There are less than one hundred tamers, around 96, but our section is the most packed. The average tamed beast-to-tamer ratio is 3.4, so hundreds of entities line up in front of faculty with megaphones and headbands. Jerry is following close behind me with his tamed beasts as well.

"Do you think I'm disadvantaged since I only have two beasts? Personal events give our team points. And I don't see how this would be any different. I don't want to bring our team down."

"So?"

"These are the best tamers in my generation. I'm from a low noble family in a farming city that happens to be a tamer. I don't deserve to be here. I know our friendship influenced your decision to add me to the team. It's an open secret among our team that you only picked people you knew, and that's why there were no non-freshmen."

"Let me say something to you, then tell me if you feel better. Okay?"

"Alright, Ellis. Sorry, by the way."

"Some tamers only brought one beast since only taming combat beasts is uncommon. Some have pets or a favorite cattle waiting for them at home. There might be a few exceptions, but they weren't honed for war. That's just probability. That guy only has cats. Over there, that guy only brought a single turtle."

The cats are tiger sized with fur streaked with elemental energies, and the turtle is the size of the tank and even has a cannon sticking out of its shell.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm just observing our competition like they will be observing us. Instead of saying they are the best, see which ones are better than you and which are weaker. Know that the ones stronger than you will know that you are weaker and will treat you as such. I don't know how you match up against other tamers. I know my beasts, and you know yours."

"I see..."

"Also, believe in your tamed beasts a bit more. If you put yourself down, you are pulling them down with you. How do you think they will feel when they tried their best, but you gave up at the starting line."

"You're right. I'm sorry, you two."

He starts whispering to his tamed beast before turning back to me.

"You could've lied and said I had a good chance of winning. Or say that I deserve to be among the best tamers of our generation as well."

"I could've, yeah."

"I've done so much already to prove myself. I'll use this opportunity to compare myself to my peers!"

"Depending on how they set up this event, we might have to fight each other."

"...please be gentle, captain."

~

I saw the other groups get split into smaller groups. The archers get separated from the rest. Same with the healers and the other utility classes. Some more shuffling is happening over there, but not over here. The tamers are just one congruent clump. A woman with a megaphone and a headband stands on the head of a giraffe-looking tamed beast. She addresses what looks like a zoo going for a walk.

"Alright, students! This event is a one-versus-one competition to the top! It's a double-elimination tournament, meaning there is a loser's bracket. If you lose in that one, you are eliminated. The fights will be randomized. Btw, there will be no draws! If one occurs, our judges will declare a winner based on the performance during the match."

She starts going over more rules and regulations, but it's boring and self-explanatory. If I'm going to win this, that means I have to win eight matches, seven if I'm lucky. Because of how tournaments are structured, a third of the students will get a free pass to round two. I would fight all 95 of the rest of them if I needed to, so it doesn't matter if I have to fight only eight matches. Technically if I don't lose any of my fights but lose the last, I would get a rematch. I find that idea funny, some guy manages to defeat my beasts, and I jump back in and keep going.

There are some limitations, even though we are all tamers here. Only one tamed beast can be on the field at the time, and we can't aim for the other tamer, nor can the tamer directly join in the fight except for buffs and commands. Pity.

If one tamed beast falls in combat, you can send in your next one, and so on. No potions or consumables, and you can't switch out your tame best mid-combat. Like all competitions in this tournament, there is no worry of death. Healers are on call for any beast that falls in battle. It reminds me of an old video game. Maybe Jerry will do better than he thinks.

I get assigned a random number, 64, and that number gets put into a generator that will randomize the matches. They could've used the random number to determine the bracket, but they wanted an extra level of rng. Technically all that does is make the first randomization useless, but I don't bring it up. I'm not a part of the thirty-two that get a free pass to the next round, but I am in the first match. I don't know if that's lucky or unlucky.

It takes a while before all the tamers enter the fracture and get into appropriate slots. Another tamer and I are standing on opposite raised platforms as a battlefield lies between us. My opponent has a single beast, a yellow rat. It's the size of a minivan, but it's still a rat. I use [Scientific Insight+].

[Lightning Rat B lv120].

My opponent adjusted his hat and yelled across the battlefield. His voice is amplified by the magic of the platform he stands on.

"All I need is my tamed beast to win this competition. Send out your first beast and get used to sending them out!"

"Okay."

I send out Khan, all eighty of him. A single one of his bodies is dwarfed by the rat, but the imposing sight of a swarm of shards churning around a localized storm would make anyone reconsider their actions. He doesn't have an intimidation skill, but I think he'd be able to get one if Khan actually tried to be imposing.

"Wait! That's cheating! You cant use more than one beast at a time!"

"He counts as one."

"What! That's impossible, JUDGE!"

A man slowly walks over and pulls out a lens. He's old and hunched over and has trouble walking. He puts it over his eye and looks over Khan for a bit before turning away.

"Counts as one."

"What?"

"The system counts them as one. Fair game."

"Okay, fine! Whatever. My beast will prevail regardless!"

The battle begins, and the [Lightning Rat] immediately charges over while lightning rolls off its fur, scorching the ground as it runs.

"Alright, use [Lightning Tackle], then follow up with an [Electric Blast]!"

"Go hunting."

The rat, cloaked in lightning, charges into the middle of the pack and unleashes a barrage of electricity. It fails to do anything. I preemptively used [Master's Gift] to give Khan my lightning resistance.

I tried giving away my resistance and training it from zero, but it grew at the same rate as if it wasn't missing. Pity, that's the only thing keeping me from getting all my resistances to a theoretical infinite.

"What? Why didn't anything happen?"

The rat shares the same sentiment as its tamer, but that was a fatal mistake for the beast. Khan circles the [Lightning Rat] before pouncing. A body swoops in and takes a chunk off the rat before 'swimming' off. Another shark takes its place, ripping off more flesh. Blood pours from the wounds as many bodies begin feasting while the rat tries to flee from Khan. It cannot get away.

"Uh, uh, uh, try another [Electric Blast]! Please!"

The commands of the tamer fall on deaf ears as the rat is too preoccupied with trying to keep the sharks away. It keeps trying to use its electricity to blast Khan away, but it's no use. The squeaks of pain from the giant rat must have finally been enough for the tamer. Khan isn't angry, so he doesn't feel the need to kill his prey fast. It's a bad habit to play with his food, but it's how he hunts.

"I surrender! Pull your beast back, please."

"Tell the judges, not me."

"I surrender!"

One of the judges raises his hand closest to me before putting it back down. I make khan stop and come back to me. The tamer jumps off his platform and runs over to his beast. At this point, it's missing a few limbs and a tail. Healers are already on the scene, stabilizing the creature and regenerating flesh. More extensive treatment will be needed for the missing limbs, but at least that tamer doesn't have to pay for the treatment. If the rat 'died' in battle, it would've been easier for the healers.

I leave my platform, and most students stare at the crying tamer or my Khan. He's trying to put pressure on one of the rat's many wounds. They don't clap or cheer, the atmosphere is awkward, and most avoid eye contact. I sit in my spot and wait for my next match. Multiple matches start going at once after my fight is finished. Once the next round starts and the loser bracket begins, I get on my platform and scope out my enemy.

She's one of the lucky 1/3 who got a free pass to this round. Her beasts are, for lack of a better word, elephants. She only has three beasts, but all of them are bulky behemoths of mass and tusks. She silently sends out a ruby red elephant that looks covered or made from slate. Its tusks look like they are sculpted from a red-hued crystal.

[Ruby Elephant C lv100]

I pull Flash Gordon out of my pocket and whisper to him.

"Go fight for me. Sleep later."

I toss him from my platform, and he hits the ground with a thud. He doesn't move from that spot. Both judge and my opponent are confused, but I give the judge a thumbs up. He starts the match. Flash Gordon slowly floats up from his dent and stays perfectly still in the air. The elephant, confused, tries to wack Flash Gordon away with its trunk. Flash Gordon gets flung but retaliates.

Flash Gordon uses [Fragmentation] and shatters the elephant's body at multiple points. The elephant trumpets in pain as it's instantly sent away. Flash Gordon one-shotted this creature. The next beast is a two-headed elephant called a [Duophaunt]. It stares with all four eyes at Flash Gordon, but nothing happens.

[It's using mental magic and failing miserably. It's literally trying to mess with the mind of a stone.]

"Flash Gordon does have a mind stat. It's actually quite low."

[Still a rock.]

Duchess isn't incorrect. Flash Gordon repeatedly smacks into the skull of one of the heads, flashing with different elemental energies until the beast falls. The tamer doesn't send out the third elephant, which looks like a wooly mammoth, and instead surrenders. I jump from my platform and collect Flash Gordon. I wipe him clean of blood and bone chips and put him back in my pocket.

~

My next match was, unfortunately, Jerry. He managed to win his two fights and reach me. He surrenders before the match starts, which is wise.

"Sorry if you were looking towards a fight... I don't want my beasts to have to go through unnecessary pain. I'll keep going in the loser bracket."

"Don't be apologetic. See you soon."

He gives a smile before going back to his seat.

~

My fourth fight might be entertaining. The tamer is a guy with blond hair with aviator glasses. He's grooming the feathers of a lion-eagle hybrid.

[Griffin A lv120]

His other beast is a green and black snake wrapped around his neck, like how Duchess used to sit around mine. He sends out the [Griffin] first. It flies around the battlefield before landing on the ground with a regal cry. The wind around it whips into a frenzy before settling down.

"Do you want to fight it?"

[Thisss one will show that overgrown bird its place.]