"Xuan Kai, huh?" Ling Ling, the girl with auburn hair, murmured thoughtfully. "Pretty cool-sounding name! I like it!"

"I agree. It is a nice name," Four-Eyes added. "I look forward to our friendship."

"Yeah - there aren't many people around our age in The Fortress, after all," Cherry said.

"Hm? Wait, you could tell we're around your age?" I asked, frowning a bit in confusion. Mei Gui and I were both wearing masks, it would've been difficult to tell our age...

"Is that not why you approached us in the first place?" Four-Eyes analyzed. "There are plenty of other tables you could've went to, yet you chose this one. Of course, your voice also hinted towards your age a bit, though it is quite deep. Then there is also the girl standing behind you, who is not wearing a mask."

Xiang Peng is actually a year older than me, but close enough.

"Hm...I see. Your observation skills are good, Four Eyes," I complimented geniunely.

"S-Speaking of the girl behind you, she hasn't introduced herself yet, has she?" Shi Yan said, butting himself into the conversation.

Xiang Peng, realizing she couldn't keep hiding behind me forever, sighed and came up front. "Yeah, I haven't. Sorry. My name's Xiang Peng. Ancestral Mage."

"Woah, you're an Ancestral Mage?!" Ling Ling's eyes sparkled with excitement. "But, you look like the same age as us! How?!"

"Well, I'm actually one year older than Xuan Kai and the rest of you. As for how I got to where I am today...well, 99% hard work, 1% of talent, is what I'd say," Xiang Peng said. She didn't seem to be bragging, but the quartet seemed to be looking at her like some kind of goddess now.

"Wow...that's amazing!" Ling Ling exclaimed - the talkative one of the group, I suppose. "Hey, can you teach me some Level Three spells?! I really want to get to Advanced Mage before the rest of these guys! That way I can flex on them!"

"Um...sure?" Xiang Peng said awkwardly. "Just a heads-up though, I won't be doing it for free. If you want me to teach you stuff, you gotta treat me to a good meal."

Funny...why is Xiang Peng acting so awkward? Normally, when she's around me and the other girls, she's a lot more open than this. Is it because of Shi Yan?

"D-Deal!" Shi Yan was the one who said this instead of Ling Ling, however. I assumed it was less for learning the spells and more to just take Xiang Peng out for a 'date'.

"Hey! I asked first!" Ling Ling said, pouting angrily. Still, she kept her tone quiet, since we were in a library, after all.

"Too bad!" Shi Yan shot back, then turned back to us. "X-Xiang Peng, wherever you want to eat, I'll take you there."

"Um...okay then," she murmured, looking at me for help. I strategically averted my gaze.

Nope. Don't look at me. Your problem for being too attractive, not my fault.

Now that I think about it, Xiang Peng is really cute, comparable to the other girls around me. She had light green hair with curls, and beautiful facial features. Her body was, of course, amazing as well, hence why Shi Yan kept staring at it. She also had an outgoing personality...though she didn't show that here, for whatever reason.

"There's still a couple hours to go until lunchtime," I said. "We can discuss Xiang Peng teaching you guys later. For now, let's just kill some time by continuing to read the books on this floor."

"Sounds good to me," Cherry replied. "After that, we can all go out for lunch together."

Everyone else nodded, and so that was decided.

"Oh yeah, by the way, that other girl with you, she hasn't said a single word! Is she just shy?" Ling Ling asked, directing her gaze towards Mei Gui, who had been standing by my side all this time.

"Yeah," I answered in her stead. "Her name is Mei Gui. This is just how she is, don't take it personally. Allow me to apologize on her behalf."

"No no, it's okay! I get it," Ling Ling hurriedly said. "After she gets to know us a little better, she'll be more comfortable talking, yeah?"

I nodded in confirmation, and Ling Ling smiled brightly. "Okay! Sounds good!"

With that, the three of us each found ourselves a seat by the same table. As an aside, Shi Yan tried to offer Xiang Peng the seat beside him, but she pretended not to notice and instead just naturally sat beside me, with Mei Gui on the other side.

*****

- A Few Hours Later -

"...As expected, none of these books are any use for us," Four-Eyes muttered in frustration. "How long will it take to finally reach a floor where we can actually learn something?!"

"Relax," Cherry said. "It shouldn't be too long now. We're getting into actual magic now, after all...even if it's only useless utility Level One spells."

"Ugh...what time is it now?" Shi Yan asked, doing a mild stretch. Over the past two hours, he had been asking this same question at regular 10-minute intervals. His exactness was quite impressive, actually.

I checked my phone, then looked up. "11:30. Lunchtime."

Shi Yan leapt up from the chair, and made a silent screaming gesture of excitement that resembled something like 'LET'S GO, FINALLY'.

"Awesome! Let's go, then!" Ling Ling exclaimed, slamming her book shut, before moving to put it back to where it originally was, but I stopped her.

"Wait. You can just leave the books here on the table," I said. "They will return to their shelf on their own."

"Wait, really?" Shi Yan raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

I nodded. "Tested and confirmed."

"Huh...never knew that," Ling Ling murmured, setting the book back down on the table.

With that, we headed off, down the stairs one at a time. Right as we were about to exit the Library of Infinite Beginnings, I received a call on my phone. I picked it up after seeing who it was.

"What's up, Feng Mian?"

"Hey~where are you right now?" she asked.

"Uh...planning to head out for lunch, why?" I replied truthfully. The fact that I was with some new companions I met just slipped my mind.

"Oh, that's perfect! The other girls and I were just planning on doing the same thing! Wanna eat together?" Feng Mian asked, hope and excitement in her voice.

"Well...if you say it so eagerly, I have no choice but to accept, do I?" I chuckled in response.

"M-Mou~did I really sound that eager?"

"Yep. You've never been good at hiding your emotions."

She giggled slightly. "I suppose that's true. Okay, see you in a bit then. I'll text you the address."

"Sounds good," I replied, then hung up.

"Who was that?" Shi Yan immediately asked. "Sounded like a girl...with a cute voice too. Is she your girlfriend?"

"Uh...girlfriend? Hm...I guess she's a friend, and she's a girl, so...kinda?" I replied, purposely avoiding the question. "That aside, they said they wanted to eat lunch together. That sound okay with you guys?"

"Sure!" Ling Ling said.

"Fine by me," Cherry agreed.

"I don't mind either," Four-Eyes added.

"Uh..." Shi Yan's eyes darted around, as if trying to ask a question but can't muster up the courage to.

Knowing what he was going to ask, I sighed.

"Yes...there will be girls," I said exasperatedly.

"C-Cute ones?" he murmured hesitantly.

I smirked. Just 'cute' was an insult to Feng Mian and the others.

"All I can say is...you'll see for yourself," I chuckled.

"O-Okay, let's go," Shi Yan said, having made up his mind.

Ah...what a guy. He's already hitting on Xiang Peng, yet he's so eager to meet new girls. Is his dream to have a harem or something?

In any case, I soon received a text from Feng Mian with an address, so I inputted it in the Maps app on my phone and ran a quick search.

Hm...okay, around a kilometer. Not too far away. Feng Mian must've been considerate of me when picking the location...but that also meant she and the other girls would have to walk further. What a dummy.

Subconsciously, I laughed a little. I found it kind of cute, her clumsy way of showing care for me.

"What's the matter?" Xiang Peng asked from beside me, having been the only one who heard my quiet laugh.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, and turned off my phone after memorizing the directions. "So, the place we're going to is called Violet Palace. It's around one kilometer away from here, so not that far."

"Thank god! I'm hungry, hehe," Ling Ling said while scratching her cheek, slightly embarrassed.

With that, we headed for Violet Palace, making talk about random stuff while on the way.

It was also then that I decided to contact Mei Gui telepathically, while the others were busy with their own conversation.