Rupert and Veronica sat and watched the rest of their supposed classmates. The pandemonium continued to exude its influence on the scene. Most of them continued to run for the imminent threat, unable to think. The rest, some form or another of capture.

In every case of those captured, they were having a really bad time. The strings hung them by their ankles and beat the last breath of air out of their lungs. Once they could properly unhale, the threads would continue the attack. It was purgatory.

Ten minutes in, the prodigies began to realize that the attacks wouldn't stop. The skill continued forever so long as it was fueled with mana. In terms of mana, The Mother Spider was second only to the elementals in legends. Her pool was so deep, none have ever seen its bottom.

Contrary to the lesson, the stronger students realized their plight later than the weaker ones. They held on using their will; forcing themselves. There was no way we could be beaten this easily, right? Only those who realized the futility were allowed to think of the correct solution.

One by one, they charged at the teacher controlling the strings. Just like the Otherworlder's attempt, the threads only got denser and denser. Though, what was an entire-body-draining experience for them was a quickly realized dream for their classmates.

They had more skills, more levels, and most importantly, more experience. They have seen on the battlefield that those who failed to adapt simply died. Every battle was zero-sum. Every move was made with explicit intent. Repeating the same cycle of attack-defend-counter leads no one anywhere.

So, students began to land inside the sphere of protection. The teacher asked each student individually what the lesson was, whipping them with a thickened thread until they got it right.

Three hours went into this physically intense exercise. This left them with no more time for the day. The teacher dismissed them, waving a hand purely from woven silk threads. It sent a collective shiver down all their spines.

Rupert and Veronica had only been to one day of this, and already they were as fearful of her as the long-time learners. Regardless of the amount of fear she instilled in them, they all had the utmost respect for her. Power was undeniable, and her way was one of a kind.

The moment all the squirts left her sight, The Mother Spider dropped her insane smile. She waved away the spider threads and straightened her hunchback. Her cane turned into a tall staff topped with a spider. Her wrinkly old face began to smooth as her skin tightened itself.

Her carefully crafted insane old lady image was her greatest asset. No one messed with an insane old hag who wields tremendous power. Even if she killed a king tomorrow, none would dare mess with her. The only people to know the real her were on the council, and among those, only two were friendly with her for real. They had a meeting right now, discussing the Otherworlders.

Yual had power and authority in their little pseudo-clan, but he couldn't do anything he wanted. He would need one hell of a speech to resolve their presence peacefully. Pyony, The Mother Spider, cracked her neck and wove her threads.

These were a part of her transport skill [Silken Slipstream]. It wasn't the best, but allowed her to entirely ignore all air resistance and the resistive friction on everything but her feet. Every step accelerated her faster and faster. She became nothing but a blur for all those without a high enough intelligence stat.

It took her moments to come upon the council room. It was between the bathroom and the janitor's closet; hidden in a small shadowy crack. The crack was enchanted with different magics so the small pocket could withstand all their power.

Pyony melted into silk and slithered her way into the crack. When she reformed, she was surrounded by the most powerful people of the Harbingers. They all watched her enter, agitated by her tardiness.

"Excuse my late arrival, I was guiding some young souls."

The people of the council said nothing, choosing to continue their small chit-chatting. It was a fairly relaxed atmosphere. The one good thing about being a pseudo-clan was that politics barely existed. Everyone was there for only one goal: to become the strongest. The weak would naturally fall to the side.

Since everyone was now present, Yual stood up and addressed the members, "Welcome. Getting right to it, this weekly meeting will be about the Otherworlders I have discovered. You already know my stance, so now you may ask questions and make comments."

The moment he finished speaking, a man with a shaven head spoke up first. His outfit was entirely white, brighter than most reflective clothing under the sun. His eyes were covered with a white cloth that was tied around his head.

"This is a bad idea. Each and every one of you knows, deep down in your old-ass souls, that this is just a fucking horrible idea. Otherworlders CANNOT be controlled, they cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be contained. They look harmless now, but what happens when they become the hulking monsters that they are destined to become?"

"What do you mean 'cannot?" The person who spoke was a young woman. Her purple hair hung long on her back, falling to her knees. It swayed constantly as if there were a slight breeze in the room. Her eyes were like black holes, endlessly black, but conveying her agitation, "We are the Harbingers. Since when has there been a 'cannot' that we have never accomplished."

She continued, "Furthermore, I was checking some of our older texts for this meeting specifically. In the restricted area, I found the first codex of our organization that detailed the first thousand days. It was an interesting read, but I'll skip over the boring bits and get to the point. It hints to the fact that the first Blood Wardens of the Harbingers were Otherworlders themselves."

A few murmers amung the present memebers started.

"Will you stop mumbling like children! If you have something to say, bring it forward so we can get all this over with. I'm getting bored." The man that spoke looked fairly normal. He had brown hair and brown eyes, nothing out of the ordinary. He was the most normal-looking person there, by far. Though, those who truly knew him also knew the reason for it.

The plain-looking man was enough to scare the other members into silence. None of the mumbling people spoke up after that; instead, Yual took center stage.

"Friends, I know that you think me insane for even thinking of this. I know you think that I am not a leader worth following, especially after bringing such liability to our special organization. You must think my judgment is impaired. You must think my resolve is lacking, having to rely on outsiders to make us more powerful. All of your thoughts, all of your disapproving words, are wrong."

Yual released his full power, turning the already dark space even darker. The air became dense like water and heavier than comfortable. This was just his regular energy that he had to keep under wraps during normal circumstances. It was just too overwhelming for most people.

"I want to make things clear. I am not your leader because I am weak. I am not your leader because you chose to follow me. You know as well as I do that politics are the instrument of the frail. I am your leader because I am strong. It is in my strength that I can be as bold to say this, just as it is in my strength that I dare to assume I can control these Otherworlders."

"They have just be stripped of their regular life, thrown into this strange world. They are weak-willed right now. This is the perfect moment to make them loyal to our cause and exploit their strange powers. I WILL be doing this. So either follow me, or fight me."

The space was filled with quiet air. Not so much as a squeak was let out. It was the plain man that went first, exclaiming his hatred for waiting and then saying he'll follow. The rest, now having the tensions broken, each gave Yual their support.

"Alright, I throw my support."

"Me too."

"My family as well."

"Same here."

"Always behind you sir."

A dozen more versions of 'yes' followed. Out of the many yeses, the purple-haired woman spoke up again, "I have a question, sir; what is our role in these plans? I think I speak for everyone when I say that tact is needed when dealing with this type of element."

Yual stopped releasing his powerful energy, "I'm glad you asked. All of your roles are simple, really. You all are to 'covertly' train them. Not just in gaining levels, but also in skills, history, tactics, and family. I really want you to drive home that last one. I'm sure that no matter how much some of you hate another Harbinger, you wouldn't think twice about joining a death squad to retrieve them from capture. This is something we will teach them and something that forms the backbone of The Harbingers."

Yual turned to face the normal-looking man, "You will be in charge of their level gain. Your abilities are suited perfectly for it and I trust that you know what to do. Pyony, your job is most important as their general teacher. Round out the sharp edges these idiots give them. Everyone else, I will rotate you into their training. You each have something valuable to teach, so impart it. They will become our strongest combatants; our magnum opus; the strongest combination of our skills after 9 eras of existence."

Every person in the room agreed with him, and even left the space happy. He was efficient, to say the least. The members left the room in a giant pack, disappearing immediately once they emerged from the crack in the wall. The only two people left in the space were Yual and Pyony.

"So what do you think of them?"

She really had to think about it. The question was easy to answer but was quite the dilemma. Was normal bad? Or was it good? If they were insane right out the gate, that would be par for the course. Instead, they were fairly normal people.

"System-wise, their growth exceeds everyone here. They will inevitably become powerhouses. But I don't think that matters. They knew history as important and saw the lessons it offers as valuable experiences, which is good. Yet they still have a warped view of the world. They still see everything as explainable and understandable. They still think everything has a reason, and think about things too much. In one sentence, they are too used to peace."

Yual was nodding the entire time, agreeing with her on the analysis. They were clearly from a world not plagued by endless war where only the strongest live to fight another day. They were prey right now, but he would turn them into predators.

"Thank you. You can go now."

Pyony nodded and disappeared from the room. This left a smiling Yual along in the darkened space. He sat in his chair, tapping his finger on the table. The noise echoed, producing a creepy rhythm when heard in the dark room.

They are going to become strong, even if I have to beat it into them myself. The Empire cannot remain any longer.

---------

Rupert and Veronica had just gotten back to their room when there was a knock at the door. Rupert got it, opening to reveal the plain-looking man. He stood there silently.

"Yes?"

As if being broken out of his train of thought, he brought up his reason for being there, "I've been asked to take you outside and go get some levels. Being level 2 is a little low for our standards. It would be best to get you to level 5, but doing that in one day is very unlikely. But who knows, you might actually do it."

The couple was confused. Who was this man and why was he so...off?

Veronica made her way to the door and stood by her husband's side, "Ok...I guess we can go, but we need some sleep first."

The man waved his hands dismissively, "Pah! Sleep is for the weak! I haven't slept in 100 years, though I'm due for a night's rest quite soon. The last Otherworlders I knew got a skill to NEVER need sleep. I'd give up a dozen of my skills just to get that one. But enough of that, let's go."

The man grabbed their shoulders and held them tight. He started to run through the halls, pulling along with him the flailing bodies of Rupert and Veronica. They flapped about like paper in the wind, kept alive only thanks to the man controlling himself. The man ran at reasonable speeds, but it was like the world bent around them to make him move faster.

One second they were in their room, and the next second they were in the forest. It was like they teleported, but without the gentleness. They immediately started to throw up everything that was in their stomach. The jerky movement left them completely disoriented and their vision was spinning. The world continued to be a blurry mess long after they were moved.

"What? You can't handle a little movement? How are you going to become the strongest if you aren't even able to withstand a third the speed of sound?"

Veronica and Rupert ignored the man and continued to throw up.