Angelia Schariac focused on guiding Chihaya Anon's guitar playing while quietly observing Togawa Sakiko from the corner of her eye.
She was certain that Togawa Sakiko carried some kind of system, though she could not determine whether it came from the Will of Ruler or from some other unknown source.
Based on the information she had gathered so far, Sakiko's system seemed to be closely connected to music and bands.
The members of CRYCHIC—Nagasaki Soyo, Shiina Taki, and Takamatsu Tomori—had shown remarkable improvement in recent practices, especially Chihaya Anon, whose progress was the fastest.
From a complete beginner with no knowledge of guitar to someone who could now barely manage to perform on stage, Anon's rate of growth was astonishing.
Recently, Togawa Sakiko had recruited bassist Yahata Umiri and drummer Yuutenji Nyamu, forming a brand-new band together with herself and Chihaya Anon—Ave Mujica.
Inside the band's practice room, Togawa Sakiko watched Angelia carefully teaching Chihaya Anon, silently calculating whether she should invite Misumi Uika to join.
If Uika joined, she could only take the role of guitarist, and both Chihaya Anon and Angelia were also guitarists.
A band with three guitarists would clearly be somewhat redundant.
The position of bassist was already secured by Yahata Umiri. Togawa Sakiko herself handled the keyboard, and the drummer was Yuutenji Nyamu.
Originally, Sakiko's plan had been for Angelia and Misumi Uika to serve as dual guitarists, with Yahata Umiri on bass, herself on keyboard, and Yuutenji Nyamu on drums.
When she saw Chihaya Anon, she had temporarily decided to pull her into the band.
After weighing her options, Togawa Sakiko decided to proceed with the current lineup for a debut performance and see how it went.
"Angelia-chan, can I take a photo with you? And maybe record a video too?" Yuutenji Nyamu's eyes sparkled with excitement as she clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture.
"Mm." Angelia lifted her head. Seeing the anticipation written all over Nyamu's face, she gave a slight nod.
"That's great!" Nyamu jumped up happily, quickly taking out her phone and running to Angelia's side. She made a peace sign and started filming.
In Yuutenji Nyamu's eyes, Angelia was undoubtedly a massive source of traffic.
As one of the most talked-about figures among the songstresses of the Honkai world, Angelia had been rated by netizens as the best singer in the group.
The other highly discussed figure was Shigure Kira. Although her voice was incredibly powerful, it was often jokingly described as "opening her mouth could cost someone half their life."
Since their debut performance at the Budokan, the two of them had not held any further public performances.
Now, the Spark Flow Band was about to step onto the dome stage, yet there was still no news about Angelia.
Who would have thought that she would appear in this newly formed band, Ave Mujica?
With Angelia joining, Yuutenji Nyamu believed this band would never lack popularity or attention.
"Nyamu-chan, I'm actually your fan!" Chihaya Anon scooted closer to Yuutenji Nyamu, acting as if they were already close friends, her face brimming with enthusiasm.
"Eh—!" Nyamu covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes widening in surprise. "I'm actually Anon-chan's fan? Nyamu is so happy!"
At that moment, Togawa Sakiko interjected, "You two, hurry up and practice. In a while, Ave Mujica and CRYCHIC will be doing a live together."
"Isn't that way too soon?!" Chihaya Anon was completely stunned.
She was going to perform on stage at her current level?!
With Angelia's guitar skills as a reference, she was well aware that she had only just begun.
There was no way she could be the band's lead guitarist and vocalist.
Of course, if Angelia took the role of lead guitarist and vocalist, Anon would absolutely support it. She had no thoughts about her center position being taken.
"There's no choice. The Elf Girl Music Competition is about to begin."
Togawa Sakiko explained, "Many live houses and venues have already been booked by the organizers. We need to secure our qualification for the competition in advance."
Given the overall skill level of Ave Mujica and CRYCHIC, obtaining qualification for the competition should not be a problem.
"That 16.8 billion competition, right!" Chihaya Anon recalled that Sakiko had pulled her into forming a professional band for the sake of this competition.
She had picked up the guitar simply to show off and become the center of attention.
However, in this nearly all-professional band, her skills were the weakest.
The pressure was enormous.
To be honest, she wanted to sit with CRYCHIC instead.
She looked toward the blonde beauty quietly sitting and playing the guitar.
"There's no need to feel too much pressure. As long as everyone's happy, that's enough," Angelia said calmly.
She didn't care about that competition at all. She only wanted to find an opportunity to connect with Raiden Mei and the others' Herrscher cores and authorities. Unfortunately, there had been no chance so far.
The Herrscher of Sentience was still watching her, and Raiden Mei was wary of her as well.
"How about we hold Ave Mujica's debut live at the dome? CRYCHIC can go too," Angelia said casually.
"Huh??" Chihaya Anon was utterly dumbfounded.
They were going to perform at the largest venue in the Far East just like that?!
If she performed well, she would be over the moon. But if she messed up, she would socially die on the spot!
Yahata Umiri's expression shifted slightly. "The dome you're talking about—is it the one that holds fifty-five thousand people?"
"Mm." Angelia nodded.
"Angelia-chan, you can really get us onto that stage?" Yuutenji Nyamu grabbed Angelia's hands excitedly. A debut live at the peak!
Together with Spark Flow?
Hearing Angelia say they could go straight to the dome, Togawa Sakiko fell into thought.
Although she didn't know Angelia's exact identity, judging from her words and demeanor, she was undoubtedly of noble background.
"Are you close with them?" Togawa Sakiko asked curiously.
"We get along fairly well," Angelia replied indifferently, her gaze still calm as water, as if none of this could stir her interest.