Chapter 166 The Combat Department 3

Inna found blending in to be easier and less tiring so she decided to enter Orion's room.

Now, as she stood inside a room with five men, she couldn't help but remember the days where they had sleepovers at their shared dorm room. Well, technically it was Stuart's but Kevin, Bob, and Inna slowly claimed it as theirs as well. After all, he had a whole corner room originally to himself and usually that room was famously known, aside from being special and expensive, to be spacious that it can hold up to six people so Inna and the two minions never felt shame when they invited themselves in from time to time. But being the only female, the only way Inna could ever enter was to sneak in. And miraculously, she was never caught despite how often she decided to sleep over.

But she never would've guessed that, despite her perfect art of sneaking back when she was alive, she would one day get caught in such an embarrassing way; with her head stuck in the wall.

With that realization, she can only hide her face in shame, secretly grateful that the minions weren't there to see her fail.

If they were, she can already see their faces contorting into obnoxious expressions as they tease her about it.

Orion saw that Inna was starting to redden so he couldn't help but release a throaty laugh.

"Don't worry. We won't tell anyone."

Hearing Orion, the other guys snickered as they recalled the ridiculous event. Orion coughed to signal them to stop laughing before he spoke.

"So, what brings you here? And care to explain how you got stuck?"

Inna breathed deeply as she tried to control her redness and nervousness.

"I, uh, I got lost and I uhh--"

"Man, Orion, we don't wanna know that stuff! What we do wanna know is this young lady's name."

On the left of her, a man that had black hair with facial features that eerily resembled Ezra Miller looked at her with glistening dark brown eyes as he spoke with a wide smile.

"Hey, I'm Irizo by the way. I was the one who won against this guy earlier. The loud explosive sound you heard earlier was me flipping this guy to defeat."

He pointed at Orion as he puffed his already huge chest.

Inna decided to reply while internally thanking Irizo for momentarily changing the subject.

"Oh, I'm In..Nana. Call me Nana."

They reminded her so much of her old gang that she somehow wanted them to use her nickname. Besides, if she wanted to hide, saying she's Inna or Ingrid would be a bad idea anyway.

Meanwhile, to her left, a man huffed in ridicule as he glared at Irizo with his grey eyes. He held features similar to Orion's, only that his hair was a darker shade and his eyes were a bit slanted.

A twin?

Inna couldn't help but look between the two guys.

Then she noticed that his eyebrows seemed to furrow as he spoke with irritation in his tone.

"Shut up, baby zozo. You only won because my brother was teaching you while doing it. If he wasn't so preoccupied with babying you, he would've easily flipped you twice."

All the men except Irizo laughed at that while Irizo just rolled his eyes and diverted his attention back to Inna.

He inched closer to her enthusiastically as he fluttered his eyelashes.

"So, Nana, say, what kind of food do you like?"

Orion narrowed his eyes at Irizo as he growled out in warning.

"Irizo, you have a…"

Irizo held up both his hands as he chuckled.

"Hey, I'm just being friendly with our guest here. I've been stuck with only men for the past week so could you blame me if I wanted to talk to the other gender for a change?"

Orion wanted to reply back but the chuckles of the men around made him slightly nod in understanding.

Meanwhile, after giving it much thought, Inna answered with conviction.

"Steak!"

The men made a grunt as they all agreed.

"Steak is truly the essence of a warrior! I can never understand why those magic women eat those grass looking things. Meat is for the strong!"

Irizo inched closer to her again as he asked another question.

"What kind of weapon do you prefer? For me, I prefer the broadsword. Despite them being heavy, they always pack the greatest punch!"

Inna seriously thought about it before answering.

Uhm, in the games she used to play, she was always the blader or the one with two swords so…

"I guess I like having two blades or knives."

Orion seemed to have taken an interest in the conversation when he looked at Inna with an eyebrow raised.

"I never would've guessed, huh. Usually, most people would be afraid to take up two weapons to combat since proficiency in one blade is already difficult enough, but to think you would prefer two rather than one... That's surprising. Well, as always, one can never judge a sword's sharpness by its shine especially when we're now in the Combat Department of the prestigious Eldora Academy."

Orion's 'brother' chuckled as he agreed wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, especially you."

He gestured at Irizo.

"To think you'd be more proficient in being a Shadow despite your loud mouth."

Inna furrowed her brows as she looked at Irizo in confusion.

"You're a Shadow? But why do you like broadswords then?"

Irizo raised an eyebrow in protest as he spoke.

"What? Just because I'm a Shadow doesn't mean I can't like broadswords. What I'm good at doesn't necessarily have to match what I like, you know."

Inna's eyes widened at his answer.

Well, he actually has a point.

Just because you're good at something doesn't mean that you'll like everything that relates to it.

After all, it's okay to like something you're not good at.

Inna felt comforted by the words and she couldn't help but release a wide genuine smile at Irizo as she spoke apologetically.

"Sorry, I get what you mean."

She didn't know why but she felt that the words he said were the words she longed to hear someone say to her ever since she decided to start studying in Eldora.

Facing all the criticisms about her not being strong enough or not being good enough in learning magic, it felt like someone was actually saying 'It's Okay' at her for a change.

Like, it's okay for her to like magic despite being the absolute worst at it...

Irizo was momentarily dazzled with Inna's wide and pure smile. He didn't expect her to suddenly do that so he couldn't help but smile back. But somehow, despite her its brightness, he can feel a sense of deep sadness hidden behind it as well.

And somehow having the sudden urge to comfort her, his arms instinctively moved and before he knew it, he already had Inna in his arms.

Inna's eyes bulged out as she tried to process what was happening. She looked around in shock, trying to see if the sensation of someone's thick sweaty arms around her was really real only to see Orion and the other three guys with their jaws on the floor as they stared at Irizo in disbelief.

The tightening of the arms around her made Inna snap out of her shock and she struggled to break free from his embrace. Irizo sighed and whispered in her ear to calm her down.

"Sorry, you looked like you needed it. And don't worry, I mean no malice in this."

Inna relaxed in his arms as she heard his whispers. He sounded honest and Inna felt touched by the gesture so she smiled and softly patted his back in return.

After squeezing her comfortingly one last time, Irizo was about to let go when he heard a familiar shrill scream that made him instinctively stiffen in fear.

"IRIZO!!!!! YOU FLIRTING MANIAC!!!! ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME?!"