After returning to their arenas the test wound down and finished.

At the end of the test the team standings were as follows:

Red Team: 57

Blue Team: 43

Yellow Team: 30

There it was Jude’s team had come second. Arctic team had gotten all ten of their objects before Rin was thrown into the Jungle by Muscles. Cave team, though never encountering anyone from Red, had managed to find most of the objects.

Though the winning strategy had to go to Red Team who had demolished everyone by not interacting with Yellow and just moving through to complete the test.

Everyone shuffled into the corridor they had originally started at. Jude was still sullen about the score as it was his idea both to help fight Yellow and to split off into pairs.

But whilst he was busy thinking about himself a hand landed on his back. “Well done out there buddy, we wouldn’t have beaten Yellow without you.” Rin beamed a smile at Jude, who had lifted his head up in shock from the slap.

Merely a step-in front of them was Jack, who had turned around now. Jude was so down on himself he had failed to notice his friend. “Hey boys, you wanna go into town after this done and go to this desert place I found?” Both Jude and Rin looked at each other, turned back to Jack and with goofy smiles agreed.

Stood at the front of the horde of students were the lecturers. Alex Mann stepped up; his dirty blonde hair wafted in the breeze of the ventilation system. His messy white shirt blended in with the dull lifeless corridor.

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“Well done everyone. It was great to see what strategies you would come up with. You only have had your Alterations for a few years but the way you all use them is incredible.

However, you still have a long way to go and unfortunately there isn’t too long to get in shape. Two months from now in the first week of December there will be a qualifying tournament for the Alteration Competition League. We implore you to join as you can only join a team with a maximum size of twenty-four. Meaning all three teams here could qualify.

The qualification tournament has an unknown factor and not even we know what events will take place. You’ll all have to train well to join the league.” Alex Mann said before turning away to step down.

“Oh, one last thing. Your grade might depend on how well you do.” With a smile he walked down the corridor leaving everyone gobsmacked.

Clang

The metal spoon hit the bowl. Ice cream streamed down the bowl. Jude starred at the green blob in front of him. He was lost in thought, everything about the revelation boggled his mind.

“How?” he whispered aloud.

Jack looked up from his pancakes, “Uhhh… you good mate?” Everyone else at the table was now looking at Jude.

He blinked and turned to see everyone’s eyes planted firmly on him. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Just you weren’t eating and just staring.” Rin told him.

“Well, it’s just this tournament. I’m just thinking. I’ve got two months to prepare and yet we don’t know what we’ll have to do for it.”

A young Asian man with a blonde flash in his hair spoke. “Just take it as it comes.”

“Yeah… okay AJ, I’ll try.”

The other two at the table kept quiet, one because he did not know what to say the other because he was devouring cake as if it was on a time limit.

Tucking into the mint ice cream Jude’s mind once again began to wander trying to find something he could do to improve his chance.

The next day Jude sent an email to his lecturers asking for the recorded footage of their training, hoping there was some. To his surprise there actually was. He quickly downloaded the footage to his computer and began watching.

He studied the footage most nights that week. This was until Jude had narrowed down the key points.

Everyday he would go to the gym with his friends to try and build up some muscle and in his free time he would practice some of the fighting moves he had learnt. Though most of the day he would have go to his lectures.