Alix turned her attention to the stage where the principles of each of the Universities were standing. Each one was standing before what Alix could only assume were furled flags. Each one had a smile on their face except for Vance who was tapping his toe impatiently obviously preferring to be training right now.
Alix smirked a little. 'At least Vance's displeasure can make this the slightest bit more enjoyable." Mo shook his fish head.
'Yer a real sadist Lexi." Mo's droll statement went ignored by Alix as her attention turned to the side of the stage where the headmaster was now approaching.
The large crowd of students start to quiet down as Headmaster Edgar Noslen walked onto the slightly elevated platform. His strides exuded pride and virtue as his every step was confident yet gentle.
He took his place behind the podium and looked out at the crowd.
"Greetings students! I hope the previous week treated you well!" Some of the students nodded acknowledging that their first week had gone well.
"That's great! I am glad that you all were able to find comfort in this environment and I hope you will continue to enjoy your path in the long run. Trust me, some of you may think poorly of your current situation but I promise that each instructor only wishes for you to achieve the truest form of yourself."
Alisa felt a bit of warmth enter her heart from the headmaster's caring display. A warmth that several other students clearly also felt as they had likely rarely been told to be themselves
Well, all except for Alix. She was always herself except for when the school was actively denying her of that right.
"Now, as happy as I am that you all managed to find comfort on these grounds this is not a wellness check it is an announcement. One that I believe all of the students may find interesting and the instructors will find as an interesting opportunity."
Students started to question what this announcement was and why the headmaster was expecting them to enjoy it so much? Meanwhile, several of the instructors stood with knowing smiles on their faces. Alix was as confused as the rest of the student body which is why when she saw Alisa with the same smile as the instructors she was filled with curiosity.
"Ahem!" The headmaster cleared his throat to regain the crowd's attention before continuing. "As you all may know, this school prides itself on achievements as is evident by the S-Class, otherwise known as the Superiors. A name that was not green lit by the school but is used amongst the student body anyway."
"That being said some of you may feel like your achievements are going unnoticed by the faculty due to the S-Class existing and you may even feel scornful of your peers that manage to achieve excellence and enter the ranking of S." A few students standing in the crowd looked downward guiltily. They were unwilling to admit that they had been having such thoughts.
Though, to their credit, they were in the Martial Uni and witnessed Alix Deminal fight and defeat the instructor in combat so they weren't wrong to feel inadequate.
"Those thoughts can be put to an end." The martial students looked up from the ground shocked but listening. "Marconix was built as a pillar in the city of Pesinwok and as a grand landmark within our great nation. We pride ourselves on the accomplishments of all students and, as I said during orientation, we plan on giving each and every one of you a chance to display your skills and hard work."
"Which brings me to the purpose of this announcement. The Progression Summit!" Students faces started to shift from confused to interested. They tilted their heads, some grabbed their chins, and one very exuberant boy even had a long beard to stroke inquisitively. Alix simply creased her brows in interest as the headmaster continued.
"All of you likely know about the Innovation Conference. The largest gathering of today's shapers of the world from martial skills, spellcasting, and even the newer vocation of artifice. People from all across the land gather in Eidron once every decade to participate in this event and I bet even many of you hope to someday be part of one of these conferences." The students immediately started to nod in agreement.
To be part of the Innovation Conference.
Such a moment would be the pinnacle of any mortal's life. Just by attending you are getting the chance to experience history in the making first hand and you may even make a splash all on your own! It would be far more unlikely that a person with a future in any of the three statures of career would deny wanting to attend the event.
"Well, the Progression Summit is a chance to attend something very similar far earlier in your life." The crowd immediately roared at the man's words. They couldn't help it. They just got told that they would get the chance to experience something similar to the most prestigious event of the age before even finishing school.
The headmaster laughed heartily at the students excitement. "I'm glad that my announcement has brought you all such joy but I am not finished yet." The students put an end to their cheers but still fidgeted. They were all very excited. The headmaster made sure he could be heard before continuing.
"The Progression Summit of Marconix University is as the name states. It is the Summit of Progress. An event of which each and every one of you will get the chance to present your growth to your classmates in several ways. The main ways being one of three events." The headmaster gestured behind himself where Vance was standing signaling to him.
Vance nodded and unraveled the flag that he held in his hands revealing a red flag representing the Martial University. "The Martial Tournament!" Next, the Magic Uni's principle unveiled the blue flag.
"The Magic Showcase!" Finally the Vocation Uni revealed her green flag.
"And finally the Invention Convention!" The students let out a chorus of "oohs" and "aahhs" as each main event was announced. The headmaster turned back to the crowd.
"These three events will guarantee that each one of you will have a chance to show your peers and instructors how much you have improved over the course of the year. Which will be very important as the Progression Summit will be the thing to determine your final grade for the year." A few of the slower students, like Eric, froze when they heard how important this event was going to be.
Alix simply nodded. 'It makes sense an event like this is the perfect time to see if the students were actually dedicated to their craft or if they were just mindlessly following their instructors teachings."
'How does that make sense?" Mo looked at Alix confused. She realized that the fish was struggling to understand the meaning behind her words.
'We are in the Age of Innovation, Mo. If the students just follow along with the lessons and nothing else then it isn't really innovating now is it?" Mo placed a fin on his chin and nodded.
'Oh I see it now. Thank you so much for helping me." Sarcasm was very apparent in Mo's voice but Alix chose to ignore it and nodded to him.
'Always happy to help." She returned her attention to the podium and listened to the rest of the speech. The Headmaster ended up telling the students that the summit would take place at the end of the full school year which coincidently was the also the end of the physical year.
Meaning the students had until the end of the year to come up with something for their event. He also made sure to put heavy emphasis on the fact that students must participate in whichever main event coincides with their university.
The speech came to an end and thus the school day though the students were encouraged to begin their preparations as soon as possible. As the headmaster put it...
"When mindlessly climbing the mountain of progression, it is the summit that appears the most suddenly!" Those were the last words of the presentation and they rang in the students' minds, including Alix.
In fact, right after the presentation finished Alix immediately took it upon herself to head to the Library to continue her magic research. Alisa and Eric were following close behind her.
"You knew about this?!" Eric expressed his shock as Alisa informed him of her prior knowledge of the summit.
"Of course I did. Me, Nasak and Denver have been at this school for most of our lives so we've heard about the summit a lot! This is the first time that we actually get to be in it though!" Alisa proudly smiled at the baffled Eric.
His shock made her silence worth it. Eric shook his head still in shock of everything that had been revealed at the gathering. He looked over to Alix who was pulling books off of the shelf at a great speed.
"You must be pretty upset about the announcement, huh Mama Wolf?" Eric looked at Alix apologetically.
"Why would I be upset?" She said confused while not even looking at Eric.
"Well, you don't get to enter the Magic Showcase so I just assumed that you'd be upset. Are you not?"
"No." Alix responded while slightly laughing like she heard a nice joke.
"Why not?" Eric asked, now more confused.
"Because I can enter the Magic Showcase." Eric and Alisa met eyes before simultaneously responding.
"No you can't."
"Yes, I can. Though it's no surprise that a fool and a mountain boy didn't pick up on the context clues in the old man's speech." The two tilted their heads while the quick insult flew over their heads.
"Context clues?" Alix sighed exhausted.
"The headmaster said that we had to participate in the main event that was tied to our university. So the martial students must attend the tournament, the spellcasters must participate in the showcase, and those that just want jobs need to go to the convention." Alisa and Eric nodded while following along.
"He did not say that we couldn't also take part in the other events just that we had to be in the one with relation to our university path. Meaning, while I have to attend the tournament, I can also be a part of the showcase if I so wish."
"Ooohhh!" Eric and Alisa exclaimed finally understanding.
"Besides..." the two refocused when the notice that Alix was not done. "Anyone should be happy to attend an event like this regardless of if they get what they want or not. So, I better not hear any complaining from either one of you! It will distract me from my own work." Alice and Holiday nodded vehemently as their chosen maternal figure gave them instructions.
"Yes, mom!"
"I get it, Mama Wolf!" Alix sighed in relief.
"Good, then that's one thing off of my mind. Next..." Alix turned to face Alisa surprising the girl.
"I need to talk with you. Follow me."