Chapter 469: Groups

"Sir, what will happen if I buy this talisman for my servant and it doesn’t get used? Will I be refunded?"

The assistant professor looked toward the student.

"No, you will not be refunded. But what you will do is return the talisman. It incurs a cost to make, you know? Take that 30,000 AC as life insurance for your servant in the secret realm, or you could simply opt not to take them inside."

Hearing him, a wave of dissatisfaction rolled through the crowd.

"What? 30,000 AC just for life insurance? And there’s even a chance they never come into danger."

"Yeah, at that point we just wasted 30,000 AC into thin air."

"That’s... that’s like 12 Gold coins. My family could buy 50 years’ worth of rations with that, and I’m even including my scumbag uncle’s family of 7."

"Pfft, at that much, I can just hire 100 more servants or even 3 beautiful women slaves."

But there were some who merely gritted their teeth and went ahead to buy the talisman. Unlike the others, they valued trust built over time, and that trust was provided by their already existing servants or even slaves.

Naturally, Aaron and Ronan were among them. But unlike many others, spending 30,000 AC on each servant wasn’t much of a pain for them. As for Leo, he was the first in line to buy the talismans and handed them to Naelith and Lyswenna.

Out of the 100 or so servants and slaves, only 24 had the life-saving talisman. The only exception being Naelith and Lyswenna, who possessed the talisman despite being slaves.

"Hmph! Naturally, he wouldn’t want those sexy slaves to die before using them to the fullest."

"Yeah, I bet he brought them here just to show off."

"Just who is he? I don’t even recall seeing such a bigshot back in the Fresher’s Competition."

"What if... what if he makes out with them around us just to make us jealous of their voices?"

Leo could only rub his forehead as irritation slowly started building inside him.

If only Lily were here...

At that point, whoever was opening their mouth wouldn’t be reaching Ember City with their limbs intact.

But the reactions of the opposite gender were completely different.

"Kya! I would trade everything to be in the place of those elves," a girl excitedly whispered to her friend.

"He is so handsome! I would let him use me as a toy just to have a taste of him."

Leo suddenly felt a bad premonition after hearing them and frantically looked around to confirm Lily wasn’t nearby.

He sighed in relief, but his bad premonition wasn’t baseless. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

’Lys, you got those girls’ images?’ Naelith discreetly messaged Lyswenna on her phone so Leo wouldn’t notice their conversation.

’Yes, crystal clear.’

’Good. Sister Lily told us not to miss a single face that watches the Lord with bad thoughts. Keep a vigilant eye.’

Lyswenna subtly nodded as she scanned the surroundings once again.

They weren’t annoyed or angry at all because of the comments directed at them. They knew that when the time came, if anybody dared raise a hand against them, they would be ready to say goodbye to that hand forever. Not to mention, their only concern was Leo, and he would never have such thoughts regarding them because his heart already belonged to Lily.

Rather, it would be Leo himself who would break others’ hands for the elves, because they were his territory’s subjects.

"Quiet!" the professor shouted, instantly silencing the discussions.

"There are exactly 258 of you, along with 102 slaves and servants, bringing the total to 360. Now, how many of you are going to form a team and have already decided it?"

Almost 70% of the students, excluding the servants and slaves, raised their hands. Leo naturally didn’t raise his hand because Naelith and Lyswenna weren’t students and therefore couldn’t be counted as a team.

After a quick introduction, the assistant professor realised the teams consisted of 8, 5, 4, and even 2 people. And the only 2-person team belonged to Aaron and Ronan. Turns out, they hadn’t taken their own territory members into the team since they believed it would only hold them back.

He separated the groups into specific locations before asking again about the remaining individuals.

"Out of you, how many want to join a team?"

This time, everybody raised their hand... except Leo.

The assistant professor looked at him curiously for a few moments before suddenly realising Leo was actually sitting at the cusp of Mid 4-star rank. Before he could question him further, he received a telepathic message and immediately turned his eyes away from Leo.

"Alright, I will be combining teams into groups of 20 members each according to complementary elements that support one another." The assistant professor took out a tablet from the student list and checked its contents. Since the students’ information had been recorded during the Fresher’s Competition, the academy staff naturally knew which elements they used. And 2 months was barely enough time for anyone to switch to a completely new element.

But before finalising the teams, he allowed people to choose on their own accord. It became a lengthy hour-long process in which the assistant professor formed 12 teams, with a few teams having 1 extra member because of the odd numbers.

The only exception was Leo, who sat alone on a side bench, bored out of his mind. Naelith and Lyswenna, however, weren’t exactly bored. The two quietly chatted with each other and occasionally clicked secret photos as a ’gift’ for Lily.

Eventually, the assistant professor approached Leo.

"Are you sure you don’t want to join a team? I know you are strong... even the two elves behind you are strong. But being in a team is very beneficial. When the time comes, you could use them as meat shields... Er... I mean, that’s what weaker students are supposed to be for when it comes to elite students."

"I am fine. I won’t be able to function well in a team that doesn’t follow my orders to the letter and instead moves forward with their own motives. As for meat shields, any threat capable of cornering me would wipe them out with a single move. I’m afraid their presence wouldn’t even mean anything in such a situation," Leo responded calmly.

This guy is actually weaker than me...