A couple hours later, the sun hidden beneath the horizon leaving only streaks of pink, red and yellow color burning in the sky, Art uncrossed his legs and stood up. Stretching, he released a gentle sigh and entered the small house in one corner of the cavern. Although the abode appeared humble from the outside, the inside was in reality beautifully designed in a contemporary style that incorporated oriental elements. The dark cedar exterior roofing, the smooth gray stone floors on the porch outside the entrance, the cozy white interior and big glass windows looking out at the view beyond the cavern blended together into a tasteful and elegant home.
The house had only two floors. The first was divided into a living room on one side and kitchen on the other, while the top floor consisted of Art's bedroom and and a small study equipped with a computer and a number of books on magic theory. Art went straight up to his bedroom and opened his closet, looking for a more formal ceremonial robe to wear to the celebration. He picked out another hand style robe. The outer drape of the robe was colored a deep black, while the inner robe was a tight fitting pure white, cinched around his narrow waist by a blue sash that matched the color of his soul-capturing eyes. Blue trim of the same shade decorated the edges of the robe.
Looking at himself in a mirror, Art pulled his hair back and fixed into an elegant bun behind his head with a long silver pin. He left some hair down in front to frame the captivating lines of his face, as well as leaving some in the back flowing down his back. He fixed his blue tear shaped pendant to rest just above the two small raised points of his delicate collarbones. He painted a truly enchanting, soul-stirring picture, like a solitary jade lotus swaying above the dark waters of a lake at midnight, illuminating the night with its beauty.
Satisfied, Art decided to head to the square where the celebration would be held. The square was, in reality, an expansive grassy valley surrounded by the mountains behind the academy. At the far end of the valley was an enormous silver statue of a dragon in a position that seemed as if it had just leapt up off the ground to fly, its wings flared out to the sides and its head raised to the sky, emitting a feeling supreme majesty and unquestionable authority. In front of the statue was a small circle of jade that rose up just high enough that those standing on it could be seen from throughout the whole valley, and in the center of the valley was a small fountain.
Seeing the throngs of students milling about in the valley, Art decided to simply use blink to skip past them all and appear on the stage at the far end of the valley, from where he would speak. As Art couldn't use wind magic, he required a microphone to deliver his speech, which was provided to him by the headmaster who was already waiting there.
Soran was also in the valley, sitting on the edge of the fountain that faced the stage. He was surrounded by students who eagerly attempted to strike up conversations with him, all hoping to become friends with him and hug his golden thigh as he pulled them up to glory and success along with his own rise. Soran was by nature a warm and friendly soul, both his beauty and character burning bright like the midday sun, which caused many students to feel comfortable approaching him in spite of his position as the genius rank one of the entrance exam. Tonight, however, Soran was clearly preoccupied, his boisterous and open personality subdued as he stared listlessly at the stage.
"He should be appearing soon..." Soran thought anxiously.
Of course, Lydia was also there, sticking as close to Soran as she dared while observing his longing expression as he waited for someone to appear.
"Why... Why is that wistful expression not reserved for me?" Lydia paled at the thought that Soran would be so desperately looking for Art.
The students around Soran could only sigh at his dampened mood, wondering what had caused it, when Soran suddenly shot upright, a bright fire once again ignited in his magnetic green eyes as he stared at the figure that had appeared on the stage.
"Daring to run from me, see how I punish you later." Soran thought with a merciless smirk pulling at his mouth.
Art walked to the center of the jade platform in preparation to speak.
"Good evening fellow students!" Art's melodious voice rang out through the valley, capturing the attention of all who heard it as silence quickly fell over the students.
"As we stand hear beneath the shining stars, it is an honor and privilege to be able to stand and speak before you. Before anything else, I wish to convey my sincerest congratulations to all of you, each and every one of you geniuses who stand at the peak of our generation, your acceptance to Silver Dragon Academy a testament to this fact! But even as I am filled with pride, I am also filled with anticipation. Anticipation for..."
Art's voice stirred the entirety of the crowd, his moving words at times filling the students with pride, at times with fear, at times with gratitude, but most of all an eagerness and yearning for the experiences of the year to come.
"... Let us take our time here not only as a chance to grow and transform ourselves, but also as a time to enjoy and create bonds that will last lifetimes! Let us make our class one that will go down in the history books of Silver Dragon Academy as unrivaled beneath the heavens, for our strength and our unity! With that said, let the celebration begin!"
Thus saying, Art raised one palm into the air and, using a mixture of water and ice magic, created an enormous silver dragon that shot up into the sky, unfurling its wings with peerless majesty as it let loose a shocking roar before exploding into glimmering mist of ice and snow as the first 'firework' of the night.
Roars of applause rang out through the valley as a dazzling array of multicolored fireworks were shot into the sky by some of the school's staff.
Art jumped down the from the platform to mingle with the students, gently greeting each and every one of the awestruck men and women as he slowly made his way through the crowd. He eventually reached the fountain where Soran and Lydia were waiting. Kane had also appeared at some point.
Soran smiled his breathtaking, magnetic smile as Art approached, his eyes drinking in the stunningly beautiful image of Art's refined and delicate beauty.
"I liked your speech." Soran's voice sounded out in a husky tenor, seemingly drunk on the sight of Art's swaying waist as he moved.
"Thank you." Art said with a warm smile.
A cold snort sounded out, causing all the surrounding students to look at its origin in surprise. Lydia blushed noticing the awkward stares at the rude noise she had made...
Although he felt nothing but disgust for the woman, Art could not help but admit that she was truly rivetingly beautiful. Her long, slightly wavy blond hair, her watery green eyes, and the elegant purple dress she wore that revealed hints of her beautiful curves... She truly was the picture of a pure and innocent celestial maiden, the complete opposite of her black and spiteful heart.
Soran was even more seductively attractive than Lydia, his masculine handsomeness and thickly muscled body rivaling Art in terms of seductiveness even if he was not quite as perfectly beautiful as Art. He was wearing a tight, form-fitting white button down dress shirt with only a black vest over it, foregoing the blazer. The fabric of his shirt couldn't hide the lines of his sculpted muscles, his large round biceps or prominently defined chest. Art couldn't help but gulp at the sight of explosive body, causing Soran to smirk contentedly.
Art narrowed his eyes.
"Hmph, getting a bit cocky are you, Soran Gerra? Wanting to play with me, make sure not to play yourself." Thinking this, Art revolved some ice mana through his body to regain his calm and playfully smirked back at Soran.
Kane observed this interchange from the side with darkened eyes, jealousy rising up within him in spite of his efforts to suppress it.
Art, Soran, Kane and Lydia. A gathering of those at the top of Silver Dragon Academy's Year 1 class. The tension was palpable.
"Art-Same and Kane-sama?"
"No no no. It clearly has to be Art-sama and Soran-sama!"
The mutterings of a small group of fujoshis suddenly became audible. Black lines ran down the faces of Art and Soran, even as both Kane and Lydia clenched their fists in anger, thinking, "Art is mine!" and "Soran is mine!" respectively.
A girl suddenly walked out from amongst the group of fujoshis, seeming to be their leader. She had a fearless aura about her, undaunted by the reputations of the people in front of her as if she was on a mission more important than her own life.
"Hello. My name is Youran. On behalf of the fujoshi association, I would like to officially ship mff... mmcmmm..."
Her confident voice suddenly became unintelligible as Art sent a ring of water to seal off her mouth. Soran meanwhile put away the triumphant smile that was surfacing on his face.
Giving her a stern glare of warning, Art allowed the ring of water to dissipate only after the girl finally stopped trying to speak through the water.
"Fine.. Fine.. I won't say anything more... But we all agreed on it just so you know!" Youran said with a mischievous smile.
A shockingly cold aura suddenly burst out simultaneously from both Lydia and Kane as they stared at the girl, trembling in rage.
"Hmmph, you think I'm afraid of you just because you were ranked higher than me?" Youran asked fearlessly in response.
Kane and Lydia both looked ready to launch their strongest killing moves at the girl.
Art sighed helplessly, wondering what sort of crazy thoughts ran through such a girl's head.
"Liu Youran, from Korea, ranked 7th, known as the Off-White Light for her use of the light element but bizarre character... Hmm... Unless hiding a significant portion of her strength, has an 8% chance of defeating both Kane and Lydia without outside interference... Recommendation... Back down." A cold, detached voice came from one of the spectating students as he pushed his glasses up. He was another well known student named Martin Hover. Although only ranked 33rd, he was considered one of the most powerful students - his rank was due his abysmal physical test score, but his abilities as a mage actually ranked in the top 15. Even more frightening, however, was his monstrous intelligence. He was a genius who's brain could rival a supercomputer, the idol of nerds throughout the country.
A line of sweat ran down the side of Art's head as he observed the extraordinarily skinny youth analyze the situation.
"Me, Soran, Kane and Lydia...And then a fujoshi... And now some nerdy super genius... What is this stereotypical grouping... The only thing missing is some muscle brained over-determined and naive workaholic..."
Sure enough (To Art's immense regret), immediately after thinking this a loud voice shouted out with admiration, "Martin, what are you saying? How could you tell her to back down? Have you no admiration for her proud spirit gushing forth?"
"No Jake. It is foolishness." Martin responded calmly as if speaking to a child.
Art was dismayed. How did such a gathering of characters so stereotypical they must have just walked out of a storybook end up grouped together in the same year at the same academy? The headmaster must have been overjoyed when he noticed...
"Alright everyone... Let's just enjoy the fireworks and the dance afterwards..." Art could only say weakly.