They walked onto the arena floor from opposite sides.
The crowd noise that greeted them was the loudest of the competition — a culmination of two days of bracket development, involving the efforts of four academies' worth of students, faculty, and observers all working toward this moment.
William walked to his position and stood.
The noise was present but not significant.
This skill, developed through competition, was about locating the noise within the right part of your attention- not ignoring the crowd entirely, which is impossible, but recognising it as background or contextual, not the main focus.
Renner reached his position and turned to face the arena.
He appeared even taller at this distance, with a clear reach advantage. His lightning aura was already noticeable on his surface—not discharged, but ready—similar to the ambient charge that fighters with lightning affinity naturally maintain.
