CHAPTER 242: BLANK OUT

...What was that?

Both Felix and Julien stood in place, their faces and minds blank.

The ball bounced off the wall, and fell on the ground, rolling into the crowd, but neither of them cared.

What had just happened?

To the onlookers, it might have seemed that Julien had been distracted for a moment, which caused him to miss the ball. Somewhat understandable, after such a long, intense game, which had to put a lot of strain on him... But Felix and Julien felt that something was odd.

Especially Felix. For Julien, it was as if he had blanked out and lost control of his body for a second, but it was too short to fully grasp what was happening. And as odd as it felt, it could be just that he was tired, so his focus slipped. But Felix...

Felix had seen Julien’s eyes. The way they seemed to have lost their shine, but at the same time, they seemed to have flashed with golden light... It was just a split second, and it could have been just a trick of the eye, but it seemed almost like... magic.

He couldn’t help but glance at his backpack. It was still just as he left it. Bulging with the curled-up fox that was hiding inside, and with the opening in the zipper at the top, around two inches long. It didn’t seem like the fox even peeked out to see what was going on. Not to mention, as far as Felix was aware, Remi couldn’t really use any spells while in his fox form...

But if it wasn’t him, then what had happened?

"And the second game goes to Felix! 33 to 31!" Lyla announced, trying to sound excited. Even though she didn’t like the situation at all. She didn’t want to go against Julien, not after seeing how skilled he was, and how determined to win... But after seeing Felix’s performance in the second game, she didn’t want to go against him either! Although she still believed that she could win - she was very good at it, after all, and both Felix and Julien were bound to be tired after this match - but it wouldn’t be the overwhelming victory that she was hoping for!

Felix let out a sigh, and returned to his seat for the break. He took a few more sips of the potion water - he needed more energy, if he wanted to have a chance of winning the next game - and once he thought that the people weren’t watching, he put his backpack on his lap, pretending to search for something inside.

"Did you do it?" he muttered under his nose, barely moving his lips.

But Remi only blinked, tilting his head, as he stared back at him.

...It didn’t seem like he was faking his innocence this time. It was more like he had no idea what Felix was talking about...

Was it just his imagination, then? After all, if there was any magic involved, Remi would have at least sensed it, no?

He didn’t get much time to think about it, because the break soon ended, and he and Julien were called back to the table. The breaks seemed oddly short... Much shorter than the break Lyla had during her match, but Felix didn’t complain. He just grabbed his paddle, and took a proper stance, trying to focus on the match...

The last game was far easier than the previous ones. One of the reasons was that thanks to the potion, Felix was bursting with energy, and his attention and reflexes, which were great to begin with, were further sharpened... And the other was Julien. For some reason, he seemed to still be in a state of shock. And on top of that, his stamina didn’t seem to be all that great either, as he was exhausted from the prolonged game. His moves were all sluggish, and his strokes lacked in strength...

It didn’t take long before the game was over.

"And that’s a win for Felix! Two to one!"

The game room filled with clapping and cheers. Genuine? Probably not! At least not for the large part. But the audience had no reason not to celebrate the winner, right?

"Let’s take a five minute break, and then we’ll move on to the final match!" Lyla announced, before turning to Felix with a worried expression. "Five minutes should be enough, right? I apologize it’s so short, but we’re on a tight schedule... I hope you understand..."

Tight schedule? Yeah, right! It was the game room in the pack house, not some reserved venue, when they only had limited time to use it. And while it was evening, it wasn’t all that late yet... On the day of the party for Vivi’s seventh-month birthday, they all stayed up for much, much longer, so what stopped them from doing the same thing now? It’s not like they had any duties they had to attend to the next morning! Maybe some of the Omegas in the audience had, but it was doubtful that Lyla was concerned for them, that they might not be able to watch the final match until the end... As long as she had enough higher-ranking Omegas witnessing her victory, it should be enough for her. Not to mention, the most important thing was still the prize...

No, it wasn’t because of the schedule that Lyla was rushing the match. She simply didn’t want to give Felix any time to rest, to put him at even more disadvantage!

Was there any point in Felix complaining? Probably not! While some might understand his side, he might still end up being branded as ’difficult’...

So, he just twisted his lips in a smile. "I understand. I don’t want to make any delays!"

At least he had his potion waters. That should be enough for him to perform well, even without much rest. And even if he asked Lyla to have a longer break, that wouldn’t necessarily help him win the match against her!