Allen did not pay much attention to the Council's movements after learning about them. With Yajima around, if things truly reached a critical point, Yajima would notify Makarov immediately. Rather than waste time keeping an eye on the Council's actions, it was better to focus on the guild's internal ranking tournament!
It was December of X778, and the guild's internal ranking tournament had once again entered the stage of a three-way battle for supremacy, though calling the third contender one of the top three was a bit of a stretch.
In the August ranking tournament, Kana had ultimately held on to first place with the tremendous power of Crushing Magic, while Sorano had refused to be outdone and also claimed first place through her bond with Agumon. For the following three months, first place had belonged to either Kana or Sorano.
Mira's performance had been outstanding, but she was always just a little short. She had taken second place twice, but each time she had regretfully missed out on first place—either falling to Kana's Crushing Magic or losing to the combined attack of Sorano and Agumon. This left Mira extremely dissatisfied, and she decided to seek Allen's help.
One day, Mira found Allen after training. A trace of unwillingness showed on her face, and her voice was filled with confusion. "Teacher Allen, I've clearly been working very hard. Why am I always just a little short? What should I do about my current situation?"
Allen looked at Mira's unwilling yet somewhat lost expression and explained his understanding. "Mira, your current problem lies in the limitations of your reception target. The Raging Fire Lion may be very powerful in ordinary-level battles, but both Kana and Sorano have already surpassed the ordinary level in combat power. Even if you can barely defeat