It all went so wrong. Everything. This was supposed to be her moment to shine. For once she’d be at the top, she’d be the role model, the best of the best, but she ruined it. Every time, without fail. As if she could pull off a plan that’d even delay Mr. Allenbury. The majority of the students working with her had been puppeted, turned into weapons to be used against them. If anything she sped up their inevitable losses.

 Now it was Namar; the peasant boy that had a plan, but what other option did she have? It was her waiting on his mark, and he was already out. Whatever the technicalities were she didn't have enough options left to argue.

  Juno stood perfectly still; her expression the epitome of calm and control. She knew she was running out of time. Almost all of her mana had been expended on the first attack. Even more on trying to save an ally. The last of her rubble constructs were being used to fend off a series of tendrils controlling and manipulating Namar. She had so much, and she wasted it all.

  All she could do was prepare to close her eyes. On his mark.

 “NOW!”

  She dropped the rubble constructs, conserving her mana, and closed her eyes. There was a tearing sound, like clothes being shredded. Then footsteps. She could tell he was behind her. He must've gotten free.

  “Now, don't look behind you.”

  “Why?”

  "I'm completely naked back here, so give me your mage robes.”

  “You’re what?!” Why the hell was he naked?

  “You’re wearing clothes under there so just give me your robes.”

  “Why-” So that's how he got free… “Take them. I'm sure you need them far more than I do at this point.” She took her robes off tossing them back to Namar. She didn't bother looking back, and took stock of the situation.

  There were about eight of them left standing in the arena. Two of which were her friends. They were all spread out across the arena, but they were generally within reach. If she sprinted she could reach nearest one within about ten seconds, but Mr. Allenbury could undoubtedly get there in less. Right now he was chasing one of the students through the air, jumping off discs of mana that appeared at his feet with unnatural speed while puppeted students harassed them from the ground.

  He must’ve been preoccupied chasing down that individual student. She was the only one giving him any trouble, but she wouldn't hold out for much longer. Neither would her friends on the ground. She knew what she’d have to do, although it’d make her extremely uncomfortable, and it'd make her look like a creep. Still, victory first; even peasants understood.

  You’ve got a second chance, so use it.

  She sprinted as fast she could towards her friend. Time slowed to a crawl, and in that moment nothing else mattered. She got so close, just barely within arms reach. A white tendril lashed out at her as soon as she got too close. She lowered her head as she ran, narrowly avoiding the whip like tendril. She grabbed onto her friend’s arm, and pulled as hard as she could. She already saw the puppet reacting to her movements. Thankfully, the person inside was already unconscious. It’d save him from having to deal with a lot of embarrassment along the way. Unfortunately the same didn't apply to her, given that she’d be the one tearing his clothes into pieces.

  She gathered a small amount of mana into her hand, and poured in even more towards making it unstable. Her hand trembled, a stinging sensation spread from the tips of fingers to the palm of her hand, then a terrible burning, and suddenly numbness. She let it all out in a crackling wave of mana. The numbness disappearing from her hand, the burning and stinging fading as quickly as it came.

  A crackling wave of violet light washed out from the palm of her hand, shredding his clothing and leaving shallow cuts on his body.

  “Val throw your robes on him!”

  “Uhh… Right!” She complied hastily throwing off her mage robes and covering up the unfortunate student laying before them. “Any other plans?”

  “We just need to convince the others to do what I just did. Or preferably what he did over there.” She jerked her thumb at Namar and hazarded a look backwards.

  He was walking towards the nearest arena gate, but he wasn't but naked. Even worse he was wearing her mage robes like a bathrobe.

  “Alright.” She paused “And how do we convince them to do… that.”

  “I think we could - or maybe - I don’t know, but we have to do something!”

  “You know, that sounds nice and all…” She looked upwards. The student fleeing from Mr. Allenbury falling like a rock. “but I think we’re out of time.”

  She crashed against another white disc. It lowered her to the arena stands, and unceremoniously dropped her on the floor.

  “Damn it. Every time.” Juno sighed. She backed up slowly, ready to run in either direction at a moment’s notice.

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  “Tell you what. I know what to do.”

  “You serious? Go for it then.”

  Val took a deep breath. When Juno realized what she was about to do it was already too late to cover her mouth.

  “EVERYONE! HE’S USING OUR CLOTHES TO CONTROL US! WE NEED TO DESTROY THEM IMMEDIATELY!”

  Juno was afraid the entire class could hear her heart beating out of her chest. Nothing but silence, and a sea of blank expressions. Well, except Mr. Allenbury, that shitbag was still smiling. This one looked like a mix of amusement, and condescension. Or maybe that was just how he always looked.

  “Damn it damn it damn it damn it. Damn it!” The person screaming at himself happened to be that one guy who started this whole mess. She didn't know his name, but the lunatic was hard to miss. His robes looked burnt, there was dry blood on his skin. Not to mention the mark on his nose.

  “I'll do it!” He yelled.

  His whole body emanated a strange dark light. Like the light around him faded just a little. A burst of mana followed the glow. Expanding outwards from every side and pushing his clothes along with it. They stretched and stretched. Until finally it all tore apart.

  The bindings around him disappeared the moment the clothes tore apart. He was free. He stood awkwardly making certain to cover up the privates. “Could someone get me some clothes? Or at least some mage robes?”

  This time Mr. Allenbury was stunned. He was still smiling of course, but it looked as though all mental processes had vacated his brain. “Sure… Uh… Daimen!”

  “Already on it sir! I'm getting extra!”

  “Yes. Very good. Alright, back to the fight then.”

  “Huh, I should've thought of that.” The well muscled man who’d failed the test earlier, Gamris, stood proudly. He shredded the clothing of the bound student before him and left his robes on her unconscious from. “Now for the main event! Apparently it wasn't enough to stop there. He shredded his own clothing too, and he wasn't even ashamed either. He just stood there with his hands on his hips. It was true that he couldn't be puppeted anymore… but fighting naked? Did he really have to go that far?

  “Oh shit wait.” Mr. Allenbury recovered from his shock. The puppets immediately started to react to their presence, lashing out or backing away at the same time.

  Unfortunately it was too late. One by one the students were freed from their bindings, but even that wasn't enough for some people. A couple of them, thankfully not all, destroyed their own clothing too.

  “You know what?” Val said.

  “Oh no. Val, please have some dignity!”

  “That’s exactly what mom and dad would've said.” She smirked.

  “That's what anyone’s mother and father would've said!”

  Of course; Val wasn't paying any attention to her at that point. She did it anyways. Juno very pointedly tried to avoid looking at any of the people who were standing around completely naked. She instead gave Mr. Allenbury her full attention, who was slow clapping, because of course he was.

  “Well, I guess that’s it for the parlor tricks then.”

  That’s right. Just keep talking and in about ten seconds that extra credit is ours.

  “If I remember correctly you said you didn’t need my help.” He sighed. “I guess I should’ve taken some of you a little bit more seriously.”

[eight seconds left]

  He doubled over. A deep rumble coming from his back like the rolling of boulders over a stone floor. Crystal spires erupted from his lower back bending and flailing like newly created limbs. They resonated at a low frequency, a steady electric hum getting louder and louder by the second. Sparks of lightning exuded from the liquid crystals with every bend and break in their structure. Eight semi-solid tendrils watching them all like the heads of a hydra.

[six seconds left]

  How someone got the chance to study and learn from lightning long enough to use it was beyond her, how anyone could conserve this much mana during a fight; she had no clue, but one thing remained the same. He launched forward, another charge at a breakneck pace. The same straight line attack. While she doubted anyone would have enough time to create an anchor and trap him like they did before, he was going straight through the center. All they needed to do was hit him. Once, that was all it took, and he’d be out.

  A swirling mass of cold fog formed around Val’s clenched fist. Looking closely Juno realized that that without her gloves, the fog had turned her fist a bluish gray color with frost creeping over her hand with every passing second. She raised her fist at Mr. Allenbury, visibly struggling to open her hand, her fingers violently shaking as they unfurled from the fist. She let loose a burst of fog in Mr. Allenbury’s path. Juno knew from experience that anyone trying to pass through that would find their energy fading within seconds.

[five seconds left]

  The tendrils on Mr. Allenbury’s back reacted. The upper two twitched and bent, their surfaces expanding outwards to a massive length, jagged crystal spikes and prisms became more pronounced and grew in number, like wings made from bursts of quartz. The lower tendrils were used to slow his momentum leaving deep troughs in the ground as his momentum slowed. They released his grip on the floor, using his momentum to turn in mid air. A slow beat from the wing on his right created a gust of air strong enough to drag the fog in the other direction, sending towards another pair of students. A flick of the wing on his left sent a hail of quartz flying in their direction.

  Juno reached deep, forcefully generating enough mana to shield themselves from the shards. The ground before them shattered, a wall of rubble rising to defend both her and Val. The crystals smashed through most of the stones, but were thankfully sent flying in other directions. A rain of crimson spears fell from the sky with Gamris at the lead, covered in a cloak of mana, and holding out a shield and a spear of his own. He plummeted towards Mr. Allenbury with reckless abandon fully committed to his attack, and ready to pay the price.

[four seconds left]

  Another white disc manifested itself midway between Mr. Allenbury and the spears. A tendril reached out, grasping onto the disc and using it to slingshot Mr. Allenbury in his direction. He launched upwards ready to meet Gamris in combat.

  Gamris threw the shield and, it stopped in place. Borrowing a trick from Mr. Allenbury he used it to jump off to the side, dissipating it as he leaped and throwing his javelin at the same time. The mana weapons all surged, their edges becoming jagged, and their surfaces becoming more like a collection of waves and spikes than solid mana. The spears readjusted their position, assaulting him from every angle simultaneously.

  Gamris apparently didn't get far enough. A tendril reached outwards and grabbed him by the torso. Mr. Allenbury spun; swinging Gamris into the majority of the crimson spears that came his way and destroying his cloak at the same time. The rest were either blocked or missed entirely. When he was through with Gamris he tossed him to the arena stands. Where one of his apprentices caught him.

[two seconds left]

  He stood on another white disc. The eight tendrils on his back coalesced into four. Crystals protrude and fan outwards like leaves on roses with spiral stems. They followed each of them slowly. Then thin transparent blue lines emerged from their center. The lines tracked them slowly always approaching, but never landing directly on them, Juno wasn't sure what they were, but she could feel her hair standing on end. She saw the sparks of lightning surge on the roses, their electric hum growing louder, and louder. She reached inwards for even more mana; knowing that she’d pay the price later, but also knowing that this tiny victory was all that mattered.

  Her instincts were telling her to run. She obeyed. The ground beneath them fractured, a sea of rubble launching taking both her and Val as far away from the blue as possible. In the corner of her eye she saw three students doing their best to shield themselves from the lightning. A thin bolt struck the area around them, not their shields directly. They all very clearly felt the pain; dropping the shields in disorientation and surprise. Val and Juno both landed a few feet away from the bolt, surprisingly their line never fired.

  “Two minutes have passed!”

  As soon as she said that she felt an electric shock at her ankles. Val felt it too, and so did her other friend, who surprisingly managed to make it out on his own. She looked, curious as to what got them in the end. It was deflected quartz shard. It still hummed with electricity. Looking around she realized every quartz shard was brimming with it. Apparently, even getting close to one of these things were enough to give a good shock. Her other friend didn't last much longer. Every quartz rose produced another set of blue lines and locked on to him. He did the sensible thing and surrendered.

  “Well done you three. You did it. Well, granted I tried to give a lecture mid fight, but… I was feeling magnanimous. Anyways, grab a seat on the arena, then sit back and enjoy the rest of the show.”

  Juno dragged herself back up to the arena stands. It was about a minute into the next battle when the starvation kicked in. One of the costs of forcefully generating mana. She was lucky she didn't have go too far, otherwise it could've been much worse. Still, in the end the combination of starvation and exhaustion were too much to handle. She passed out in the arena stands. When someone finally noticed they had a staff member carry her to the infirmary.

She wouldn't wake up until the end of the day.