Sora and his group ascended the long staircase. They heard less and less chatter, as if the players around them were different from their company. They noticed an increasing number of players from Sweden, mostly soldiers and volunteers for the war effort.
The mood among the locals was vastly different from that of the foreign players— focused, and resolute. ’Players that didn’t follow strict training in a military environnt are less disciplined. We have many shortcomings, and I hope it will not be costly in the final battle’ Sora couldn’t help but see a problem in their division composition.
Finally, they reached the summit, where Colonel Oliver Evans and the other high-ranking officers were seated.
Oliver stood up with a broad smile, his bald head catching the sunlight as he clapped his hands together. "Ah, here they are! Going from the worst company of my battalion to the best in one fight...The heroes of the round! Let introduce you all properly."
He first gestured to the man on his left, a rugged figure with short green hair and a scar cutting across his eye. "This here is Colonel Cero Vux, from Sweden. Known for his incredible swordsmanship and insane damage output."
"Welco to the Swedish Front. It’s good to have soone 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 black hair. "And this is Colonel Lois Nale, from Ireland. A tactical mastermind, she’s one of our main contributors to the war effort—second only to the General. If you need a strategy to turn the tide, 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 Company Showdown. I’m impressed! Who ca up with that strategy? How did you convince your soldiers to turtle under a do and pray for victory?!"
Sora felt his face turn red at her her intense gaze and the mix of taunt and admiration in her words.’Is she making fun of us, or praising us?’
Combined with her beauty and unexpected words, he found himself at a loss for words. Kara spoke up when she saw him lost in thought. "Thank you for the praise, Colonel. Aware of Captain’s overwhelming strength, Vice-Captain Richard and convinced our company to leave it to him and focus on surviving. Our company has full trust in the Captain.’
Satisfied with the answer, Lois said "You did well ! Those 3000 points might turn the tides later. Thank you"
Before Sora could respond, Oliver moved on, gesturing to a man with a vibrant aura. "This here is Colonel Edward Schwartz, also from Ireland. He liked your fights and, well, he’s itching to challenge you."
Edward grinned, raising his hand for a handshake. "Let’s spar after this eting. I want to see how strong you are."
Sora smiled at the playful challenge, shook his hand and answered. "Let’s win the war first, you’ll see more from in the next battles."
Oliver then turned to a lean, sharp-eyed man who looked as if he were studying them. With short black hair on the brink of extinction, he radiated a cool confidence that suggested he didn’t mind losing hair. "Finally, we have Colonel Aang Li, from China. He’s our powerhouse—after our General, 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 admonishnt, he extended a hand to Sora.
Oliver chuckled, ignoring 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 comnt. Sora quickly shook Aang’s hand, trying not to laugh.
With introductions nearly complete, Oliver turned to the final person, who had been watching in silence. She had a smile on her face, her dark eyes eting each of theirs with a asured calm.
"And last, but definitely not least, General Asami Hito, from Japan. I’m sure you’ve heard of her reputation. She’s our overall commander here in the region and soone I won’t dare tease."
Asami nodded, her gaze locking onto Sora with an intensity that seed to dissect him in an instant. She exuded power and control, her re presence commanding 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 next."
Asami greeted them with a warm smile. "Congratulations on your victory. Your battle was an incredible show to watch. We’re glad to have you here for the final battle. Lois is in charge of organization, and she suggested we et with you to learn more about your capabilities for the next two steps: the final battle of the greeting phase and the second phase of the war. Lois?"
Lois took the cue, leaning forward with an encouraging 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 extrely powerful, and your potential for team play is incredible because of your classes and versatility. Would you be willing to share more about your abilities? This way, we can better plan for the upcoming fights."
Noticing the surprised glances exchanged between Sora and Kara, she quickly added, "Of course, you don’t need to reveal everything. But any information that could help the army could significantly increase our odds of victory."
Sora and Kara exchanged a glance, and it seed as if they were silently communicating through the friend feature’s voice channel.
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 plan on ntioning my ability to reset to anyone, let alone using it here. It’s irrelevant to the war. And honestly, revealing your innate skill could be dangerous, too. Save it for ergencies. And for our supre skills, we can just make up sothing to explain what we can do and stay vague about it"
Kara nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe… but if we could sign a contract with them, we could reveal so of what we can do to improve the team’s coordination."
Sora agreed. "Let’s talk to them about it."
He looked up at the others and spoke. "Sorry for the brief delay. I needed to discuss this with Kara. We’re a team." He paused, glancing at each of the high-ranking officers. "We understand your concern and don’t intend to 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 contract? One that keeps anything we reveal strictly confidential?"
Asami, Lois, and the other officers exchanged looks, intrigued by his proposal.
"We’ll decide what we’re comfortable revealing," he added, his tone firm but respectful.
Asami nodded, clearly understanding Sora’s position. "I’d do the sa if I were in your shoes," she said. She then turned to Lois. "Lois, take them and discuss things privately. There’s no need to involve everyone in the details."
She nodded to the group. "Alright, everyone, back to your seats. Your companies are about to fight again, and I don’t want anyone missing the action."
The officers began to disperse, returning to their places in the stands.
Sora and Kara followed Lois as she led them further away from the group. As they walked, Sora quickly summoned a contract, his mana flowing through it as he thought of the terms. Lois’s eyes widened as she sensed the mana fluctuations from the contract, glancing at him in awe.
"You have a high-level law-related job ? That’s remarkable!" she exclaid. "It’s rare to see soone wield that kind of ability on the battlefield. Usually high level mages learn such skills and use it to create guilds or earn money..." Lois’ was surprised at his job.
They signed the contract. With a final nod from Sora, Kara began detailing her abilities.
"Alright," she started, "My healing abilities are strong, but that’s only part of it. Anyone I link myself to can take damage on my behalf, or I can 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 ideal for taking damage through my soul link."
Lois’s eyes widened with each word. Kara continued, "I can link myself to anyone, but I can’t protect everyone on the battlefield as creating a link is not instantaneous. I have limits, and overwhelming damage the allies receive can kill , if I were to absorb it all."
Kara hesitated, then added, "I can also trap a fallen ally’s soul and bring them back later. Maybe that could help in the final battle? And finally, I can create life force clones, drain life force from enemies and even group-heal or imprison ten enemies."
Lois’s mouth hung open, visibly stunned. "You can revive players? Not just one, but many?" She paused, regaining her composure, but suddenly sounded serious. "Listen carefully: never revive anyone in front of others. If people find out, you’ll have every group on Earth trying to exploit you. If you ever happen to revive soone, make them sign a contract imdiately. And if they refuse, you instantly end them. Am I clear?"
Kara and Sora exchanged a look, both taken aback. They had always understood that Kara’s ability to revive was exceptional, but Lois’s words almost scared them to death.
After a mont, Lois turned to Sora, still processing what Kara had revealed. "Thank you, Kara. Now, what about you, Sora?"
Sora hesitated, sorting 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 can make it even stronger. Also, I have a skill that gives 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 an you copy low-level skills?"
"Not exactly," Sora replied. "I can actually enhance them. With the right buffs, I can make those skills a few tis stronger than they’d be normally."
Lois’s disbelief was evident, but she nodded, asking, "What ?! And you say mana isn’t an issue? You an like in the last fight when you played with elents?"
Sora chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, sothing 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 impact on the battlefield."
She raised her eyebrows, intrigued. "We do have around fifteen or twenty Mana Amplifiers. That’s a good idea; we can et with them later. But I still have trouble believing this. How can your mana be sufficient ??"
Sora didn’t tell her about his [Supre skill], but still said "I guess I’m loved by mana ?"
Lois seed to understand he would not say more, her expression a mixture of understanding and respect. "You two really are sothing else. From what you said and what I have seen, there might be hope" She paused, looking thoughtful. "We’ll need to incorporate these abilities for the final battle. Thank you for trusting with this."
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