[3rd person Pov]
Sebastian and Suzan had already arrived at the center of the forest, both of them agreeing that they would face the other students head-on, even if it was less than optimal. The center of the forest was a valley, the same valley where they had fought Adam and Bellatrix, thus they were already quite comfortable with the environment.
Thus they were sitting behind a couple of bushes around it, as they watched a gigantic wall of fire slowly making its way toward them. That was the disintegration area of the forest.
Unfortunately for Sebastian, his partner wasn't exactly the most patient person in the world. "Aaaa! Can't they just show up already? We have been waiting here for hours!" Even though she felt like she was losing her mind, just crouching behind a bush, she still stayed like a loyal dog who knew that her owner knew best.
The purple-haired man didn't reciprocate by talking to her, instead, he just sat in silence, still holding onto his spear which was lying on the ground next to him. His eyes still kept their focus, no matter how many hours had gone by. In fact, his focus was growing for every second that passed, as it meant that the probability of their enemies appearing increased.
In a tree, right above their heads, sat a raven, watching them intently, making sure not to let anything that could obstruct his plans happen.
Time acted like time always does, it moved along, never increasing its speed to meet other people's wants, and never slowing down to meet their needs. In no time, the circle had stopped, right behind the backs of the pair of students who were lying in wait. Looking closer, it wasn't actually a wall made out of fire, it was just some kind of red substance that completely eradicated everything, only leaving pure black.
"Let's go."
"Finally!"
They made their move, remembering the information they had got this morning. Having found no one to battle, the only thing left was to try their best and touch that golden orb that would be falling from the skies shortly. And that was when all three of the students got another panel with information.
[Golden orb will now fall from the sky. Good luck.]
Before the pair could even react, another panel showed up...
[Student James Jackson is the winner!]
... and they got kicked out of the simulation.
****
[James's Pov]
Walking out of my capsule, trying my best to keep a straight face so as to not show how I was truly filled to the brim with self-satisfaction, I was met by everyone from the A-class and B-class staring at me. There was a range of different emotions on their faces. Everything from the happiness that Arthur showed, to the pure hatred that Adriana exuded.
Sebastian and Suzan had also already come out of their capsules, most likely getting released a little bit ahead of time in order to get to see the winner emerge. The man held a neutral face, not showing even the slightest sign of surprise toward what had just happened. The woman, however, wasn't as neutral...
"You cheater! I don't know how, but you must have cheated!"
I felt my throat beginning to dry out as I was suddenly shouted at in front of all of these people. The worst part was that I didn't even have a body planted at home, meaning I couldn't 'teleport' away.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?!"
As I was beginning to feel a panic attack coming, someone came to my rescue, putting her hand on the shoulder of the girl.
"Suzan, that's enough."
'Ms. Turner...! Thank you!'
Turning her head up at our teacher, Suzan tried her best to continue, "But! Ms. Turner, he cheated!" She shook her head at her student's foolishness, feeling a slight sense of shame that she most likely hadn't listened during the walkthrough of the event during class.
"He didn't cheat, Suzan. As I said during the homeroom session we had on Monday, there is no way for anyone to cheat during this competition. And if you continue spouting such nonsense, you are undermining all of the expert professors who created the program."
And with those words, the yellow-haired girl was silenced, unable to retort as she now was reminded about what that truly meant. Seeing an opportunity, as things had calmed down a bit, Mr. Brown stepped forward wearing a huge smile, clapping his hands.
*Clap! Clap! Clap!*
"Congratulations, Mr. Jackson! You have done incredibly well to not only win the competition, but you also did so solo! Well done!"
I felt my heart sink as he kept on giving me praise in front of all these students who hated my guts. It wasn't hard to imagine that he was currently making the target on my back even bigger by triggering the other youths. 'Is he doing this on purpose?'
There was not much I knew about the big, burly man, only that he was the assigned homeroom teacher of class 1-A, so I couldn't make out if he was acting with sincerity or not. Not that it mattered right now, the damage was already done.
Thankfully, spun his body in order to get a good look at all of the students at once as he concluded our little competition, "Now everyone, listen up! Tomorrow you will all be participating in the duel tournament, and I expect you all to show up refreshed and ready to perform! Dismissed!"
All of the students started making their way out of their room, except for Sophie who told Arthur that she needed to talk to me alone for a bit. As she came closer, making me feel even smaller than I usually did, her eyes narrowed, "How did you do that? You didn't fight a single time and yet you won? Did you really hide for the duration of the competition and then managed to snag that golden ball or whatever it was?"
She was firing questions like a machinegun, all of them probably pretty important for her to know. However, now that all of the students had left the room and our teachers were standing a couple of meters away, talking with each other, my self-confidence was back.
I just put up my finger and let it move like a reverse pendulum, "Tsk, tsk, tsk... A magician never reveals his secrets, you know?" However, Sophie was not amused, "I will break your finger, you know?"
Pulling back my finger and holding it with my other hand, scared that she might actually do so, I couldn't help teasing her, even at the risk of my physical health, "Damn... I knew women got mad when they got '𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲', but man..."
Her eyes opened wide as I clearly showed her that I knew her little secret, "You! How do you know that!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... A magician never reveals his secrets, you know? They do, however, have no problems revealing the secrets of others."
Once again, I repeated my lines, just with a little modification this time to let her know that she shouldn't mess with me, though I didn't dare put up my finger again...
Clenching her fists, she withheld the anger that was rushing inside of her, now knowing her place. "Fine! Don't tell me then! However..."
The pink-haired woman's face closed the distance, fire still burning clearly in her eyes, "If you tell even a single soul about my... You know what! Anyway, if you tell anyone, I will make sure to beat you up just like that time in the practice room.."
*Gulp!*
As there was not a single bone in my body that didn't remember that night, I swallowed my pride in front of the lioness, "Yes, mam!"
"Hmph! Now come on, Arthur wanted you to join us for dinner."
Turning around, Sophie signaled with her head for me to follow her. Turns out that she had already realized that I was incredibly bad at saying no if I didn't have a proper reason to do so, after all, it wouldn't be polite. This time, however, I did have a proper reason!
"Sorry, Sophie. I have some other things I have to do before the tournament tomorrow. You go have fun!"
Seeing how happy I was at not having to out in public, she just clicked her tongue, "Tsk! Suit yourself. See you tomorrow then."
When the angry girl had left, I was ready for the final part of my ultimate plan, the thing which would determine my destiny, the part which was the ruler of my fate.
"Excuse me... Ms. Turner, do you have a moment?"
Interrupting the teachers' talking, I needed to speak with Ms. Turner to see how everything would play out. "Oh, sure. Mr. Brown, would you mind giving us a moment? I'll catch you in your office later to continue our discussion."
Not minding one bit, he excused himself, leaving me and my teacher alone, giving me the chance to talk to her. This whole thing was relying on the fact that I think she liked me a bit more than my classmates, as I would be asking her for a favor that I was sure she couldn't accept if she acted as an objective teacher.