24. The Ceremony
The day thousands of disciples had been waiting for had finally arrived. The New Disciples Procession was finally held on a bright summer morning.
Bright and excited faces began to fill in the stand seat. Rifters from all circles and extraordinary talents blend into one.
Even though they seemed to blend in as if they didn't distinguish between social strata, in actuality, the ones from the upper classes must mingle with other students from the upper classes. They acted like humans who had the highest status compared to each other, showing off their position.
The ceremony began, Katya, as the head of the academy, stepped out from backstage to give a welcoming speech. Her black dress fluttered as she stepped onto the podium.
An aura of absolute leadership seemed to radiate from her as she stood in the spotlight. Her unexpected appearance made the boisterous crowd suddenly mute and watched her figure in amazement.
"Look at her, she's so beautiful. Who is she?" asked a woman beside Ryo.
"I don't really know her, I only know her name. She is Katya Katyushka, the head of this academy," Ryo replied as simply as possible so as not to attract more attention.
"But from your gaze, you seem to know her very well," said the girl next to Ryo.
"Not really," said Ryo with a slight glance.
Ryo tried to hide his identity from other people so as not to attract problems.
Tap, tap, ziinggg...
The speaker buzzed as Katya tapped the microphone for attention, causing the girl next to Ryo to cover her mouth as she was hiding her conversation with Ryo.
"Good morning, and welcome to the White Raven..."
Katya gave a lively and passionate speech, and it was met with rapturous applause and cheers.
After a while, they gradually calmed down again, and the event speech continued by Mr Anderson who also serves as Head of Curriculum.
He displayed a presentation on the holographic screen, explaining the various rules and cultures that existed in the White Raven. Mainly about what to do and not to do within the academy.
Not much different from the basic rules of every school in general.
By noon, the admission ceremony was over, and the new students came out of the building in an orderly fashion.
Most of them raided the cafeteria and shopping centre in the Centre Area, some were wandering around the neighbourhood.
"Hey! We meet again," said the girl sitting next to Ryo during the morning session when Ryo bought canned drinks at the cafeteria.
"Ah, yes, sorry. I didn't introduce myself earlier, I'm Ryosuke from Japan," Ryo replied when the girl was beside him.
They familiarly shook hands, the girl blushed slightly when Ryo seemed to forget to take his hand off hers.
"Your hand," whispered the brown-haired girl.
"Ah, sorry," said Ryo when he realized the situation between them had become a little awkward.
Her eyes were bright with sea-blue colour, she looked more mature than her age when she wore a cream-coloured blouse and matching bottoms.
Her face and appearance looked like a top model, with a tall and slim body, about 176 cm, slightly different from Ryo's height.
"I'm Anna, from Moscow. Nice to meet you," she replied, brushing her long hair.
"So… what did you buy?" asked Anna at a loss for words from the awkward feeling.
"Hmm? A can of coffee, you want some? I'll buy you one."
"No need."
"Just take it. Cold coffee for Washington's hotter weather." Ryo had already pressed the button on the vending machine and handed her canned coffee.
Anna accepted the can of coffee with a red face, "Sorry to bother you."
"No problem, I'll buy some sandwiches at the food stall over there. Wanna come along?"
"Of course," she replied excitedly.
The two of them got their own sandwiches and ate them at an empty table amongst the crowd of other students.
"Where are you from?" asked Anna when she saw Ryo's face feature.
"From Tokyo."
Just as Ryo took a bite of his food, Anna was already bombarding him with questions.
"Very far! I heard that the Rifters from Japan have great abilities, so what are your abilities?"
"I don't know myself, because I just got woken up not long ago," Ryo answered while wiping his fingers.
"Oh, I see?"
"Yes ... my physique is a little strange indeed," answered Ryo trying to remain humble.
Ryo looked at Anna with a bit of suspicion. He could feel the girl's energy was quite abundant when he shook hands with her. Ryo was sure that she had great talent and was quite experienced.
"I see, then do you have a sponsor or something to attend this academy?"
Ryo raised one eyebrow hearing her question. Not only did she have great energy, but also quite smart. Ryo became curious about her background and followed Anna's game.
"I came here through the invitation system," replied Ryo sufficiently.
Anna immediately opened her eyes wide and almost spilt her coffee can from her hand, "Wow!!! Getting an invitation from the White Raven is an honour for young Rifters."
"Yeah, I don't know the details either, then how about you? Does your family support the funds to go to school here?"
Anna sighed while holding her chin with both hands, "Yes… for the sake of family business."
"Family business?"
"Let's say… my family is running a 'Security Service' company. Which need a capable heir to inherit my mother's legacy," said Anna while she laid her head on the table.
"Your mother is a Rifter too?" Asked Ryo as he clasped his hand in front of his face.
"Yes… But I don't know why I must be enrolled here, while there was already North Polar Academy in Moscow. My mother keeps insisting to send me here, and here I am, talking to a complete stranger."
Ryo smiled broadly as he understood a little about Anna's background, nor did he find any lies behind Anna's words.
He wanted to chat more with Anna, but the time was already reaching 1.00 PM.
"It's time. Let's go back to the building for the last session," Ryo said while wrapping his unfinished lunch.
The two of them returned to the building, attending the final orientation session which was about the grading system during their education at White Raven.
Several important aspects must be taken respect of by the new students, including; Discipline, Neatness, Strength and Intelligence, as well as other important subjective aspects points.
The assessment would be carried out with the help of an A.I. with full supervision. In addition, the assessment was also held directly by the teachers, which consisted of the Elite Rifters of White Raven.
They were Rifters who had the best and most trusted track record.
After the disciples waited for some time, a man with silver hair dressed like a priest suddenly appeared with a white mist in the centre of the stage.
All the students were amazed, but Ryo remained calm and read the situation.
"May I have your attention, please?" said the silver-haired man in a melodious baritone voice.
The frenzy of voices of thousands of students fell silent and watched the man.
"Good," said the man as he took out a white wand from his spatial space.
"I am Professor Merlin. I'm the Head Principal of this academy, with a decree from Lady Katya as Head Master. I shall oversee all of your aptitudes," said Professor Merlin, tapping his long stick several times on the floor.
What happened next was magical to all the disciples. Waves of energy seemed to slowly flow through their bodies.
Even Ryo could feel his sensitivity to the surrounding energy becoming sharper. He then remembered the existence of Kuryu in him and immediately panicked.
"Kuryu!"
[No worries, kid. This low-tier skill won't be able to detect me at all] chirped Kuryu as Ryo tried to suppress the energy waves from Merlin.
Professor Merlin sensed a bit of anomaly, but he ignored it at once.
"Now, please pour your energy into the light sphere that will appear in front of you."
Just as Professor Merlin said, a ball of white light floated before Ryo's eyes. At first, he thought it was just an illusion, but he realized it wasn't when all the pupils got one ball of light.
One by one, the disciples drained their energy. The ball of light that was originally white changes colour according to the energy that flows into it, big and small, depending on the owner's potential.
Then Ryo imitated what he was instructed and channelled the fire energy he controlled until the ball of light turned bright red and floated above Ryo's head.
Everyone was surprised to see Ryo's ball of light lit up the brightest.
Professor Merlin laughed happily at seeing so many great talents gathered in one place.
Then he gathered all the balls of light to one point until they got bigger. He raised his hand, and the ball soared high into the air.
"Let me greet all of you here with a proper welcome ceremony," Professor Merlin muttered.
"Welcome to White Raven, everyone!!!" exclaimed the middle-aged man.
The gymnasium ceiling became as dark as night, then…
Boom! Boom!
The collected balls of light exploded beautifully like fireworks of various colours and patterns.
Ryo had never seen anything so beautiful. His eyes reflected the light, perpetuating every splash of colour in his memory.
With that, the orientation ceremony was over in the afternoon. Some students returned to their respective dormitories, others relaxed while getting used to the new environment.
But not with Ryo. After resting for a while, he headed straight to the park in the south of the academy area and started his regular practice.