After regrouping with all of the other girls, we exited the Library of Infinite Beginnings.

On the walk in search of a good place to eat, Yu An Yan spoke.

"We could've kept going for longer, y'know. Eating lunch a bit later is no big deal."

"Yeah, but it's not healthy," I replied. "Girls should take care of their bodies more."

Qing Yue giggled. "As if you're one to talk, Big Brother Xuan Kai."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not a girl," I shot back. "Not to say boys don't need to take care of their bodies, but the point is, I'm used to it, so it's fine."

The girls didn't say anything, but the skepticism on their faces was as clear as day.

"Besides," I continued. "There's something I want to talk to you all about. Some recent news I just found out. It has to do with the curse Lan Xiao Su's mother has."

At this, Lan Xiao Su stiffened. "What...what about it?"

I sighed. "It's...complicated. I'll explain once we're sitting down and waiting for our food."

*****

In the end, after a good half an hour of searching for a suitable restaurant, we...ultimately decided to just use our phones to look for a good one. All the ones we came across were either too expensive or too crowded, since right now was peak lunch hour. Sure, we could've went to the same one Mrs. Fang's niece worked at, but he already knew how I looked like...it would be kind of awkward to go back there just an hour after leaving.

At last, we settled on a diner by the name of The Waterfront Persoit.

Like the name suggested, when we arrived at its location, the first thing we noticed was a massive artificial fountain in front of it.

"Well...that certainly is a sight," Feng Mian whistled.

Xiang Peng, ever the clown, immediately saw a good opportunity to make a bad pun. "Ha, 'well', get it? 'Cause like, water well? And there's water in wells? And...actually, never mind. Sorry, that was bad."

"Wow, you realized it yourself," I said sarcastically.

"R-Right," Xiang Peng averted her gaze, pretending the whole ordeal never happened. I was happy to comply.

"In any case, I thought by 'waterfront' they meant this restaurant being close to a large body of water, like a lake or something," Yu An Yan murmured. "Did they really mean just this fountain? Yes, it's quite a beautiful fountain, but..."

"Well, think about it. It's easy to forget this, but we're actually on top of a massive floating structure right now, chained to the ground. I doubt there are any large bodies of water up here," I replied.

Then, realizing what I did, I immediately turned to Xiang Peng, glaring at her as I met her eyes.

"Don't."

She opened her mouth, about to say something, but quickly retreated after seeing the murderous gleam in my eyes.

I'm never saying 'well' again around her. Never. For the sake of my sanity and all those around me.

"Never mind the scenery! The food is what matters!" Qing Yue shouted with excitement, tugging on my sleeve. "C'mon! Let's head in already!"

"Yes, yes..." I muttered, slightly exhausted, before letting myself be dragged away by her.

The ten of us went inside the restaurant, ignoring the jealous stares coming from all around us.

*****

Once we were inside, we were greeted by a young waitress with long pointy ears. She had long, golden hair, with large green eyes. Quite frankly, she was beautiful. Almost...inhumanly beautiful.

"Welcome to the Waterfront Persoit," she said, bowing elegantly.

"Wait, those ears...are you an elf?" Lan Xiao Su couldn't help but speak up in awe.

"Xiao Su, that's kind of rude, just asking that out of the blue..." I murmured quietly.

"No no, it's alright, haha," the elf replied. "Indeed, I am an elf. But as you know, Shanghai accepts all races, unlike the rest of Human territory. Therefore, there's no problem in me being here."

"No one said there was," Feng Mian replied with a gentle smile.

"S-Sorry! It's just my first time seeing an elf in real life, so I got a little excited..." Lan Xiao Su blushed.

Good to see that easily embarrassed side of you isn't completely gone. It's pretty cute, not gonna lie.

"That's alright," the elven waitress laughed. "We aren't commonly seen within Human territory, after all. And even in Shanghai, I can safely say I am one of the few who are here. We elves are a bit of an...anti-social race, haha. The only people we really get along with are the Fairies."

"If that's the case, then - and forgive me for prying, but - why are you here?" I asked curiously. "I mean, why leave your homeland?"

"I'm...one of the more competitive few elves, you could say," she chuckled. "I dislike the laid-back and relaxed way of living we elves have. So, I left Elven Territory to challenge myself. This, I heard, was the best place to do that."

"I see...are you planning on entering this year's test to enter Fragment?" I continued asking.

She nodded. "Yes. And are you all planning on doing the same?"

We all nodded, and she smiled.

"See you in the battlefield, then. Good luck."

"You too," Feng Mian replied.

And with that, the waitress led us to an empty table, and we parted ways. Lan Xiao Su was a bit disappointed, since she probably had more questions to ask the elf, which was completely understandable. I myself wouldn't mind having a longer talk with her. It wasn't everyday you got to see an elf, after all.

"Wow, a real elf..." Lan Xiao Su murmured. "I wonder if we'll run into her in the preliminaries coming up."

"We probably will," I said. "She seemed to be around the same age at us, based on appearance. She should be in the same divison as us."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," Xiang Peng winked and casually inserted herself into the conversation. "Elves age differently from humans. For the first 18 years of their life, nothing is different compared to humans. But when they hit 18, it will be as if they stopped ageing altogether. So, essentially, even a fifty year old elf would appear to be in her youth. In conclusion - that elf may be in our division, but she also may not."

I shrugged. "Sorry, I never cared enough about other races to read in on them. Good to know though, thanks. The only ever useful thing you've done in your life."

Xiang Peng made a fake offended expression at this. "What?! Xuan Kai, that hurts my feelings, y'know...you are hurting a poor maiden's heart. How could you?"

"Yes yes, I'm sorry, apologies, all that," I waved off her childish act. "Now. Let's order."

"But Master, we already ate," Mei Gui said, frowning.

I sighed. "Yes, but the others haven't. So we'll just watch as they eat."

"Understood."

"Wait, you two already ate? Since when?" Yu An Yan asked, frowning in confusion.

"Ah, yes...that leads me to the thing I wanted to talk to you guys about," I replied. "You see, when Mei Gui and I left earlier, we were planning on asking the receptionist about something. You remember, the old lady who made us our library cards?"

The other girls all nodded, and I continued.

"Right. The question we wanted to ask her was something we wanted to keep private, so she suggested we go talk while eating lunch. Since she was treating, I didn't see a reason to say no."

Mei Gui nodded along to all this while I talked, confirming the facts.

"In any case, while we were eating, one thing led to another, and we ended up discovering something pretty terrifying - and it has to do with the 1 Year Curse."

"That's...the curse that my mother has!" Lan Xiao Su exclaimed in shock.

I nodded. "Indeed. And what we found out was that...after the current holder of the curse dies from it, the curse will be automatically transferred onto the deceased's descendant."

Feng Mian's eyes widened. "Wait...then doesn't that mean-"

"Yes," I cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say. With a grim look on my face, I continued. "If we don't end up saving Xiao Su's mother in time...she herself's next in line."

"That's...horrible..." Yu An Xue grimaced.

But surprisingly enough, Lan Xiao Su herself was taking all this quite well.

"I understand," she said, not a hint of fear or worry on her face. "In other words, our goal hasn't changed, right? All we have to do is save my mother and free her from this curse."

"Nya...Xiwao Su, hyow kyan you keep syo cyalm?" Amane asked, tilting her head and furrowing her brow.

Lan Xiao Su smiled. "There's no reason for me to panic. Nothing's changed. All this is, is one more incentive to save my mother as soon as possible."

At this, I grinned beneath my mask, ever so slightly.

She's...gotten strong. Really strong. Looks like...my efforts during the paintball fight weren't for naught, after all.