102 Chapter 102: Campfire Party

The number of attendees surpassed even Alicia's imagination. She had sent her invitation to the whole school, but she didn't expect to see over five hundred students attend. They had located a safe clearing just outside the forest, nestled between a couple of cliffs and relatively short mountains. Rather than actually being inside Jing Tian Forest itself, they held the party in a nearby valley, on the edge of the wilderness.

That way, they didn't have to worry about monsters. There was no tall grass where monsters would hide, and they were unlikely to venture out of the forest. As a precaution, Alicia and Black Rose had arrived early to set up a barrier around the venue. They were far from professionals, but for students, they were very competent. Even rank D monsters would find it difficult to breach the barrier they had meticulously cast over the site.

As the sun disappeared over the horizon, the only illumination was provided by both the ferocious crackling of flames from the campfire in the middle of the valley, and the silvery moonlight from above, bolstered by thousands of twinkling stars. Of course, there were a few electric lights set up, projecting bright flashes of illumination while being powered by portable generators, but to maintain the atmosphere, they were far and few in between.

In the middle was the campfire. Black Rose had earlier brought the wooden logs from the forest and set them up in the middle of the valley, as well as adding fuel and other necessary components for the campfire. Now, the flames danced about in the middle of the party, adding to the festivity and celebratory mood that was floating around.

"Happy birthday, Sheng Ri Kuai Le!"

Alicia smiled as she greeted the birthday girl. Sheng Ri Kuai Le was chatting with a few of her close friends, having gathered around a table where they had prepared a birthday cake. Chocolate with raspberry sauce on top, decorated with bright red strawberries.

"Thank you for organizing this, President Alicia!" Sheng Ri Kuai Le hurriedly got up to bow gratefully. Alicia waved her thanks away.

"It's nothing. I was intending to hold a party for the completion of the training camp anyway, so I thought it would be a good excuse to combine the two. I'm so glad you agreed to it! It will make the party a lot more fun, even for those who didn't participate in the training camp! I'm actually happier that it allowed us to invite more people!"

The crowd was definitely over a dozen times larger than the number of people who had attended the training camp. Using Sheng Ri Kuai Le's birthday as an excuse definitely bumped the number up.

"I hope you're having fun!"

"You too, President Alicia! Please enjoy yourself! You worked so hard to make this happen, you should definitely relax a little too!"

"Of course." Alicia didn't mention that, as the host, she had to ensure that everyone was enjoying themselves before she could relax. After exchanging a few more words with the birthday girl, she proceeded to check on the other students.

A group of guys were boisterously laughing and drinking at the drinks table. A whiff of alcohol emanated from them. Alicia raised an eyebrow, wondering if they brought their own drinks. After all, Black Rose didn't order or bought any beer or wine or alcoholic drinks to the campfire. Well, as long as they didn't cause trouble, it would be fine.

Alicia then approached the long stretch of tables, where a buffet of food was laid out. They had planned on having a barbeque, and a few of the Black Rose members were grilling skewered meat and vegetables atop a portable barbeque pit, before placing them on the table. The other party-goers would visit the table whenever they were hungry, and grab whatever food that had already been prepared. Sometimes a few kind souls would take over so that the Black Rose members could eat or enjoy the party. Even so, Alicia and the other Black Rose members usually snacked in between grilling, especially since they literally had the food at hand.

"How's it going, Alicia?" Miranda asked as she approached her president. Like Alicia, she had been going around entertaining guests and making sure everyone was having a good time.

"So far so good," Alicia replied with a gentle smile. "I'm glad everyone is enjoying themselves."

Miranda laughed. "That's the point of the party, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Alicia accepted a skewer from Elliot, who had just finished grilling a fresh batch of meat and vegetables. "Thank you, Elliot."

"No problem, President. Here you go, Vice-president." Elliot gave Miranda a second skewer before gesturing to the table. "There's a lot more food over there, so please help yourselves."

"Make sure you get some for yourselves," Miranda reminded him as she chewed on the red peppers.

"Will do." Elliot gave them a wave before heading over to join Nicholas, Jin Hao and Aoi. The four of them chatted and laughed as they grilled the barbequed stuff together. Alicia and Miranda watched them, with smiles on their faces.

"Even our members are having fun."

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"Yeah, that's great."

The two of them split up again to make the rounds, going around the campsite to check on the other guests. There were literally hundreds of students partying around the gigantic campfire, and not only did Alicia wanted to ensure everyone was enjoying themselves, she also had to ensure nobody was causing any trouble.

"..."

Loud, pop music drifted along the air, barely making itself heard over the crackle of the roaring campfire and the combined voice of over five hundred students conversing at once. Alicia found herself near the campfire, where a large cluster of couples had gathered to dance around the huge pile of burning wood. Guys and girls were swaying to the beat of the music, and some of the bolder ones were spinning around stylishly, probably trying to show off or something. The girls were giggling as the guys spun them about, or literally carried them up into the air.

"Hey, President Alicia! Want to dance?" Craig called out. He was currently dancing with a girl from the Crimson Spear Society. Alicia recalled her name being Sheila, if she wasn't mistaken. She was a pretty girl with flaming red hair, who was very proficient with a spear.

"No thanks. I don't have a partner."

"That's easily solved. Anyone want to…"

"No, please don't. My partner has yet to arrive." Alicia hastily cut in before Craig could call out to the others. He blinked, and when Sheila tugged at him, he suddenly got the hint.

"Oh. Yeah. Good luck finding him then."

"Isn't Alicia…you know, with Richard?" Sheila whispered into his ear as she drew close and wrapped her hands around his neck. Craig nodded slightly as he placed his hands on her hips and gyrated to the beat.

"You're right. I totally forgot." Craig laughed as he ground his lower waist against Sheila's, and she couldn't help but moan. "Sorry."

Alicia shook her head, blushing a little when she saw their dirty dancing, and turned away. She advanced a little further, and caught sight of a few familiar figures.

"Dong Fang Yue Chu! Everybody."

Ultimate Outcasts had gathered together in front of one of the barbeque tables, helping themselves to the food and drinks. They glanced up when they caught sight of Alicia approaching them.

"Oh! President Alicia!" Harvey greeted her enthusiastically. Stan nodded while Wang Fei shrank back shyly, overawed by the presence of Jing Tian Academy's goddess.

"Enjoying yourself?" Dong Fang Yue Chu asked as he handed her a skewer. Alicia nodded as she accepted it, and nibbled on the piece of chicken.

"I should be asking you that. How's the party?"

"Great!" Harvey exclaimed excitedly. "I didn't expect so many people to come!"

"It's a bit loud," Wang Fei murmured. That guy was extremely similar to me in so many aspects we could probably pass off as brothers.

Stan rolled his eyes. "It's a party. Of course it would be loud. They're playing music." He smiled. "You have a nice selection."

"Oh, I wasn't the one who picked them. I think Vivian was the one who chose the music. She's over there." Alicia gestured toward the loudspeakers, where a radio had been set up. a girl with medium-length blue hair was bobbing her head up and down as she played with the controls, scanning the screen to pick the next song, because the current one was about to end.

"Heh…that's really cool." Dong Fang Yue Chu nodded. When he caught sight of Alicia looking around, he suddenly understood why she came over. "If you're looking for Richard, he's not here yet."

"He isn't coming?" Alicia asked, trying to mask her disappointment.

"The vice-president doesn't seem to like these kind of things," Stan murmured.

Dong Fang Yue Chu struck him in the head, then cleared his throat.

"No, Richard is definitely coming. I just called him, and he told me he'll be on his way. I even made sure to contact his dad to confirm. His dad literally chased him out of the house." He chuckled. "Knowing Richard, he probably got lost. That's why I told him to come early…"

Alicia smiled, unable to conceal her delight. "That's good. Then I'll be seeing him later."

"Yup!" Dong Fang Yue Chu grinned reassuringly. "Don't worry. If he still doesn't turn up within the next hour, then yours truly will personally lead a search party to locate him and drag him here if we have to!"

Alicia giggled at the image, and nodded.

"Hey, Yue Chu!"

Lily Liam from Holy Saints was approaching from another direction. Dong Fang Yue Chu had already straightened up when he first saw Alicia, but with the presence of a second, extremely beautiful girl, he somehow managed to stiffen even further. Not just his spine, but some other part of his body as well.

"Lily? How can I help you?"

"Most of the Holy Saints members aren't here," Lily explained as she came over, sulking. "The president had something going on…"

"President Harrison said he had a meeting with the Reed clan," Alicia confirmed, looking a little disappointed. "So he declined the invitation when I extended it to him last week. I wish our schedules didn't clash."

"Yeah. And Vice-president Lin Zhan Long, Terence and Adam are nowhere to be found. Those jokers seem to have disappeared somewhere, and they aren't answering my calls." Lily scowled. As the number one society in Jing Tian Academy, Holy Saints somehow had a poor showing for the party tonight, even though this was a chance for them to build up their relations with the other societies. "I guess that leaves you."

Dong Fang Yue Chu gaped at her. "Huh? Me? What about me?"

"I think she's asking you for a dance," Alicia explained with a giggle. Lily turned red, but she maintained her fierce expression.

"Since you want to dance with me so badly, I'll allow it."

"W…what?"

"Just go, President," Stan urged as he pushed the stunned Dong Fang Yue Chu toward Lily.

"Yeah! Score!" Harvey whooped. "Score one for the president!"

Alicia smiled as she watched Dong Fang Yue Chu and Lily proceed toward the campfire for a dance. Just in time too, for the next song started. As the couples began to sway toward the new beat, Alicia turned to converse further with the first year students of Ultimate Outcasts before venturing toward the other party-goers.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but suddenly she felt a dreadful sense of premonition. Blinking, she spun around as a chill ran down her spine. It was extremely faint, but her sensitivity toward mana screamed a warning, that something extremely evil and overwhelming demonic was drawing closer toward the campfire. Even though they had set up a barrier, the fact that she could sense it with the invisible screen between them spoke volumes of the magnitude of its power.

"This is…" she murmured, turning toward the edge of the barrier that Black Rose had set up, her eyes wide with fear. "…a high-level monster?!"