Formalities

Ash sat on his bed with a grim expression on his face.

All the playfulness he displayed around campus, or the nonchalance he showed to Dustan were no longer present. This was his real face.

'I've finally made it this far.' He thought to himself. 'But now, things will get exponentially more difficult.'

He thought about the Incident that would happen during the Exchange, and how it would forever shape the life of the students present. 

'The students of the other Academies should have arrived already. If the timeline remains consistent with them, I should be seeing some very familiar faces and names. That means I can predict them, to an extent, but that also means they'll be difficult to handle.'

It was for this central reason that he decided to inject himself into the Exchange.