The moment the match started, Helia's opponent, Bram Tombend quickly summoned a massive dome made of earth magic around him, barricading himself in it.
His intention was clear— to stall out the match for as long as possible so that Opal Tempest had more time to recover her mana and to make Helia waste her energy.
Although this kind of defensive strategy isn't illegal in the tournament, it was frowned upon by the audience because it was boring to watch someone essentially repeatedly hitting a wall.
However, the audience appeared to be quite excited for some reason.
"How many strikes do you think it will take the Crimson Witch to break Bram's defense this year?"
"She's broken his defenses with a single hit three times now. I doubt it will be any different this year."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I heard that the Red Moon Academy had changed their training regimen at the beginning of last year and have shown tremendous improvements since then."