"Our dojo recognized only two sanctioned combat formats. The Mistyard Courtyard Ramble and Beast Sync Arena Duel. Each serves a distinct philosophical and evaluative purpose."
Arlo teased. "Which do you want to hear first?"
Felix immediately replied, "The first one."
Arlo nodded, keeping his gaze at him than Krisha, whose narrowed face seemed about to devour him if he played with her.
He said, "The Mist Courtyard Ramble is not a structured one-on-one duel. It's a controlled chaotic engagement.
It requires five disciples to enter the courtyard. Visibility is limited up to 2-4 meters. No one knows their enemies' position after the mist thickens. No instructor gives start signals beyond a bell.
The core purpose for the mist ramble is to evaluate the spatial awareness, emotional stability under uncertainty, footwork discipline, breath retention, and decision restraint among the disciples.
If you think that victory is determined by the last person standing, you are wrong. The instructor instead evaluates who initiates unnecessarily, who everextends, who panics, and who maintains structure in obscurity."
Felix frowned. "So, in other words, the instructor determines who wins?"
Arlo smirked. "Exactly."
Felix turned silent. He did not expect that the results could be manipulated by the instructor.
Arlo chuckled. "However, more often than not, the idea that the victory is not determined by the last person standing is situational. I mean it in a way that the last person standing is too passive that he had not engaged in combat at all.
You'll understand what I mean after I'll tell you about the scoring and outcomes.
The ramble would last ten to fifteen minutes.
Elimination occurs if a clean strike to the torso is landed, a disciple falls, a disciple loses grip of their weapon, or when their breath collapse is observed.
At the end of the session, the instructors rank the performance into: superior composure, stable, unrefined, and disqualified.
Multiple disciples may receive superior composure depending on how the ramble went.
Then, there is the merit allocation, which their rankings are based on. The merit is awarded based on their performance classification.
Superior Composure equals 30 Merit, Stable equals 15 Merit, Unrefined equals 5 Merit, and Disqualified is equal to 0 Merit.
If you believe that the instructors might be biased, you won't have to worry. There are five instructors who oversee the ramble, and the ramble usually occurs every afternoon at exactly 5 p.m. It usually ends when the sun completely sets."
Arlo was quiet for a while, giving Felix a chance to ask another question.
Felix, on the other hand, ruminated. I just hope that those instructors wouldn't be biased against me. I can just report this to Master Shen anyway if they do.
Felix asked, "I see, then tell me about the Beast Sync Arena Duel."
Arlo nodded.
"The nature of the format of Beast Sync Arena Duel requires two disciples to enter in the beast sync arena with their contracted beasts. No interference and no outside instruction. It's as simple as that.
However, as far as I recall, you didn't summon a beast, correct?"
Arlo grinned at Felix.
Felix, on the other hand, simply shrugged. "But, I'll be able to contract a beast soon once I reach Awakener Rank 6."
Arlo and Krisha were surprised. The latter stared at Felix, heaving a sigh of relief.
It simply means that Felix was guaranteed to become a Commander Rank. Unlike his parents, who summoned a one star beast from the obelisk, those who summoned two stars and above were guaranteed to have their soul expanded to cater another beast to be contracted once they reach Awakener Rank 6.
Arlo creased his eyebrows and asked, "I thought you can only contract spirit weapons?"
Felix shrugged. "I thought so, too."
Arlo said, "Still, you'll be at a disadvantage since you're lacking a main pet."
Felix shook his head and replied, "I also have my sword, so it's fine."
Arlo shook his head and said, "You will be using a wooden sword, so it's not fine. But, whatever.
To continue, there are victory conditions to be overseen by an instructor.
There should be a clean decisive strike, injuring the opponent's beast, tactical surrender, loss of weapon control, and the instructor to personally terminate the match due to the imbalance."
Felix frowned. "Is it okay to gravely injure the opponent's beast?"
Arlo grinned. "Sure, if you can do it with a wooden sword."
"Alright. Please continue."
"The core purpose of the Beast Sync Duel is to evaluate beast synchronization, tactical integration, emotional leadership, controlled aggression, and structural stability under direct pressure. This is where the Generals in the army are born."
Felix nodded, completely understanding Arlo's words.
Simply put, the Beast Sync Duel Arena, unlike Mist Ramble, produced a clear winner. Hence, Felix decided to hone himself in the Mist Ramble first before deciding to participate in the Beast Sync Duel.
Or better, after I contracted my first beast.
Felix was quite excited. If he kept his pace, performing supplementary exercises every night, he would be guaranteed to reach Awakener Rank 6 by next week or more.
After all, the higher the rank to ascend, the more difficult and longer it would take.
Felix was also aware of how absurd his growth compared to others. Reaching Awakener Rank 6 in a week or two was comparable to the growth of a future Beast Tamer Lord or even Beast Tamer King.
Felix was already aware of how worst his image was depicted in social media. It would have been fine if he would be the only one affected, but his parents would obviously be affected, too.
He didn't want to worsen their problems, so Felix knew he had to prove himself.
As he fell into deep thoughts, Arlo interrupted him.
He said, "As for Merit Allocation in the Beast Sync Arena, if you win a clean victory, you'll earn 50 Merit. If it's a narrow victory, as the instructor decided, it'll be 40 Merit. If defeated but you had a stable performance, 15 Merit. If it's defeat, then 0 Merit."
Arlo glanced at Krisha and asked, "Now, what do you want to ask?"