My Soul card is a Reaper

Even though the black wolf was quietly lying in the corner, due to the difference between their grades, all the other Arcana spirits felt pressure by its presence and started to shake in fear.

To make sure their performance, not be affected during the actual fight, Claire asked Azzy to let out his Arcana spirit so that they might get used to it.

After two days with over 15 hours of training time, Claire and Snivy were alright. Gideon's sword spirit was almost got used to its presence. However, the cowardly oak tree of Mia was still afraid of the black wolf along with Azzy.

Azzy then walked towards the tree and picked up the bow before returning to its owner. "Here..."

This recurve bow isn't an Arcana weapon. It's a specially designed six-star weapon that her family bought from the market for an exorbitant price upon her request.

Like its grade, it can help the holder to automatically generate an energy arrow upon consuming their soul power. Since the limit of this weapon is peak-rank-6, Mia felt like she can use this bow for a long time.

It was actually Claire's idea to create another trump card for Mia upon finding her close-combat capabilities are too bad and won't be able to improve too much in such less time.

So, she advised her to buy a special bow from the market so that she can shoot the enemies from the top of the branch rather than just standing on it and letting the tree do all the work.

At first, Azzy thought that this might be Mia's trump card. However, in the first minute of their training, he found out that she was terrible at aiming at the target.

Now after relentless practice, Mia barely reached the standards of a good archer.

Grabbing her hand to help her stand up, Azzy commented, "You need more practice on shooting those soul energy arrows."

"I know…" Mia spoke in a disheartened tone while looking down. "But, there's no time. I wonder if I able to perfect it."

Looking at them from the distance, Gideon almost broke out into a laugh. Azzy was only 13 while the ninth-grader Mia is 15 years old. Yet, due to the difference in their heights and their temperament, it felt like she was being lectured by a senior, instead.

Upon hearing her words, Azzy replied a bit softly, reminding himself that she's a teammate and also a stranger, unlike Gideon and Claire, "The Champions League will go for several weeks. So, you will have enough time to perfect the soul energy arrow technique. You are indeed talented. So, all you need more practice."

"Really?" She raised her head and looked at him in hope.

From childhood, her family members and her friends, everyone called her a step-daughter of heaven, which is a title given to a person who has the potential to become a rank-9 expert despite not awakening a platinum grade beast.

Mia thought of herself as the genius, all along, until the finals of the annual tournament, where she lost her confidence for the first time upon witnessing the power of Claire and Zona.

And the nail was further struck with the hammer when she witnessed the prowess of the true children of heaven in the battle between Azzy and Vann.

After Azzy replaced Calder and joined the training sessions, at first, she only felt nervous.

However, watching Azzy defeating her and Snivy easily many times in a row, made her confidence hit the rock bottom.

But, now upon hearing praise from the strongest person she had ever met in the age group, she felt a little bit touched. Azzy's stoic expression made her think he wasn't joking either. So, she believed him a bit and her confidence gradually rose for the moment.

"Ahem, how long the two of you will hold your hands. Now, get back to work." Both of them suddenly heard Claire's voice from the side. "Azrael, go and train with Gideon."

For some reason, Azzy felt she looks scary for a moment and immediately released the hand before he dashed towards Gideon who seemed to be groaning in pain on the ground.

Glancing at Claire and then, at Azzy's back, a mischievous smile appeared on Mia as she walked towards her friend and put her arms around Claire's neck. "My, my… Aren't you a jealous one… First, propose to him and then, claim the right, will ya…" Mia whispered in her ear.

"Shush…" Claire immediately covered Mia's mouth, fearing that Azzy might hear it.

Thankfully for her, he didn't as he was far away.

***

Meanwhile, at the Elite division dormitory, Vann was in deep meditation in his room.

The Galarian King which just recently became a celestial grade is currently in the process of connecting with Gaia and extracting the information of major events that left a strong impact on the history of this planet.

"Hmm? It seemed like something disturbed the flow of time?" As its consciousness further dived into the time flow, the Galarian King was surprised to realize that Vann's assassination was the trigger. It wasn't able to understand the reason.

After thinking for a while, it put the thoughts away and continued to explore the time flow to understand everything about the human world.

Along with it, it also received information regarding the other celestial grade beasts

After several hours, the sunlight passed through the glass and illuminated the room, making Vann open his eyes and smile, "Well, it looked like there's a possibility of another evolution which gives me the path to live for eternity. For that, I need to hunt down the other celestial grades and absorb them."

Looking left and right, he mumbled, "but first, I need to eliminate that threat to conquer my fears. I'm no longer a rank-4 and certainly more powerful than before. Well, there's only one way to find out."

***

By morning 8, every seat in the Grand Arena was sold out. The rest of the people who couldn't buy the ticket returned to their homes or hotels in disappointment.

Too bad for them that there's no live telecast as it was a tradition of the Champions League. However, since the tournament is happening in the human world, the recording was still allowed as usual, which can only be telecasted after the tournament.

At the same time, the audience was also allowed to record as long as it won't be telecasted. Violators will receive a lawsuit from the organization.

Most of the audience who are adults knew of it. So, the authorities didn't feel the need to worry.

Two huge screens were also placed on northern and southern ends for everyone from the top sections to watch the battle clearly in case they weren't able to see the battle from far away.

Ten minutes before 9 o'clock, Barton Everglade, President of the country, organizing committee's head, and finally, a global singer, who hailed from the country, stood together on a stage that was erected temporarily in the middle of the Arena.

Despite the unrest in the Northern Qudour where the streets were filled with the soldiers and police while the skies were being monitored by special forces and air forces, right now, hundred thousand spectators were filled with enthusiasm as they were about to witness the spectacular performances of the Champions.

A couple came on to the stage. It was the Aclein goddess Exea and a popular handsome host.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Champions League, 1994!"

As soon as the beautiful host Exea greeted the audience, a huge collective cheer erupted from a hundred thousand spectators.

The other male host, a peak-rank-6 expert who is a popular host from the entertainment world, then took from there, explaining the four guests standing on the stage with them.

"And finally, I present you, Eclipse…" The host ended the introduction with the global pop star that had massive popularity across the whole continent.

She was so popular that the cheering of the crowd even surprised the president, and especially the spectators from the Arcana world. It was several times louder than when Exea greeted everyone.

Still, it goes without saying that many people ridiculed her in their hearts as Margery Collars alias Eclipse was a rank-7 expert. They couldn't accept such a person who chooses to work in the music industry.

After the three guests' boring speech is finished, Eclipse performed a couple of her songs, making the audience go crazy so early in the morning.