The crowd reacted quickly and genuinely, not just from the home section as expected, but from all over the stands.
Although their response required some context to fully understand what they saw, the significance of that moment was clear even without deep analysis.
It was a fighter who had been patient, methodical, and waited for the exact moment that his training had identified.
Aldous lowered his hands and paused momentarily to process the result.
Then he looked at William with an expression of someone who had been defeated by a specific thing rather than a superior one, which was a different kind of loss and, in some ways, more useful.
"The fire sequence," he said, "you were pushing the compensation."
"Yes."
"You identified the transition tell."
"Yes."
Aldous nodded slowly. "Good match."
"Good match," William agreed.
He left the arena floor and saw Seraphina waiting at the edge with water, wearing the focused expression she had when watching intently.
