Ceremonial Inauguration (Part 3)

The students hoped for good luck while slowly exiting the room. The main area was silent, with the 20 seated individuals giving them a hard stare. Their faces only exhibited seriousness, with no form of emotions or bias.

"Well, their judgments will be true," Akira thought, his eyes observing them.

A few minutes later, all the students arrived, and the individuals were ready as well. A brief speech was conducted by the announcer, followed by a discussion among the individuals.

"Now, let's start with, Hinata.'

"Please, proceed to the stage," he ordered.

The air was filled with suspense, and internal dialogues sprung up in the minds of the students. They were all anxious, but at the same time, ready for all judgments that would be passed.

Akira took a look at his front and viewed the student that was selected. To his left, were a few spectators who attended the event. They were suspiciously quiet, but that wasn't of his concern.

His right was stalked with various forms of artillery and ammunition.

"What could those be for?" he asked himself, trying to restore focus on the judgments of the individuals.

At that moment, his thought session was aborted by the words of one of the individuals,

"I vote for him. I'll tutor him."

"Yes!!" he shouted with happiness in his eyes.

Akira bore no feelings towards the announcement, but he instead observed a particular individual on the platform.

"Something is off with that guy," he thought, ignoring his surroundings.

"Akira!"

"Bro!"

"You'll be next after this guy," a student whispered, attempting to restore Akira's attention.

"Is that so?" he thought, still pondering upon the individual.

The announcements and assignments continued, and the next individual was called upon. Akira watched the event unfold, as the next student stood by awaiting a call from one of the individuals. Unfortunately, he wasn't granted an invitation by any of them.

The occurrence unlocked a new emotion in the hearts of the students. A new option for the individuals - basically ignoring students.

"What is that allowed?" students thought with their hearts pounding, as they realized they may have not reached the expectations of the individuals.

Akira knowing he was the next student to be called out, proceeded slowly to the stage, ready for the decisions of the individuals.

"Okay, the next student has already taken the stage."

"He is Akira!"

The few spectators began cheering, but to be honest, the cheers lacked the vibrancy and energy it needed. The spectators' expressions were nothing to write home about, and their attitudes were also incomparable with the usual crowds seen at important events.

Akira, now on the stage, swiftly shifted his gaze over to the announcer, ardently awaiting his comments. A brief silence overtook the area, until the suspected individual at the raised platform, smiled and put up his hand signifying needed attention.

"I'll take this one. Yeah, he'll be my servant," the individual spoke, as he directed his ominous smile to Akira.

Emotions poured into Akira's heart and mind, emotions he knew nothing of. Could it be fear? No, it couldn't be. His blood raced and a few drops of sweat emerged from his pores.

"Why's it that guy? Even the way he talked and smiled, that's not normal," he thought, as his emotions evolved, and his weird state escalated.

He slowly looked away from the individual, and he was restored to normal. Although the event left a trace in his mind, he forged ahead, aiming to forget what had happened.

The announcer called out the names of students, and they were assigned to one of the individuals one by one. Out of the many students who attended the event, 2 were assigned alongside Akira to be tutored by the individual.

All other students were assigned to various individuals with a n exception of 6 individuals, who were not deemed worthy to be apprentices under the individuals.

"Okay, the ceremony's over, but I know you must be wondering who these individuals are," the announcer, who also held the same position as the individuals, spoke.

At the time of the comment, the students were intrigued, and they urged him to continue with his announcement.

"Those are Shadow Fighters. Ranking Officials in the Shadow Realm, although they aren't the strongest. However, only Shadow Fighters tutor students to surpass them," the announcer spoke.

After that, the individuals, now known as shadow fighters, exited the room and weren't seen afterward. The announcer, the remaining shadow fighter, stayed back, proceeding with the speech he was given.

Once the announcer was halfway done, many spectators began to depart with dissatisfied facial expressions. Their activities were out of the ordinary, and they hardly offered support to anyone.

Akira continued his observation in the room, and his eyes once again, stumbled upon the weapons he had seen earlier. His curiosity was spiked, and he couldn't help but question the announcer,

"Sir, what are those weapons for?"

The announcer shifted his gaze towards the area Akira referred to and rotated to face Akira. At first, he was hesitant but, eventually proceeded to reply to Akira,

"Okay, Akira. That's your name right?"

"Those are artillery for the spectators that seated here not long ago."

Immediately, the students fixed their gazes on the announcer in astonishment. They stared back at the ammunitions, and a singular thought resonated - Did their ears deceive them? If not, what was meant by that reply?

Akira was not any different. He also experienced astonishment and was the most surprised by it. He was taken aback by the fact that the announcer spoke of it so casually.

"Sir, you must be kidding," he spoke with a trembling voice.

"Don't worry, those guys are a special rank but, I can't tell you much about them unless you move higher in your rank," he replied.

"Please what are ranks," Akira asked once again, but with a rather calm expression on his face.

"Oh my, you're a curious one. You'll soon get tutored, then you'll learn more. Okay," he stated with a calm and friendly demeanor.

"Sir, what's that in the air," Akira asked.

Suddenly, the sky turned red, the air around thickened and the environment turned pitch black. Far and wide, from the main area stretching out to a long distance, was truly dark, even darker than the Shadow Realm.

In the air, a large creature suddenly spawned, its body parts spanned over from end to end on the structure that housed the students. It landed on the ground, annihilating parts of the structure, and....