Weak.
That was the first word that came to mind when she saw them.
The one beside her was so scrawny to the point that she mistook him for a girl at first. His back was hunched and his eyes kept looking from one side to another in a creepy way. In fact, he looked like a boy who had severe paranoia and was severely malnourished as well.
On the other side beside her, the girl was short and unnervingly pale. In fact, she looked like she had some chronic incurable illness. Her breaths were short and quick and every once in a while, she coughs loudly. And her coughs had those disgusting sounds of mucus in her throat.
The remaining other two teammates weren't any better. One was trembling so much just from meeting her eyes and the other was silent and shy. She was kneading her hands in front of her while lowering her head so much that all Inna can see was the top of her head.
Inna's face scrunched up when she saw them.
Not that she's picky with power and all but…
One look and she can already see that she's teamed up with a bunch of wimps.
This is far too coincidental, isn't it?
She looked at Elder Fang who strangely had a satisfied smile on his face.
"Now, these will be your groups for today. And possibly, for the following days if need be."
Some students groaned in frustration while others cheered happily with the teams they got. The loudest team was Raghnall's team. They consisted of that woman who approached him, that pin cushion girl, that saggy boobs, and another new girl who seemed to be love-struck at Raghnall.
Inna's team and Raghnall's team were in opposite sides of the room so she was barely able to see any member from his team. But she did, however, see Raghnall.
Over the distance, she tried to catch his attention. When he finally saw her, she mouthed to him her message.
'I. THINK. THE. OLD. GUY. PLANNED. THIS. BE. CAREFUL."
But for some reason, because of the Eridoan language, she simply looked like she was having trouble chewing a huge bone. But she tried again and again just to get her message through.
Raghnall saw her making some chewing gestures and was shocked to the core.
Why's she doing that in this situation?!
Although he was filled with confusion, he looked at her crazy antics again before finally bursting into laughter.
Anytime, anywhere, he can always expect her to come up with crazy stuff!
Meanwhile, the one coming up with crazy stuff wasn't amused at all.
What the fuck?!
Why the fuck is he laughing now?!
Inna glared at him.
I was warning him because that old geezer might have tricks up his sleeve, but he just laughs at me?!
Whatever. I don't care about him.
Inna crossed her arms angrily as she turned her back on him.
Then, she heard that old man's voice again.
"As I have told you, the reason why we are going in groups is for easy monitoring. But since you lot are hundreds of students, even when grouped together, it will still be quite difficult to monitor all of you closely. So, with this in mind, the academy has appointed an equivalent number of people to be able to achieve what we wished."
Elder Fang finally removed his hands from his sleeves only to show that one of his hand was bandaged like it was injured.
The students gasped in surprise when they saw it but Elder Fang simply ignored them.
Using his healthy hand, he began to write a complicated written seal to open the doors again.
As they opened, one by one, hundreds of men and women with grey robes began walking inside the room. They looked far older than the students inside the room, and they also looked far stronger than them. And upon looking closely, each had pins that had strange flower carvings around it near the side of their chests.
These men and women had a dignified air around them as they walked towards the teacher's elevated platform. Before they reached it, they kneeled in respect and cupped their hands in front of them.
"Greetings to the Grand Elder!"
Elder Fang looked at how they delivered themselves and nodded in satisfaction.
These are what the students in the Eldora Academy should be!
Dignified, Strong, and Respectful!
Elder Fang coughed lightly as he tried to answer the hidden questions in the all of new students' eyes.
"These are your 'Watchers' for today. They will be responsible for leading the group as well as making sure that there would be no trouble nor friction between all of you."
Elder Fang looked at the grey robed people and spoke.
"Stand."
They all simultaneously stood up and faced the crowd of students.
"Each of them are on their fifth year in this Academy so do treat them with respect. They are your seniors, after all. And if anyone were to have funny ideas, keep in mind that these Watchers are all high ranked in a certain profession. Aside from one of you, the rest wouldn't stand a chance."
Elder Fang stared at Raghnall with pride.
After all, it's not every day that someone would see a Triple High ranked. In fact, in the whole world, he only knew two other people that were able to reach it.
The Headmaster…
And the Emperor…