The other students were called up in pairs, and a variety of battles unfolded. Sean was called to the stage and won a decisive victory as his snake strangled a hefty boar-type beast, knocking it out directly. Rachel analyzed each of the matches carefully, noting down the important points and making a rough estimate of each student's strength.
Ivan also went, and while his battle played out similarly to Kanan's there was no unexpected turnaround at the end this time. His Sun Crow dominated the opponent's beast from the skies, showering it with wind and fire until the opposing student gave up, unwilling to see their beast suffer any further.
Eventually Kanan's turn came, and he was called to the stage along with an unfamiliar boy with black hair.
"Student Kanan, as you have two beasts you will be going twice. Please use your strongest beast to start," explained Rachel.
Kanan acknowledged the directions and approached the stage, politely greeting the opposing student. He summoned Poppy to the field, briefly introducing her, and the other boy summoned his own beast. It was a Willowhisper, a tree beast with long, flowing branches who could release sound attacks from its hollow-like mouth. Being a low-tier beast it only stood at roughly Kanan's own height, but its branches still afforded it a wide range to attack within. Poppy would have to be careful approaching it.
The whistle signalled the start of the match, and Poppy set to work immediately. She raced through the arena, running circles around the relatively slow tree beast and setting up a net by connecting all of the boulders on the perimeter.
The Willowhisper wasn't idle though. With a howl, it sent out a rain of splinters towards Poppy, cutting through the air and forcing the spider to make evasive movements. Poppy bounced on its newly-prepared web, soaring into the air and over the incoming attack.
This, however, was seemingly what the opposing student had been aiming for. "Now, grab it!" he yelled, and the Willowhisper fired forward its tendril-like branches to entrap Poppy. The branches raced across the field, faster and farther than it had seemed they could go, piercing towards the spider. Upon arrival, though, they helplessly sailed by, missing the seemingly immobile target by a full foot.
It was an application of Poppy's Light Curtain ability. Completely concealing herself would be too conspicuous while setting up its threads, since they would give away its position, so instead Kanan had opted to have Poppy only distort the light partially. This created a mirage-like effect that caused the Willowhisper to see Poppy's reflection as the real thing, leading its aim to be completely off-target.
The ability wasn't invincible, though. Against higher tier plant beasts with the ability to sense life force, or against beasts with strong alternative senses like hearing or smell, this ability could backfire, even proving to be a hindrance for Poppy. Still, at the current level it was an extremely strong trick that was hard to deal with without specific countermeasures.
Poppy took advantage of the Willowhisper's mistake, shooting out a net that tied the beast's branches to its pre-existing web, restraining it. Before it could break free and regain its mobility, Poppy raced around it in a circle, shooting out more threads and ensnaring it further. In the end, the unfortunate tree was bundled up, tied from all sides like a piñata.
With their beast unable to battle any further, the opposing student forfeited the match, looking disappointed.
"It's student Kanan's victory," Rachel declared. "Keep in mind that if you are unable to locate your opponent's beast, you can use area of effect attacks to gather their position or break their camouflage before going for a more decisive blow. Especially in the case of a light-based illusion like Kanan's Bubble Spider used, a side-to-side sweeping blow would uncover its actual location without fail."
She lectured briefly, not speaking directly to the defeated student but instead educating the class as a whole. Kanan nodded along, remembering his own battle with Ivan. The boy's wide-ranged wind attacks made Light Curtain wholly ineffective, only useful for buying a little bit of time.
Poppy jumped into Kanan's arms, looking for praise, and he patted the spider happily.
"Good job Poppy, you're the best," he complimented. "Rest for now, we'll go out later to celebrate our first day. It's Twilight's turn now."
Saying so, he unsummoned Poppy and brought out Twilight. The squirrel stood proudly, seemingly unphased by all the stares of the surrounding students.
Kanan's next opponent was called down, and they summoned a metallic beast. It was humanoid, with a slender body and large, oven-mitt-like hands that crackled with electricity. The bottom of its legs curved out into a crescent, blade-like shape. It was a mechanical-type beast known as a Jetglove.
Kanan grimaced. A mechanical type beast was difficult for the current Twilight, who relied heavily on Hypnotic Wave. Mechanical beasts did not sleep, and thus were immune to moves that inflicted sleep onto the opponent. Twilight would have to fight this battle without the help of its signature attack.
Still, he couldn't change his opponent. He would have to adapt. The whistle sounded, and the two spirit beasts began to move.
The Jetglove approached Twilight quickly, propelled along the ground by its blade-like legs. Their design, while offering limited maneuverability, were ideal for bursts of fast speed and instant acceleration.
Twilight responded with his usual tactic, waving his staff and casting the area into a sea of darkness. After practicing with Kanan, while the darkness couldn't cover the entire arena, its range had expanded significantly compared to what it was before.
The move provided Twilight with the time to escape the range of the initial charge, but the Jetglove responded quickly. It rubbed its hands together, causing them to surge with electricity, and the light generated from the action drove back much of the darkness in the immediate surroundings. Catching sight of Twilight once again, it renewed its charge.
Kanan's gaze swept over the arena, looking for anything he could use against the beast. His eyes lit up as they landed on the wreckage of the previous battle, not yet cleared away.
"Twilight, use Flourish on the wood! Bind its movements!"
Twilight raised its staff, and the wood splinters that had been shot out by the Willowhisper earlier began to grow and twist, moving to ensnare the Jetglove.
"Not so fast! Jetglove, use Whirlwind Slash!"
The opposing tamer called out his move, and the Jetglove began spinning like a top, lifting its legs to form a deadly vortex of blades. The incoming wooden tendrils were chopped to pieces, and the Jetglove used the momentum to propel itself at Twilight.
Kanan was out of options, and he shook his head, knowing defeat was imminent. Twilight simply lacked the close ranged skills to perform against an opponent of this caliber. If his crowd control skills were negated he was nearly helpless.
Just then, Twilight raised its staff once more, and the wooden pole was surrounded by a dark glow. Kanan's eyes widened — he recognized this move, but it wasn't one that Twilight should know. It was the windup for Night Strike, a physical dark move that was often learned by dark-type spirit beasts with affinities for close combat.
The opponent was surprised too. He hadn't expected this beast, clearly specialized in elemental skills, to suddenly pull out a physical move. Still, the die was cast, and he had his beast continue the charge.
"Jetglove, use Electric Touch!"
The Jetglove rubbed its hands together once more, its palms crackling with electricity. It swung them from both directions, approaching Twilight's sides like a clamp. At the same time, Twilight's staff swung down, making a direct collision course with the Jetglove's head.
Both beasts hit eachother simultaneously, a loud CRACK ringing out from the staff accompanying the crackle of electricity as it coursed through Twilight. Then, as if rehearsed, both beasts fell to the ground in sync.
Ten seconds were all they were afforded. If ten seconds passed and neither beast got up, the match would be declared a draw.
10, 9, 8
Twilight's eyes flickered, and the Jetglove twitched on the ground, flailing its arms.
7, 6, 5
Twilight's hand groped weakly for its fallen staff, hoping for some leverage to pull itself up.
4, 3, 2, 1
And finally, at the last second, the Jetglove rose, managing to push itself upright with its large mitts. Upon seeing this, Twilight, still struggling to rise, collapsed weakly onto the ground, eyes filled with unwillingness.
"The Jetglove has risen, it wins the match," announced Rachel.
Kanan walked up to Twilight, cradling it gently.
"You tried your best, buddy. You almost pulled it out at the end there. I had already given up, you did better than I could have asked for."
He consoled Twilight. The squirrel was biting his lip, eyes welling up in frustration.
"Don't worry. Our journey has only just begun. We'll get so strong that a Jetglove can only dream of beating us, OK? You see how much progress you've made these past two weeks. Imagine how strong you'll be with another year, another two years. It just takes time."
Knowing his words made sense, Twilight nodded reluctantly. It recalled itself back into the beast space, eager to recover so that it could continue training and wash away today's humiliation.
"Keep this in mind, children," Rachel began. "A beast tamer must be prepared for any situation. Why did Kanan lose? Was it because his beast was weaker? Not necessarily. It was because it wasn't versatile enough. It didn't have the moves to overcome an opponent who it was not able to control. A beast must be able to fight at all ranges and in all situations. Otherwise, when you encounter one of those unfavorable situations in the real world, no amount of excuses will save you. A loss in a forbidden zone is not as simple as a loss in the arena. Prepare heavily so that you can overcome any opponent."
The words hit Kanan hard. It was his fault, at the end of the day. He simply hadn't managed to prepare Twilight enough, and now Twilight was suffering for it.
He returned to the stands, full of contemplation.