It was still a raised platform.
But the Duelist Platform was gone.
And considering the new dueling rules, the raised platform's area had been expanded by a full circle.
Yet after the duel field covered it, the arena's size remained unchanged at 80×120.
The size of a duel arena had always existed to restrict duelists.
An overly vast arena would only bog duels down, making it difficult to determine a result.
However, as the strength of both duelists rose above a certain threshold, the standard arena size truly ought to be expanded somewhat.
But the new dueling rules were built upon the Divine Path Ritual. Even with Principal Arte's authority, she could not alter them. They could only wait for Hermes to awaken.
Before Hermes awakened, duelists could only grow wildly within the existing rules.
No matter how unreasonable these new dueling rules were, they could only adapt to them rather than wait for the rules to adapt to them.
However, before the rules were clearly established, the tournament organizers could still impose restrictions outside the arena—
—to make the matches more reasonable.
But that was a matter for later.
This Academy Championship indeed carried something of an experimental nature. Principal Arte, Sylph, and the other professors were all watching closely.
Eight academies, with a total of 192 prospective competitors.
The exhibition matches would select duelists based on both audience preference and competitor willingness. This tournament differed from those of the past.
The academies had set up invisible viewing stands outside the duel arena, allowing all the competitors to watch from them without obstructing the audience's view.
Then, when duelists needed to be selected, the viewing stands could be revealed.
"Then, the first duel will be..." Senior Judy deliberately drew out her words.
In the section of the viewing stands