A week passed and Saturday was suddenly upon Pangea Academy.
Gale Stadium, which was the site of the Graduation Tournament, was now a place of spectacle for the current graduating class of the academy. Parents of the graduates, along with non-graduating students funneled their way to the stadium where the event was held.
Elsewhere, the graduating students gathered at the student union across the campus.
"How could I be so late?! You've gotta be kidding me," Luke said to himself as he barreled out of his dorm and onto the campus green.
[Stupid alarm! I can't believe I forgot to set it to the right time!]
Being discharged from the infirmary several days after the end of the tournament, the runner-up had gone back to weight training to keep himself in peak condition. Afterwards, he meticulously planned out his final days at the academy, being sure to tie up any loose ends before returning to normal civilian life.
The atmosphere was calm, the sun had already risen above the mountains surrounding the academy, and he could tell from the buzzing of the crowd that most people had already arrived.
With one arm in his gown, he unsuccessfully tried putting the other arm into his gown as he worked up to a full sprint. The biggest day of any young adult's life, he was ready to graduate, but missing his early morning alarm caused him a fair amount of stress.
[At least it's my final day here. After today, I can become a regular citizen, and live out a life without energia.]
Luke continued running as he made his way through the empty grounds that had been blocked off by Pangea Academy's security guards.
The guard greeted him as he made his way through the checkpoint.
"G'morning Luke! No need to rush," one of the guards told him. "This gate isn't going down until all graduates have arrived."
"Thanks," Luke responded, walking through, while noting that he wasn't the only one late.
Taking a deep breath, he finally calmed down. Not being terribly late to the first stage of the ceremony eased a bit of his tension. His peers glanced at him as he went into the student union. Some of the women were fixed on him with their mouths open. His looks certainly caused some women to look his way as he was passing through the grounds during his school years. Others were talking about his miraculous effort at the graduation tournament the week before. Trying to minimize his presence, he was shoulder-checked by one of his peers.
"Luke Pruever," someone boasted, with a gruff voice as Luke looked up.
He was looking at a giant of a human, at 6'6, whereas Luke stood at 6'2. The giant also looked like he had been eaten everything for each of his meals because his belt looked like it was going to explode. He was surrounded by a couple of his "friends."
"I, Garga Twan, can't accept someone like you beat me during our tournament match," his voice carrying throughout the hall. "I trained endlessly for that tournament, so someone like you - who hadn't even been trying - shouldn't have beat someone compatible with powerful Argan DNA! I want another fight, right here, right now!"
[Great. Another person who wants to battle…during graduation no less.]
Around them, students were whispering amongst themselves of an impending battle.
Luke sized him up. After several moments of silence and tension, Luke sighed, and gave his answer.
"I already beat you during our tournament match, which was actually during the preliminaries. Besides, aside from you, I've been having multiple people wanting to start fights with me throughout the week. I'm not in the mood to fight you again, lest risking embarrassing you in front of our entire class. The answer is no."
This angered Garga, who was being told off by a guy smaller than him. As Luke side-stepped him, the giant threw a punch. Garga's punch landed, disrupting the air around them, which also silenced all the students.
Luke turned his attention to the giant again, but realized he couldn't see the giant. Holding Garga's fist within their own palm was a woman, standing about 5'10.
"There will be no conflict on this day," the slightly tanned woman said in a smooth, calming voice. "The tournament is over, so let's all get along."
The giant started sweating bullets as he wasn't expecting the 1st ranked student in their class to intervene. No one knew that she was even there, until she made her presence known.
"Sorry, Class President," he said, as he disengaged, lowering his voice to that akin of a whisper. "Come on, let's get out here."
Garga quickly turned and walked toward another part of the union with his group. Luke was surprised by how the guy's bravado was torn down in an instant.
"Thank you for the save," Luke said, as she turned her attention toward him. He made contact with her green eyes, and saw that her brown hair sparkled ever so slightly with a green tint.
"I really wasn't expecting Garga would try having a rematch on today of all days."
"You're welcome," she responded, turning her attention to others in the hall. It was her job to make sure everyone was accounted for after all. "Have a good rest of your day, Luke Pruever."
Luke was slightly shocked at how she said his name. He was able to live in relative peace, until his second place finish in the tournament caused his name to be known throughout campus. Like Garga, Luke had actually tried hard to win, but came up short against Feron, the true winner of the tournament. Before the tournament, however, he preferred to live quietly. Minimal presence.
As they walked away from each other, he found a wall to lean against. Crossing his arms, Luke started people-watching, seeing soon-to-be graduates taking selfies with each other, while others reminisced about their school years. Among them, others were discussing future plans.
"So, are you going to go down the civilian path, or the Pangea path," a blonde haired girl said in a group. Luke silently turned his attention to them.
"I think I'll go into the civilian sector," one girl brandishing glasses said. "As cool as it was to learn magic from Pangea Academy, I want to see the world without all this Paramythical stuff going on."
"That's dumb," the apparent leader of the group said, in an obvious, obnoxious tone. "I'll be going straight into Pangea. I'm aiming for the top!" This caused an outburst of laughter from other members of the group who were laughing at him, instead of with him. Luke closed his eyes.
[If all goes well, I'll be going down the civilian path too.] Luke thought to himself.
His sole objective was getting through the day, then he'd be back on the mainland in no time.
Even though he was considered powerful, he wanted to choose a different path than that of his parents. He hadn't seen them for several years. Last he knew, they were somewhere remote studying things for Pangea Group.
While he was lost in his thoughts, he felt someone plop themselves next to him.
"Thinking about that coffee house you want to own once we're graduated," Feron questioned, with a smile on his face, his hands resting in his pockets.
Luke chuckled, letting his guard down, but kept his arms crossed.
"You know it. This whole magic fighting thing isn't for me," Luke responded. "I just wanted to win the tournament, that's it. It would've been a nice way to go. Besides, we don't even know where'd we end up."
Feron glanced at him, who nearly met Luke's eye level. Feron was 6'1, but possessed a more muscular build compared to Luke's leaner body. Feron's gaze switched to the students. He let out a breath.
"You're right," Feron commented, a slight anxiousness creeping into his voice. "As top-ranking graduates, we can choose where to get assigned to, whether it be Astronautics Operations, Aeronautics Operations, or even the Maritime Operations Logistics & Information Division.
I'm personally aiming for the famed Escort, Recovery & Operations Division. If anything I'd like to go into E.R.O. because then I'd be handling foreign artifacts! But, if that doesn't work out, I guess I could work in the academy. Either way, I've settled on giving my services to Pangea and I'll continue mastering energia."
"You've made up your mind," Luke commented, a smile appearing across his face. "Good for you."
"But," Feron pondered. "I wonder about her."
Luke glanced at Feron, who was staring at the Class President, whom diffused the situation with Garga earlier.
"You're talking about Niko," Luke asked him.
"Exactly," Feron answered.
Turning his attention toward Niko, he saw her politely conversing with the students; a smile on her face. Luke asked Feron why he was curious. Feron answered.
"Well, rumor has it, she's going straight into E.R.O. Not only that, she'll be working closely with Director Dogon. He's also called the elusive director, since he's always researching things. No one knows what though."
Luke uncrossed his arms, fully turned his head from Niko to Feron, and back again.
"Niko Beser," Luke commented in disbelief. "Would ERO even accept someone as young as her?"
"You say that like we aren't the same age," Feron answered, shaking his head. "But it would make sense, wouldn't it? While we've been challenging each other for rankings in Ninnuam duels, she's never actually lost. She has a perfect 500-0 win-loss record. In fact, Niko's always held the number 1 ranked spot in our class - heck, the entire school - for the past 8 years. Not only is her battle prowess on another level, but she's gotten top marks in all subjects. Basically, a prodigy. It shouldn't be too surprising she'd be a shoe-in for Escort, Recovery & Operations, would it?"
Luke continued staring at her. Niko turned her head and looked in their direction. Luke saw her soft expression land on him. It was only several moments she did this, until she turned and disappeared into the crowd.
"No, I guess not."
Shortly after, it was announced that the ceremony would be starting, and the soon-to-be graduates were called on to get ready.
Luke and Feron bid farewell to each other, and lined up in their respective lines. They started marching across the grounds with their Class President, Niko Beser leading all of them.
…
Applause clapped like thunder throughout the stadium and cheers could be heard as Pangea's graduating class entered the stadium.
The sky had minimal clouds in it, giving off a light blue hue. The stadium had evolved to include multiple chairs on the astroturf, various decorations adorning the barriers separated participants from the spectators. The stadium's open-air setup sent a small breeze through it causing the graduation robes to flap in the wind.
The applause settled down as the graduates took their pre-assigned seats. The top professors and several of the academy's top donors sat on the stage in silence as everyone settled in. One of the assistants, taking on the title as Master of Ceremonies, stood and greeted everybody. She wore a fitted blue suit with a modest white skirt.
"My name is Lin Fairchild, and I'll be presiding as Master of Ceremonies. We thank these fine young men and women for allowing us to present them with their graduation certificates," she eloquently spoke into the microphone.
"I welcome the presiding headmaster of the academy to step forward in order to start handing out your certificates. Please welcome Headmaster, Yusei Dogon!" She stretched her hands out and started applauding, a gesture that was soon followed by everybody.
Yusei Dogon stood up and adjusted his glasses on his nose. All of the graduates stiffened up. They hadn't really seen the headmaster in person, except for important events. In fact, he was only present for the tournament finals and semi-finals. He didn't even bother to show up for the preliminary bouts or the quarter-finals. He stood a bit hunched, with his normally flowing brown hair pulled back into a ponytail with a couple bangs loose. His chin sported a couple days worth of facial hair on it. In fact, he looked like he hadn't slept at all for the past couple days. Surely a headmaster's job couldn't be all that difficult? Suddenly, his almost gaunt demeanor changed when he talked into the microphone.
"How's everyone doing this morning," his voice cheerfully rang through the sound system with a slight Japanese accent. "I will now be handing out the degrees." He spoke with very proper speech, as if he had done this for years.
"We will be working our way through in alphabetical order. First up is Mizu Amakusa. Seeing as she isn't present, however, the next graduate: Feron Baton, will take her diploma as well as his own."
The row that Feron led stood up, and excitedly shuffled their way to the side of the open-air stage. Feron ascended the stairs and made his way to the podium. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, he stepped forward, and within several paces, stood in front of the headmaster who doubled as the director.
The Headmaster exchanged a few hushed words to Feron, who simply nodded his head in response, and mouthed a "Thank you." Feron walked off and took his seat.
"Next up, presenting your Class President and Valedictorian, Niko Beser."
Niko ascended the couple of stairs toward the stage as it was illuminated with sunlight, as if the sun itself was shining down on her. The donors and professors sat up straighter when Niko made it to the top of the stairs, seemingly demanding respect from everyone.
Headmaster Dogon handed Niko her degree. Although everyone was instructed to hold their applause until all graduates had been through, the stadium erupted into an even bigger applause than the beginning of their graduation. The stadium shook with excitement and crazy energy as Niko sat down.
Many graduates shuffled through receiving their degrees with minimal applause. There were only two other occasions where this wasn't the case: a red-haired graduate with soft features, and Luke Pruever.
As Luke's row stood at the stage side, Luke remembered that his parents weren't here to see him accepting his diploma.
[They must really be busy, not being here.] He thought to himself.
"…Pruever…Luke Pruever, please come to the stage."
He felt someone gently nudge him in the back.
"It's your turn," they silently said.
Setting his thoughts aside for the moment, Luke walked up the stairs, and he felt his knees become like jelly. He couldn't stop his heart from pounding as he stopped momentarily at the top step.
When Luke finally took the stage, he glanced out toward all spectators and graduates. All eyes were focused on him. He even saw cameras which were recording the event. Among the people on the stage, a white-haired male with young features, and sharp bright, but deep blue eyes glanced at Luke with respect or disdain; he couldn't tell. Headmaster Dogon took his hand and shook it.
Luke felt a sharp electric pull course throughout his body. It wasn't noticeable to others, only him. Headmaster Dogon gave him a wink, and congratulated him. After the headmaster handed him his diploma, Luke worked his way back to his seat. The newly grad felt all eyes on him, but four in particular: Feron, Niko, the red-haired student, and the sharp blue-eyed stage sitter.
Later, after everyone received their degrees, Headmaster Dogon and his assistant, Lin Fairchild, took the stage together.
"Now," he started, as everyone sat down while his assistant was silently gazing at the audience. "This group of graduates are some of the best I've ever seen. Many of them have mastered their particular Energia; and the diplomas that were handed to them proves this fact. I foresee many great things from all of you. For now, the graduation of Pangea Academy is over. Everyone! Please be ready for more details as you transition into the next stage of your lives."
Gale Stadium erupted as Director Dogon gave everyone one final hurrah and dismissed them.