The Keynote Journalists

Laigiel was torn on where he should sit. He felt like he should not sit on those with two people already, but he felt awkward sitting with the other two ladies. He took his time and slowly walked towards the lady with eyeglasses, still contemplating where he should sit.

He was still walking when another space crack opened behind him. It gathered the attention of everyone as this one emitted an aura much more fearsome than what Laigiel had experienced. Waves of Arcane came out of the space crack thickening the air around them.

Everybody was on high alert as they have no idea what was going on. A beautiful lady came out of the space crack. She was wearing a crease-free black pantsuit with a white shirt that almost became a turtle neck. Her long black hair was neatly ponytailed contributing to her clean and formal demeanor. Her sharp black eyes quickly scanned the room which led her to sigh.

"Sit," she said. Laigiel could not even respond because a strong wave of Arcane pushed him beside the bespectacled lady and sat him there.

The lady in the pantsuit then turned to the red-haired man and pointed. The open coat of the man tightened around his body which caused him to cough from its tightness. She then turned to the amber-haired lady and pointed again. This time, her skirt melted before being pushed against her skin, causing it to turn into pants. The latter almost cried in pain, but she managed to keep it inside.

"That is the dress code. This is not a cabaret," she said.

The floor suddenly opened, revealing another staircase. "I will give all of you five minutes to freshen up. All of you stink. I advise that you enter the space crack on time. You do not want to know what will happen when you are late," she remarked before returning inside the space crack.

"Cough!" the red-haired man coughed after being released. They did not have time to chat and analyze what just happened since all of them blitz down to freshen up.

'She's terrifying,' Laigia remarked in his mind and gulped.

Four minutes had passed before all of them entered the space crack. What greeted the seven of them was an ordinary-looking room. It was neat, simple, and large. There were seven wooden desks, one parallel to the door, three on the left, and three on the right. The space in the middle is only enough for them to move around without bumping into each other. Aside from this, there was a wooden door on the right wall that opened after all of them arrived.

"Come in," the lady in the pantsuit said.

A similar but well-decorated room appeared before them. There were three people inside, including the lady that fetched them.

"Hello, newbies. It seems like you have already tasted the love of Eve," a lady with long wavy black hair said with a bright smile. Unlike Eve, she was wearing a turtleneck black dress that reached her ankles.

"Good morning, ma'am," the seven of them bowed in different ways.

"Address her as executive, and introduce yourselves," Eve ordered.

"Ethia Hersel, a princess from an unremarkable land," the blond lady said.

'Unremarkable?! She is a Hersel, for the world's sake! Her kingdom is cannot be compared to the Feroz Kingdom,' Laigiel thought in shock.

"Aliza, student of the Wise Vagabond," the girl in the lab gown said. Her attire is now speck free, and her hair is neatly tied up without a hint of disorder.

'She is actually the rumored student of the Wise Vagabond, the man who robbed the library of one of the members of The World Force and lived to tell the tale! Her teacher is a legend!'

"Audrey, a mercenary," the amber-haired lady said.

'Finally, a normal person.'

"Ashe, a primordian," the silver-haired lady said. They stopped introducing themselves and looked at Ashe in shock and awe.

'A primordian! They are rumored to be a race that existed since time immemorial. They already dominated the world two billion years ago!' Laigiel gulped.

"Dylan, a mercenary," the red-haired man said.

'That makes two.'

"Keith! I am the dis of the Wandering Pagan," the brown-haired man said.

'Another student of a legendary figure. The Wandering Pagan stole three talented prodigies from three different members of The World Force through preaching and is a wanted figure due to this. The Keynote Journalists' prestige is no joke.'

"Laigiel, a journalist."

"Our scouts already did a background check, and all of you came out clean. I am certain that you have heard of The Keynote Journalists before, thus know its purpose. All of you were asked if you are willing to agree on the necessary requirements to enter our organization, but I will explain the situation before asking you again," Eve said in a serious tone.

"You should be familiar with The World Force and their monopoly over the world; however, despite their invincible appearance on the outside, they are full of cracks within. They are composed of two bodies, The White Chamber and The Black Chamber, both of which are composed of 81 members. Due to this, The World Force itself moves limitedly. Its members are always competing with each other and are at constant war with one another as well. The World Force is merely a union to represent that there would be no all-out war between any member of it and that it shall try and decide the fate of the world," Eve added.

"We, The Keynote Journalists, on the other hand, are here to expose the truth about them. The powerful write history, so we built an organization to counter this. For over ten million years, we positioned ourselves in a very delicate place where we are not against nor in support of The World Force. However, since it is our duty to expose all their actions, we inevitably cross swords with them. If you join us, take it upon yourselves that you will be exiled from the world. You will be viewed as the enemy of The World Force. If you are willing to face the consequences and the burden, we will be happy to take you in and train you. Are you willing?" Eve finished.