Mirik's POV-

A week had passed since I first grabbed this baton. I had become quite proficient in using it in both its forms. Baton for short and explosive attacks and staff for long and precise attacks. My spiritual training was also going good. I was able to form a stable sphere with my spirit but anything else and its form would break. But it was not very bad considering I focused more on the baton.

It was five in the morning so I went for a shower. After the shower, I cooked some food and was free by seven. I wondered what was going on in the school so I thought it would be a good idea to make a trip there. I changed into my uniform and left for school. It was a ten-minute ride to the school by bus but I preferred walking so it took me around half an hour to reach my destination.

I went inside our empty classroom and sat on my seat. I was feeling a bit sleepy so taking a small nap wouldn't hurt. I slowly faded into sleep.

I made a mistake when my small nap turned into a three-hour sleep. I woke up to see nobody in the class. Did nobody come to the class? Was it Sunday today? I thought to myself. I stood up and left the class. On my way, I saw other classes and they were empty too. Then I suddenly remembered that the tournament was close and the teacher had told us that we were going to have practice until then.

I slowly made my way towards the auditorium. Noises coming from there, some of the excitement some of the anger. But I could feel even before going in that something fun was happening inside. I entered the auditorium to see hundreds of kids. They had all formed a circle according to the classes they were in. It was weird. I made my way towards my class after I saw our homeroom teacher from afar standing with the other section's teacher.

"Ohhhhh, the mighty jake has fallen to the hands of Kiara the destroyer." a student of our class shouted like he was an announcer.

"And with this, she has gone on a 10-win streak and now ranking no.4 on the leaderboards," he added as the crowd cheered for her.

I was dumbstruck with what was going on here. The auditorium was turned into an arena. This was my first time seeing this happening maybe it happened every year but I never participated. I started looking in the crowd and soon found Bala standing with his usual friends. I made my way toward him.

"Mirik! You are here. Where were you? Ahhh...you missed on the opportunity." Bala said as he greeted me.

"What opportunity?" I asked him confusingly.

"To get on the leaderboards of course," Bala said as he pointed to a digital screen showing everyone's rank.

"What bad luck that today is the last day too," he added.