A wave of stunned murmurs swept across the students and even the staff as their expressions grew complicated and mixed. Admittedly, Cæ could see the difference he made, even if he didn't like being wielded like a political prop, as he directed a careful sweeping gaze across the student body.
Mixed and complicated reactions were leagues above the visceral contempt they had for him based on his background. Even a lukewarm reaction was inconceivable to such a program announcement a year ago.
Of course, his sharp eyes caught plenty of students who were entirely against the idea.
He spotted Silian in the front section of the graduates, smoldering with cold fury. His defeat against Cæ had further heightened his hatred towards him. He spotted Delilah loudly complaining about this program amid a sea of chatter among the students.
However, he also spotted warm support among the young friends he had made at the start of the year and others of their kind. The commoner students were also more amenable to the idea, showing more support for the initiative. He spotted many of the senior students like Seliphaz, President Mileila was in particularly openly in support for it, muting some of recalcitrant voices that had emerged from the senior students.
However, while he scanned the students, Headmistress Lenolia paid the most attention to the reactions of the families seated at the very back. The student's reactions were not unimportant but were as important as those of the affluent families who were seated at the very other end of the hall.
The commoner parents looked deeply uncomfortable, not wanting to get caught between the affluent families and the Headmistress in something they had no stake in. They had merely gone to the magicademy that day to celebrate their children's graduation and nothing more.
The families in question schooled their conduct enough to hide any obvious outward signs of anger, but the Headmistress could sense their displeasure even across the entire hall.
"And with that announcement, I hereby conclude my announcement and officiation of the graduates," she boldly continued. "With that, I would like to invite the Honors Student and the number one ranked student in the Apprentice Program to deliver their graduation speech."
She turned towards him with a pleasant smile, putting him in the spotlight once more.
His eyebrows twitched as he suppressed the urge to choke her right then and there. He knew that he had to give a speech, and he hadn't thought much of it, figuring he could wing it as long as he spouted some generic bullshit.
But now, the air has changed, charged by her short, surprising announcement of the Outer District Magic Talent Acquisition Program.
Cæ no longer felt it was wise to simply spew thoughtless bullshit after this reveal, lest he earn the ire of, well, everybody. The entirety of the student and staff body, as well as all the gathered parents and guardians, simply gazed at him with an expectant expression.
The air tingled with anticipation.
An electric tension hung in the atmosphere.
Despite the sheer number of people and students gathered, there was a deafening silence that permeated the entirety of the spacious and vast hall.
STEP
Cæ took his place at the speaker's stand, directing a sweeping gaze across the entirety of his audience.
"In all my life…" he began, "I never expected that I would find myself standing here before all of you."
His tone was profoundly thoughtful.
Immersive.
"I spent most of my life scrambling to achieve a decent life." His tone was introspective. "Slogging through the poor excuse of schooling I went through in a collapsing shack, all so that I could simply achieve a decent life."
He closed his eyes.
"I failed in achieving even that humble dream."
The hall was dead silent.
Dead silent as each and every single person absorbed his words.
"And now, I stand here before all of you with a new goal," his tone grew chilling. "A new ambition."
His eyes opened with a fierce intensity.
Within it lurked the immense anger and hatred he bore for the very world itself.
"I do not intend to fail a second time."
His voice was ominous.
"…I don't know what this talent acquisition program means for the future of this magicademy," he remarked. "I don't know what it means for the future of student demographics of this magicademy. However, what I do know…"
His eyes swept across all of them, "is that I wish this had come sooner. I wish that this program had been put in place when I was sixteen years old, like my fellow freshmen apprentices. I wish I had the opportunities that my peers did at their age. I'm sure there are countless talents buried in the slums, brimming with potential, wishing that they, too, had the opportunities that all of you do so that they could achieve their dreams instead of failing as I did."
Those who heard his words stirred with a softening expression.
"I have learned much in the one year that I have spent in this magicademy," his tone grew more vibrant as it gained an uptick of positivity. "I have learned the secrets of magic and have reached the first altar in my journey into the abyss of magic. I have learned a little more about what it means to be a leader among people in both my academic and non-academic life. I have learned about what kind of path I seek to take to achieve my goals."
He glanced at his hands with a thoughtful expression. "And I have learned how much more there is for me to learn. I have learned so much, and yet I hunger for more."
His gaze returned to the silent and engrossed audience.
"And I intend to sate that hunger here in the Elendir Institute of Magic," he declared. "I thank all my teachers and my fellow students for what may very well be the most fruitful year in my entire life. And I look forward to taking the next step in my journey in the abyss of magic… Thank you."
He stepped back from the speaker's stand as his impromptu speech came to an end.
For a moment, there was dead silence.
And then, a thundering applause rained upon him. Students, staff, and even parents couldn't help but clap hard and long.
He internally heaved a sigh of relief as he appeared to have said most of the right stuff and adopted the right sentimentality to look good enough. While some of what he said was sincere and earnest, he would be lying if everything he said was in the domain of truth.
Grateful to his fellow students? The very thought of it made him want to scoff with contempt. If he could get away with it, he would strangle people like Silian with his bare hands. He was not grateful for being almost murdered for having been born in the slums over two decades ago.
He also managed to avoid running away from the topic of the talent acquistion program from the slums. However, despite speaking on it, he managed to avoid making it feel like he was an ardent supporter while still speaking on it positively enough for it to satisfy Headmaster Lenolia.
He spoke of it purely sentimentally for a few sentences before moving on to more standard graduation speech stuff.
All in all, he was satisfied with the outcome of his speech, managing to avoid anything controversial.
It wasn't that Cæ was inherently afraid of controversy, certainly not. He had experienced much of it even in the magicademy. However, he was particularly concerned that it could affect the deal he had made with the headmistress, which could freeze the funds that he was getting from the extra-curricular sponsorship.
He simply didn't want to avoid any financial mishaps when he was this close to launching his business.
He returned to his seat with a sigh of relief as the graduation ceremony continued with the various formalities that they had planned out. Cæ zoned out as he finally found the time to actually consider the implications of the Headmistress' political scheme. She had used him as political capital to unveil a program in a setting where it was instantly well-known across the entire school while ensuring that the its initial welcome was positive enough to make any pushback against it substantially harder than before.
Had she introduced this program the same way that she normally did, she would not have had the ability to push it through as easily. She would have been summoned to a meeting with the board directors comprised of the stakeholders of the Elendir Institute of Magic, and eventually been bullied into scrapping the program.
With this massive stunt, however, she had harnessed the positive reception, the feats, and the image of Cæ, and the prestige of the Elendir Institute of Magic as ammunition for the political power to make it stay. She had the power to say no, and they would need to fire her and institute another headmistress or headmaster to shut down the program.
All of these took time and power.
The affluent families would not have the ability to easily shut this project down any more.
They knew that, and it showed in their displeased eyes and postures.
'Unless they're willing to bleed in not only their prestige but also that of the Colohen Branch's prestige, they will most likely not choose to attack at this stage where it is most difficult to tear down,' Cæ realized. 'Which means most likely the program will stick.'
That meant that, for the next year, there would most likely be a talent scouting campaign where they measured the magic aptitude of the slum dwellers and then made them an offer to join the Elendir Institute of Magic if they were good enough.
As long as they were even remotely successful, it meant that there would be a lot of adolescents from the slums joining the Elendir Institute of Magic the very next year.
'Oh boy…'
He could already tell that that was a social recipe for disaster.
He had still diverged very significantly from the average person born and brought up in the slums. He had learned civic sense and basic human courtesy after the Selvigs decided to give him a job as a waiter or a customer service provider job.
The unrefined kids of the slums would have none of that.
If another fellow like Silian dared to raise his wand against him, they would do more than just passively lean back, making a strategic retreat, they would simply leap at him and tear him apart with their bare hands.
He could tell that the next academic year was going to get hectic.
Still, it was none of his concern, of course.
His greatest immediate concern was now his impending business that desperately begged for his attention. He no longer intended to focus on matters aside from it at this point, no matter what.
Soon enough, the graduation ceremony concluded as the students, teachers, and parents began dispersing alike. Cæ immediately darted for the exit, avoiding everybody like the plague as he returned to his dorm room.
He knew that he was missing much that many of the students would covet, including being approached and invited by a bunch of affluent families.
He didn't care.
"Time to focus exclusively on the business." His eyes narrowed.
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