BOOM!
A violent, deafening crack of thunder shattered the air, blinding the entire amphitheater in a split-second flash of brilliant white light—striking out from a sky completely devoid of storm clouds.
Spectators gasped, clutching their ears as the blinding glare faded from the stone stage. Standing at the center of the semicircle arena, where nothing had been a second prior, was a man draped in flowing, deep navy scholar robes trimmed with intricate silver runes that pulsed with residual lightning. He stood with quiet, scholarly poise, calmly adjusting a pair of thin silver spectacles as the lingering static in the air made his dark hair float gently.
"The absolute pinnacle of elemental mastery!" the announcer's voice boomed across the stands, shaking the quartz dais. "Presenting the scholarr of the royal tower... Grand Magus, Nelico!"
