Because he was summoned by the new headmaster, Emery found himself coming in late for the welcoming ceremony. In fact, it was already finished by the time he arrived at the location where the returning acolytes were supposed to be gathering.
Oblivious of where they had gone, Emery proceeded to ask a nearby person wearing the Magus Academy's staff uniform. The staff told him he should head to his designated class.
Emery quickly walked out of the place and followed the track along the sky garden, heading toward the nearest transportation gate with the destination of Island 7, the exclusive training place for the elite group 7 he was in.
As he stepped out of the transportation gate, Emery was surprised to be welcomed by the Magus Academy's knights. These warriors cladded in golden armor that reflected sunlight were the elites in charge of guarding the academy.
As he walked past them, he realized there were twice as many people around guarding the area compared to last year. While he was trying to ponder what could probably be the reason for this, Emery suddenly sensed that a figure just came out from the gate behind him and they were lunging for his back.
"Yo! Emery! My friend, how are you!"
Even though he hadn't turned around and seen who this person was, Emery immediately recognized the other party by their voice. Just before this familiar person touched his shoulder, Emery cast [Blink].
His figure disappeared and reappeared right behind the person who 'ambushed' him.
It seemed the person knew where Emery had gone as they immediately raised both his hands with a laugh.
"Wow! I give up! I surrender! Don't attack me!"
With a faint smile on his face, Emery said, "How do you do, Gerri?"
The other person turned his body around and still kept his hands in the air. His iconic red hair was still as messy as Emery remembered; coupled with the mischievous smile plastered on his face, the other party still looked the same as the last time they met each other. This person was none other than the one known as the Violet Flame, Gerri.
"I'm amazing!" He then proceeded to drag his gaze at Emery from top to bottom, as if he was scanning. His smile widened as he said, "You have grown up my friend! You don't look like a kid any longer!"
An imaginary vein popped at Emery's forehead when he heard that.
"What are you saying, Gerri..? We ARE the same age."
As if he didn't notice the tone Emery used, Gerri laughed boisterously. "Hahaha!! True, true!"
"Hah..."
Emery couldn't help but sigh and shake his head at him and his antics. Gerri was still the same, even though it had been three years. A small smile crept onto his face, as he saw how Gerri was still energetic as ever. He was glad to see his friend still had his easygoing attitude.
"I think we are late, let's go." Emery quickly said when he noticed Gerri wouldn't stop with his chattering.
He quickly went on the track, while Gerri quickly followed behind. They made their way toward the hall where the acolytes of elite group 7 usually gathered. When they reached the hall, the two were immediately greeted by the sight of many familiar faces.
With a quick glance from his part, Emery noticed there were around fifty people gathered on the scene. Of course, his friends were seen standing among them. He could clearly see Klea and Julian talking to someone, while Thrax walked towards him.
Seeing Thrax approaching, Emery quickly turned his gaze to look for his last friend, only to realize Chumo was already standing beside him. The guy really became more discreet every time they met.
Luckily, he didn't reflexively hit the latter out of surprise.
"Hi Emery... Hi Gerri.." Chumo said with his usual concise and polite style.
Emery nodded calmly with a smile as a reply to the greeting. The simple greeting, however, surprised the red hair acolytes
Emery was also a bit taken back by the latter's reaction, which he thought was too much. Though, the next words Gerri spoke explained it all.
"Seriously dude... I thought you were a mute!"
"..."
Both Emery and Chumo didn't seem to know how to react, as they turned and looked at each other.
The next moment, Thrax arrived in front of the trio. Emery noticed the disgruntled look on his friend's face.
"Can you believe it, Emery?" Thrax said with a grunt. "Look there. Those two are so friendly with the enemy."
Emery immediately turned his head to see what Thrax meant. He then looked at the people Klea and Julian were talking to. The latter was talking to Alara, one of Roran Harlight's bodyguards while the former was talking to Anas, the leader of the Kaleos acolytes who came together with him from class 77.
He wasn't sure if it was because of Thrax's words, but somehow he could see that Klea seemed friendlier than usual to Anas - a guy who last year couldn't have been more obvious in chasing after her.
Either way, Emery knew he shouldn't overthink the situation, lest it spiraled out of control. He then decided to look around, to greet more familiar faces.
He saw Aiko the Jade Flash give him a nod as a greeting, the big guy combat specialist Orycon waved his hand at him and Okoye, who beamed a smile at him. Then, he realized he couldn't find Igor and Ivar, the two goat half blood acolytes, among those here.
At one corner of the hall, Emery could still find Micah and his friends talking about him. Not far from him, his favorite and number one fan Lodos moniker 'Maniac' was still watching him with his hostility-filled gaze.
Gerri seemed to also notice Lodos' attitude toward him.
"Damn... it looks like that guy still hates you, Emery. How impressive! It's been three years, after all." Gerri commented, while looking at Lodos' direction. "It seems you really made one of his screws loose forever."
Emery could only show a wry smile at Gerri's straightforward comment. Still, although some people looked at him with not-so-good gazes, he still found the situation to be surprisingly heartwarming as if meeting old friends.
A while later, Klea and Julian came to join the four people.
The girl proceeded to do what she always did, sincerely smiling and greeting the group. Naturally, Gerri took the opportunity to once again flirt with her, which Klea responded with being friendly as usual.
The only unusual thing with her behaviour Emery noticed was the way she no longer was all over him, or even stood close to him for that matter. This was definitely how a normal friend should act, but Emery couldn't help but feel odd. Apparently, he needed time to get used to this treatment.
Julian, on the other hand, was being sneered at by the Thracian. The Roman, however, chose to ignore the latter and told the group the recent news about what had happened during their absence that he just got from Alara.
Julian told the group about the development of the war with the elves and the fact Grand Magus Altus still hasn't returned to the academy. There was also the updated information regarding the half blood clans.
He gave Emery the concerning news about the Wolf and Snake clans. Apparently, this was also the reason why Lymord and the other Harlight family's acolytes who were of Wolf Bloodline would not be joining the elite class this year.
Hearing that, Emery guessed a similar thing probably happened to Igor and Ivan as well as the other half blood acolytes of class 7 who were still nowhere to be seen.
The news also made him anxious about what he would be experiencing from this point on, as he was a half blood. He suddenly thought of a certain girl who he hadn't seen for three years. Knowing the Snake half blood had left the human alliance, he wondered if he would ever see her again.
…
Not long after, the big door in the hall opened and everyone saw the elite class magus instructors entered. Magus Nayla, the Spirit Reading instructor; Magus Clio, the Lore instructor; Magus Rommy, the combat instructor; and finally the always smiley Magus Minerva, the Ethic and Principle instructor.
Emery as well as the others, however, realized they didn't see Grand Magus Aimon among the instructors. Instead, they saw an unknown person among them.
Even though they didn't know who he was, the bald man standing in the center exerted a much stronger pressure than all the instructors combined, which immediately led them to believe that the other party must be a grand magus.
Fortunately, Emery and the others didn't have to wait long for their curiosity to be sated.
"I'm Grand Magus Silas.. I will be the one to replace Grand Magus Aimon. Now, let me see how good you all are, Class 7!"