“Alright, alright, quiet, quiet!” in the student’s dueling ground, a tall male professor in dark blue armour stood in the middle of the central right, which was elevated above ground so as to make sure there was maximum visibility from all angles: “Quiet! Everyone quiet! The duel’s about to start!”

A lot of the audience cheered, while some of the concerned students and faculty members stayed silent and some even booed.

“So, today, it’s a group duel. Four versus four.” the professor in dark blue armour announced, his voice was amplified by magic, so even the ones that were furthest away were able to hear him: “The challengers are on my left side - they are students from the Martin House, Mr. Robert Hendricks, Mr. Taylor Jensen, Miss Laura Jensen and Mr. Caleb Hoffman.”

Many in the audience cheered, while an equal amount of, if not more students booed at the same time. The four students on the professor’s left side appeared unphased, but the tapping right foot of Laura, the only girl among them, was a clear sign of their nervousness.

“And on my right side, are the students facing the challenge. What’s notable about them, was that two of them were freshmen students at Anderson House, who came from civilian backgrounds and were previously crime fighters in the civilian world, let’s welcome Detectives Aimee Chaver, and Thomas Chaver!”

A lot of the students cheered, while the students that cheered for the previous four were either silent or making rude gestures at Aimee and Thomas, some even pointed at the professor and yelled something - apparently this differential treatment on their introduction was obviously biased.

“And the next two, are audit students at the academy! They are recommended by none other than our wonderful Josephine Wong. Please give a shoutout, to Mr. Jason Lin, and Caroline Baker!”

Caroline and Jason were a little embarrassed when the professor introduced them - before they came up to the ring, this professor asked them some details about themselves, and they hesitated and decided not to provide anything crucial, which worked out for them. They didn’t want to disclose too much of their information, because they needed this element of surprise.

“Now, per the rules of student duel, the challenged students would be able to dictate the basic rules. You would have priority claim of two of the three options: the choice of whether the duel should include weapon usage, the choice of face-off order, and last but not least, the right of one dismissal draw, which, just in case anyone is not familiar with the rule - the one with this option would be able to dismiss a fight and claim it as a draw for both sides.”

“We’ve already decided on our options.” Aimee looked at Thomas, Caroline and Jason: “We would like to take the first two options, the weapon usage and face-off order. We would like the duel to be armed, and we would like to face them in a randomly shuffled order.”

This quick answer triggered quite a reaction amongst the audience. All four of them knew exactly why - for those challenged and at a disadvantage, the option of choosing a dismissal draw was a good tactical play. But Aimee chose the most aggressive combination, and actually introduced randomness to the face-off.

“Are you sure? Is this the consensus?” the professor was also surprised, so he asked again.

“Yes. We are sure.” Thomas nodded, and Caroline and Jason also acknowledged that the choice was their consensus.

“Okay. Then the rule to the duel is this: both sides will be armed, and for the face-off order would be entirely randomized, including the group fight! Everyone, let me hear how much you are looking forward to the duels!”

The audience cheered, supporters of both sides responded passionately to the start of the actual duel. The professor took off a thin golden chain around his neck, then he raised his arm up holding the pendant on this chain.

The pendant rose up and expanded in size, eventually coming to a size where even the audience from the furthest distance can see what it was - a sphere-shaped metal cage. The next moment, all eight students in the ring each raised one of their hands above their heads, and one silver ball of light appeared from each of their palms and went into the metal cage.

The silver balls of light solidified into some kind of metal balls when they entered the metal cage. The cage started spinning with the metal balls inside. The collisions between the cage and the balls made pleasant clanking sounds as the cage spun. After a short while, two metal balls flew out from the cage, and the professor in a dark blue armour caught them with his hands.

“The first two that will face off...” the professor read the two metal balls and intentionally paused for some additional dramatic effect: “Mr. Taylor Jensen… versus, Mr. Thomas Chaver!”

Those among the audience that were in support of Jensen and Hendricks cheered, one young sorceress wearing a skimpy robe and armor even yelled: “Hey Taylor, you can come and wreck me after you’re done with him!”

Thomas shook his head and signed, then gently felt the silver guns in his holsters and the handle on his shoulder. 

“Now, before we start, put these on. ” the professor handed two tiny necklaces to Thomas and Taylor Jensen: “Let it sit for a short while, then on my mark, you can start your duel.”

“Are these the protective necklaces I heard about?” Thomas put the necklace around his neck and asked.

“Yes. It basically protects you from being killed.” Taylor Jensen scoffed and said.

Thomas sighed, and he felt that some kind of warm protection energy layer was placed onto his whole body.

“Now, looks like the protective force field is in place.” the professor gave out a long exhale and placed his right hand in the space between Thomas and Taylor: “Ready on my mark! Three, two ....”

“... one!” all the audience chanted at the same time as the professor.