The duel started out fine. Sable created a large barrier, while Chad fired toward the enemy. Ariel and Salem were charging toward their opponents. The enemy squad was different from the others. They were much more aware of their teamwork and quickly showed they were the superior team. They backpedaled smoothly together while Ariel and Salem charged. Soon the team was quickly spread out.

Crap, they are not attacking us, they are spreading us out. Before this, every other team had instantly fought back, but this team was smart. Ariel and Salem didn’t notice before it was too late. They were far from the rest of the squad. The other squad suddenly surged forward surrounding them. Ariel and Salem even with their extreme abilities in close combat couldn’t handle a 2v5 of aptly strong opponents. They barely lasted a few moments before being eliminated.

“Fuck,” Jack said.

“What do we do now?” Sable yelled. Chad was still firing his guns, but the other squad had multiple elements that could easily block the bullets. First was a large ice shield. Chad did his best and quickly blasted through. But then next they created a large stone wall. Jack was trying to figure out what they should do next when he noticed a bright light coming in from behind him. He turned around just in time to see a fireball fly right into his face. Then blackness. He had been knocked out of the duel. He was teleported to a small room near the dueling area. Salem and Ariel were already in the room. They were slowly standing up looking disappointed.

“What happened?” Salem asked.

“Uh, I think a fireball got me,” Jack said.

“They were smart. They instantly saw our tactic and took advantage. We split ourselves up and they saw an opportunity.” Ariel was already analyzing the fight. “They beat us through and through.” A second later they were joined by Chad and then Sable.

“Aw fuck. They got me.” Chad said.

“Yeah,” Sable said a moment later. “We didn’t do very well that time. They destroyed us.”

The group was in a small room. There was a nurse who came over to check on each student to see their injuries. “I’m fine,” Jack pushed the nurse off and stood up. What’s gonna happen now? He was disappointed in himself. It was an absurd thought. But they had really started to mesh their teamwork and Jack thought they could go far. But the other team was obviously much stronger. The academy had worked very hard to not give any information to the students about how they were doing in the tournament. So Jack and his friends had no idea how they did.

The room was quiet as they all thought about their futures and the possibility of failing out of the academy. A moment later the door opened and an old woman walked in carrying a very fancy clipboard. The clipboard seemed to be a combination of science and magic featuring some sort of data pad built directly into it. What the hell is that? The woman casually navigated through an advanced-looking interface that was projected up from the board. After a moment she spoke without looking up. “Ariel Rambova, Salem Dunne, Chad Dromio, Sable Barton, and Jack Warwick.” She looked up after pronouncing each of their full names. She had a warm smile on her face. “You did well. Out of 200 groups you reached rank 78. The royal family would like to congratulate each of you on reaching the stage that you did.” She pulled a small box and handed one to each squad member. The box was simple cardboard. Jack could feel the weight of something inside that shifted when he was handed the box. “These are the awards that you have won for your participation in the squad tournament.”

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“Presents?!” Chad yelled excitedly as he grabbed the box for him and quickly opened it. Inside was a beautiful gold pocket watch. Chad was instantly disappointed and held it with mediocre disdain. Jack opened his own box to find the same watch. Looking closely at the watch, It was a smooth gold with a soft shine. Engraved was the royal crest on the front.

“Thank you for this honor,” Salem said accepting the box. Ariel silently bowed when she accepted the box. And Sable blushed while muttering his thanks.

“These watches have been engraved with the royal seal. They are heavily enchanted and guaranteed to last forever and work in any situation.” The woman was just finishing up when a panicked-looking nurse ran into the room. As soon as she saw the old lady with the clipboard she started speaking.

“Harriet Griffith has been found in the catacombs. She was gravely wounded and is currently in critical care.” The old woman’s eyes went wide, then she dashed out of the room. The nurse who had just run in looked confused for a second then followed after her.

A moment later Jack ran after them. How? How could this have happened? He was sprinting down the halls. He reached a corner and grabbed onto the wall to help him turn faster. The nurse and old lady were nowhere to be seen. How fast are they? He was running towards the infirmary. Jack sprinted down the halls, he was blaming himself. It had to have been the monster. She had gone into the catacombs to find and hunt the monster. And she had almost died because of that. He got to the medical wing but wasn’t allowed in to see her. He felt personally responsible and was losing his mind. He paced outside the medical wing for hours until he was finally allowed in to see her. She was covered in bandages and looked incredibly frail. Her body looked weirdly withered and Jack wondered what could have done that to her.

She lay completely motionless. A bunch of machines were connected to her, and they were making all sorts of noises. “Wait, what happened to Frank?”

“Her companion? We have not seen him.” it was the head of security talking.

“What happened to her?” Jack asked.

“We found her in the catacombs. She was badly hurt. She has multiple wounds and is currently in a coma. She was hunting for the mechanical beast that you reported under the city. We don’t know what got her. There were footprints found near her body. “

“Footprints? One of the machines looked like a human. Do you think it was the one that attacked her?”

“We don’t know anything yet. She is one of the best trackers in the world. I’m at a loss of how the monster could have caught her by surprise.” He hated this. Ms. Griffith had been a great teacher and a very caring lady. He hated the fact that she was so badly hurt because of him. Eventually, the visitation time was done, and Jack was forced to leave. He went back to his room angry and started working on some designs to help fight the monster.