by Nikostar A
"It's already so late. I should head back and shower! They are throwing a huge party to welcome us. It would be impolite to not attend and not take advantage of the free buffet available."
Alexander performed a few final stretches before grabbing his jacket and returning home. He was very satisfied with his first day of training. It was harder than it seemed, but he nevertheless already had a good grasp of the basic constellations.
***
After a long shower, Alexander felt much more comfortable. Training outdoor under the sun resulted in his shirt being completely drenched in sweat. Now that he was clean, he was tempted to simply jump on his bed and watch some tv, but he still needed to go out.
It was already 18:19 when Alexander finally left the Colony. The fresher's party was supposed to start at 18:00 but who wasn't late to a party?
The official location of the fresher's party was the city main square but in reality, the entire area around the square was lively. When he was still two streets away from the square, Alexander could already feel the festive atmosphere of the city and hear the faint classical music being played at the square.
He wasn't the only student late to the party; the entire street was filled with other students making their way there. It was not an exaggeration to say that the vast majority of the students on the campus was currently heading to the main square.
Alexander suddenly saw a flash of light. He raised his head and saw the light spreading around the street, creating a mesmerizing rainbow above their head.
"Look, the Sound and Light show is starting! Let's hurry up and get to the main square."
"Yeah, I'll put my heels later on. Let's go!"
Alexander saw a group of girls pass him in a hurry. He briefly caught a glimpse of one of the girls and immediately recognized her. She was Emily, the cute little blonde he has met at the awakening ceremony but visibly she either did not see him or completely forgot about him. Alexander did not feel offended by it; it was just the first day. With the number of new people, they were meeting, it would be a miracle if the students were able to remember them all.
The music gradually became louder and louder. A few minutes later, Alexander finally arrived at the main square. The main square was completely filled with people. The fresher's party was one of the rare occasions where almost the entire academy would join together.
Everywhere, students were busy chatting and laughing. Some were serving themselves at the buffet or at the outdoor bar that was specially set up for the occasion.
Alexander quickly blended in. He went to the bar and ordered a sweet cocktail. While waiting for his order, he chatted with the other students around him. Everyone was excited at the idea of becoming a mage and most of the conversations were centered around the students who were lucky enough to have magic theory lectures and magic practice earlier this day.
As he had yet to have dinner, Alexander only had a few light cocktails. Nevertheless, the combination of alcohol and the hearty atmosphere slightly dulled his senses. He joined the conversation with a group of boys as his eyes started roaming around, checking out the curvy body of the girls.
For others, this kind of party was very normal but for Alexander who had lived in another world for a while, it was like reliving a unique experience. Most of the girls were pretty wearing light summer dresses and heartily chatting with everyone. Alexander himself was wearing a simple clean shirt and a pair of black trousers.
After a couple of drinks, the group of boys promptly approached the girls and the two groups merged. Everyone had a partner and Alexander was happily chatting with a short brunette with curly hair; even with her heels, she did not even reach Alexander's chin. Her name was Amanda; she came from France.
After chatting for a few minutes, the group finally decided to move to the club on the adjacent street. Everybody was excited, but Alexander politely turned down the offer; it was a party but with an empty stomach, if he did not eat anything, tomorrow would end up being a nightmare!
Amanda looked dejected when she saw that her partner wanted to leave the group. However, she still smiled and waved at Alexander when they left.
Alexander's next destination was naturally the buffet! Food could be found all over the square; there were specially arranged tables filled with snacks and some waiters that would walk around with a platter filled with appetizers.
However, if one wanted to really fill their stomach, they needed to head to the buffet! Having his mood already set by the few cocktails, Alexander quickly grabbed a plate and filled it up reasonably.
He knew that to today's standard, it was impolite to have a plate more than half full. It was a silly detail that Alexander completely ignored but most of the other students made sure to maintain their image.
A wide variety of food was available, including the delicacies from Loha. Without any qualms, Alexander sat at one of the free tables and started wolfing down his plate. He did not feel it before, but he was really hungry! He practiced for the whole afternoon and his body has already been begging for some fuel for a while.
"Delicious! It's been so long since I've tasted a good barbecue."
A few minutes later, Alexander stood up and shoved the bones off his plate into a nearby bin. He was ready for round two.
Back at the buffet, this time, Alexander decided to scout the Asian section. His plate was already almost full when he stopped in front of a large collection of sushi. Alexander stared at the beautiful glistening plate in front of him, debating on which one he should take as his plate would definitely not be able to hold that many.
At that moment, he heard a voice coming from the side, "Oh I see that you are a gourmet."
"Huh?" surprised by the sudden voice, Alexander looked at the short Asian man standing next to him, waiting for his own turn to pick the sushi. "I have seen you before..."
"My name is Su Buqing. We met this morning during the history lecture," answered the Asian fatty nonchalantly. It was not the first time someone was forgetting his name and Su Buqing did not remember everyone either.
Alexander wore an embarrassed expression and answered, "Right, I am Alexander. Where is Raphael?" He shifted to the side, making enough space for the fatty to pick his own sushi while he hastily took his own.
"He's like the others, caring for his image, busy chatting with others to expand his social circle," answered Su Buqing while filling his plate with the fresh salmon sashimi.
"Right," Alexander made an apologetic smile as he stepped aside. His plate was now completely full. He quietly walked to one of the free tables but to his surprise, Su Buqing quickly caught up to him and walked by his side.
In the end, the two sat at the same table and chatted. Su Buqing came from a relatively influential family of China but even when he learned that Alexander came from the country of a small country, he did not look down on him. Instead, they chatted about the random events that recently took place like the world cup and the recent riots taking place in France.
Soon, the two got up for dessert.
"What are you planning to go after this?" asked Su Buqing.
"After this? I was just planning to go home and rest," answered Alexander. He briefly remembered that several events were taking place at the party but as he never planned on going to any, he did not read the email properly.
"Really? Are you even not interested in the mock duels?"
Seeing Alexander's confusion, Su Buqing did not even wait for him to answer and explained. "There is an event taking place at the magic department. It will start in about thirty minutes. I think that a lot of students are going there. The second-years will be challenging the first-years to a duel inside the battle rooms. Many first-years haven't studied magic properly yet but quite a few coming from impressive backgrounds did. Even if they did not have spirit circuits, it did not stop them from learning the theory. They only had two days to properly practice and tonight is an event to see if anyone can hold on to a second year."
Alexan
der nodded, "Sounds interesting. I guess it will not cause any harm to go and check it out."
Alexander knew that most students were going there only to witness magic for the first time. Outside of the academy, magic was rarely seen, and it was an opportunity for them to learn from the seniors.
However, Alexander was already well acquainted with magic. The only reason he wanted to go there was that he, first of all, needed a target to test his stargazer skills on. Secondly, it was also an opportunity to earn some credits.
'If I recall correctly. This is not a random event but rather an annual one. It is even sponsored by the academy as a way to remind the first years that there would always be someone above them. But to lure the first years into fighting the second years, they needed a bait and that bait was a bet of a thousand Earth Credits in case they managed to win!'
Chapter 9: The event
Later that night, while Alexander and Su Buqing were chatting over a few cocktails, Raphael brought over two pretty ladies and sat at their table. Alexander did not find it weird for someone like Raphael to be surrounded by women; he was fairly handsome with a well-built body. His deep blue eyes were particularly alluring and the cherry on the top was that he came from a good background.
The group chatted for a while but soon, it was time to go to the incoming event.
The clock was approaching 21:30 when Alexander and the group started making their way toward the magic department. Being the main department of the academy, the magic department had several buildings under its control but at the moment, Alexander's destination was the magic stadium.
On the outside, the magic stadium had a similar appearance to the training fields but once inside, it was completely different. Instead of having a large grassy plain, the floor was completely covered with a black material.
In the center of the stadium were several large rooms made of the same black material. Those were the famous battle rooms. Compared to physical training which did not require any specific equipment, practicing magic was relatively dangerous. If one lost control, an explosion could occur, or the user might die from overloading himself.
For the safety of the students, the magic stadium was built entirely using a material that originated from Loha. It was relatively rare but had the unique property of absorbing the magic elements.
Alexander and the group left the main square relatively early in order to secure the best seats but when they arrived, they were surprised to see that so many people turned up that early.
"As I expected, many people would attend this event. Let's go grab some seats before only the rubbish ones are left," exclaimed Raphael. The charismatic young leader of the group quickly happily brought the group to sit right in one of the corners. They were not the best seats, but they still had a pretty good view of the massive screens at the top.
The battle rooms would completely isolate the mages from the outside. Several cameras were installed inside, allowing the spectators to watch the battle.
Most people would believe that the mages would enter some sort of device in order to fight but they were wrong. Technology made a huge leap forward since the first rift opened; VRMMO games were already commercialized with special devices connecting the players directly to their virtual characters.
The military used a similar method to train their soldiers allowing them to face different situation inside a single device. However, this method could not be used for mages. Even with the advanced technology, scientist and engineers have yet to successfully make a connection between an electronic device and a spirit circuit.
Although the use of spirit circuit could still be simulated to a certain extent, they could not be directly connected to that of the mages. It looked like a minor detail, but it could have severe consequences on the mages.
Alexander looked around him. The spectator seats were slowly being filled up; it was a good thing that they came here early.
One of the girls coquettishly turned toward Raphael and cocked her head, "Raph, are you going to participate? All the first years are allowed to participate, right?"
"Haha. I would like to, but I did not get to learn any magic yet. Remember, I only had history and language lessons today," answered Raphael.
Sitting next to Alexander, Su Buqing asked him, "What about you? You seemed to be rather interested earlier."
"Me? If I get the chance to."
Alexander disregarded the weird looks the two girls were sending him. At first, when they saw that he was Raphael's friend, they enthusiastically laughed and chatted with him. But as soon as he told them that his performance index was only 5.1, their attitude immediately changed.
Alexander could not be bothered by this sort of behavior. People had always liked to compare themselves and to stand under the tallest tree. With him having an average performance index, he was bound to be ignored by many.
The lights on the stages were suddenly switched on, revealing the figure of an old instructor. The students' voices immediately started to quiet down as they waited for the instructor's announcement.
The old instructor gently smiled at the audience. After a brief introduction, he invited the second years who volunteered to fight to come forward.
Alexander watched as a total of fifty students stepped on the stage. There was only a total of twenty battle rooms available in this stadium but some students were still required to act as back up.
Soon, the first twenty students each entered one of the battle rooms. The remaining thirty students went down the stage to wait for their turn.
The instructor nodded and said, "Our courageous students are ready! May the freshers interested in challenging them please step forward!"
***
In an adjacent building, Carmen Ashmore leaned against her chair as stared at the giant screen in front of her.
"Make sure that nobody is trying to cheat. They got me last year but this time, those scum won't fool me. Do they think they can throw the match and give the credits to the members of their organization? Dream on! Each one of you should focus on one stage! If ever there is the slightest hint of matchmaking, warn me immediately!"
Carmen's commanding voice resonated through the room. Behind her, twenty instructors lowered their head, not daring to speak.
"And if I find out that any of you are colluding with the students, you know what the punishment will be!"
***
From the spectator seats, Alexander looked at the screen as the freshers were defeated one after the other. It was not a surprise to him that the second-year students remained undefeated.
Most of the freshers attempting the challenge were doing it for fun. Only a handful of them was actually doing so to prove themselves.
Around him, all the other freshers were completely amazed by what they saw. Some even had their jaw dropped. Had he not experienced his previous life, Alexander would have also been completely stunned by the mages.
On the screen, several students were shown actually using magic. Fireballs materialized out of nowhere and flew toward the freshers. On the screen, a water dragon suddenly appeared and bit the youth. On another screen, the student's shadow suddenly started to move and mercilessly attacked his stunned opponent.
"Wow, isn't it dangerous for the freshers?"
"No, they are wearing a talisman of protection! The talisman can protect them against one attack and as soon as the talisman breaks, the fight is over."
Alexander chose not to comment on his friends' conversation. Instead, he turned his attention to the line of students who were still willing to give it a try. About a hundred students had already attempted the challenge but most of them consisted of those having just had their first magic lecture this morning. The lucky few who were already being taught the theory at home had yet to actually make a move.
"If I am not wrong, there should be some people trying to discreetly pass their credits to some freshers. Second years student should still be able to cast about forty to fifty minor spells before
running out of mana but naturally, they would usually use intermediate spells. However, although they were far from reaching their limits, most second-year students have already switched with their friends to allow them to also mess around. They do so every two or three matches. But there's that one guy from battle room 19... He's the only one who did not make any changes even after six matches. I bet he is the one that's going to make the transaction!" said Alexander to himself.
He swiftly stood up and smiled apologetically to his neighbor, "Excuse me."
"Alex, where are you going?" asked Raphael as he noticed Alexander's movement.
"You already know the answer."
Alexander quickly walked down the stairs and went to look for an instructor. If he wasn't wrong, the second-year student in battle room 19 was planning to lose on purpose to an opponent. By claiming that he had exhausted most of his mana, he might not be able to avoid punishment, but he should at least lighten it.
