…
Eldom Academy was comparably more colorful than the suffocating palace with no greenery in its surroundings.
Elegant magnolia trees flowered along the path to the main auditorium. A few petals fell onto Grant's untainted white hair.
'It's been an entire week since I've last seen her. If she forgets about me, I'll kill her,' the empire's great savior thought maliciously. The hero was equipped with a fashionable uniform that dressed him in a black-accented white top and black pants to match. A slick, brown satchel was slung over his shoulder, highlighting how broad they were. The finely tailored clothing exuded nothing but class with the way Grant held himself.
People walked by— some recognizing Grant with his signature hair and eye colors, some giggling away with their friends at how fine he was. He paid no attention to the eyes, as he was far too used to them. Grant just wished he could see the Abyssal soon.
The huge auditorium was spread out largely with two floors of seats and a grand stage set in the center. Although the auditorium was fantastically grand, all of its seats were filled to the brim, each filled with only the best in the human empire.
Colorful levitating feathers floated around the auditorium, leading students to their seats. Grant had one of his own that helped direct him around the premises. After he sat down in his assigned seat, the feather drifted its way into his hands. He held it, a bit amazed at the phenomenon, a bit looking forward to what was to come.
'Maybe this whole academy thing won't be too bad. This looks pretty awesome,' his thoughts drifted off as he examined the feather, 'No. I can't forget what my purpose for coming here is. I can't slack on my training. I must find more ways to keep growing stronger.'
His attention was gathered by a group of sophisticated people filing onto the stage. They appeared to be teachers.
His attention slipped away as the entire space went unexpectedly quiet. Grant looked around and saw that people who were originally talking had their mouths shut. Everyone was confused until they heard someone clearing their throat on stage.
An old man's voice boomed across the silent area, "Good morning, everyone! On behalf of Eldom Academy, a very warm welcome to all our distinguished guests, faculty, and most importantly, our newest members of the Eldom Academy family – our incoming students!"
The old man swung his arms up in the air, releasing the silent spell, and murmurs reverberated throughout the entire crowd. Such a large-scale trick was no easy feat. For it to take effect on every person here meant displayed how strong of a sorcerer the old man was.
He quieted everyone down before starting up again, "We are honored to have you all here today to celebrate this special occasion. Thank you for joining us. I am this academy's grandmaster, Olden Curt, and today, we gather to officially welcome our new students and to mark the beginning of a new chapter in their academic journey. We are excited to see what you will achieve here at Eldom!"
The words presented following the opening sequence were a bit lost to the students' amazement by the earlier 'trick.' Rightfully so, because the amount of mana his trick used was enough to drain an army of mages. He made it seem like nothing, but Grant knew just how powerful of a mage the grandmaster had to be to pull it off. He wasn't someone the average person could afford to piss off. Of course, Grant had met and defeated stronger mages in the past.
Especially when it came to the Abyssal, the grandmaster was no more than a fledgling.
'Ah, I miss her,' Grant lamented.
The people on stage slowly went through introducing themselves as the teachers and faculty of the academy. He sized up every person on stage as they came and went. Eldom was no joke, to say the least. The people on stage were definitely the cream of the crop in their fields and were more than qualified to instruct others. The regular staff composed of janitors, cooks, and such were nothing to look down on either, surprisingly.
The student council president soon came on.
She was a fairly emotionless person with light blue hair and eyes. Grant felt a strong presence of magical influence on her as she introduced herself and how to contact her in case anyone needed assistance.
'Lydia…' he thought.
He slowly drifted away as new people came, that is, until the grandmaster brought the honors students onto the stage. Two outrageously handsome men made their way onto the platform along with three other people with forgettable appearances.
"Now, let's take a moment to recognize the outstanding students who have earned a place in our Honors Program. These students have demonstrated exceptional academic ability, dedication, and a thirst for knowledge," Olden Curt went through the names, "Please join me in welcoming the following students who will represent your class— Tom Cliff, Anthony Stone, Lucy Ibarra, Duncan Adams, and Erica Spencer."
Grant found it hard to take his eyes off the two insanely good-looking guys who were presented as Tom and Anthony. He was able to gauge an insane amount of power by sizing them up. They had more power and potential than quite a few teachers.
'Tom's here. And… Anthony? Suspicious…' Grant thought, noting his existence down.
Tom had wavy, shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes covered by thick ass glasses. You could still tell he was handsome behind, though. He definitely had some lean muscle. The hot nerd type…
Anthony had black hair and red eyes. He looked like a perfect model who could make any girl weak in the knees with his body silhouette alone. His face was devilish in a hot way, with red eyes that completed the look. The cold gangster type…
One too many girls sighed or squealed when the two men came on stage. The three other honors students couldn't help but steal glances.
Grant didn't really care, and waited for the ceremony to be over with.
…
After the ceremony, students gathered around in clusters as they started getting to know their peers before going off to their scheduled periods.
One would expect Grant to be introduced along with the honors students for being the hero of the empire, but the grandmaster decided to keep his identity hidden to not distract students from their learning. They didn't have him go under a different name, because most people only knew him as 'Hero' or 'Savior.'
Grant took out a slip of paper with the preset of classes taken by all first-years in Eldom. As his eyes traveled down the list, he wasn't paying too much attention to his surroundings while walking down a fairly empty hall.
He muttered, "Free practice… Homeroom… Alchemy—"
All of a sudden, he felt someone take a hard grip on his arm. His mind instantly snapped awake as he threw his guard up— he couldn't sense the presence of whoever grabbed him. That meant that they were either on his level or stronger.
He was shocked, 'An empire-wide potential disaster!'
Grant tried to resist the pull, but it was already too late, and he was taken into an empty classroom, "SHI—!" he was about to curse, but felt the hand of a man cover his mouth.
"Shhh, you're so noisy," the man behind him sighed.
Grant reacted fast and shoved the man off, "Who the hell are you?" His eyes widened as he realized it was the outrageously handsome, black-haired, red-eyed man from the stage earlier, "You… aren't you Anthony Stone?"
A glint flashed across Anthony's eyes as he nodded, "Yes," a smug look crossed his face, "And you're the great hero or whatever, aren't you?"
Grant clenched his fists, "What's it to you?"
Anthony moved closer, and Grant backed up until his back was against the wall.
"Back the fuck up, dude."
The ruby-eyed guy ran his hands across Grant's chest and chuckled.
Grant felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he smacked Anthony's hands away.
"You're pretty cute, aren't you?" Anthony smirked, "Say, won't things get a bit difficult if people were to find out the hero was attending this academy, Sir Grant Brimhorn? You won't be able to study in peace with people constantly stalking your every move, right?"
Grant dug a deadly glare into Anthony's eyes, "Stop beating around the bush. What do you want from me?"
The devilish guy lifted Grant's chin to look at him, even though they were the same height, "I love being dominated by big, strong, muscular men. Why don't you meet me in my dormitory later?"
"..."
"..."
The corner of Grant's mouth twitched, "... Abyssal? Is that you?"
'Anthony' howled in laughter.
…