Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

'Diablocally charming!' Shin thought as his cheeks started burning before forcing his eyes away from Kayla's captivating smile. 

Slapping himself a couple of times, he regained awareness of their surroundings. 'She is indeed the smartest and most cool-headed person that I've ever met! 

'Well, and the most charming... and the most beaut- *cough* anyway! She's right, we can't give out such a secret that would make it easier for our competitors…'

Looking around to gather his thoughts, Shin remembered that this was not just one battle that they had to get through, no. 

This was only one of the many matches they had to win in this tournament in order to claim the final victory. That's why they needed to plan ahead as well.

They were currently in a special arena/ stadium that was made to be able to withstand rankers' spars. 

Additionally, they weren't fighting random people. No, this was a tournament that was well organized by the global Earth Defence Alliance.

Such a grand event was naturally transmitted globally for people to watch. 

While most people thought this was purely for entertainment purposes, the EDA officials had thought that showing off their rankers' might is a good way to support morale.

'Why am I arguing about airing and promoting this tournament to the public?' Scott, the Canadian Deputy General, had asked the other EDA officials with a predatory grin. 'Am I crazy? Am I stupid? Are those your questions?

'Then the answer is simple… I am not crazy, nor stupid. No, I am simply astute. 

'What do you think is going to happen in three months from now, when we announce the massive scale invasion headed our way? 

'Do you think the public will take the news calmly and forget the previous portal incident when Earth was nearly destroyed?

'Do I need to remind you of the huge numbers of casualties we had suffered from for simply not having organized escape routes and because people were not putting enough trust in our rankers?

'Contrary to a crazy person, or a stupid person, I have a vision for the future. I am not planning to depend on the people's blind trust in us and risking the avoidable downfall of many cities.

'No. I am planning to show everyone the might of our young rankers. Seeing them in action in a friendly environment, such as a tournament, will make it easier for the people to cheer and support some of those young heroes.

'Furthermore, it will make them realize the massive power they're holding. Which in turn, will make them trust us, the EDA, even more. After all, we are the ones training them!'

At the time, tremendous clapping noise filled the conference hall as everyone had burst into cheers for Scott.

"Deputy General," Camilla Rogers, who was sitting next to him on the front row with her deep blue eyes sparkling under the sun rays and long jet black hair fluttering in the wind, had a warm and curious smile glued to her beautiful pale face. "You seem rather happy, judging by your creepy expression… What are you daydreaming about?"

"Daydreaming? Hm, maybe I was…" Scott shrugged his shoulders while looking up at the bright blue sky. It was a beautiful day. 

His efforts back at the recent EDA conference had paid off and the tournament had been greatly welcomed by the normal population as well as the other powered People and rankers.

This was one of the first preliminary steps into ensuring not only their survival, but also their victory against the alien invasion.

"Oi, you two keep quiet!" Ramira Sato, the Japanese Deputy General, motioned for them to shut up as she was extremely focused at the current match. "I am really curious to how things will unfold here and I don't want any distractions!"

"Hm, you seem captivated… like you're lost in your own world. Are you even watching the match?" Camilla asked with raised eyebrows.

"Of course I am! I am just full of expectations. Kayla is that girl's companion after all, is she not?" A look of pure excitement was clearly brightening up her face. 

Ramira had fought against Raven before and she knew that someone like her was a prodigy, without a doubt. Her companion, Kayla, was ought to be just as much of a genius!

"Who do you think will win?" Jaime asked curiously while playing with his fiery red hair.

"Is it not obvious?" Camilla asked with a grin. "To be honest, it's almost unfair to let Kayla join the tournament, but hey, she's only a B ranker according to her Rank Test."

"My money is on that purple haired girl as well!" Hinata Amaka, one of the instructors as well, said with a forced smile while hugging herself pitifully. "She always gave me such a frightening gaze whenever I toyed with, err educated, her teammates and friends. So chilly…"

"Hm, focus on objectively judging the students' performance, rather than having personal opinions! Tch!" Scott clicked his tongue.

"Boring…" Hinata said while avoiding his gaze. Camilla smiled awkwardly.

"Ho~ between you and me, who do you think is gonna win, Scott?" Ramira asked.

"Deputy General Ramira Sato, our task is to judge the students' performance… I ask you again to watch the matches objectively while taking notes." Scott said in a professional manner, although a smile made its way up to his face before focusing back on his notes.

Yes, although this was an extremely fun and engaging match to watch, the present EDA officials were more concerned about their real objective here.

The real purpose of this tournament, after all, was to observe and rank the skills of each Elite Team. This would give the higher ups an idea of where each team would excel at during the upcoming war, which would ultimately help in the deployment process.

Although they had decided that the official EDA Generals and their subordinates would be the ones mostly doing the fighting, they weren't sure if they'd be enough since a lot of ambiguity was still involved. 

That's why those young heroes were training hard. They were expected to contribute massively to the wellbeing of planet Earth.

Needless to say, this tournament didn't only include the Canadian Elite Classroom, but also the other ones from around the globe, including Japanese, British, Middle Eastern and so on. 

There were a total of forty teams 'of threes' taking part in this tournament. And needless to say, all of them wanted to win this tournament and be the final victors. 

This was the least they could do to show their pride in their own county for believing in them and entrusting them to protect Earth.