Date: TC1853.10.04
Location: Imperial City — Fourth Ring Grand Arena, Main Stage
Jace had fought in alleys where losing meant dying. He'd fought on rooftops where one wrong step meant a six-story drop. He'd fought in the training yards at Seven Peaks, where Taron's CC pressure turned the air solid, and Naida appeared behind you with needles at your neck before you finished blinking.
None of it had prepared him for this.
One hundred thousand people. The sound of them was enormous — not the satellite stage's manageable roar but something that vibrated in his bones and made the air itself feel heavy. The main arena's red stone walls climbed toward a sky washed pale by morning light, golden accents blazing, formation arrays humming through every surface. Recording crystals tracked from elevated platforms. Broadcast formations carried the image across the Empire — every tavern, every public square, every formation display in every city watching this sand.
