The next morning arrived quickly.

Yet, the moment Theo opened his door, he already knew this day would be like no others.

The entire street was packed, barely allowing him to step outside.

Groups of people filled every corner, their voices overlapping into an overwhelming wave of noise as they pushed towards the arena.

Some wore makeshift merchandise, others sang an old folk song, and a few even argued about who’d take the win.

Security had tightened as well, barriers set up along the main roads while staff guided the crowd forward in controlled streams.

Theo’s wide eyes moved across everything slowly.

Compared to the day before, the scale had nearly doubled.

’So this is what it looks like when it really matters,’ he thought.

Occasionally, he’d hear his name echo out from the crowd, making him look up each and every time.

’Good thing I decided to go early today,’ he thought. ’Otherwise I might’ve really been unable to get there in time.’

He weaved through the crowd to the best of his abilities.

But what used to only take a few minutes now turned into nearly an hour-long walk.

Finally, he reached a security checkpoint. They quickly led him through, bringing him through barriers towards the participation entrance.

"Good luck today," one of the guards said, smiling.

"Yeah," another said teasingly. "I bet all my money on you, so you’d better win!"

Theo just smiled.

"I’ll try my best," he said.

"Would you mind signing an autograph?" the first security guard asked politely.

"My son became a fan of you the moment he saw you. And I’d like to really surprise him for his birthday."

Theo looked at him for a moment, his eyes widening slightly.

"A fan?" he asked, stunned. "Uhm, sure— Yeah, do you have anything to sign?"

The guard quickly fumbled with his jacket, pulling out a slightly crumpled piece of paper along with a pen.

"Here," he said, handing it over carefully, as if it was something fragile.

Theo took it, glancing down for a brief moment.

Then he hesitated.

"...What’s his name?" he asked.

The guard blinked, clearly not expecting that.

"Ah — Daniel," he said quickly. "He’s turning ten."

Theo nodded once.

Without another word, he crouched slightly, using the barrier beside him as support as he began writing.

His hand moved steadily across the paper.

’To Daniel’

’Keep working hard — Theo Lane.’

He paused for a second... then added a small water droplet mark beneath it before handing it back.

"There," he said.

The guard stared at him for a moment, his eyes widening slightly.

"Thank you," he said, his voice quieter now. "You’re a good kid."

Theo just gave a small nod and walked to the entrance door.

"Make sure he keeps working hard," he added casually. "With that, you can do anything."

The guard let out a short laugh, still holding the paper tightly.

"I’ll make sure of it."

With that, Theo stepped into the lobby.

The noise from the crowd faded into background noise alongside the soft lobby music.

’I never expected people to look up to me like that,’ he thought, smiling from ear to ear. ’But... it feels nice.’

His gaze lifted from the floor as he walked further into the lobby.

It didn’t take long before he spotted them.

Owen was leaning back against one of the pillars, arms crossed, clearly bored out of his mind. The moment he noticed Theo, his expression shifted immediately. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"You’re taking longer and longer each day," he said. "Let me guess, you got lost in the crowd this time?"

Theo let out a soft chuckle.

"Something like that."

Beside him, Iris stood quietly. Unlike before, her posture was tense, clearly nervous for what was about to happen.

When their eyes met, she gave him a small, stiff nod.

"Good morning, Iris," he said calmly. "Let’s just have fun later, okay?"

Hearing that, she relaxed slightly.

"Right," she nodded.

Just then, Owen let out an extremely loud sigh.

"There’s still three entire hours left!" he complained, dragging a hand through his hair. "Can’t they just start these damn matches earlier?!"

Theo glanced at him for a moment, slightly annoyed he’d interrupted their moment.

"Quit your whining," he said. "Didn’t you want a big crowd so they could all see you beat Lyra?"

Owen’s eyes lit up briefly.

"That’s right," he said.

But then, his eyes fell on the clock.

He clicked his tongue.

"Are we just supposed to wait around now?"

With no other options, the three of them sat down at a nearby table.

Each of them felt the increasing pressure slowly press down on them. None had fought in front of such a massive crowd before after all.

For a while, none of them spoke.

Then—

"Well, looks like we’re all a little early."

Theo glanced up.

Lyra stood a few steps away, her arms crossed as she looked down at them.

"Why are all of you sitting here like you’re depressed though?"

Owen scoffed immediately.

"There’s a big empty space here," he said, gesturing around. "No one’s forcing you to stand here."

Lyra ignored him completely.

Instead, her gaze shifted to Iris.

"...Mind if I sit?" she asked.

Iris didn’t hesitate.

"Go ahead."

Lyra pulled out a chair and sat down beside them, crossing one leg over the other.

She leaned back slightly, glancing between them.

"So," she said. "What universities are you going to?"

"I’m heading to a military university," Iris replied, smiling.

Lyra nodded, then looked at Theo.

"Same?"

"No," Theo shook his head. "Me and Owen are both heading to Westridge."

She raised an eyebrow, then nodded.

"Understandable," she said. "I haven’t decided yet."

Owen let out a short laugh.

"You probably didn’t get invited to Westridge, did you?"

Lyra shook her head, squinting her eyes.

"I have," she said. "But other universities have offered me more, so I’m still waiting."

Owen scoffed, immediately opening his mouth again.

Theo watched the two go off and leaned back.

’I wonder...’ he thought, zoning off. ’This doesn’t feel like a normal final day.’

The conversation died down after that as no one had much to say.

The tension only kept building.

And before long, even that silence was broken.

A quiet voice echoed through the entire lobby.

"Will the first round candidates proceed to their respective starting rooms."