Oscar locked eyes with Mary Jones and immediately brandished his buckler, to which Mary responded by taking a stance with her spear. There was no telling when their duel would begin. Oscar was about to say something when a circle of green light formed around them.

'This must be the teleportation the elders mentioned.' Oscar relaxed his stance and observed the glowing green circle with interest. It was strange, but he felt it was somewhat familiar. The points scattered around with interlocking lines that outlined and crossed over each other were similar to the formations for armament crafting.

Before he could see more of it, he felt his body squeezed like a wet towel, and his vision faded for a split second before it returned. Oscar came to and saw that he was in a stone-tiled room with torches around the walls. A sense of grogginess overcame him as he rested to catch his breath; it was a similar feeling to when he drank the ale with his friends and Emily's father.

"Ugh, my head. Teleportation is weird." Mary Jones said from the other end of the room. She clung to her spear like a crutch and rubbed her head, suffering from a bad headache.

"I remember throwing up the first time I went through teleportation." Oscar chuckled. The first time was during the entrance trial, where he met Frederick. He also teleported before with his master, Draven, but that was a different type and not as bad as this.

As they took a few seconds to recover, someone else appeared in the room, floating above them. It was a woman in the blue uniform of a Pavilion elder, one of the proctors for the Inner Hall Promotion Exam. She looked down at the two students, Oscar and Mary, and said, "The two of you now have to decide."

She threw down two coins each at Oscar and Mary, one blue and one red.

Oscar held the blue and red coins in his hand, looking over them, and immediately understood what they were for.

"The blue coin signifies peace and represents the choice of not fighting. The red coin means conflict, and choosing it means you want to fight. Wrap your hand around the coin you choose and hold it out. When I say to reveal them, reveal the coin you chose." The proctor explained. "You have a minute to deliberate or discuss a course of action with the other."

Oscar and Mary looked at each other once again, gripping the coins in their coins.

Oscar sighed. "At the start, we agreed to work together if it was something that required a combined effort. But since this is a duel, what do you think?"

Mary Jones tapped the bottom of her spear on the stone-tiled floor and said with a determined look, "I want to fight. Sorry, but I need the chance to get more points. I have to pass no matter what."

Oscar did not think it was out of the ordinary for Mary to want to fight. He saw the number five on her badge, unfurled the leaderboard scroll, and spotted her place. She was currently in seventh with 700 points.

Mary had done the same, but her eyes widened at Oscar's score. She stared at him with astonishment. "You're first place? How did you achieve this?"

The fact a Grade Four like Oscar was first place in this exam was shocking, especially when there were others like Serena, her hated enemy, in the group. By all conventions, a Grade Four should not have gotten this ahead.

"I can say the same about you. You're a Grade Five Exolsia, but you're keeping pace at seventh place out of ten." Oscar brought up his fists with his buckler. "So now that we know our standings, what do you want to do?"

"Do I even have a choice? You have a severe point advantage, so you can outbid me if you choose to fight, and I choose not to fight." Mary retorted. Her grip on her spear tightened.

Oscar, however, thought about it and said, "Rather than using up the time to fight each other, I can agree not to fight. I can safely accumulate more points as I go."

The trials within the rooms seemed more autonomous and adhered to a base ceiling of difficulty, but a fight against another was unpredictable. Even with Oscar's Prinstyct to see their movements, it was a matter of knocking them out. Oscar knew all too well how a person can fight when desperate; he was a prime example of it.

This fight may bring more trouble than it's worth unless Oscar can get all of Mary's points which he was sure there would be some restrictions.

As if knowing his thoughts, the proctor said, "You have 20 seconds to finish making your decision. A final piece of information, due to the points you both have, the minimum amount you can agree on is 200, and the maximum is 400."

That declaration made Mary's face darken. If anything, this fight could cost her more than half her points. However, she soon recovered and stared intensely at Oscar. "I want to fight. I need to prove myself, and retreating here would only bring shame to my family name."

Oscar thought about persuading her otherwise, but one look into her round brown eyes filled with resolve threw out those meaningless thoughts. He nodded silently, took out the red coin, and wrapped it in his fist. His arm stretched out forward.

Mary did the same.

"Then." The proctor clasped her hands together. "The minute is up, and you two don't have to reveal. Both have selected red coins. What is the amount of points you wish to put up?"

Oscar replied, "250."

Mary Jones looked confused and asked, "250? I was willing to put up 350."

"250 is enough. Not too big of a loss or gain for either of us, but enough to get a better advantage." Oscar unleashed his Ein. The blue Ein was like a shroud of fire that made him seem godly.

Mary released her Ein in response, twirling her spear around.

The proctor stared at the two young Exalts with a smile at their decisiveness and readiness. "Then the match will begin in 10 seconds."

"10"

"9"

"8"

…….

Ava Jones crossed her arms, staring at her niece, Mary, in the image showing her and Oscar discussing their options.

"Don't fight him." Ava Jones pleaded, but her voice would not be heard, and trying to interfere would be tantamount to her own downfall. But she grew more worried for her niece because Mary was persistent in trying to fight.

Elder Dustin sipped his tea, being the calmer one this time, and said, "The young Jones is quite hot-blooded. But unfortunately, she's making the wrong choice this time. The young man's battle prowess has already been shown against the constructs. I do not see this girl having a chance."

"You never know that." Ava Jones was in denial. "He might be good against constructs with their limited abilities, but spells and anima add a new dimension to the battle. Mary isn't that weak either."

"You just mumbled earlier that you didn't want her to fight." Elder Dustin noted the inconsistency in Ava's behavior. He could tell she was very caring for her niece. She defended Mary when others talked badly about her, and she wished for her to be safe against tough opponents.

However, Ava's face fell when Mary and Oscar agreed to fight. "That idiotic niece."

"Apparently, the two fought before in their first Grand Gathering. Oscar was the winner, so perhaps she wants revenge." Elder Dustin stroked his beard.

"No." Ava shook her head. "This isn't the face of someone wanting revenge or payback. Mary just wants to fight and show that she is strong."

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Elder Dustin asked.

Ava Jones did not reply. Her eyes were fixed on Mary, who had her arm extended with the red coin in her fist. "She was always too eager and bursting at the chance to prove herself. Despite my and her mother's advice that that mindset was detrimental."

"She belongs to the famous Jones family but has a Grade Five Exolsia core. Compared to you and the other members of the Jones family, such an inferiority complex is natural." Elder Dustin advised.

Ava Jones fell on her chair and sighed. She could only hope that her beloved niece would mature out of this experience.

…….

"7"

"6"

A bead of sweat dripped down Mary's face. She recalled everything Oscar had done in their previous battle. The impeccable timing of his 'Stone Gaze', the devastating raw power of his fist, and the quick reactions to her spear were felt as if it was yesterday.

'So what if he beat me before? I've grown stronger since then, and I can't be swamped down here!' Images of her aunt and mother flashed across her mind. Her teeth clenched, her hands gripped tighter, and her face tensed up, making her cute look change into something fierce.

"5"

"4"

Oscar also thought about the previous battle with Mary. Her spear technique was at a high level, and the lightning spell provided an extra layer to her offense. However, that was all in the past; he had no idea about the current Mary, so he relaxed his stance slightly to react faster to any unforeseen events.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Begin!"