“I love it! I love it so much!” Zhang Ye said with a face full of happiness. “Thank you, Big Nana!”
Leona rubbed Zhang Ye's hair and laughed heartily. “Just tell me what you want!”
Zhang Ye immediately pointed to a nearby shop that was also hosting an event, where the prize was a magic puppet in the shape of a magic bear.
“I want that one!” Zhang Ye said.
“Alright!” Leona walked straight over.
A moment later, Leona returned holding the bear. Zhang Ye took it, his face beaming with immense joy.
“Thank you, Big Nana!”
Lina and the others watched this scene, filled with emotion.
Have their boyfriend and girlfriend roles been reversed?
Why does it feel like Brother Ye is the little girlfriend here?
But Brother Ye looks so cute at this moment~
Suddenly snapping out of his bliss, Zhang Ye realized he couldn't just play with Leona; he had to bring everyone else along too.
So with a grand wave of his hand, Zhang Ye led the group deeper into the commercial street.
“Big Nana, sit tight. I'll go win a 【Fire Cloud Bracelet】 for you!”
“Lina, look what your brother got you!”
“Brother-in-law, this Flame Bear War Hammer suits you perfectly!”
“A-Nan, want some skewers?”
“Gujiu, you want to eat some Blue-leaf Fruit? Brother will buy them for you.”
Zhang Ye took care of everyone without leaving a single person out. Watching this, even Leona felt a warmth in her heart.
Although the prizes Zhang Ye won weren't of high value and didn't help her much as a Saint-tier, they represented his heartfelt feelings.
He hadn't neglected anyone just because he wanted to spend time alone with her; in everything he did, he took everyone into consideration.
Perhaps this was why everyone loved being around him.
Around him, everyone could clearly feel that warmth—so comfortable and caring.
After wandering around for the entire morning, everyone was completely satisfied, and even the corners of A-Nan's mouth curled up in an involuntary smile.
He really liked the Heavy Thunder Short Blade that Zhang Ye had specifically won for him.
At noon, everyone returned to the dorms, and Leona came along too. Thus, Zhang Ye cooked in person, determined to let Leona taste his culinary skills.
Soon, the dishes were served, along with a series of Earth delicacies like dumplings that Zhang Ye prepared using his mastery of cooking skills. Even Leona's mouth watered in anticipation.
Taking a bite, the doors to a new world immediately swung open!
“It's too delicious!” Leona said in pleasant surprise. “Little Ye, did you figure this out all by yourself?”
Zhang Ye smiled and shook his head. “This is food from my hometown. We are a nation that takes eating as our very soul!”
Leona burst into hearty laughter.
They played all the way until the afternoon. After dinner, everyone headed to the Central Grand Arena. The Freshman Welcome Party would begin at seven ke, with only half an hour left.
The performers preparing to take the stage were already in place, adjusting their states backstage.
“Go on, bring back first place,” Leona said.
Zhang Ye nodded, then chuckled. “Is there a reward for first place?”
Hearing this, Leona tapped her lips with a smile, her meaning more than obvious.
Zhang Ye's breathing instantly grew hot as he nodded. “Just you wait. I guarantee I'll take first!”
He had already decided on the song he was going to sing. It would definitely bring the house down!
At seven ke, the students and mentors filed in one after another. Soon, the spectator stands were packed.
Seated in the very front row were nine individuals—the Grand Dean and the deans of the other departments.
The Freshman Welcome Party operated on a scoring system. Each dean held ten points, and the one hundred mentors seated behind them each had one point, totaling one hundred and ninety points. Finally, everyone's academy badge could connect to a magic circle to participate in the voting; every one thousand people counted as one point, meaning they could get a maximum of ten points with ten thousand people.
In total, there were over ten thousand students present!
The total score was two hundred points!
The higher the score, the higher the ranking!
The Grand Dean slowly flew onto the arena. Instantly, the colored crystals hovering above the arena acting as stage lights directed their beams toward him.
“This old man won't say too much. First, I'd like to thank everyone for coming to the Freshman Welcome Party.”
“I also hope everyone can achieve great things at All Souls Academy and, more importantly, have a happy time.”
“Now, the Freshman Welcome Party officially begins!”
Everyone cheered in unison, the atmosphere instantly growing lively.
At this moment, a pair of exceptionally elegant young man and woman flew onto the stage, warm smiles on their faces.
“Hello everyone, I am your host—Schukedo.”
“Hello everyone, I am your host—Shali.”
The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, eliciting screams from a crowd of students.
“It's Senior Schukedo!”
“Ahhh, so handsome!”
“Senior Schukedo, I love you!”
“Goddess Shali!”
“So beautiful!”
“Ahhh, someone slap me quickly, I'm about to faint!”
(｀･ω･´)ﾉ(#)꒪з꒪) Slap!
“Ah Zhen, you're playing for real?”
Seeing the crowd's reaction, the two smiled slightly and began hosting.
They started with a string of official remarks, speaking in perfect harmony and showing great chemistry.
“Next, please welcome our first performer. The show he will be presenting is—Ocean World!”
That's right, it was Copico, that show-off. He was the first to take the stage.
The colored crystals above the arena immediately turned blue, casting a sea-blue glow over the stage. Copico, dressed in a blue suit, walked onto the stage.
Needless to say, this look combined with his handsome face instantly caught the attention of many female students.
“Hello everyone, my name is Copico. Next, please keep your eyes wide open.” Not showing a hint of stage fright, Copico wore what he believed to be a dashing smile and spread his arms. “The beautiful Ocean World is presented to you all!”
Just as his voice fell, a massive water vortex rose from beneath Copico's feet, enveloping him.
Eventually, the water vortex reached a height of a hundred meters.
The next moment, countless magical beasts composed of water elements emerged from the vortex, swimming toward the spectator stands in a swirling motion.
Each water magical beast was lifelike. Under the illumination of the lights, the blue water elements emitted a soft, shimmering glow, looking absolutely magnificent.
From tiny fish, small shrimp, jellyfish, and sea turtles...
...to massive whales, mosasaurs, and even a hundred-meter-long Sea Demon Dragon composed of water elements surging forth.
The water magical beasts swam above the spectator stands, within arm's reach of the audience. Some cute little fish and shrimp even interacted with the spectators, making them giggle.
A lifelike ocean world was presented before everyone's eyes, drawing sighs of admiration.
Finally, as another vortex surged up, all the water magical beasts returned to it and disappeared. Copico's face turned slightly pale.
Releasing such a large-scale shaping magic consumed a massive amount of mana, making it a bit hard for him to bear. Fortunately, the effect was excellent.
“Thank you, everyone!” Copico smiled, bowed to the crowd, and then walked off the stage.
“Thank you to Student Copico for presenting Ocean World. Now, judges, please cast your scores. Students can also connect to the magic circle through their badges to cast a precious vote for your favorite performer!” Shali smiled.
The judges immediately began scoring, and the audience also voted using their school badges.
A mana projection screen appeared above the arena.
Soon, the score was displayed.
The nine deans gave a total of 75 points, the one hundred mentors gave a total of 74 points, and the audience votes totaled over six thousand, which counted as 6 points, making a grand total of 155 points.
Temporarily in first place!
Next was the second performer.
Compared to Copico, the second performer was somewhat lacking. He performed a puppet trick and ended up with a total score of 103 points.
Then came the third and fourth, neither of whom surpassed one hundred and twenty points.
This made Copico stand below the stage with a smug look on his face.
Until Samanra took the stage.
She performed the Wind Spirit Dance.
Accompanying her graceful dance, the background music began to play, the singing melodious, and a gentle breeze swept across the field.
Samanra, wearing a cyan gauze dress, danced gently. The wind seemed to dance with her, lifting the hem of her skirt and causing a crowd of men below the stage to widen their eyes.
Could they see it?!
What color was it?!
However, the wind wouldn't let them see what they wanted to see. Every time the hem of Samanra's skirt was lifted, it would be pressed back down by the wind, as if playing hard to get. Her beautiful dance moves blossomed in midair along with the wind.
Everyone was absolutely mesmerized.
This was the Wind Spirit family's Wind Dance.
When the dance ended, Samanra smiled slightly at the audience, pinched the hem of her skirt, and curtsied. Instantly, a fiery cheer erupted from the crowd.
The scoring began.
In the end, her total score was 178 points, surpassing Copico and temporarily taking first place!
She also gained a massive number of fans!
One performer after another took the stage.
Some performed magic, some performed tricks, some showcased combat techniques, while others sang or danced.
The scores varied.
Among them, Paige took the stage to sing a song. Her singing stirred the crowd's emotions, bringing a sense of peace to everyone's minds, allowing her to secure the highest score so far: 185 points!
Just when everyone thought Paige would take the crown, Gajeel from Rainbow Class Two took the stage. Together with a light mage, he performed 【Light of the Night】.
As dark-attribute magic was released, everyone felt as if they were plunged into darkness. Then, a light shone in the sky, and two figures appeared in everyone's field of vision.
Their performance style was similar to a stage play, using magic to tell a story to everyone.
In the story, Gajeel played the role of the Night Prince, while the light mage portrayed his good friend, the Day Prince.
Their story was full of twists and turns—a pair of brothers loving and fighting each other, only to reconcile in the end.
Presented through the medium of a magic performance, it made everyone feel as if they were right there, their emotions deeply stirred and moved.
In the end, his score surpassed Paige's, reaching 187 points!
Seeing this score, a confident smile appeared on Gajeel's face.
With such a high score, how could he not win the championship?
“Night Prince!”
“Night Prince!”
The cheers of the audience made Gajeel forget that there was still one final act that had not yet performed.
Below the stage, Lina looked at the leaderboard, clenching her small hands.
“Go for it, Brother Ye...”
“Now, please welcome our final performer. He will be presenting a song to us. Let's wait and see!” the host said.
A song?
Just a song?
Everyone was taken aback, while Gajeel sneered disdainfully.
He simply didn't believe a single song could surpass him. This championship was as good as his!
Right at this moment, the lights went completely dark!
The colored crystals in the sky also slowly descended.
Everyone was shocked. Had something gone wrong with the stage lights and crystals?
Just as everyone was wondering, a beam of starlight lit up from above the stage.
It was incredibly bright, visible to everyone.
Lina's pupils contracted.
That was... the afterglow of 【Blink】!
It was Brother Ye!
Rate on N.U.
