The trip back to the second staging area is a short, several minutes walk before the group reaches one of the still intact towers. Noel supports Chie as they move, and a pair of medics begin fussing over the girl’s wounds once she’s brought into the tower. There are several other girls there, members of Aoife and Noel’s group that remained behind while the former two were sent to provide support. 

Once Chie is deemed in as fair condition as she’s going to get and the remaining operators confirm there are no further abnormalities in the test zone the operation is declared a success and the cadets are packed into an APC to begin their trip back to Nova Lux. 
There’s a small debriefing following the operation upon return to the academy, both for each girls’ individual test and the attack afterward. It consists mostly of checking to make sure their wounds aren’t too grievous, along with a short medical examination and psychological evaluation. More of what they’ve come to expect so far, though the process is at least less invasive than their previous examinations. 

Chie receives the most attention, taken to the academy’s medical center to get stitched and bandaged up. She has some company there, several other girls who’ve taken more severe injuries during their exercises. None are fatal, but there are a decent number that’ll take some time to recover from. Chie is, thankfully, not the worst of the bunch.

No matter their physical condition, every girl receives the same news: 

“Congratulations cadet. Today you are an Ars Magi.”

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/4jhIwHp.jpg[/img]
[b]𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚊 𝙻𝚞𝚡 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢 [/b]
[b]𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝟷𝟻𝚝𝚑, 𝟷𝟷𝟽 𝙰𝚅[/b]
[b]6:𝟹𝟶 𝙿𝙼[/b]
[hr][/center]

That evening the cafeteria is buzzing with energy, a dozen newly minted Ars Magi swapping stories of their transformations and the events of the day. By now a few of those faces are familiar, seen around the common area and dorms over the past few days. Some of the cadets also bear new wounds, all carefully bandaged up. There’s no particularly grievous injuries on display, but anyone seriously hurt is still in the infirmary.

The main topic of discussion this evening seems to surrounds the appearance of the higher-powered Voids in the testing ground. Apparently there was more than one incident over the course of the day:

“That’s not supposed to happen, is it?” Asks one of the cadets.

“We didn’t see anything like that.” Another replies. 

“Do you think they let the big ones in on purpose?” A third asks.

The sound of chatter echoes through the cafeteria, stories and gossip frantically passed before it comes time to return to the dorms.