"What… my Battle Soul… it's cowering…?!" the patriarch shouted in a panic, then glared at me as he took a few steps back. "Boy… what trickery is this? You cannot possibly control a real Phoenix…"

"Oh? Whether this Phoenix is real or not… you'll find out soon enough," I smirked. "Show him, Flaria."

"You don't need to tell me, Master!" she cawed in triumph and spread her flaming wings, made of raw fire hot enough to melt the toughest of metal. "Bear witness and face the wrath of a Golden Phoenix, old man!"

Uh… that part was unnecessary.

Still, at her words, Patriarch Xiang's eyes widened in shock. "G-Golden Phoenix?! The legendary Golden Phoenix Bloodline… lies! I did a background check on you, boy… you were nothing but a magicless trash just a few months ago! How is it possible for you to have a Golden Phoenix by your side?!"

Flaria, in her unleashed phoenix form, narrowed her eyes in anger. "Doubting me is already enough… but to insult Master… "

She opened her mouth and prepared to unleash a torrent of devastating hellfire towards the patriarch, but he wasn't about to just stand there and let himself get hit.

"Come on, Battle Soul… that's nothing but a fake!" he yelled, encouraging his own Phoenix Battle Soul to regain its fighting spirit. It worked, and the fiery translucent insignia of a phoenix cawed in response before preparing its own attack using its flaming wings.

But as the patriarch's Battle Soul and Flaria prepared to face off against one another, setting flames to everything in between them, a voice suddenly interjected.

"That's enough!"

A powerful lightning strike struck directly down the middle of the room, cleanly in between Flaria and the patriarch. We all turned to look at the newcomer, who was panting heavily and had a deep aura surrounding her. Above her figure was a massive lightning bolt, sparking purple energy and encased by thunderclouds pulsing with power.

"Oh…?"

"Peng'Er! What are you doing here?!" the patriarch yelled, affectionately addressing his daughter with that nickname.

Two guards quickly rushed up behind Xiang Peng, panting even harder. "F-Forgive us, patriarch! The Third Young Lady said she was going to use the bathroom, and…"

"Tch… useless donkeys! Get out! And take Peng'Er with you!"

"Y-Yes sir!"

The two guards frantically tried to reach for Xiang Peng's arms to guide her out of this room, but she suddenly caused a purple lightning bolt to strike down right in front of the guards.

"I'd like to see who dares to touch me!"

As thunder crashed down all around her, the two guards were at a loss for what to do.

"Master, shall I…" Flaria, still in her flaming bird form, turned to me for help.

I shook my head, signaling for her to just chill and change back to her human form. She did as instructed, standing by my side as she glared at the patriarch across from us.

"Peng'Er… go back!" he yelled, frustrated. "These pests… they're dangerous!"

"No… you are the only thing dangerous here, father!" Xiang Peng shouted in return, slowly walking towards him. "These people… my friends… they originally didn't hold any hostile intention. But you went and captured them like prisoners — can you blame them for fighting back?"

"That's… I cannot be certain whether or not that is true," the patriarch gritted his teeth and muttered. "They could be just getting close to you in order to infiltrate our family…"

"Father… they are survivors from Shenzhen," Xiang Peng averted her gaze and said. "I led them here in hopes of showing them a new future… not for them to get treated like this! They didn't even know our family was so big until literally ten minutes ago!"

"Even so… I cannot trust them. Boy, and the rest of you as well… I will let you go this time. But from now on, stay away from this family — and my daughter!"

"W-What?! Father!"

"There is no room for argument! Until he can prove himself to me… I will never trust him enough to let him close to you, Peng'Er."

"Oh? Prove myself to you?" I raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you want me to do that?"

"Xuan Kai…" Xiang Peng glanced at me in worry, tears in her eyes.

"You will be attending Shanghai Magic Academy starting tomorrow, correct?"

I nodded. "What of it?"

"Hmph… listen closely, boy. If you can manage to enter the Student Council there, I'll consider you trustworthy enough."

"Father!" Xiang Peng cried in surprise. "You know that is impossible for a first year-"

"Silence! Did I ask for you to speak?" the patriarch glared at his own daughter briefly, before turning back to me. "Well? Do you accept the challenge, boy?"

"Before that, I have one question," I said, raising my hand. "What benefits does joining the Student Council yield me?"

"What…?" the patriarch was evidently confused, but he answered my question anyway. "I do not see how this relates to the matter at hand, but… by joining the Student Council, you can access top resources even among all the exquisite assets in Fragment. You also gain special power and influence in the school, placing you above all the other students. It is a dream occupation every student wishes for, but close to none can actually obtain it."

"I see. That's all I need to know."

Saying this, I turned around and prepared to leave, much to the patriarch's surprise.

"Boy! You have not answered my question yet — are you running away?"

"Huh?" I scoffed. "No. To sum it up, being in the Student Council helps me get stronger, right? If that's the case… I'm going to go for the spot anyway, whether this test of yours exists or not. That's all."

With that, I left, heading out of the mansion the same way we came in from as the other girls trailed after me. None of us bothered sparing Xiang Peng a single glance.

*****

When we exited the mansion, the guards at the gates were extremely confused and tried to stop us, but Flaria blasted them away with a single swing of her arm. She hadn't got to take out her anger on the patriarch, so now she was using these guards as punching bags.

Still, I made sure she didn't go too far and kill anyone, since that could be troublesome.

The ten of us returned to the dormitories of Shanghai Magic Academy, and headed for the cafeteria to eat.

Even though it was summer and the cafeteria was closed, the various restaurants and stores of the university were still open and active since there were plenty of students who just remained on campus even though there wasn't school. Fragment had more than enough resources to support this.

However, as we were on our way to the Recreation Campus of the school where the restaurants were, we ended up passing by the Administrative Campus. And of course, by complete coincidence, a man just happened to walk out the door at the exact same time we passed by.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the boy who led his team to victory in the Advancement Exams in Shenzhen just a few months ago."

The girls and I stopped to turn to the man, who wore an obviously-fake smile on his face. He wore a clean, formal suit, but his gruff appearance made him seem anything but that.

"… Liu Jian."

"That's Principal Liu to you, student," he laughed boldly. "I will let it slip this time since the school year has not begun yet, but you ought to start showing some more respect from tomorrow on."

"… Understood, Principal Liu," I said, giving in seeing as how this was his domain. Purposely resisting here would only be stupid, not brave.

"Good. That attitude of yours is certainly commendable," he said, clapping his hands. "Now… back then, I already sensed something off about you. But in the span of a couple of months… that abnormality has grown insurmountably. I was watching the tournament this year, you know. In a mere few days, you and your companions' strengths leaped insurmountably. How… peculiar."

"Please, you overestimate us, Principal," I closed my eyes and bowed. "I am truly flattered, but I am really not as strong as you think."

He clicked his tongue. "Not as strong, is it?"

"Yes. I am only an Advanced Mage, nothing more."

"An Advanced Mage… with quite a lot of exceptionally powerful artifacts even I have never seen before, hm?"

He seemed like he was utterly convinced there was something off about me. That was to be expected, but… this wasn't good news for me. If it's like this, he'll definitely try to make my life here at this school as hard as possible to try and force me to use my real power.

"What can I say? I had some fortuitous encounters," I replied, blaming everything on luck. That was my best bet, at this point.

At this, Liu Jian smiled mysteriously and stared into my eyes for a few seconds. I met his gaze, and after a short silence, he turned away and began walking in the other direction.

"Well, I certainly hope you can bring that 'luck' of yours to this school as well. See you tomorrow at the welcome ceremony — have a good day… student Xuan Kai."

The girls and I watched his disappearing figure, and I narrowed my eyes.

"… Same to you, Principal Liu."