Oliver was left stunned as the principal called out his name and seeing the smile on his face he knew Arthur was doing this for him, by making Oliver more popular among the first year which has both benefits and problems form him.
'But seeing that smile on his face as he calls me to stage is annoying for sure'.
Oliver made his way to the stage as he organized what he could and not say, as he reached the stage Arthur handed him the mic to give his speech.
"Good morning to all my fellow first years here, I am Oliver Stark, a 16 year old teenager like you all ready to learn about how the world works, you all might be wondering why I was selected at the last moment and why principal Arthur himself took my exam right" asked Oliver as he looked at all the students especially Ryan for whom this will be something that had never happened before.
But sadly his face had no reaction, he remained calm with a stone like expression that won't break even if principal Arthur died here right now.
'Either he is too good at hiding expression or he is not even paying attention here right now just lost in his sea of memories' pondered Oliver as he continued.
"All of this was because I am a late awakener"
The silent atmosphere was suddenly turned chaotic as everyone stared talking about Oliver and his late awakening.
Late awakening was a rare phenomenon that had never happened without external factor, once a person had passed the age of awakening they could never awaken unless something unexpected happens to them that leads them to awaken and those cases always leads to bad end with mostly demons involved in their awakening.
So the reputation of late awakeners is very bad as they are considered some kind of ticking time bombs that might explode any time and leads those around them to doom.
"Silence" shouted Arthur to calm everyone down.
'I choose this method to stop other preying eyes to target me, for now this method will last long enough for me to become strong, enough to deal with them myself'.
"This might be a shock for all of you that's why the principal himself conducted my exam and me being present here means I bring no harm to anyone around me, so I am happy to be a part of this academy with you all, please treat me as you would any other normal person, thankyou".
Oliver ended his speech as he moved towards his seat in silence as everyone were too shocked to say anything else to him, with a final welcome by the principal the event come to an end and everyone was given their schedule for the classes starting from tomorrow.
Oliver exited the auditorium and started walking around the garden as he didn't have any other plans for today he was simply enjoying the beauty of this castle.
"cuooo" came a shout near Oliver.
"Hey don't shout like that while you are in my shadow" chided Oliver as he moved to a secluded place.
The noise came from the baby dragon frank that was currently staying in Oliver's shadow after returning from the mountains Oliver come up with a method to hide the dragon from the world till he was strong enough to revel it, he hid the dragon in his shadow as he was a dark dragon literally the incarnation of darkness blending and hiding in shadows was like a second nature to him, he just had to learn to stay in shadow until Oliver was alone.
"cuoo cuoo" shouted Frank as he crawled on Oliver with his tiny legs.
"I know, I know you feel lonely in the shadow all the time but calm down for now you can remain outside when we are in my room okey" assured Oliver as he asked Frank to return to his shadow with he did after some time.
As Oliver come out of the bushes he encountered a beautiful girl with long legs, black hair and radiant green eyes that looked at him as if to prey his every secret out.
"What were you doing in the bushes" asked Rachel as she looked at Oliver skeptically.
"Just finding something I dropped here" replied Oliver smiling.
"Need my help in looking around, I am very good at finding things" said Rachel as she scanned Oliver and the surrounding garden for anything unnatural.
'Ain't the ice queen talking too much, she is behaving very differently from how she was in the novel or is she trying to get something out of me' thought Oliver.
"No need to trouble yourself for this, I will find it myself in no time" said Oliver trying to read Rachel somehow.
"As you wish then" replied Rachel as she stared walking towards the dorms.
"Ah, what your name?" asked Oliver as she passed him.
"Rachel Ainsworth, currently ranked 4th, won't be for long, be sure to remember it" said Rachel with a bit of anger and pride.
'yeah she wanted to be ranked in at least the first three students, she had even prepared a speech, losing the place to henry made her a resentful, anyone who mentions her rank received a glare in the early periods of novel, but she get over it eventually' pondered Oliver as Rachel left the garden with a bit more anger.
***
After leaving the garden Rachel was thinking back to her meeting with Oliver.
'There was something in the bushes where Oliver was hiding, I couldn't feel it completely but there was definitely someone in the buses talking to Oliver before I arrived there, but suddenly it disappeared as if there was nothing there, something is definitely wrong here, what are you hiding Oliver Stark, whatever it is I will definitely find it' concluded Rachel as she reached her dorm room to rest for now.
***
After leaving the gardens Oliver made his way towards the training facilities provided for the first year students, as he had never held a weapon before aside from knives he wanted to try it out as he reached the training halls he heard a voice from behind sends chills down his spine.
"Who are you?" asked ???