"Alright. On to the second matter." Nathan nodded and sent another document for him. "As you might already know, you are going to be included in the roster for the elites that were going to fight the S rank magical beast. There are a few more students that will participate in this. They are Tasha, Michelle, and Isabelle. Ayaka and Evan are going to join my army."

Ayaka looked down as she glanced at Tasha and Michelle with disappointment. It seemed that she didn't have the strength to follow Kai.

Nathan obviously knew how it felt to be left behind. Hence, he smiled and patted her shoulder. "I know it's disheartening. But if you come to my army, I will let you join the higher up. Although you can only watch there, you will understand how the army works, and I hope in the future, you can also mobilize the army yourself, not as a lone fighter, but a commander."

Ayaka looked up and widened her eyes. She also felt the hidden meaning behind his word, which was the position of commander under Kai. This word indeed raised her spirit again as she bowed her head. "Thank you for having me."

"Sure." Nathan nodded with a smile before glancing at Evan. "As for you, it's fine if you stay in the back, right? Well, I have gotten permission to let Eagle Group work under me. Although you can't see her most of the time, she should regroup after defeating the spider. After all, fighting an S rank magical beast is much faster than destroying a hundred thousand army."

"I understand. It's not like I want her beside me all the time since she will nag me all the time." Evan shrugged.

After this much talk, Sofia suddenly realized why Kai and Sanae said those mysterious words. She glanced at them, asking for explanations, albeit the two only shrugged, confirming her confusion with their action.

Nathan noticed her expression and made a smug smile. "If this young lady wants to watch from the sideline, it's fine for us. After all, the contract says you can choose to participate or not after seeing the mission yourself. This is not me provoking you."

Sofia gritted her teeth. To think that she would need to join this battle, this was outside of her calculation. Since the mission came this early, she had no choice but to participate because Kai would look down on her. If it came a bit later, she could deepen her relationship first before making some excuses. Whether this was planned or not, she had truly been had. She smiled with a dark expression. "Of course, I will join."

"Then, I welcome you to my army." Nathan smirked as if everything was going according to his plan.

"Tch." Sofia clicked her tongue.

"Please be ready to get dispatched all times, alright? After all, Kai is in his training to become a young general. Of course, the mission difficulty is far greater than the normal students do, so you should be prepared." Nathan paused for a moment. "If you feel you can't keep up, you are free to leave the group. I will use my connection to have you change the group for this one-year period."

Sofia was speechless. The US Base knew how important Kai was to both bases along with her strength, and they were planning to have her assist him in this training and raise his ranks even further. This way, it will be harder to convince Kai to move. Sofia gritted his teeth, knowing she couldn't do anything. "I understand. I have prepared myself for something like this."

Nathan grinned before he received a message. He took out his device as his expression turned serious the moment he read the short message.

"Sir Nathan?" Kai furrowed his eyebrows.

"Kai… Call your teacher later." Nathan sighed and scratched his head, feeling troubled. "As much as I want to talk with you, it seems I need to go back."

Without waiting for anyone to answer, he dashed to the door and left the room.

Kai was amused and confused at the same time, wondering what kind of problem he had. He was wondering whether his teacher wanted him to call her was related to this matter.

Before that, Sofia decided to change the topic as she continued after a long sigh. "Anyway, I will be with you guys for a year. You can call me Sofia to make it not awkward. And now I understand what kind of problem I get into…"

"Well, good luck." Sanae didn't have anything to say other than these two words.

"I know that you think this is absurd, but you should research your opponent first." Kai shrugged. "Besides, I have warned you months ago, so yeah, good luck."

Sofia took another deep breath to calm her down before saying. "For now, I have a gift for you guys. You can treat it as my way to show my appreciation for this group."

She took a few bottles from her bag and handed it to Sanae. "Teacher. I have heard that you love wine, so I brought you the finest wine from EU Base. I hope you like it."

"!!!" Sofia blinked her eyes a few seconds before patting her shoulder with a smile. "You are really a good child. Now I pity you to experience all this."

She then took a pair of shoes and gave it to Evan. "This can help increase your mobility. You can try it later and get accustomed to it."

As for Michelle and Ayaka, she gave them some fancy clothes. She didn't know what kind of thing they liked, so she chose whatever she could find.

It was different for Tasha. She immediately handed a stack of presents for her, from clothes to a weapon. "This is a bow created by exoskeleton technology. The performance is top-notch, whether it's from magic efficiency and power. Besides, you can attach this to an exoskeleton itself.

"Of course, without an exoskeleton, this can act like a glove. For example, if you activate this, your left hand will be covered with an exoskeleton. You can even take a blow with this, so I think this will improve your performance."

Tasha was Kai's elder sister, so there was no way she would treat her like the others. On the other hand, Tasha didn't know whether to accept this or not until Kai nodded to her.

Seeing she accepted the gifts, Sofia smiled. She was also a bit curious how powerful her real power is, but she felt she wouldn't be able to see it any time soon. If she calculated this problem and that third party, it wouldn't be wise to use that power until the situation forced her. However, she didn't get disheartened, knowing that she had the same fire as Kai.

After giving everyone, she then gave the last present for Kai. It was a necklace with a silver ball hanging on it.

"This is your exoskeleton. We have customized it for you according to your body measurement and other things that I can't speak about. Of course, this is based on our data. If you don't mind, please try it first and check whether there is a discomfort or not."

Kai nodded and stared at this necklace for a moment before he decided to wear it. "What should I do now?"

"Just channel your magic power into that necklace. It will scan your body and summon the exoskeleton."

Kai then walked toward an empty space. He took another glimpse at his group's expression, knowing they were curious about it. "I will start then."

Kai closed his eyes and channeled his magic power. Suddenly, he felt like ants were walking all over his body before he felt metals wrapping his body.

He widened his eyes and raised his hand, opening his eyes to look at this new exoskeleton. Many metal words were covering his entire body, including his legs.

"This exoskeleton is designed to increase your power even further and have the capability of defending an attack. Is there any discomfort at the moment? Like maybe the suit is too small for you, or some rods are tickling you?"

"No. I don't have any discomfort at the moment." Kai shook his head.

"How about fighting me once to test this exoskeleton and see if there is some part that hinders you?" Sofia asked. "Well, I am also curious about you, so I want to experience your strength myself. It's two birds in one stone."

"Sure, but I will need to call my teacher first." Kai accepted it while adding inwardly. 'I will only try the close combat though… Besides, it's not like I can hide my strength for an entire year.'

"Alright." Sofia nodded with a smile as she wrapped everything and put her bag aside.

Kai then left the room, headed toward the roof, and called his teacher.

"Yo. How are you? Have the message been delivered, and how is that Sofia doing in your group?"

"I am fine, and I have received the message from Sir Nathan. As for Sofia Campbell… I pity her since she will soon have her very first raid mission, not long after she enrolls at our school."

"Haha… That's good then. Just let that girl suffer, so we can know her real intention."

Kai paused for a moment and asked. "Do you have a problem, Teacher?"

"It's not necessarily my problem, but the entire base's problem." She paused for a moment and asked. "Do you remember I gave you a name not long ago, the one that wanted to kill you?"

"Alright. I understand. He escapes, right?" Kai sighed.

"Yeah… I have told you that he had escaped two months ago. However, it turned out he has a few subordinates in the research center itself. And they did something ridiculous."

"What is that?"

"They have created zodiacs and have them escape."

"Do you want me to search for them?"

"That's not the main problem."

"Then what?" Kai frowned. That problem was already big enough, and yet it wasn't the main problem.

"They created those zodiacs with the blood of SSS Rank Magical Beast."

*Thud~!*