from his power. The blade gleamed with an inner light as he activated his first Gift—Yin-Yang Body. Six elemental energies began circulating around him: ribbons of fire, ice, water, lightning, wind, and earth, each responding to his will.

The first movement of the Myth of the Northern Peak art flowed through him as he executed a precise horizontal cut. A crescent wave of freezing energy shot toward the largest wolf pack, the temperature around the blade dropping so rapidly that frost patterns spread across its surface.

The ground beneath the charging beasts frosted instantly. The front line of wolves found their crystalline legs frozen to the ground mid-stride, momentum carrying their bodies forward while their limbs remained trapped. Those behind crashed into their immobilized packmates, creating a chaotic tangle of thrashing bodies and lethal crystal fur.

Jin, seeing the opening Lucifer had created, drew his twin shortswords. The blades served as conduits for his dark mana, leaving trails of deep violet light in the air. The ground before the eastern wall split open, and skeletal hands emerged, clawing upward as animated bones pulled themselves from the depths.

"Engage and contain," Jin directed, his voice low but clear. The skeletal warriors charged toward the second wolf pack, bone weapons glinting with the same violet energy that had created them.

"These constructs should hold them," he noted to Lucifer through their communication link. "For now."

Meanwhile, Ava had taken a different approach to the third group of wolves. She vaulted from the western wall in a perfect arc that would place her directly in their path. When she struck the ground, the impact resonated through the arena floor. A shockwave spread outward, the stone cracking in a perfect circle around her landing point.

"Come on then," she challenged, settling into a low, grounded stance. Her muscles tensed as power circulated through specialized pathways, reinforcing her body beyond normal human limits. Her fists began to glow with a deep crimson light.

The lead wolf recovered first, lunging at her with crystalline fangs extended. Ava pivoted, her movement precise and fluid. Her fist connected with the beast's skull, the impact producing a sound like a massive bell being struck. Cracks spread across the wolf's head before it collapsed entirely, its body crumpling from the concentrated force.

"One down," she muttered, already moving to the next target. Her movements flowed smoothly from one strike to the next, generating rippling aftershocks that damaged multiple opponents simultaneously. Each impact produced that same resonant tone, a deadly rhythm beating through her controlled assault.

Above the battlefield, the winged serpents had been circling, waiting for an opening. Seeing the defenders engaged with the ground forces, they tucked their wings and dove toward the fortress's central tower, bodies shifting color to blend with the sky.

Lucifer tracked their movement with his God's Eyes. "Predictable," he murmured, reading their attack pattern seconds before execution. The wind around him responded to his will, gathering around his blade and compressing until the air itself became a weapon.

With three precise cuts—each movement economical and refined—he released concentrated air blades that intercepted the serpents mid-dive. Two serpents were caught directly, their wings sheared by the concentrated air pressure. Their bodies tumbled from the sky, control lost as they spiraled toward the ground.

The third serpent displayed remarkable awareness, twisting its sinuous body at the last possible moment to avoid direct impact. The Serpentstone water elementalist, positioned on the north wall, had been tracking the aerial threat. With a flowing gesture, she drew moisture from the air and compressed it into densely packed water spears that converged on the serpent from multiple angles.

"Got you," she said with satisfaction as three struck true, piercing its color-shifting scales. Wounded, it retreated toward the arena wall, its attack run abandoned.

On the eastern front, Jin's undead forces had engaged the second wolf pack. The skeletal warriors lacked the raw strength to match the crystal wolves, but they possessed other advantages. When claws or fangs shattered bone, the fragments simply reformed, pulled back together by the dark mana that animated them.

"They can't win a war of attrition," Jin observed coolly as the wolves found themselves increasingly frustrated. Each time they destroyed a skeletal warrior, it reconstructed itself, while their own injuries accumulated.

He traced complex patterns with his twin shortswords, dark mana coalescing around the broken bone fragments from his destroyed warriors. The cloud condensed into hundreds of needle-like projectiles that rained down on the wolf pack. Where they struck, dark energy spread outward, withering the crystalline fur that had served as the beasts' primary defense.

"Your constructs work well together," the support mage commented, impressed by Jin's control.

"They're extensions of will, nothing more," Jin replied, his focus unbroken as he directed the assault.

Across the battlefield, Ava had transformed into a blur of perpetual motion. Each strike carried the full weight of her body enhanced by perfectly controlled power circulation. Where her fists or feet connected with the ground, crater-like impressions formed, the stone itself yielding to her concentrated force.

"You're too slow!" she taunted as a wolf lunged for her throat, only to strike empty air as she pivoted away. "And now you're too dead," she added, driving her fist through its crystal-armored skull.

Despite facing twelve opponents simultaneously, she maintained perfect positional awareness, never remaining in one place long enough to be surrounded. Her breathing remained measured, her movements economical despite their devastating effect.

The first wave lasted eight minutes before the final beast fell—one of Jin's bone spears piercing the retreating winged serpent as it attempted to return to the arena gates. As the dust settled, their fortress remained untouched.