Jace and Harper stepped out of the arena, immediately met by both of their captains.
"You guys certainly put on a show," Hannah said with a grin. "Christian already agreed to full participation after watching that."
Jace barely had time to process that before he felt Aurora's gaze drilling into him.
She wasn't smiling.
"We are going to have words after this, Jace."
He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I figured that might happen."
Given everything that had just happened, he expected a flood of questions.
And he was unfortunately correct.
Even Harper, still riding the high of the match, had questions of her own.
"Alright, Jace," she started, rolling her shoulders as she walked beside him. "Let's hear it. What the hell was that ice?"
Jace let out a dry laugh. "You're asking me like I actually know."
"Oh, come on." Harper gave him a side glance. "You don't just pull out a new kind of magic mid duel without researching it extensively."
Jace exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "I mean, I have guesses. But that's all they are, guesses."
"Then start guessing," Harper pressed.
Aurora, Hannah, and the rest of their teams weren't even trying to hide their interest. Everyone wanted to know.
Jace took a deep breath before answering. "Look, all I know is that I was starting to feel like I was losing. So I pushed harder, put everything I had into my magic. And then… my ice changed."
Aurora frowned slightly. "So it wasn't something you actively cast? Or something you used to augment your spells?"
"Nope. it just kinda… Happened."
Silence settled over the group.
"You know…" Ethan muttered, breaking the tension. "That's kinda terrifying."
"I agree," Felix said, trying to think about different possibilities. "Magic doesn't just happen. It's supposed to follow rules. Even adaptive magic needs the conscious intent behind it."
Harper, who had been mostly quiet since her initial question, finally spoke up.
"Well, I can tell you what it felt like." She rolled one of her shoulders, the remnants of the cold still lingering in her skin. "It was colder than any ice I've ever faced before, more… magical." She paused, then shook her head. "Which is a weird thing to say, considering everything we do is magic."
There was a lull in the discussion before it naturally shifted into normal strategy talk. The group broke down various choices made during the fight, alternative tactics they could have used, and different techniques worth experimenting with.
The discussion lasted a while, but eventually, the round table analysis came to a close.
"Alright, looks like we're done here," Hannah said, stretching slightly. She turned to Aurora. "Lyra and Vincent are up next, right?"
"That's right," Aurora confirmed, pleased with how the plan was progressing so far..
"Sounds good. Vincent, have fun out there." Hannah said, clasping a man who must have been Vincent on the shoulder.
Vincent shook his head. "Listen, I'm all for duels. But I'm definitely not crazy like those two," he said, gesturing towards Jace and Harper.
"Hey!" Both Jace and Harper objected in unison.
The group burst into laughter.
Finally, everyone settled back into their spots as Lyra and Vincent took their positions in the arena. Even though both were speed casters, the expectation was that this match would last longer than Jace and Harper's, considering it would likely be less explosive.
As the match began, both duelists took a slow and cautious approach.
Jace, however, wasn't really watching. His mind was still processing the fight he had just finished.
Aurora's voice broke through his thoughts. "It was the energy you told me about, wasn't it?"
Jace turned to her, somewhat surprised. "How did you guess that?"
Aurora gave him a pointed look, as if the answer was obvious. "You didn't sound like you were lying when you said you weren't sure what it was. And since you didn't just come out and tell everyone about it, I figured it was something you hadn't talked about yet and didn't want to. There was only one thing that fit."
Jace chuckled, shaking his head. "You always make so much sense." He exhaled, finally admitting it. "Yeah, you're right. It was the weird energy. I know we want this alliance to succeed, but I figured this was worth keeping secret."
Aurora nodded in agreement. "That's probably the right call. Even if we want to trust these people. It's better for us to keep some of our secrets."
"That's what I figured, which is why I didn't mention it." Jace gave a small smile. "But now that I've accessed it once, I'm hoping that with training, I can do it on command."
"Don't forget the fact that you also just successfully used adaptive magic for the first time," Aurora pointed out.
"There's always something to work on, isn't there?" Jace chuckled.
Aurora gave a small smile. "Just remember, if you're going to train with that strange energy, don't do it alone. You have a team for a reason."
Jace grinned. "Copy that, captain." He gave her a nod before shifting his focus back to the match still playing out.
There was still plenty to learn.