Faced with a development where they would emerge victorious regardless of the outcome, how the hell could they not be drunk on euphoria? If Mel was defeated, the twenty youths sharing the same ward as him would be dragged straight back to the mud at the bottom of the pit they crawled out of. And if a miracle materialized, earning Mel the right to reside in the Inner Circle, it still translated to the worst-case scenario for those left behind.
No matter what unfolded, everyone except the Tenth Ward stood to profit from this; even the students of the First Ward, who had been disciplined by Mel with a mere two words just moments ago, were laughing and reveling among themselves. These reactions were natural; what was genuinely anomalous was Mel and the students of the Tenth Ward exhibiting zero signs of apprehension.
