And then it was two of us against Sera alone.
By the time I’d turned back to Sera, she was already running.
It’s probably what I would have done in her situation, too, thinking that getting some distance and running out the clock would be a good way to force a draw.
But Patrick was the one who had been powering the levitation spell. She only managed to make it a couple squares before the spell faded and dropped her.
But maybe she’d anticipated that, too, because she landed on a yellow tile, and she still had her cane.
She fired at Marissa first, now shooting super-charged orbs empowered by the square. But even exhausted, Marissa had little difficulty defending when it was only against a single opponent. She punched and kicked the spheres out of the air with practiced precision, while I found a flanking position and returned fire on Sera from a yellow square of my own.
Sera matched me shot-for-shot, perfectly knocking each attack out of the air.
But every second she turned her focus toward me, Marissa inched a little closer.
Sera glanced back and forth, firing lazy attacks at each of us, probing.
We both deflected her attacks and advanced.
Marissa was only a few squares away when Sera charged.
Toward me.
I raised my cane and fired at her, but Sera ducked the shot and jumped between squares with surprising speed and ferocity. She only had the same safe spots we did now, but she was still outpacing the injured and exhausted Marissa. I assumed she wanted to isolate us, fight us one at a time.
I was almost right.
I managed to hit Sera just once with an empowered shot before she was right in front of me. I expected a close-range fight with dueling canes.
I didn’t expect her to jump on top of me.
I stumbled backward, half because of her weight and half because of my usual aversion to touch, and landed right on a green square.
Sera tried to sweep my feet, and I understood too late that she was trying to pin me on a square that would damage me continuously.
Her sweep didn’t quite work, though — I grabbed onto her as I toppled backward, and we tumbled onto the square together.
The square triggered a second time, engulfing us both in light. Then a third.
And then I was somewhere else.
I blinked, finding myself in a sitting positon in a medium-sized stone room on a bed.
Sera appeared a moment after me.
Patrick, of course, was already inside, sitting on another nearby bed. An older Phoenix Division student had a hand on Patrick’s forehead and an irritated expression.
Patrick grinned at us. “Ooh! Did you two manage a double-KO?”
I nodded. “Sure did. Sera managed to tackle me onto one of the green squares. That was a clever move. I didn’t expect it at all.”
Sera winced, shaking her head.
I could understand why — Marissa still wasn’t in here.
Which meant we’d won the match.
I let out another cough, and another Phoenix Division student approached me a moment later. “Any injuries?”
I pointed to my chest. “Coughing blood. Might be my lungs.”
“That’s not good. Hold on.” The student put a hand on my forehead, closing his eyes and concentrating, then let out a sigh. “Your lungs are fine. You just bit your tongue.”
I laughed, letting out a sigh of relief. “Thanks. You might want to check on Marissa when—”
Marissa appeared unceremoniously on a nearby bed.
“…She gets here.” I pointed. “Patrick gave her a couple electrical shocks.”
“I’ll check.”
It took a few more minutes for each of us to get a thorough check, as well as a few healing spells. The Menders were perplexed when they got to Sera.
“Miss, you seem to have quite a bit of mana scarring…”
“She knows,” I answered for her. “We’re looking into solutions.”
“I’m honestly not sure this is treatable,” the student replied.
He definitely needed to work on knowing what not to say to people. Sera’s expression had already been sour, but now it was quickly turning toward depressed.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got some leads on how to take care of it.” I turned to Sera. “I looked some things up, and I’m going to be doing more research later. I’ll tell you at home, okay?”
Sera nodded silently, but she didn’t turn to look at me.
Marissa stood up, walking over to put a hand on Sera’s shoulder. “Can we head on out?”
“Just wait a few more minutes, the professor will want to tell you how you scored.”
We’re getting scored immediately? That’s unusual.
True to their word, Teft appeared a few minutes later.
“Well, that was a unique match, at least.” Teft folded his arms. “Marissa and Corin’s team won, as I’m sure everyone expected. You shouldn’t feel particularly proud, however. That was quite a debacle right at the beginning of the match, Master Cadence. You almost managed to turn a nearly insurmountable advantage into a defeat by taking so long playing with your toys.”
“I—”
“I’m not finished. Do not interrupt. Regardless of what you almost did, the result was that you learned how the tiles worked. Against most opponents, that would have given you an even greater chance at victory, and may have been worth the investment. But I fear you underestimated Miss Shard.”
Sera looked up, blinking.
“She took every bit of information that you gained and learned it by watching you. If she was in fighting shape, you would have been defeated soundly, and most likely without contest.”
I started to open my mouth again.
He raised a hand. “I said, do not interrupt. I am lecturing. You will listen. My greatest commendation must go to Miss Callahan, both for her individual combat abilities, which remain in the top of our class, and the ingenuity to cut out a tile and use it as a weapon. This was an excellent example of teamwork, as was the use of levitation, which I suspect was Miss Cadence’s idea and Master Wayland’s implementation.”
“In light of all these factors, Miss Callahan receives a grade of ‘A’ on this test. Master Cadence, you contributed to your team’s success, but leaned heavily on Miss Callahan. You would have failed without a team member as skilled as her. I begrudgingly offer you a ‘B’ for managing to discern and properly utilize the functions of the tiles.”
He turned to the other two. “Master Wayland, you carried much of your team’s weight, but you also failed to eliminate either member of the opposing team. Your general combat prowess was above average, but you were not able to apply it in a way that neutralized your enemies. You receive a ‘C-’. “
“Miss Cadence, you might have rivaled Miss Callahan if you were able to fight properly. You made a choice to fight in spite of your disadvantages — and it was the wrong choice. You were not ready. You will also receive a ‘D’, which is lower than what I would have given you if you had chosen to withdraw from the test. This is not low enough to expel you from the class, but one more of them would be. We will conclude the final exams with a second battle of this type next week. I will offer you a similar choice. I hope that next time, you will make the correct decision for your circumstances.”
“That is all. I have more teams to observe, so there will be no questions today. You may come with questions next week, before your second matches. Your next opponents will be better prepared. You should ensure that you are as well.”
And with that, Teft spun on his heels and left the room.
Sera managed to make it home before she cried.