The arena floor transformed.
Panels in the stone slid back with a deep mechanical groan, revealing compartments beneath the surface. From those compartments, structures rose—slowly at first, then faster, locking into place with heavy clicks that echoed across the stadium. Rails. Ramps. A central elevated platform ringed by lower sections connected by narrow bridges. The whole arrangement assembled itself in under a minute, and by the time it finished the floor looked nothing like it had before.
The crowd watched it happen with the particular silence of people witnessing something they hadn't expected.
Then the silence broke into noise.
The announcer let it build for a moment before raising the microphone.
"What you are looking at," he said, "is the Exhibition Ground." He paused. "And what you are about to watch—is not a tournament fight."
He let that sit.
