"What…? Why?

" She asked, still trying to get her breath back.

"Just come.

"

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but after what I just did to her, she obeyed and walked over to me. The other girls were confused to see what I was going to do as well.

Calmly, I placed my hand on her forehead.

"…! What are you-

"

"Can you shut up for one moment?

" I cut in before she could finish.

"Thanks.

"

Closing my eyes, I felt the Chaotic Lightning and ichor flowing through my bloodstreams and directed it all to my hand. Lin Luo's eyes widened as I began to inject the energy into her body, and after a few seconds, I stopped, opening my eyes and turning around.

Lin Luo stared at my figure in surprise.

"You…

"

"You seemed a bit weak and pitiful, so I decided to give you a little more of your power back. Don't overthink it.

"

"Tch…

" She averted her gaze, pissed off at me for calling her pitiful, but her cheeks were flushed at the same time. Qing Yue, noticing this, latched onto my arm as the rest of us left and giggled.

"Fufu~ Big Brother Xuan Kai, you're really good at charming girls, do you know that?

"

"… I thought I told her not to overthink it,

" I muttered, glancing back.

"As if that's going to help,

" Yu An Yan said, rolling her eyes.

"You're absolutely clueless about the hearts of girls, yet you so easily make them fall in love with you, somehow…

"

"Isn't that right?

" A voice suddenly interrupted from ahead of us, causing us to all stop in surprise.

"Ming Hao?

" I raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I asked for no one to disturb us, yourself included.

"

"Yeah, well. I just got notified of some news I think you would be interested in hearing.

"

"Oh?

"

"It's about Class C. They've launched an attack against Class B.

"

*****

- Several Minutes Later -

I sat on top of a tree, Ming Hao beside me. The girls and everyone else in Class D and A were still back at the base, waiting for further instructions. Long Lu was also here, on my other side.

I looked through a telescope that I had borrowed from Ming Hao, who apparently had all kinds of random items in his Space Locket. Within the telescope, I saw Class C's entire class standing in front of Class B's front doors. I counted 25 heads, meaning there was quite literally no one at their Base to guard the 5 flags that had been re-supplemented at midnight last night. Either that, or they were just carrying them, but that wouldn't be too ideal if they were planning on raiding a different class's base.

The male student I had seen by Si Ye's side last night seemed to barking something at the gates of the temple, but we were too far away to hear.

"Hm. I didn't think they'd do it this early in the morning,

" I muttered thoughtfully.

"They're either very confident or very stupid,

" Long Lu said.

"Perhaps, they're trying to risk it all and completely wipe out Class B to gain their flags while also scoring a bunch of takedown points in the process,

" Ming Hao analyzed.

"That will be hard to pull off, but I know the leader of Class C. Si Ye… she's a lot stronger than she shows on the outside.

"

"So… like Xuan Kai here?

" Long Lu chuckled.

"Mm… somewhat. Xuan Kai's still far stronger though.

"

"You two seem to know each other from in the past. I've realized this for a while now, but never had the chance to bring it up.

"

"He's just a random acquaintance I met by chance, that's all,

" I said quietly.

"Oh yeah, we're best bros!

" Ming Hao replied at the exact same time.

The two of us exchanged glances, then turned away awkwardly.

"Haha! Xuan Kai's just shy, that's all,

" Ming Hao laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Ahem… anyway.

" I put the telescope down and hopped down from the tree.

"Alert everyone else. There's no time to lose.

"

"What are we gonna do?

" Long Lu asked.

I scoffed.

"What else? Steal their flags, of course.

"

*****

Soon, all of Class D and Class A's members had gathered in the forest, in front of Ming Hao and Long Lu. I sat amongst the crowd to avoid drawing attention to myself, and naturally, the girls sat by my side closely. Feng Mian leaned on my arm, while Mei Gui clutched my other. Qing Yue sat in my lap, as usual.

"Alright, everyone. Ahead of us is Class C's Base. What we're going to do is break inside and steal the 5 flags that respawned there last night,

" Long Lu said confidently, pointing straight behind him.

"They are currently battling against Class B, so no one is left behind to guard. We need to take advantage of this opportunity and go in.

"

"Right,

" Ming Hao agreed.

"So here's the deal — I want ten Class A students to go into their base and locate the flags, then bring them back. The rest, stay behind to guard our own base, in case someone tries stealing from ours. As for Class D…

"

"All Class D students will score takedown points by third-partying Class C and B's fight,

" Long Lu finished.

"I have a plan for this, so don't worry. Everyone got that?

"

The students all nodded in unison. I'm sure many of them were wondering why the hell Class C would launch an attack under broad daylight like this and leave their base completely undefended, but since this was beneficial to them, none of them were complaining. Humans were just such disgusting creatures.

"Great. Then, let's move out!

"

Just like that, the plan was set into motion. Ming Hao left behind the strongest members of his class, himself included, back at our base to defend, while sending the weaker members into Class C's undefended base since that didn't require strength. As for us, Class D, we followed Long Lu onto the hill I had been on earlier to spy on the two classes and stationed ourselves there in preparation for the fight to begin.

Once the battle started, we were to throw magic attacks at the battlefield, just strong enough to knock people unconscious but not kill them. For Advanced Mages and above, this level of control over their own spells wasn't difficult at all.

The only problem was… why weren't they starting yet?

*****

"XU LIAN! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!

" A male disciple yelled towards the temple's gates, furious and impatient.

"WE KNOW IT WAS YOU WHO STOLE OUR FLAGS LAST NIGHT. BE A MAN AND GET OUT HERE!

"

After a few seconds, a student calmly walked out of the temple gates. It was the same person who had accompanied Xu Lian last night.

"… What are you out here yelling about? We did no such thing.

"

"Bastard… you and him were the only ones who knew where our flags were last night. All those times your shameless leader asked Si Ye to reconsider even after she already said no countless times… was just to buy time for your classmates to knock out mine, huh?

"

"Like I said, it wasn't us. There are still two other classes that are in this exam, don't you think it's a bit too hasty to pin the blame on Class B without any evidence?

"

"Yesterday was the first day of the exam — Class A and D would never invade us this early, as they need to set up themselves first,

" the male student from Class C shot back.

"There's no point trying to convince us. We already know what you did — that's why we're here in the first place. Now, I'll repeat myself once more. You either give us back the flags you stole and we part peacefully… or we raid your base, right here and now.

"

After a deep sigh, the Class B student shrugged.

"… We don't have any flags to give you.

"

"Tch…

" The large, bulky student from Class C twitched an eyebrow.

"… You'll regret this.

"

Leaving those words behind, he turned around and returned to his class rep.

*****

"… Si Ye. That bastard is still denying it,

" the male disciple said, gritting his teeth.

Si Ye, the representative of Class C, sighed softly.

"Would you admit it if you were the culprit instead of him?

"

"Er… that… no.

"

"Exactly. This has been a waste of time.

"

"So… do we launch the attack?

"

"… There's hardly any other choice left, is there?

"

"But the other two classes… what if they invade our base…

" A different girl murmured quietly, joining in the discussion.

"Then so be it,

" Si Ye declared firmly.

"This exam, I only have one enemy — Class B. I originally wanted to part ways peacefully with Xu Lian, but that clearly didn't work. If they want to harm us… we'll show them why Class C is a class to be feared.

"

"… We have no bottom line.

"

"That's right. Even if it means not even going for first place in this exam… we'll make sure to drag Class B down with us.

"

Standing up from the ice chair she had conjured, now melting away, Si Ye narrowed her eyes at the walls of Class B's temple.

"… Launch the attack.

"