BXBX NOVEL Chapter 211: Closing Ceremony
Considering that Colzen Academy\'s budget is not even close to half of Aslan\'s, it would be unrealistic to expect their representatives to match up to Aslan\'s representatives on the matter of trump cards.
Although Colzen took the lead, the guild masters didn\'t believe that they would win– and that it would be Aslan who would grab the championship in the end.
Hence, upon seeing Shye pull out trump card after trump card—even showing everyone that he already had subclasses at such a young age, they were all stupefied.
Perhaps in other regions, this was the standard of a talented youngster.
They had lots of various resources to support their younger generation after all.
It was truly mind-boggling how such a young representative could achieve such heights without the resources of a high-ranking academy.
Right after the official announcement of Colzen\'s victory, the eyes of the top ten guild masters changed and the easygoing ambiance was replaced by gazes of cutthroat competition.
They all wanted to secure Shye for themselves.
On the other hand, seeing the attitudes of the highest-ranking guild masters made the other guild masters curse inwardly.
If the best guilds wanted the best representatives, what could they do?
Realizing this fact, most of them immediately gave up and turned their attention to other talented prospects such as Siegfried, Kiin, Ian, and Wendy.
David and Harry performed well, however, they didn\'t shine that much, hence, the other guild masters prioritized the other four.
Still, it didn\'t mean that none of the guild masters were interested in extending invitations to them.
On the contrary, David and Harry were the top two and top three mage prospects, with Asha being the first.
In an instant, the once lively city lord\'s office was enveloped by a stern business atmosphere—all of the guild masters decisively crushing high-quality sound isolation communication talismans here and there, ordering their subordinates to send invitations to prospects of their choice.
Amongst the crowd, the bald old man smiled before vanishing into thin air as though he wasn\'t there in the first place.
Meanwhile, at the Aslan ringside, Damien stared at the ground.
His black hair obscured his expression, but it was clear that he was upset judging from the tight grip of his clenched fists.
He wanted to complain and accuse Shye of cheating, however, he knew that it would only make the bastard from Colzen appear more talented than him.
Hence, after going through a tough internal struggle, he ultimately decided to let him go for now.
\'I\'ll see you in the world of professional adventurers…you m*therf*cker…\' thought Damien as he led the dejected and frustrated Aslan party back to their academy station.
In contrast, the Colzen party was practically prancing in happiness—wide smiles plastered on their faces as though they were in seventh heaven.
Siegfried and Ian wrapped their arms around Shye, punching him playfully as they praised him like what truly close friends do.
Upon arriving at their academy station, the Colzen representatives were shocked as both deans walked closer and gave each of them a hug—tears threatening to stream down their faces.
The deans loved their academy and had been toiling nonstop to increase the rank of Colzen.
No matter how small the rank increase was, they would accept it with open arms.
Hence, with such a significant advancement, the deans almost couldn\'t stop their tears.
They were just too overwhelmed with emotions.
After a few minutes of light-hearted drama, the preparations for the closing ceremony were complete.
In the center of the stage stood four winners\' podiums: two bronze-colored, one silver, and one gold.
It was getting late so the organizers wasted no time and immediately started the ceremony.
Striding up the stage was Bart, who was back after being on the sidelines for quite some time.
After a few pleasantries, Bart promptly called the third and fourth-place winners: Eusford and Freia.
Witnessing the unhappy expressions on the faces of the representatives, one wouldn\'t think that they were being awarded bronze medals.
Their faces simply looked too sour.
Well, for the top three academies, bronze medals were definitely not a cause for celebration, and at every closing ceremony, two of the three academies ascend the winners\' podium with frowns on their faces so such a sight wasn\'t new to most of the people watching.
Only, this time around, there were three academies with frowns on their faces.
A newly risen academy took the top spot after all.
Although they lost, the three kingly academies had a special place in the hearts of the crowd so the cheers for them were nothing to scoff at.
Eventually, the cheers died down and it was time for this year\'s true kings to claim their throne.
"And now, this year\'s top academy, please ascend the gold podium, Colzen Academy!!"
Hearing Bart\'s cue, the Colzen seven emerged from their academy station, prompting the crowd to once again burst into cheers.
In the past hundred years, never once have the three academies conceded any of the top three spots to another academy, let alone the top spot.
This is the reason why the crowd was going wild.
They were witnessing history in the making.
As the Colzen representatives climbed onto the gold podium individually, the cheers intensified, and the realization of becoming this year\'s champions gradually dawned on them.
\'Damn, we really did it huh?...\' thought Shye as he scanned his eyes across his teammates, feeling proud of their achievements both as friends and as representatives.
Shortly after though, another realization struck him.
After this, they would all go their separate ways.
He suddenly felt like crying as a bittersweet feeling consumed his heart—tears welling in the corners of his eyes.
\'Ahh…f*ck this… why am I so sentimental? Well, with how talented these guys are I\'m sure we\'ll meet again…here…in Valenzia City…\'
Consoling himself, Shye decided to enjoy their victory, waving at the crowd with a smile on his face and drowning the bitter feeling in his heart beneath the glorious cheers of the audience.