Feast and Feats
When Aldin and Isabella got up, the whole crowd had gone silent. They were both stunning, and they both got envious stares from their respective gender, the ladies envied Isabella, she had long silky black hair, clear skin and Aldin in her hands. For Aldin, all the men in the room were envious of his muscular build, his handsome face, his unique hair, his magical talent and the girl in his arms.
It should also be noted that they all believed Aldin was an adult male and had no idea of his actual age.
When they got to the table Aldin stared at the food mesmerised, it all looked delicious that it had Aldin staring at it. Isabella on his side giggles on seeing Aldin acting his age. Aldin went red, but Isabella came behind him and nudged him forward.
"Pick what you like," Isabella said.
"Sure," Aldin said and began picking out what he thought he would like and soon his plate was full. From behind them a lady approached Aldin and tapped his back. Aldin turned to see Iris.
On the same day after the bloody massacre, the new tower intakes arrived, among them was Iris, she had come from a low-level noble family, after awakening at the age of twelve, she had tried getting into the academy but failed, she went back to her home where she continued her life as noble but she still had the urge to become a mage and started practising magic on he own but she was never able to get all the books she needed and that was what brought her to take the entrance exam for the tower shortly after her coming of age party.
Iris was a 16-year-old lady, her body had well developed with long blonde hair that made her even more prettier.
"Hey, you looked great out there," Iris said ignoring Isabella on Aldin's side and twirled her hair.
"Thank you," Aldin said awkwardly.
"I would like to know all about the way you hunted it down," Iris said moving even closer, enough for her to be very close to Aldin.
"Maybe another time," Aldin said moving to the side and leaving while holding Isabella by the hand and dragging her with him.
"Is there something wrong I said, I just wanted to know how he did it," Iris said to herself. The magic enthusiast knew not that she had come too close to Aldin making him uncomfortable.
From the side group of men among the guards had seen this and one of them walked up to her.
"We could tell you how we hunted down beasts in these dark woods," He said.
Iris took a glance at him and could tell he was not a veteran and turned away leaving and continuing to mingle around.
The man who had been left there standing went back to his friend who were laughing at him.
Aldin and Isabella had by now gotten back to the table.
"What was that all about?" Isabella asked.
"She was getting too close and that was making me uncomfortable," Aldin said.
Isabell instantly remembered the hug they had shared although they were close to each other he had not pushed her away, this sent her brain into overdrive and overthinking the hug.
Aldin devoured his meal as Isabella took small bites of her meal absent-mindedly.
Meanwhile, at the back of the hall the the newest batch of students from the academy were huddled up together.
"Are you guys sure that is Aldin," one of them asked, "At the tournament, he looked to be only seventeen at most but now he looks like a fully grown man,"
"I think it is, that guy looks like a mature version of Aldin, everything about him is very similar but his hair now is half black and half white," another said.
"And didn't he have black hair when he was a first year, how could he have changed that much," Another said.
"It really is him," Terias said.
"And how can you be so sure," One of them asked.
"Because I saw him advance," Terais said.
"And what does that have to do with all this," The same person asked.
"Because he used a body improvement training," Terias said,
"But that does not explain anything at all," The same person said.
"It does, that training enables one to improve the quality of their body, but it has one disadvantage, only half of those who practice it end up dying," Terias said.
"That explains a lot, but why does his body change every time he advances?" the person asked.
"Every time he is exposed to high amounts of mana his body alters itself," Terias said.
"So that's why every time he advances he changes drastically," Ben, the person who had been questioning Aldin's advancement said.
From the side, at that very moment, Valen and a few of her friends came over to them.
"Hey guys, I hope you are enjoying the party?" Valen asked.
"We are," Terias siad.
"DO you guys usually have parties, two in the span of three days is quite a lot," Ben said.
"We usually don't, after all not every day is a powerful beast taken down," Valen said.
"And where did that guy come from, I've never seen him before today," One of Valen's friends said.
"Oh, he came from the academy with us," Ben said.
"You're joking right, that is a fully grown man, he can't be from the academy, or was he a teacher at the academy," Rick, Valen's friend said.
"He is actually a junior to me," Ben said.
Rick began laughing
"You guys sure know how to make jokes, but at least make them believable," Rick said in between laughs.
"What do you mean, it's not a joke, he is 12 years old right now," Ben said.
"You mean that guy is a first-year, good one," Rick said laughing even louder.
"We are serious, he just practised the body refinement technique," Terias said and that stopped RIck's laughing.
"You guys are serious," Rick said once his laughter died.
"He sure is lucky then, but I'm still curious how a first-year got here, do you mind telling more about him," Rick said.
Terias began narrating what she knew about Aldin but for some reason, she was unable to reveal that Aldin was a quadra-attributed mage, Ben found this odd since he too could not mention it to anyone, They ignored this and continued narrating about Aldin.
Meanwhile, Mars and Zack were at the table enjoying the meal. Out of nowhere, Zack began to experience abdominal pain, he held his hand at his stomach bearing the pain, he began to whimper in pain and Mars who was next to him turned to see Zack in pain.
"Are you alright," Mars asked but there was no response.
Suddenly the air around became heavy and an aura began to apply on everyone in the hall, this drew everyone's attention to Zack, mana also began to accumulate and then Zack's body also began to illuminate, the light he produced was a lot and shone in all directions.
It soon settled down and the pressure disappeared and the mana in the air went into Zack. Soon after he went unconscious, Mars was about to freak out, but Aldin appeared next to him out of nowhere.
"It's alright, he is okay, though he will start practising magic very soon," Aldin sailed calming down Mars.
"Thank you," Mars said and carried Zack away.
Mars proceeded to carry Zack back to the apartment he needed to get him some rest.
Aldin sat back in his seat. The sudden awakening had snapped Isabella out of her nigh-time daydreaming.
The two continued to eat and they were soon done, sitting down made them uncomfortable, the environment was not one they were used to.
"I think it is time we leave," Aldin said.
"I agree with you," Isabella said.
They got up and left, this time though they did not leave holding hands, as they walked out of the hall, a path was made for them and eyes were staring at them walk out, this made them even more anxious and self-conscious. The air was suffocating for both of them, they moved close to each other and they unconsciously held hands, they moved on not noticing they were holding hands until they left the hall, once out they took a deep breath and made a sigh.
"That felt very suffocating, it was almost like I couldn't breathe," Aldin said.
"Tell me about it," Isabella said.
"And was it me, or were they all staring at us, i think I even saw a few glares," Aldin said.
Now that they were more relaxed, they let go of each other's hands and made their way to the apartment.
They made their way. Mars was taking care of Zack in his room.
Aldin and Isabella sat down on the couch beside each other and very close.