Serene’s POV

I felt like shuriken had hit me instead of Zeph. My heartbeat had suddenly become erratic and I felt a ping of anger creep up on my face. Zeph held his shoulder and approached Drumias, he threw a few more shurikens but Zeph used his sword to send them back at Drumias, one of them hit him on his chest but his armour saved him.

Zeph attacked him with his sword aiming it at his head. Everyone gasped, the look of terror on Drumias face showed for he thought he was gonna die. But Zeph just grazed his neck and placed the edge of his sword under his chin, asking him to yield. Drumias gave up, defeat evident in his eyes, and handed him the golden chest. Zeph took the chest and raised it above his head, smiling.

The loudest cheer erupted from the crowd as we began to chant: "Zeph!!! Zeph!!! Zeph!!!"

Ralph and Xin Li rushed toward him and raised him on his shoulders. They were laughing and raising their hands to the crowd. Alvene hugged me as we raised our hands in the air as well. The dome came down and Alvene and I rushed toward our boys.

He was ready to receive me with open arms, I hugged him so tightly as if my life depended on it and the way he held me, I knew he didn’t want to let me go.

"That was a spectacular fight," I finally spoke my breath uneven. He held my face in his hands.

"That crystal did wonders to my speed Serene. Thank you." His eyes were twinkling and I didn’t want to look away from them.

"You are worthy to have it Zeph." I smiled at him and then we turned to Ralph. I gave him a warm hug too and congratulated him.

We had to evacuate the ground for the next event. So we moved to the stands, and the crowd was still cheering for them. Drumias was taken to the infirmary.

Zeph’s shoulder was still bleeding. "You should go to the infirmary as well," I told him as I touched his shoulder. He grimaced a bit.

"It’s not that deep. Barely a graze, my armour saved me." He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. I turned around to look at Arlo, I had completely forgotten about him. He was still sitting there and staring at me. He offered me a small smile, I smiled back and turned around.

The next battle was between werewolves. The Moonlight Institute had sent three students so three were chosen from among us as well. Mikasim, Tanzil and a boy from Amethyst Skyriders; Hiduian. We went up to them and wished them good luck in their battle. Tanzil smiled at me as I shook hands with her. Mikasim gave hugs to the boys. They were super excited.

"Do you guys have a solid plan?" Ralph inquired.

"We do, we are going to win this," Tanzil replied giving us a wink.

"Good luck you all." I beamed at them.

Both teams entered the battleground in their human forms and shook hands with each other. Shumal Sensei took the podium again and began her announcements.

"Firstly a hearty congratulations to our Folkshel Team for winning their respective battles. Give them a huge round of applause." The crowd erupted in applause and cheers.

"Secondly let’s move on to our next battle. Which will be held between the two werewolf teams of UIMB and Moonlight High, respectively. The task to complete in order to win is simple. We have buried a total of six hoops in the ground. The hoops are laced with blood so you people can easily trace them by scent. You have to dig up the hoops and collect them within one hour. Whichever team will have more hoops after the allotted time will be declared the winner. And, yes you can challenge the other team to win their hoops as well. The only rule is not to kill the opponent. Good luck little wolfies, give us some interesting contests to see."

A slow murmur spread among the students as everyone began to discuss what will be the strategies of the teams.

"Sounds interesting," I clasped my hands together.

The crowd cheered as the whistle sounded to let the next battle commence. All six of them transformed into their werewolf states. I noticed that Mikasim had the largest size among them. His grey fur was beautiful as he pranced on the ground, sniffing to find the hidden hoops.

Tanzil’s werewolf was light brown in shade and was smaller than Mikasim’s in size. But she was agile and had already found a spot, where she dug rapidly.

Soon she dug out a red hoop and quickly wore it around her neck. We all cheered for her, she was the first one to locate a hoop. Hiduian found one too and soon Tanzil discovered another one.

Meanwhile, the other team had located the other three hoops. Tanzil gave the second one to Mikasim so all of them had one each. It was a tie which meant they had to fight to win hoops from each other.

The atmosphere in the battleground suddenly got tense as the werewolves faced each other and bared their teeth. The female werewolf from The Moonlight high stepped forward and made a

’grrrrr’ sound as she bared her teeth at Tanzil’s werewolf.

Tanzil padded her way forward with her teeth barred accepting her challenge, a growl left her throat as she plunged toward the female werewolf. Her paws revealed her claws as she attacked her face. The female werewolf tried to dodge but her face got scratched and a ’yelp’ escaped her.

"I would like to say catfight but on a larger scale." Ralph snickered at us and I hardly contained my laughter. Zeph shook his head at him.

"But, jokes aside. Tanzil is gonna rip her apart. She is in my team and her wolf is ruthless. I have seen her train." Ralph told us in a serious tone.

"Don’t forget she belongs to a high-ranking family as well. That helps as well." I said while keeping my eyes on the battleground.

Tanzil’s werewolf now circled the female werewolf, ready to pounce on her again. The female werewolf suddenly lurched towards her to make a surprise attack but Tanzil’s werewolf was ready for her. As the female werewolf came into her range, she attacked her belly with her claw, in mid-air. This sent her flying to her left and scratches on her belly began to gush out blood. Tanzil’s werewolf lurched towards her, ready to attack again but she whimpered and bowed her head. A sign that she was giving up. Tanzil removed the hoop from around her neck and padded away victorious.

Mikasim and Hiduian threw their heads in the air and howled, announcing the victory of their teammate. All of us clapped thunderously. I felt extremely happy for her. She approached Mikasim and they rubbed their noses with each other in acknowledgement.

Next, the captain of Moonlight High who had transformed into a dark brown werewolf padded forward and challenged Mikasim’s werewolf. He snarled in return, indicating he accepted the challenge.

Other werewolves moved backwards giving them the space they needed for their fight. I held my breath as Mikasim’s werewolf lurched at the dark brown werewolf, his mouth open revealing sharp canines.

Brown werewolf dodged his attack at the last second and the crowd held their breath as Mikasim’s werewolf landed on its paws and swerved around to face the opponent.

The brown werewolf charged at him at full speed, its canines bearing as they both collided and rolled on the dirt for a few meters. They attacked each other mercilessly with their teeth and claws, blood splurged from their various wounds as they slashed and thrashed.

Snarls and growls filled the air. Although Mikasim’s werewolf was brawny and stronger, the dark brown werewolf was smarter and it targeted the soft spots.

The battle continued and they both became bloodier and bloodier, but none of them was ready to give up.

Mikasim’s werewolf lurched once again and its jaws caught the leg of the brown werewolf making it whimper in pain. It tried to scratch the opponent but a loud ’snap’ was heard as Mikasim’s werewolf broke its leg.

It yelped in pain while the opponent pressed its head down with its paws, making it submit. He finally gave up and Mikasim’s werewolf stood on its paw and howled, announcing its victory.

All of us sprang from our seats and cheered for Mikasim and his team while they howled back at us from the battleground. The whistle blew and the wounded werewolf was taken to the infirmary.

Lavaria Sensei was jumping up and down in joy, seeing his students perform so well. He rushed to the ground and embarrassed them. They had not only made him proud but the whole institute. And as their friend my heart swelled to see them succeed.