Show-off II:

There was a small delay between the following showcases due to the state of the stage, and during this time, students mingled. Rikuto and Lucas were being swarmed by a mob of students. Due to Lucas’s rather unique appearance and his power, it was easy for people to figure out his noble lineage.

“I hate that you’re so popular.” Riku whispered as they managed to slip away from the crowd. “It’s like people have never seen a noble before.”

Lucas made a non-committal sound. “My family is pretty flashy, no pun intended. I guess my power was just too much for those maggots to handle.” He shrugged with a smirk.

Riku shot him a deadpan look. “Sure.” His sarcastic tone made Lucas glare lightly at him.

“Whatever the case, it’s time to head back. I wonder who’s next.”

Taking their seats again, Ochi returned to the stage, smiling as wide as ever. He looked particularly excited which made Lucas and Riku curious.

“Would the student next up please report to the stage please?” It was then that Rikuto saw him.

The same boy with the bright scarlet, slit eyes. His hair framed his face on both sides and a large patch of it fell over his forehead, nearly covering his eyes. Both of his hands in his pockets and from what Riku could see, his arms had large scars on them. Even the act of the boy taking the stage made everyone else realize just how much his power affected the area as a large wall of heat moved with him. “Ah, it’s you. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t most interested to see how you’d perform today.” Ochi commented but the boy’s face remained impassive. “Are you ready?”

He hummed to confirm and a puppet was thrown out. Then it slowly began to build up.

A painful headache and a wave of nausea washed over Riku like an ocean and before he knew what was going on, his entire body felt extremely hot. An invisible force pressed down on his shoulders and it got heavier by the moment until he could do nothing but shake violently under the immense pressure. ‘N..no way. His aura… that’s i-impossible!’ It felt as though someone had placed a hot vehicle on his shoulders and soon enough, Riku lost the ability to think straight.

Lucas’ face slowly went from his usual grin to a frustrated scowl to an all out glare as the boy’s aura grew. He looked over to Riku to see that he’d already begun trembling under the immense power. He himself eventually had to sit down as the aura the boy was giving off was making him uncomfortable and uneasy.

Ochi, having been the closest to the boy, felt his entire body being pushed back by a monstrous invisible force. ‘I expected no less from the son of that man!’ He thought.

The boy’s power continued to rise until the entire room was covered in heat and aura so thick, many people had trouble breathing, let alone keeping their heads up to actually watch. Even some teachers felt immense discomfort as the aura kept seeping out. Eventually, the bear puppet was forced flat onto the ground as if being physically pressed down and could do little as a black flame appeared on its body. It burned slowly, so slowly you’d think it was deliberate until it suddenly expanded and covered the thing. It was completely unseen due to the color of the flames, but moments later, the puppet was gone and so was a good bit of the stage beneath the boy and where the puppet once was.

His power ceased and slowly, the room’s temperature went back to normal and the aura over them all started to dissipate. Without a word, the red-eyed boy left the stage, both hands still in pocket and a bored look still on his face.

As he moved back to his seat, all eyes were glued to him. Most were in fear. He didn’t seem to care however as his immense power, while mostly being reigned in, still easily drifted off of him in waves.

Seconds later, Riku finally recovered. “W-what was that!?” Rikuto, finally having regained composure, asked far louder than he intended. So loud, in fact, that even Ochi heard him.

“That, my dear boy, was Kasai’s raw, unrestrained aura. Quite monstrous isn’t it?” Ochi laughed heartily as most students broke out into cold sweats.

“It was restrained.” Kasai spoke up. His voice was low and surprisingly soothing to hear despite his rather intimidating appearance. “I may have gone a bit overboard…”

“Nonsense!” Ochi firmly disagreed. “However, we’re on a schedule here. Will the next student come to the stage?”

Roughly an hour later, all of the one hundred students had shown what they could do. Some were much stronger than others, however nothing really stood out to Riku nor Lucas until the last few people. For the most part, Riku had been relatively unamused by his peers while Lucas was immensely critical. “Of all these maggots, only a handful seem like they’d be worth my time.” He said, almost sounding disappointed.

“There’s still one more and he seems strong,” Rikuto noted, trying not to laugh at his friend’s apparent despair. Lucas opened his senses and nodded in agreement. However, as the blonde walked closer to the stage, his aura felt… off. It wasn’t nearly as oppressively powerful as Kasai’s nor was it as refined as Lucas’. No, it felt… different. Lucas seemed to notice it too.

“Oh, Yakumo’s here?” Lucas questioned, sounding confused. Rikuto looked at him with a tilted head and Lucas elaborated. “ His name is Toshiro Yakumo, he’s a noble like me. A few years ago, his family and mine wanted to do some business together and I met him at a meeting.” As he explained, Yakumo walked with his head held high and his eyes darting back to the crowd, almost as if he were looking for something.

Lucas suddenly got unexpectedly serious. “He’s strong.” Was all he had to say before Toshiro’s showcase began.

Dark purple energy flowed from his body and surrounded his body like a cloak. A malicious grin appeared on his face and he lunged forward far faster than most students could see with a hand drew back. With a quick swing and a low growl, Toshiro’s hand connected with the puppet’s body. Even Ochi was taken aback by the sheer intensity of the impact and how quickly the puppet’s body was flung into the wall. It left several large cracks in the thick concrete however no student focused on that.

Riku in particular noticed how five long, deep claw marks appeared on the puppet’s body and how Toshiro seemed to have a bloodlust around him. He looked at the crowd with an intense, manic grin which sent shivers down Riku’s spine. “Long time, no see, Cloud!” Toshiro growled out Lucas’ name as if it were a deadly poison.

Lucas grinned fiercely. “It really has been, Yakumo.” Lucas stood up and two light circles appeared over each shoulder. There was a silence before Ochi laughed.

This simple action sent a thunderous vibration through the entire auditorium that shook the very building itself. “Now, now boys! I appreciate the hot-blooded spirits! However, violence is not permitted on campus unless it’s an official battle sanctioned by one or more teachers or, there’s no other choice.” He was intentionally vague on the second part, but thankfully, no student questioned him.

Toshiro continued to stare at Lucas while the white-haired boy simply laughed him off. “Maybe another day, Yakumo.” Lucas, despite his jovial laugh, was completely serious.

Toshiro returned the sentiment. “Another day, indeed.”

After the final student finished their showcase, the students were given free reign to tour the campus while they were being processed. Lucas went off by himself on ‘business’ while Rikuto was left by himself. After wandering aimlessly for some time, he found himself before a three-story grey building with large revolving doors and large opened windows. Having nothing else to do, Rikuto entered and immediately was floored.

‘This is one hell of a library!’ He thought excitedly. He eagerly moved around, taking in his surroundings. “Wow, there’s got to be thousands of books in here!”

“Actually, there’s roughly four hundred thousand books in here.” A voice behind Rikuto startled him. He jumped and turned swiftly.

Behind him, a short girl with red hair and black accents and styled into a bob. She had fairly chubby cheeks and a somewhat rounded face framed by her hair. She wore rectangular glasses with frames matching her hair color and her bright honey brown eyes were filled with nearly as much excitement as Riku’s. “I’m sorry if I scared you!” She apologized with a shaky smile.

“It’s fine,” Rikuto eyed her nervously before a question popped into his mind. “Do you really think there’s that much books in here?”

The girl laughed uncomfortably loud. “Well, there was a sign near the entrance with some info on this place.” She pointed to the rather hard-to-miss plaque by the door. Rikuto mentally facepalmed.

“I completely missed that,” He admitted. “Well thank you, Ms…” He let his word drag.

“Yume Kagami.” She said quickly. Rikuto noticed her fidgeting at something behind him and raised a brow.

“My name is Rikuto Maeda, but my friends call me Riku.” He introduced with a smile and an extended hand.

Instead of a handshake or even a response, Yume’s face paled and she darted out of the Grand Library as if she’d seen a ghost. Rikuto made a sound of surprise before turning around himself to see what could put the girl on edge. He was surprised by the sight.

Near the entrance, with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape, stood Kasai. The light shone in such a way that his eyes almost appeared to be glowing as he took in the vastness of the library. His face looked in awe and his frozen body gave away his astonishment. Before Riku could question why Yume would possibly be afraid of an admittedly unique looking person, he remembered and felt his immense power. While far weaker than his previous display, Rikuto couldn’t help but feel nervous while in his general area. The room’s temperature seemed to shift as Kasai moved about, but no matter where in the building he went, Rikuto would still feel and be somewhat overwhelmed by his fiery aura.

‘Such an intimidating guy.’ Rikuto thought before not so subtly making a dash for the entrance himself. Thankfully, Lucas also had an aura that far exceeded most people and as such, he was easy to find. ‘This place really is massive, I better start trying to remember this layout if I’m going to spend the next four years here.’

With the sun nearly setting and the crisp autumn breeze blowing, the students were summoned back to the auditorium. Ochi stood at the very center of the stage with both arms behind his back and a wide, charming smile on his face.

“Now then, after today’s proceedings, I’d like to formally induct all of you as the very first students to ever attend the Milky Way. The selection process wasn’t an easy one and we’ve personally had to sort through hundreds of thousands of applications to hand pick the top hundred we deem to have the most potential. With that being said, each and every one of you are all exceptional talents whom I look forward to groom into the guardians of tomorrow. As the years go by, you will go from young men and women, to warriors. Each of you have been assigned a number and with that number comes a locker, class list, dorm number and dorm roommate. Lastly, that number will also signify which class you will be in of the three. Students with numbers between one and eleven shall be placed in the Advanced Class, twelve to sixty shall be in the Normal Class, and sixty one to one hundred shall be in the Basic Class.”

There were murmurs in the crowd, to which Ochi chose to ignore. “We shall call you up one by one to receive your number.”