Three days later, it was the day of the welcome ceremony.
The entire group departed together towards the place of the ceremony, with Prince Calisto leading the group. Only Elwha stayed behind with the excuse she was sick, although the true reason was to avoid being recognized.
They took their invitation letters with them. They were necessary to participate in the ceremony.
As soon as Bloed and the others left the mansion, they could feel the festive atmosphere around the city. It was as though they could not wait for the festival to start.
Bloed saw many students going towards the place of the ceremony, not just newcomers. In fact, according to one of the bodyguards' words, practically the entire city participated in this festival.
According to him, the highlight of the festival would be after the speech of the headmistress. The headmistress would announce the topic of the festival and then the clubs and newcomers would participate in it.
Each year the topic was different. Sometimes it was a competition, other times a game, and sometimes a show of talents. It depended on the headmistress's mood.
During the festival, the clubs would do their best to show their strength and attract talented newcomers. In the same way, the newcomers would do their best to show their talent to win the recognition of the strongest clubs.
This was the stage for both parties to show their worth.
During the last three days, Bloed and the others had learned about most of the clubs of the city, from the strongest ones to the weakest ones. They had also investigated the different classes to find which ones they were interested in.
After three days, the five of them had already more or less decided which classes they were going to take. Bloed's classes were focused on mana runes, alchemy, and magic constructs; Liu Ying's classes were mainly about combat, and Aya chose classes related to stealth and assassination.
As for Regina, she chose the same classes as Bloed. Obviously, she did not care about the classes and only wanted to spend more time with her master.
When the group arrived at the plaza where the ceremony would take place, they were astonished to find that it was fully packed with people.
The plaza was around half a square kilometer, but it was so full that even walking was hard.
Bloed estimated there were around twenty thousand people in the plaza at the very least, and most of them were students.
The place was filled with a boisterous atmosphere. Young men and women of all kinds of races and countries were mixed together, talking and whispering excitedly as they waited for the start of the ceremony.
But all of sudden, a strong pressure descended on the crowd.
The numerous students fell silent. The weakest ones turned pale immediately, and the strongest ones looked in the direction of the pressure with wariness.
There, a demon young man walked onto the stage step by step, releasing his overwhelming aura with each step.
The atmosphere in the plaza changed instantly. The whispering stopped completely, and many students involuntarily straightened up. Each student faced the young man on the stage with serious expressions.
Seeing that, the demon young man smiled slightly and opened his mouth.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Mu Quan, leader of the [Guarding Order], and the strongest student in this city."
As soon as these words sounded, a commotion happened in the plaza. The new students looked towards the demon young man with expressions of shock, and the other students put on serious expressions.
The name Mu Quan held that much weight in this city.
He was the current overlord among the students!
At just twenty-two years old, he was just one step away from becoming a demigod. It was said he could become one at any time.
Moreover, he led the strongest club in the city, the [Guarding Order]. This club was something akin to the disciplinary committee of the city.
It was even rumored that he received direct guidance from the headmistress herself who praised his talent generously.
Just that was enough to understand how strong and talented he was.
When Mu Quan saw the effect his words had over the students, he nodded slightly. He then started to give a welcome speech.
The welcome speech was pretty normal and boring, to be honest. Bloed and the others stopped paying attention to it after the first half.
Instead of the speech, Bloed was more focused on the person giving it.
The top student in the city.
"Worthy of his title as the strongest." Bloed could not help but nod.
He could feel Mu Quan's aura and mana from here. It was solid and firm, like steel that had been tempered by fire over time.
Becoming a demigod in itself was hard, however, Mu Quan was about to attain that level even before turning twenty-three.
That level of talent was astounding.
Mu Quan's speech was not very long. Just after five minutes, he finished it.
After him, some teachers and important people of the academy went up to give their speeches, but to be honest, Bloed did not pay them much attention.
But when the last person went up the stage, he could not help but widen his eyes slightly.
An incredibly beautiful woman stood up in front of all the students, smiling slightly and emitting a comforting aura that seemed to calm everybody down.
Her caramel-colored hair and eyes gave her a kind of ethereal beauty, and the jewel on her forehead added a touch of exoticness that seemed to attract all the gazes towards her.
Moreover, her aura felt so deep that it seemed endless, like the sea itself.
She was the headmistress of Academy City, Wave Golden.