Alice was still thrown off by Cameron and Sloane's banter when he pointedly thanked her. So much so that where she normally would've laughed and brushed it off she instead flushed and averted her gaze. It was all so confusing and borderline frustrating.

Dueling was ... not her strongsuit. Even with Edison's private tutoring, Alice still had mediocre reactions at best. Her defensive skills were great, but when it came to casting an offensive spell they were nearly always luckluster. "Anyone can beat me in a duel," she said. Perhaps not a first year, but anyone with a rudimentary knowledge could certainly do damage. "That's no hard feat."