He wasn't sure, exactly, what had him dragging his heels to this event, and had been trying to figure it out pretty much since he'd woken up that morning. He didn't think - though it was possible - that it was a general displeasure at revealing himself to the masses. When you spent a millennium keeping your abilities secret, to suddenly reveal them en masse to a group of spectators was another thing entirely than discussing with fellow... well, sorcerers what the different elements of your magic were. But he recognized that these were extreme circumstances, and it wasn't the same as standing in the middle of Times Square and starting off a light show, so as much as he wanted to blame it on that, he was pretty sure that wasn't it.
No, what had him dragging his feet - he was reluctant to admit - was a personal thing. He was concerned that his magic was going to be the least impressive of the group, because of his own concerns regarding the environment that they were in. He had intense spells that could really fuck with reality, but he imagined that there were some sort of safety measures imposed on the contained island that would redirect thing, cause damage to buildings even at the distance that they were practicing... so he didn't want to use them. The others had probably something spectacular prepared - he'd gotten the impression there were a few who were itching to prove themselves, perhaps falsely - and he had... well, he wasn't sure what he had. He'd think of something.
He did make a glance over to where the 'audience' was gathering, though moved over to where the gathering of magical folk was happening, nodding his head at those he recognized. "Excuse me for my tardiness. I hope you weren't waiting long," though from the looks of things, it seemed like they were still in gathering stages themselves.