Arrival of the Upperclassmen (1)

Two days after the dance.

Art rose out of the cold pool into the misty air, droplets of water sticking to his body like gleaming pearls. His wet hair was pulled back, and he wore nothing but the mist and drops of water - anyone who saw this seductive picture would immediately be enchanted to the point of obsession.

Today was the day the upperclassmen were scheduled to arrive. Although they didn't have an extravagant welcome party like the new students, each grade would have a small ceremony in front of the administration building in succession, i.e. first second years, then third, and so on up till 5th years. The representatives of each year were asked to stay behind for a meeting with the headmaster, where he would explain there responsibilities for the new representatives and discuss some of the school's plans for the year (the position of year representative was typically given to the rank one of each year, and therefore could change along with the rankings - Art was clearly an unusual case as a rank 0).

Making his way into his house wrapped in only a towel, Art decided to pick out some more casual clothing for today. He took out a pair of tight black jeans that hugged his toned legs and a long sleeve, button-down white shirt. He decided to leave his hair down in straight, silky lines, and headed down the mountain. Fortunately, Soran's house wasn't located directly beneath his and he could avoid it as he made his way towards the center of the school in graceful strides.

When he arrived in front of the administration building, Art heard the headmaster making a few perfunctory closing remarks as the 2nd year students began to excitedly rush out of the courtyard. They were clearly excited to be returning, as all of the were chattering happily as they left, except for one who stayed behind, who didn't even bother to acknowledge the greetings of the passing students. Although located near each other, each year stayed in a different dorm. There were a total of 5 dorms for each gender, so each year would have a dorm assigned to them for the duration of their stay at the school, and when the 5th years graduated and left the school, the new class would move into their old dorm. So Art's peers were in the building of the previous 5th years.

As there was some time until the 3rd years arrived, Art decided to go over and greet the headmaster, as well as the remaining second year, who was clearly their year's representative. A barely restrained aura of arrogance and disdain emanated from the man. He had rather attractive features - smooth, pale skin and short brown hair above dark eyes and a strong nose and jaw. However, the feeling of extreme conceit he gave off prevented you from appreciating them. Seeing Art approach him, and taking in the vastly superior features of Art's stunning visage with a flash of jealousy in his eyes, he tilted his head up with a cold snort and released a strong pressure through his mana presence towards Art, as if to try to humiliate him.

Of course, Art was hardly affected by it. The pressure coming off the student revealed him to only be at the early steps of the grandmage stage. This was already quite impressive - most second year students were only in the middle of the mage stage - but compared to Art's obscene strength, it was a mere drop in a pond. Art's expression remained indifferent, though an increasing coldness did condense in his eyes as he observed the second year representative, who was clearly perturbed that the pressure he was releasing had no effect.

The headmaster took the initiative to introduce the two.

"Ah, Art, this is Flint, the second year rep. Flint, this is Art, the first year rep."

The two merely stared at each other, declining to speak even basic greetings. Art just turned to face the headmaster.

"Headmaster, what time would you like me to be here for the meeting?"

Art had originally planned on waiting here with the other year representatives as the older students arrived, but no longer had any wish to do so. He felt no desire to remain in the presence of the obnoxious Flint.

"Hmm, let's say around 7? It will take a while for the next 3 batches of students to arrive, and we may as well as eat dinner together during the meeting."

Art nodded in acknowledgement, and with nothing better to do, decided to head over to the first year male dorm to check out how things were going. He briefly wondered why both a male and female rep wasn't appointed for each year so as to be able to monitor the dorms of both genders, but guessed that the headmaster probably just didn't want to have to deal with more people during their meetings. He would be able to go check on the female dorms if he wanted to, but couldn't remain there after hours.

After a quick walk, Art arrived in front of the first year dorms. In fact, each year almost had an area to themselves. Although not regulated in any way, each dorm had a practice area and small park area situated near them, and so, with the lazy characters of most human beings, it naturally became the case that each dorm frequented the area closest to it, only going to farther arenas on special occasions. Inter-grade mingling mainly occurred in the facilities down around the river. Thinking about it, Art felt the school to be more of a city than anything else.

As it was only the second day the students had been there, and moreover was still early in the day, the practice areas were nearly empty, and the grassy park was similarly sparsely occupied, although there were a fair amount of students around the fountain in the center. Art decided he would first go make sure everything was proceeding smoothly inside the dorms, as the students by the fountain seemed perfectly content.

Fortunately, inside the dorm building was similarly peaceful. A few students milled about aimlessly in the downstairs common area, a couple chatted in the hallways, it was overall a harmonious picture.

Art walked to the center of the room, a tranquil and still aura surrounded him. His presence was strong, yet serene - it was not overwhelming but seemed to conceal limitless depths like the glassy surface of a still ocean.

"Hello everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the dance. I came to make sure everything was going well here. Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." Art spoke to everyone in the room.

"I'd feel much better if I had you with me Mr. Pres." One student frantically shouted out with heart shaped eyes.

A line of black sweat ran down the faces of all who heard. A nearby student slapped the one who had spoken on the top of his head, and looked apologetically at Art.