The portal we entered brought us back the Fortress, where the same man who had hosted this preliminary was waiting at the exact same location we had entered the snowy biome from.

"Looks like we have a winner," he chuckled. "I didn't expect one to show up so soon, though."

"… So, we got first?" Feng Mian asked, just to confirm.

The man nodded. "Now, follow me."

As the man walked away, the girls cheered happily.

"We did it, Big Brother Xuan Kai!"

I smiled and patted Qing Yue's head. "Yeah… we did."

"It doesn't seem like you were even trying all that hard, though," Xiang Peng laughed with a sinister smirk.

"What do you mean… that last fight against Ling Xin really took a lot out of me," I sighed. "If it weren't for Mei Gui injuring her beforehand, we would've lost. Hard."

"Still, to think she ran out of mana…" Yu An Yan murmured thoughtfully.

"Yeah, hard to believe, isn't it?" Lan Xiao Su added, frowning slightly.

Well… this is not good. They're catching on to the truth.

"U-Uh, for now, let's follow that man," I interrupted, quickly ending the conversation.

The girls nodded and followed after me.

The watching crowd all around us were shocked to see me, possibly because they had been expecting some big names to be the victors. Then, of course, there was the girls with me, who were all quite eye-attracting, to say the least. Because I was curious, I decided to discretely listen in on their conversation.

Level One Sound Magic - Listener.

I could've used a Potentia spell instead, but this was easier - I had also learned this in the Library of Infinite Beginnings.

"What do you think of that kid?" an elderly man asked his friend beside him.

"Luck. It is unfortunate, but one's luck has a big impact on the outcome of this preliminary contest. If it had been a tournament, my Qi Feng would have won for sure."

Qi Feng, huh? Heh. He's lucky this wasn't a tournament. If it was… I would've humiliated him so badly, he wouldn't be able to show his face in the Fortress ever again. This old fogey would've had to leave as well.

We were soon led to a chamber by the man. There, a chest lay.

"Open it, and you shall receive your rewards," he said.

We did as told, lifting the lid. Inside were ten stones of some sort, ten potions, and a… tablet of some sort.

"What is this…?" Qing Yue murmured, taking the tablet out. It seemed to have the logo of the IMF inscribed on it.

"That is your token to the main tournament happening the day after tomorrow," the man explained. "It will be held at the very center of the Fortress… below Fragment itself, where the four districts converge."

"I see… and the rest?" I continued, taking over.

"Those are ten Awakening Stones and ten mana-replenishment potions. Use them wisely."

"A-Awakening Stones?!" Feng Mian's jaw dropped. "One for each of us…?! Aren't these only obtainable by ranking up?"

Awakening Stones - special catalysts that helped you gain a new element, or even multiple if you're lucky.

"You came in first, meaning you are the champions. And champions deserve such rewards," the man said with a chuckle.

"Hold on," I interjected. "Is it possible… to exchange these mana replenishment potions for Upgrade Runes instead?"

"… No," the man replied, but then his curves turned up into a smirk. "However… if you are able to make it into Fragment, then such resources are child's play."

"I see. Then, we'll accept these with gratitude," I said, taking out my Space Locket and throwing everything from the chest inside.

Then, turning around, I asked, "What time exactly will the tournament be happening?"

"8 AM in the morning. Take your time resting tomorrow, and prepare for the upcoming fight. It won't be easy, kid. As the IMF representative of District A, I hope you win."

I nodded. "Thanks. We'll do our best not to let you down."

With that, we left the room, exiting through a nearby door. However, since my hearing boost spell was still active, I managed to catch onto the man's murmurs after he thought we were out of earshot.

"To think they beat the Shadow Empress… but weren't all the examiners ordered to kill off all of this year's participants without mercy…? Ah, forget it… they must have some skill if they managed to reach the endpoint on the second day anyway…"

I froze for a brief moment upon hearing these words.

"What is it, Xuan Kai?" Feng Mian asked, seeing that I stopped walking.

I snapped out of my daze and hurriedly shook my head. "Ah, no, it's nothing…"

The girls looked at me with skepticism, but didn't ask any further. We decided to head back to Old Man Leng's shop from there to deliver him the good news.

The IMF… what are they planning?

*****

Turns out, we didn't have to walk all the way to the shop at all - Qing Yue had sent a quick message to Old Man Leng, and in about ten minutes he was here. I was 200% sure he was speeding, but perhaps that's just how excited he was.

"Hey, Old Man Leng," I chuckled upon seeing his disfigured complexion. It seemed he had driven here in a huge hurry.

"A-Ah, yea, how goes it?"

"Not much. We beat the little competition. The main tournament's next, happening the day after tomorrow," I shrugged, purposely giving off an air of arrogance, simply because I wanted to tease the old man a bit.

"O-Oi, ya ain't lyin' to me, are ya? Ya really got first? On the second day?!"

"What, not confident in your own teaching abilities?" I mocked.

"H-Huh? You damn brat…"

"Listen, if you don't believe us, the arena's right that way. You can ask anyone present yourself," Obsidia said darkly.

"Nah, I believe ya… it's just… I never expected… this quick…"

"We just got lucky, really," Feng Mian laughed awkwardly. "We managed to cooperate with another team and gather map pieces together, which made it a lot quicker…"

"But ya still had to fight the examiner at the end, no? Usually, that's a Golden Monarch-level mage! If ya were able to beat 'em, then ya obviously got some skill."

"Eh? A Golden Monarch? But-" Qing Yue began, but I quickly cut her off.

"Yeah, the Golden Monarch probably went easy on us," I said. "I could feel he wasn't using his full strength when he fought us."

Qing Yue frowned at me slightly, but I sent her a gaze that said 'I'll explain later'.

"Huh… I see… well, this is good news. I'm sure my wife'll be happy to hear this too."

"Mhm. But before that… how's Flaria doing?"

Old Man Leng grinned. "Hop on."

The girls and I exchanged glances, and we did as told.

*****

When we got back to Old Man Leng's shop, he didn't let us in, but instead led us to his wife's shop a short distance away. Once we got there, we entered in as Mrs. Leng greeted us.

"Welcome back! Did you finish the preliminaries already?"

"Yep. They won it, too," Old Man Leng chuckled proudly, then turned to me. "Yer friend's in the backroom."

As Mrs. Leng's eyes widened in surprise, I nodded in gratitude and immediately rushed over, slowly pushing open the door to the storage room of the shop. There, laying beneath some blankets, was Flaria in her human form, breathing softly.

It seemed that Flaria had been staying with Mrs. Leng all this time, since Old Man Leng's back storage room wasn't really suitable for living in for days in a row. The consideration they've shown for my phoenix, I will repay one day.

Gently, I scooped Flaria up in my arms. She seemed to notice my presence, as her eyes slowly blinked open. And upon gazing at my face for the first time, her eyes widened, before immediately breaking into tears.

"Master!" she cried, hugging me tightly. I gently embraced her back as Mei Gui sent her a look filled with killing intent, possibly because she didn't like any other girl calling me Master.

From a short distance away, the other girls, along with Old Man Leng and his wife, watched on with smiles on their faces.

"You're finally back, huh?" I murmured into her ear as she bawled her eyes out.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know I would go into hibernation that quickly…"

"It's fine. Still… you were certainly hibernating for a long time, compared to other Magic Beasts. At least, that's what I've heard from Obsidia. Your appearance has certainly changed, but… what about your power level?"

She was now wearing some kind of enchanting black dress, similar to the one Mei Gui used to wear. Her body was still the same size, but her features seemed to have… matured, somehow.

"My power level has increased by a lot, heehee!" she declared, sniffling her nose and wiping the tears away.

Hearing this, all of us couldn't help but interested in what new abilities she unlocked.

Just how powerful did she become…?