3rd Contest Format/Checking Felix

"It is strange that they aren't including rank-ups and rank-downs on the posting board now either," Jace said, glancing toward the board.

"They must either want to discuss it longer," Aurora began, "or, since they wanted to create a shock with the first result, they're not going to post any further rank changes."

"Makes sense," Ethan nodded. "They definitely caused a commotion by posting the first ranking changes, that's for sure."

"They're just scared," Lyra said, walking up to the group. "They don't want to show those nobles losing."

"Lyra! You must be feeling better then?" Jace said, his smile growing.

"Yeah, once I got over the dizziness, I started feeling better fairly quickly." She gave them a thumbs-up.

"Nice, now we're just waiting to hear from Astra and the others about Felix," Ethan said, his tone upbeat.

Aurora looked back toward the board. "Let's check out the post for the next contest. Then we can go check on Felix."

The group turned their attention back to the board, scanning for the posting about the third contest. They found it quickly.

Round One - One-on-One Duel

Round Two - Two-on-Two Duel

Round Three - Target Challenge

Round Four - Tag

Round Five - One-on-One Duel

"Well, at least Tag is fairly self-explanatory," Jace said, mulling over the possibilities.

"Target Challenge leaves things extremely up in the air," Lyra mused, examining the list as well.

"With there being five rounds in this contest," Aurora started, "assigning people is going to be more difficult than the last two."

"Especially with what the rounds are," Jace agreed. "We might struggle with actually choosing our participants."

"We're going to have to really dive into it once Felix and the others are here," Ethan said, looking at the board. "He's the strategy guy."

"Agreed," Aurora nodded. "Let's go and check on him; we can definitely discuss later."

The group agreed, heading toward the medical building.

Jace hadn't actually been to the medical building yet. As with all things, he was impressed with its size.

But with it being the only medical building, it was quite large, even for the academy.

They headed inside, and the strange smell of a hospital was the same, even with the magic.

After getting directed to Felix's room, they all headed up, finding the twins and Lucian still in the room with him.

"How is he?" Jace asked as they entered the room.

Lucian looked up from the book he had been reading. "He's good. He just put a large amount of strain on his brain. He'll be good by tonight."

"That's good to hear." Jace let out a breath, relief flooding him. He looked around the room, noting Felix was lying on the bed, his eyes closed, but his breathing steady and calm. It was clear he had pushed himself hard during the contest, but at least it wasn't anything too serious.

"Yeah, I was worried there for a bit," Lucian admitted, setting the book down on the side table. "I think we underestimated just how far he's willing to push himself when the team's involved."

The twins nodded in unison, their concern for Felix evident, but there was no mistaking the respect they had for their teammate.

"He'll bounce back," Astra said, her voice calm.

Ethan leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "For someone who didn't want to do the mana capacity training, he sure pushed himself hard on this one."

"That's what makes him one of us," Jace said with his usual grin. "Always pushing the limits."

Ethan rolled his eyes but chuckled. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not out here straining my brain until I collapse."

"Maybe you should," Jace shot back, elbowing him. "Then you might actually come up with a good idea once in a while."

The group burst into laughter, any lingering tension from the match finally dissipating.

Aurora let them have their moment before speaking. "Tomorrow, we'll meet up during class to go over our plans once Felix has recovered." She glanced at him, still resting. "For now, we just let him sleep."

"I'll stick around until he wakes up," Lucian said.

"Sounds good," Jace nodded. "I'm heading to the training building. I want to get some dynamic training in before our capacity training."

Aurora clapped her hands lightly to get their attention. "Alright, everyone. We can't have Felix showing us all up, let's hit the training rooms hard."