The teams Astarte, Henri, Emiliana, Derek, Trent and Alicia had been the winners in the previous phase and were lined up in their trios, they were waiting for what was to come, the spectators were ecstatic, they had shown a lot of talent and determination, the their parents in particular were ruffled by it, most of them were Royal Guard, that to them was one of their greatest honors. Margareth then stood to speak.
– Congratulations students, you are the 18 who went through the Second Phase, demonstrated a unique collaboration and a phenomenal performance, everything we caught, however in this last phase you will be on your own, you will face each other in two combat rounds, whoever wins your two fights will be promoted to Beta class, but everyone who has made it this far will consider themselves victorious, have gone through incredible tests and which required a lot of skill, timing and unity. - Announced Margareth. – The first round doubles will now be randomly drawn by the master mages. –
Everyone was excited and anxious, a giant magic screen that worked as a camera, showed the main box and there a table and on it 18 cards with the photo of the 18 finalists, Margareth took them all and shuffled for all to see, then George took the cards and arranged them in three rows of six.
– Grand Mistress, have the honor of drawing the first pair. – Margareth said.
Otrera then analyzed the cards, chose two cards that were far away.
– Apollodro Hecatrix versus Lucas Bull. – Announced Otrera. – Morrigan, your turn. –
Morrigan analyzes the cards turned over and two that are next to each other.
– Sandy Storm versus Theo Specter. – Morrigan announced, curious about the result of this battle. – Edward, you're next. –
Edward analyzed the table and selected two up cards that were on different ends.
– Alana Ivory versus Erik Quasar. – announced Edward curious. – Anitta, if you want to do the honors, young Quasar is the son of one of your pupils, one more of them will leave next time. –
Anitta smiled, she had loved the kindness, she took two cards off the table at random, she felt the energy, she knew who was under the cards she chose was not one of her students' children, but the girl who looked up to Edward and the Maeve's nephew.
– Artemisia Hecatrix versus Baron Waves. – Said Anitta that she was glad her prediction was correct, she had an affinity for guessing. – Ethan, I think you should take the next pair. –
Ethan sensed that Anitta had predicted something already, so young Gallard positioned himself by tapping two more cards.
– Gale Gallard versus Eve Novel. – Ethan announced that he had already imagined something like this when Anitta chose him. – Baby, why don't you take the next one? –
Alister got up and flipped two more cards at random, he wanted to let his intuition speak.
– Keith Haze versus Mira Target. – Alister announced that he wanted to know how this fight would unfold. – Kristen, I know you're itching to pick a pair. –
Kristen went to select another pair, she thought hard, but just chose two random ones.
– Nathan Gallard versus Derek Allure. – Kristen announced that she thought it could be quite a fight, two dark manipulators. – Nora, do the honors. –
Nora then turned over two pairs right away, there would only be two more left anyway.
– Adam Hardrock versus Lilly Luceros and the final fight of this round will be Megara Hashik versus Leila Hailway. – announced Nora.
– The fights for the first round are decided, in ten minutes we will start, get ready and good luck to everyone. – Margareth announced, she was replacing the camera screen with a magic screen ready with the keys of the battle.
All the young people who were going to fight went to prepare, those who had failed were either in the infirmary or in the stands cheering, in the royal box the betting was already beginning.
– It seems like a joke, eight out of eighteen of the finalists are related to one of the master mages, in addition to three who have an indirect connection by master and student ties from father to son... I can't deny that it was a meritocratic exam, but amazes me this composition. – Morrigan said.
– Tradition and talent, they trained hard and stood out, things take a while to change, don't you remember that when you took this test you were the only one not to have any connection with any noble clan or relatives in the Royal Guard? – Margareth said. – But none of our nephews had privileges, I hope you enjoy the exam. –
– I admit they showed wit and skill against the beasts, they are here by virtue of their abilities, but I believe that Team Henri can surprise us and a lot. – Morrigan said, she had a fondness for Keith, Megara and Alana.
– Thank you very much, ma'am, my students trained very hard to get here and I guarantee that each one of them has a trump card that they haven't shown yet on the exam. – Henri said.
– Now it's time to see how much they've developed, I bet they'll put on a show. – Said Astarte.
– Luquinhas better not look bad in this fight. – Alister laughed.
– Don't worry Alister, he'll show you he's a genuine Bull. – Commented Trent who knew the skills of the student.
– It's almost time, we better position ourselves, in a few minutes the best phase will begin. – Said the queen Aria.
The final phase was about to begin, they had come this far with group work and synchronism, but now they would each be on their own to prove their worth, it would be a test that would mark their trajectories.