After getting defeated at the hands of Lan Xiao Su, I remained in my spot, like we were told before the paintball fight even began. Soon after Lan Xiao Su left the area to search for more opponents, I heard my earpiece cackle.

"Heh. Got eliminated, didn't ya?" Old Man Leng's old voice said.

"Huh? How did you know?" I asked.

"Well, yer stopped movin' all of a sudden, so I kinda figured," he replied. "These earpieces have trackin' on 'em, so I know where yer at anytime."

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see them. "Yeah yeah...whatever. Hurry up and come pick me up."

"Don't worry, I'm on my way," he replied, before cutting the comms.

Not even a minute later, I heard a loud whirling noise coming from directly above me.

I looked up to see what it was, and-

"Holy shit...a helicopter?" I murmured in shock. Out of all the things that could've shown up, this was the most surprising.

Then, I saw the door of the helicopter slide open, and a rope being tossed down from it. A man yelled at the top of his lungs:

"Get yer ass up here! And no Flight Magic!"

I frowned. "Old Man Leng, can't you just land it down here so I can board the damn thing normally?"

"Nope! Too much of a hassle. What, ya tellin' me a healthy young man can't climb a damn rope?" he scoffed.

I groaned in exhaustion and began climbing my way up the rope. "Man...why can't you just let me fly up there...?"

"This is part of yer trainin' too!" he yelled in response. "Deal wit' it!"

I mean...I guess that's fair. Physical endurance and capabilities will be vital if we have to journey across difficult terrain for the preliminaries, such as snowy mountains or dangerous forests.

After a long struggle, I pulled myself up onto the helicopter. Old Man Leng slammed the door shut, and hopped back in the cockpit. He then steered the helicopter away, and about five minutes later, he landed it on top of the roof of a building near the edge of the slums, where we first started the paintball fight. I stepped out of the helicopter, and saw the other eliminated contestants, leaning against the wall and resting. Flaria was there too, but she appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

"Hm? Xuan Kai?" Yu An Yan tilted her head upon spotting me. "You got eliminated? How?"

"W-Wha?! Nyo way!" Amane's jaw dropped wide open.

I sighed. "Long story short, I underestimated my opponent, and uh...I paid the price."

"Uh...okay, but who defeated you?" Xiang Peng joined in as well, curious. "I can only imagine Qing Yue's Golden Fortress thingy posing some trouble for you. But knowing you, you probably have a plan to use against that as well."

"Well...you aren't going to believe it, but...it was Lan Xiao Su."

"What?! Lan Xiao Su...?" Yu An Yan gasped.

"H-Hold on, we thinking about the same Lan Xiao Su here, right? You don't got anther mistress out there named Lan Xiao Su whom we don't know about?" Xiang Peng asked, sweating profusely.

"The very same," I replied. "I know, it's hard to believe, but...what do you know? She's actually a really smart girl when it comes to fighting. She just needed someone to give her the push she needed to actually obtain the courage that's crucial to battles."

"Nya...seow, Xuwan Kwai, you gave her this courage??" Amane asked, tilting her head in inquiry.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I gave her a motivational speech, more or less, and that somehow enlightened her. Honestly, I feel like getting eliminated is worth it."

"Huh...now I'm curious, too. How did she beat ya?" Old Man Leng asked after turning off the helicopter and walking over to us.

"Those bullets you gave us - they are crafted with some kind of special casing, instead of the mana bullets we're used to. Xiao Su took advantage of that, and realized that the bullets have ricochet properties. Then, she caught me off guard by bouncing one of her bullets off a wall, and striking me in the back."

"Ho ho...ricochet, is it?" Old Man Leng echoed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That's pretty interestin'. I never thought someone would actually be able to discover that."

I raised an eyebrow. "So you knew the entire time?"

He nodded. "Yep. But I didn't inform you all, since I never expected someone to actually put it's reflective properties to good use. That girl...she's really a talent."

"Right?" I muttered in defeat. "I really shouldn't have underestimated her..."

"I want to see how she uses this ricochet thingy!" Xiang Peng declared, puffing her chest out. "Hey hey, Old Man Leng, can we go spectate?"

He scoffed. "Huh? Spectate? How?"

"We take the helicopter! It's so boring just staying here and waiting, so...please?" Xiang Peng continued, giving him the sad puppy dog eyes.

Old Man Leng sighed. "Fine, fine. I just closed the damn thing...agh, whatever. Hop on."

He turned around and entered the helicopter once more, and the rest of us followed him. He booted the machine up, and so, Amane, Yu An Yan, Xiang Peng, and I set off to spectate the rest of the fight.

*****

(Mei Gui's Perspective)

...This is troublesome.

I wanted to go to Master and form an alliance with him, but I had hesitated. That old man had said this was to be a Free For All, so perhaps Master wouldn't want to team up with me.

But now, it was too late.

Just a few moments earlier, I sensed Master being moved away back to the starting area. That could only mean one thing - he had been eliminated. How, I do not know. By whom, I do not know either. But one thing, I knew for sure - Master would not be defeated so easily. My best guess...he underestimated his opponent, and got hit with a surprise attack.

But that matters not. I am certain he learned something from this defeat, and that is all that matters.

However.

That being said...whoever eliminated him must be removed from this battle. I will not allow otherwise. The problem was, I did not know who, out of the five other combatants excluding myself, was the one to eliminate my precious Master.

...Then again, I suppose that is not a problem. All I have to do is eliminate everyone else.

So far, I have not encountered anyone else in the slums. I had heard gunshots from time to time, but by the time I got there, the ones who had produced them were long gone. Yes, I could have just used a spell like Third Eye and saved myself a lot of trouble, but I had made the decision to challenge myself at the beginning of this fight. I would refrain from using any radar or detection-type spells, and rely on nothing but my own base abilities.

It was always a good idea to hone my intrinsic skills. After all, if I run out of mana, or for some reason cannot use external help such as spells or anything of the sort, I will have nothing to rely on except my own bare body. Thus, keeping it prepared for such a situation is never a bad thing.

However, then, as I was walking through the slums, I heard a cackle noise through my comms.

"Hey, remaining contestants - if ya see a helicopter flyin' by, don't shoot it, damn it!" Old Man Leng's voice came through. "The eliminated guys just can't sit still, so here we are, spectatin' the rest of the battle unfold. That's all. Good luck!"

Spectating...hm.

I tried contacting Master.

[Master, can you hear me?]

[H-Hm? Mei Gui? Yeah. What's up?]

[Are you...going to watch me fight?] I asked hesitantly, eager for an answer.

Master chuckled. [Of course. Now that I've been eliminated, I'm counting on you to win the fight for me.]

My eyes lit up, and I smiled. [Understood, Master! Also, one more thing...]

[What is it?]

[...Actually, never mind.]

[Hm...? Okay then...]

We ended our conversation there, and in the end, I decided against asking him who was the one to defeat him. I would be eliminating everyone else if I wanted to win, after all, so it was better to keep a non-biased mentality as to who I should target.

Don't worry, Master...I will avenge you.

*****

- Qing Yue's Perspective -

Heh, spectating us? Hm...I suppose I don't mind. I can use this opportunity to show Big Brother Xuan Kai that I'm not a weak girl who needs protecting!

I rounded corner happily, but the moment I did, my mood went down as I saw a new opponent.

I sighed. "Well well. Look who it is! Lan. Xiao. Su!"

"U-Um...yes?" she murmured in response.

"Hehe, I've always wondered what you look like under that veil, so how about we make a little bet?" I proposed.

"A...bet?"

I nodded in confirmation. "Yep! I mean, you're not going to just run away, right? C'mon, this is a fair fight, woman to woman. If you win, you get to take my reserved spot for one whole week, but if I win...you have to show me your true face."

"H-Huh? Your reserved spot...?"

"By that, I mean Big Brother Xuan Kai's lap! I'm willing to go this far to see your face! I normally would never give that spot to anyone, just so you know..."

"U-Um...sure, I guess?" Lan Xiao Su agreed at last, albeit hesitantly.

I pumped my fist into the air. "Alright! Let's do this!"