Sora and his group asded the long staircase. They heard less and less chatter, as if the pyers around them were different from their pany. They noticed an increasing number of pyers from Sweden, mostly soldiers and volunteers for the war effort.

  The mood among the locals was vastly different from that of the fn pyers— focused, and resolute. 'Pyers that didn't follow strict training in a military enviro are less disciplined. We have many shortings, and I hope it will not be costly in the final battle' Sora couldn't help but see a problem in their division position.

  Finally, they reached the summit, where el Oliver Evans and the h-ranking officers were seated.

  Oliver stood up with a broad smile, his bald head catg the sunlight as he cpped his hands together. “Ah, here they are! Going from the worst pany of my battalion to the best in one fight...The heroes of the round! Let me introduce you all properly.”

  He first gestured to the man on his left, a rugged figure with shreen hair and a scar cutting across his eye. “This here is el Cero Vux, from Sweden. Known for his incredible swordsmanship and insane damage output.”

  "Wele to the Swedish Front. It’s good to have someone like you ready to step up on the front line."

  Cero’s gaze softened as he sized up Sora and Kara.

  Moving to his right, Oliver indicated a woman with green eyes and long bck hair. “And this is el Lois Nale, from Irend. A tactical mastermind, she’s one of our main tributors to the war effort—sed only to the General. If you need a strategy to turide, just ask her.”

  Lois offered a smile, her gaze full of admiration. “Your first battles, and you’ve already given the Northern European Union its first perfect victory in a pany Showdown. I’m impressed! Who came up with that strategy? How did you vince your soldiers to turtle under a dome and pray for victory?!”

  Sora felt his face tur her her intense gaze and the mix of taunt and admiration in her words.'Is she making fun of us, or praising us?'

  bined with her beauty and ued words, he found himself at a loss for words. Kara spoke up when she saw him lost in thought. “Thank you for the praise, el. Aware of Captain's overwhelming strength, Vice-Captain Richard and me vinced our pany to leave it to him and focus on surviving. Our pany has full trust in the Captain.'

  Satisfied with the answer, Lois said "You did well ! Those 3000 points might turides ter. Thank you"

  Before Sora could respond, Oliver moved ouring to a man with a vibrant aura. “This here is el Edward Schwartz, also from Irend. He liked yhts and, well, he’s itg to challenge you.”

  Edward grinned, raising his hand for a handshake. “Let’s spar after this meeting. I want to see how strong you are.”

  Sora smiled at the pyful challenge, shook his hand and answered. “Let’s win the war first, you'll see more from me in the battles.”

  Oliver then turo a lean, sharp-eyed man who looked as if he were studying them. With short bck hair on the brink of extin, he radiated a cool fidehat suggested he didn't mind losing hair. “Finally, we have el Aang Li, from a. He’s our powerhouse—after eneral, of course. And a fun guy to be around… .”

  “Watch your words, baldy,” Aang replied, crossing his arms. “Who’s fun to hang out with? We’re here to win a war, not fool around.” Despite his admonishment, he extended a hand to Sora.

  Oliver chuckled, ign Aang’s words. “Sure, sure, put on airs. But don’t bring up rank if you want your little secrets kept, poussin.”

  Aang’s face turned crimson, visibly embarrassed by Oliver’s ent. Sora quickly shook Aang’s hand, trying not to ugh.

  With introdus nearly plete, Oliver turo the final person, who had been watg in silence. She had a smile on her face, her dark eyes meeting each of theirs with a measured calm.

  “And st, but definitely not least, General Asami Hito, from Japan. I’m sure you’ve heard of her reputation. She’s our overall ander here in the region and someone I won’t dare tease.”

  Asami nodded, her gaze log onto Sora with an iy that seemed to dissect him in an instant. She exuded power and trol, her mere presenanding respect.

  With a satisfied grin, Oliver turned back to Sora and his team. “Now that we’ve covered the intros, let’s get down to business. We’ve got a lot to discuss, and I think you’ll want to hear what the General has in store for us .”

  Asami greeted them with a warm smile. “gratutions on your victory. Your battle was an incredible show to watch. We’re gd to have you here for the final battle. Lois is in charge anization, and she suggested we meet with you to learn more about your capabilities for the wo steps: the final battle of the greeting phase and the sed phase of the war. Lois?”

  Lois took the cue, leaning forward with an encing look. “Yes, indeed. I’ve observed how you two fought, even during the initial phase of the PvP Event today, and I must say, I was impressed ! Your skills are extremely powerful, and your potential for team py is incredible because of your csses aility. Would you be willing to share more about your abilities? This way, we better pn for the uping fights.”

  Notig the surprised gnces exged between Sora and Kara, she quickly added, “Of course, you don’t o reveal everything. But any information that could help the army could signifitly increase our odds of victory.”

  Sora and Kara exged a gnce, and it seemed as if they were silently unig through the frieure’s voice el.

  Kara broke the silence. “What do you think? Should we share anything?”

  Sora replied without hesitation. “There’s no way we should reveal our innate skills. I don’t pn oioning my ability to reset to anyone, let alone using it here. It’s irrelevant to the war. And holy, revealing your innate skill could be dangerous, too. Save it for emergencies. And for our supreme skills, we just make up something to expin what we do and stay vague about it”

  Kara houghtfully. “Maybe… but if we could sign a tract with them, we could reveal some of what we do to improve the team’s coordination.”

  Sreed. “Let’s talk to them about it.”

  He looked up at the others and spoke. “Sorry for the brief dey. I o discuss this with Kara. We’re a team.” He paused, gng at each of the high-ranking officers. “We uand your and don’t io hold back our support for the division. However, I’d prefer not to share everything about what we’re capable of just yet. Could we agree to sign a tract? Ohat keeps anything we reveal strictly fidential?”

  Asami, Lois, and the other officers exged looks, intrigued by his proposal.

  “We’ll decide what we’re fortable revealing,” he added, his tone firm but respectful.

  Asami nodded, clearly uanding Sora’s position. “I’d do the same if I were in your shoes,” she said. She then turo Lois. “Lois, take them and discuss things privately. There’s o involve everyone iails.”

  She o the group. “Alright, everyone, back to your seats. Your panies are about to fight again, and I don’t want anyone missing the a.”

  The officers began to disperse, returning to their pces iands.

  Sora and Kara followed Lois as she led them further away from the group. As they walked, Sora quickly summoned a tract, his mana flowing through it as he thought of the terms. Lois’s eyes widened as she sehe mana fluctuations from the tract, gng at him in awe.

  “You have a high-level w-reted job ? That's remarkable!” she excimed. “It’s rare to see someone wield that kind of ability otlefield. Usually high level mages learn such skills and use it to create guilds or earn money...” Lois' was surprised at his job.

  They sighe tract. With a final nod from Sora, Kara begaailing her abilities.

  “Alright,” she started, “My healing abilities are strong, but that’s only part of it. Anyone I link myself to take damage on my behalf, or I take damage for them. My life force is vast, and if I’m hit, I recover quickly. Plus, every fallen enemy boosts my life force, making me ideal for taking damage through my soul link.”

  Lois’s eyes widened with each word. Kara tinued, “I link myself to anyone, but I ’t protect everyone otlefield as creating a link is not instantaneous. I have limits, and overwhelming damage the allies receive kill me, if I were to absorb it all.”

  Kara hesitated, then added, “I also trap a fallen ally’s soul and bring them back ter. Maybe that could help in the final battle? And finally, I create life force es, drain life force from enemies and even group-heal or imprison ten enemies.”

  Lois’s mouth hung open, visibly stunned. “You revive pyers? Not just one, but many?” She paused, regaining her posure, but suddenly sounded serious. “Listen carefully: never revive anyone in front of others. If people find out, you’ll have every group oh trying to exploit you. If you ever happen to revive someone, make them sign a tract immediately. And if they refuse, you instantly end them. Am I clear?”

  Kara and Sora exged a look, both taken aback. They had always uood that Kara’s ability to revive was exceptional, but Lois’s words almost scared them to death.

  After a moment, Lois turo Sora, still processing what Kara had revealed. “Thank you, Kara. Now, what about you, Sora?”

  Sora hesitated, s through the array of skills at his disposal. “I’m an all-rounder. My primary ability is being able to learn and enhance skills from others. Once I acquire a skill, I make it even stronger. Also, I have a skill that gives me a vast amount of mana, so I don't have to worry about running out. Oh, and I trained my body a lot...”

  Lois looked puzzled. “Learn skills from others? You mean you copy low-level skills?”

  “ly,” Sora replied. “I actually enhahem. With the right buffs, I make those skills a few times strohan they’d be normally.”

  Lois’s disbelief was evident, but she nodded, asking, “What ?! And you say mana isn’t an issue? You mean like i fight when you pyed with elements?”

  Sora chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, something like that. Actually, if we have any Mana Amplifiers in the army, I’d love to copy a few of their skills. Buffing allies would increase my impa the battlefield.”

  She raised her eyebrows, intrigued. “We do have around fifteen or twenty Mana Amplifiers. That’s a good idea; we meet with them ter. But I still have trouble believing this. How your mana be suffit ??”

  Sora didn't tell her about his [Supreme skill], but still said "I guess i'm Loved by mana ?"

  Lois seemed to uand he would not say more, her expression a mixture of uanding and respect. “You two really are something else. From what you said and what I have seen, there might be hope” She paused, looking thoughtful. “We’ll o incorporate these abilities for the final battle. Thank you for trustih this.”

  mimou