The Mana Fortress Defense wasn't just loud. It was clear. Ten forts. Sixty students. Three waves. Between waves, short windows where you could leave the safety of your walls to sabotage other teams. Scores for fortress integrity, beast suppression, teamwork, and how well you used your core. No tricks hidden in the fine print.
The arena shifted around the students until it looked like a city plaza split into ten raised platforms. Each platform held a different fortress frame—clean walls, open tower wells, reinforced gates—waiting for teams to lock in their upgrades. Above everything, a huge holo-board showed ten fortress names in a ring with long green integrity bars and six empty name slots under each.
Vice Headmaster Valerie walked to the center dais. She didn't need a microphone; the arena did it for her. "Teams," she said, raising one hand. "Build phase begins."
