"They are running away with the points. What the hell are you guys doing?" a lean man with a bald head spoke in anger. His furious face was being looked at by none of the 40 or so students or even the teachers that had come along with him.
"Blackhawk academy keeps winning over you again and again, is that why I brought you all here? To lose?" the man asked.
"But headmaster," one of the boys spoke. "We're still in second place. That's still quite—"
"Second? You think I trained you so much, put so much effort into you, all so you can get second place?" the man shouted at them again. "Do you know what being second means? It means you lost to someone. LOST! Are you okay with losing?"
"No, headmaster," the group shouted.
"Leave!" the man shouted, sending the students away. He heaved in silence for a few seconds while the teachers waited for his anger to calm down a bit.
"Headmaster, don't worry, I'm sure our students will do great tomorrow. We will definitely take the first spot in this final competition," one of the teachers said.
"I know we will," the headmaster said with a sneer on his face. "But not without a little bit of help."
He looked at one of the female teachers with a small build, who didn't expect him to be looking at her so keenly.
"Teacher Shina, your light essence is as good as ever, is it not?" he asked.
"They are… good," the female teacher said.
"Good, then I have a job for you."
* * * * * *
"Yes, teacher. I haven't been to my family in so many months. They want to meet me," Tenn said with as much home-sickness he could show on his face.
"But… didn't you go back home just a few days ago? I thought you did," one of the teachers asked.
"Huh? No, I never went home," Tenn quickly said. "I… I couldn't go back because I had woken up too late at night. The guards didn't let me enter."
"The guards didn't let you enter? But you are the son of the Foremans. Why would the guard—"
"Teacher, please. I want to go home. My competition has already ended. Please agree to this request of mine. Just for one night, I will be back early morning tomorrow. I promise," Tenn said.
"I mean, you don't have to be back. You can stay with your family for the remaining days if you want to," the teacher said.
"No, I will be back tomorrow," Tenn said quickly. "Thank you for letting me go, teacher."
"Sure, be care—"
"I will be bringing brother Ning with me if you don't mind. His competitions are over, so I will be taking him back too," Tenn said and pulled away Ning before the teacher could talk.
Kaleb looked surprised. "Actually, teacher. One of my aunts is married to the Ilia family in the city. I haven't seen her in quite a while, may I go visit her as well?" he asked. "I no longer have any competitions to take part in."
The teacher sighed. "Fine, go, go. Don't ask me anymore," he said.
"Great!" the prince said from the side. "I will be leaving as well then."
"Prince!" the teacher shouted. "You can't go. You have a match tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I won't drink or do anything that will cause me problems tomorrow," the prince said and continued walking away.
"But you—"
"Don't worry, teacher Hayan. I will look after him," the princess spoke and followed her twin brother.
"Why are you coming with me?" the prince asked.
"Why? What's wrong with me coming with you?" the princess asked.
"I'm going out with some girls," the prince said. "You can't be there. You'll ruin things."
"Don't worry, I won't stop you from talking with them," the princess said. "If you feel so bad about it, then let me invite a few of my male friends as well. We can all have dinner together."
"Dammit, fine. Follow me, but don't you dare get in my way," the prince said and walked away with the princess following him.
Two students immediately left the rank, following the prince and princess. Not only them, a few more people in the arena quickly followed them as they were there to look after the prince and princess.
The teacher sighed seeing so many people leave one after another. He turned around and looked at the remaining students.
"You guys don't want to leave as well right?" the teacher asked. "You guys aren't eager to just leave for the city, right?"
The students gave a rueful smile and quickly shook their heads. However, amongst them, a hand rose and a young lady walked out.
"Actually, I have relatives in the city as well. Would you mind if I left as well?" she asked.
"Y-Yorsha, you want to leave as well?" the teacher asked with a hesitating voice.
"Mhm, you just said we could leave, right?" she asked. "So I want to leave too."
"But—"
"Those guys left," she said. "Can I not? Is this discrimination, teacher?"
"No, no, no. You can go if you want," the teacher quickly said. "But don't you have a match tomorrow? You are our youngest contestant to join tomorrow's competition."
"Don't worry, teacher. I will arrive on time," she said and walked away without saying anything else.
The teacher sighed in the end, watching 7 of his students leave. He couldn't even stop them as the first ones had already left.
"You lot, you definitely aren't leaving, are you?" the teacher asked.
The group quickly shook their head. "Good, let's go back. Tomorrow is a big day and you lot need to get ready for it."
The Blackhawk academy members left the arena a while later, all of whom walked back toward the Light Dance academy where they were staying at.
Unbeknownst to them, someone else was on their way to Light Dance academy as well, and their purpose had to do with the very Blackhawk academy students that were going there.