Extra And MC-Chapter 119 - 115 - Award Ceremony Banquet V

Unable to believe who they were currently all staring at, everyone in the hall just stood there, gazing at the slightly elevated platform and the youthful man standing atop it, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.

Even the gentle decet that was being played by the skillful musicians in the hall abruptly came to a halt, further cementing the sudden pin-drop silence that washed over the entirety of the hall.

Snow white hair with interspersed strands of the occasional blue that perfectly framed both sides of his face, mysterious deep-blue eyes that seemed to be peer into one’s very being, well-sculpted and perfectly-shaped nose and lips, all held together by the finishing touches of his exquisitely handsome face that had a strong jawline and high cheekbones.

The man standing before all of them seemed otherworldly to say the least but even then, most of the people who had attended the Award Ceremony Banquet today, had no clue who exactly it was that was standing atop the stage.

To say all of Arcadia knew the actual appearance of the man who owned the most prestigious academy in the world would be, honestly, telling a big lie.

Xavier Chrono was a name they all knew and it was a name that always came up in people’s conversations whenever they sat down to discuss about the history of the academy.

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Despite creating something as monumental as a floating academic island which had been perfectly maintained for centuries now without any fear of it ever dropping to the ground, whenever people actually decided to search up his name on the web or internet, all they would ever see was his name and the academy he built. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yes, not even a single picture could be found pertaining to this elusive man.

It was almost as if all information regarding him was purposely been hidden from the world and even if one decided to make a deep investigation regarding him, all they would find themselves doing would simply be pulling their hairs out in frustration instead at the absolute lack of findings on him.

That being said, asides from his name and his status, there was one other thing that Xavier was generally known for, and that was the genuine fact that he was literally the only EX-Ranker alive known to mankind.

"Well color me shocked! I didn’t think we’d get to see you again in another lifetime Head Dean! It’s unbelievable really! Hahaha!" a singular booming voice travelled across the entire expanse of the hall, snapping everyone out of the trance they were in.

Standing beside Leopold and Arthur Adencia was Sebastian who had let out his signature boisterous laughter as he watched Xavier’s mystifying blue eyes, land on all three of them.

"Yes. I must admit. You all have aged considerably since the last time I saw you" the man who was dressed in a three-piece grey suit, replied to Sebastian with a small nostalgic smile.

The moment this happened, the entire hall, upon now realizing who the man before them actually was, instantly exploded in unbelievably feverish excitement!

"Oh my goodness!"

"I never thought a day would come where I’d actually get to see him for real!"

"An actual EX-ranker in the flesh?! And he looks so youthful too!!!"

"He’s real! He’s actually a living, breathing person!!!"

"Quick quick! Let’s take a picture!!"

The excitement in the hall took on another feverish outburst as people, mostly the cadets, swiftly began taking pictures with their smartwatches and some, similar to the way Caroline had a smartphone which was almost akin to relic in this world, whipped theirs out and also proceeded to do the same.

The Dean of the prestigious academy didn’t even bother to discourage them because without him even having to even do so, they would soon realize why the internet actually had no pictures of him.

And his reasoning was true because soon enough, the excited faces on everyone’s faces slowly began to turn into one of utter disbelief.

One cadet in particular, kept raising up his smartphone to where Xavier was, noticed there was something akin to a transparent mirage on the stage, removed his phone from his view, actually noticed the enigmatic man standing there and once again repeated the process over and over again, wondering if he was going mental.

The same could be said for most people in the hall but as this was happening Xavier calmly stood still, waiting for the reality of anyone ever being able to get a picture of him an impossibility, dawn on the people present in the hall.

Despite the shock and disappointment that was now on a lot of people’s faces though, Aiden hastily began to weave his way through the crowd to meet up with his brother.

Even though he had also been as utterly shocked by everyone due to the initial appearance of their Dean on the stage, there was a far more different reason as to why he had been completely shocked.

’I may not have played the game like Flynn had but that face... that face is way too close to his!’ Aiden internally declared.

Upon finally reaching his brother after a few more minutes, all while Xavier himself had now began to call up the cadets whose awards where going to presented to them, Aiden watched as Flynn muttered to himself.

"A dopple-ganger? It’s possible but what are the odds of that actually happening!"

"Hey Flynn" the emerald-eyed youth tapped on his brother’s shoulder and immediately, Flynn slightly turned his head sideways, a bit of shock still present on his features as he responded.

"Oh hey Aiden"

"You’ve also noticed how eerily similar he looks to him right?" he immediately followed up with a question, his voice so silent only Aiden could’ve heard despite Ivelia being next to him.

"I do. It’s mind-boggling honestly" Aiden quietly answered too in a voice barely above a whisper, a hint of disbelief still in his voice after which he then added.

"After the awards have been given, we just might need to approach him to ask if he’s related in some way or the other to him"

"Definitely!" Flynn resolutely nodded his head slightly in reply.

Even in the novel, the Dean of Arcana Academy was rarely ever mentioned and the only time that both Aiden and Flynn could remember having seen a description of him, it was a single line that only explained how Aiden in the novel, shortly described Xavier as ’a very mysterious man’ from his own perspective.

It was also the graduation day for Aiden in the novel, a day where it was compulsory for the Dean of Arcana Academy to present each and every one of their certificates to the graduating set and as a result, that was the only time Aiden had seen him according to the novel.

Now though, he was here to present the awards instead of Senya actually being the one who did it, causing both brothers to wonder once again just how much of a butterfly effect they’ve had on the story.

"Finally found you guys too!" Ivar suddenly said as he popped out from behind both brothers along with Maya, Adrian, Caroline and Beatrice.

Having decided to meet Xavier as soon as the ceremony was over, Flynn and Aiden quickly turned their attention over to the four youths that came over.

"Ready to knock that speech out of the park Ivar?" Ivelia who had been beside both Flynn and Aiden without noticing the two brother’s secluded conversation, asked her own brother with a confident smile.

"Ready as I’ll ever be" Ivar also replied confidently, all of his jitters completely gone.

Flynn and Aiden just gave themselves a smug look that seemingly said; "See, we said he’d be fine!"

A few minutes later as the twins waited for their turn, they were called out to come receive their awards for their groundbreaking discovery in the alchemical field.

The hall as if on cue, showered them with a roar of applause as they both made their way up to the small yet elegantly designed stage with meaningful steps.

"Congratulations Ivelia Steelblade, Ivar Steelblade. Your achievement will forever be remembered in the annals of time" Xavier gently said while handing them the diamond plaques with each of their names etched into it in golden-ink cursives respectively.

"Thank you Dean Chrono. We’re honored!" the twins replied with grateful expressions on their faces.

Taking their place on the podium side-by-side, Ivelia began their short award speech as the round of applause slowly began to die down.

"I must say, we never expected to come this far…"

"But now that we have, I think it’s fair to say we could never have done it on our own" she continued.

"So with that in mind, we’d both like to offer our sincerest gratitude to the Belmonts" the orange-haired lady smiled warmly, her eyes finding all the members of the Belmont Family.

"Thank you all for always protecting and supporting both of us with everything you had. But most importantly, thank you for believing in us. It’s such a blessing for us to have met with amazing people like you" Ivelia completed her part of the speech with tears of gratitude brimming in her eyes.

The Ducchess of the Belmont Family from afar, just wiped a few happy tears that were also brimming in her own eyes with a handkerchief, gently placing her other hand on her chest while Leopold gave a small warm smile and a small nod to the twins, both of his hands gently securing Briar who was now fast asleep.

"So I know everyone still wants to party and have as much fun as possible before that dreadful Monday morning comes tomorrow so…" Ivar began to speak and this caused a lot of people in the crowd to chuckle, especially the cadets.

The youth after watching their chuckles down a few moments after, quickly picked up from where he trailed off with a confident smile.

"…I’ll keep my half of the speech extremely short"

"Our Father may have been the one to originally conceive the idea for the advancement of the healing potions but he unfortunately never got to see it. It’s sad but at the very least, I’m genuinely glad he passed on his torch to us" he continued with a smile and almost immediately, the youth raised the diamond award plaque up into the air and declared.

"We’re going to take that torch father and we’re going to set it ablaze! Brighter than you could ever have imagined!" Ivar concluded both he and Ivelia’s speech on a high note and immediately, the entire hall descended into another wave of roaring applause and whistles.

By now, all the members of their dorm had now gathered up where the previous five along with Maya were and they also joined the entire hall in giving both twins resounding applauses for their speech as they both slowly left the podium.

As this was happening, Aiden and Flynn who were also clapping with warm smiles on their faces soon noticed someone’s gaze on them.

Unsurprisingly enough, the gaze which was from Xavier was completely harmless but instead, it held a lot of familiarity.

Soon enough, both youth heard Xavier’s calming voice make its way into their heads.

"Hello Aiden and Flynn Belmont…"

"Or should I say Liam and Ken Callagher?"

Immediately both youth’s heard that, their eyes widened in utter disbelief but Xavier was far from being done.

"I know you’ve being curious as to why I look like Amael…"

"And you’re on point. I am related to him. I’m his younger brother actually"

Another bombshell of a news was dropped onto both Flynn and Aiden again but because they didn’t want to have anyone around them wondering if they had just seen a ghost, they continued with their claps, maintaining the warm smile that nestled on their features.

"Speaking of Amael, I think it’s important that you know…"

Both brothers held their breaths in anticipation for their Dean’s next word and soon, he completed his statement.

"He’s still very much alive…"

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⸶⸺ End Of Volume 1 ⸻⸷