"A-Ah… junior greets senior sister Long,

" Ming Hao said, immediately becoming obedient and respectful all of a sudden.

Long Yi, wearing a long, eastern-themed robe, shot him a cold look then turned to her brother.

"Little brother… I hope you remember our deal.

"

Hearing this, Long Lu bowed and gulped in fear.

"Y-Yes, big sister. Don't worry, after this time, I won't ever trouble you again.

"

"Good. And…

" She turned her icy stare on me.

"… Who is this?

"

"A friend,

" Long Lu replied briskly, tone quiet and meek in front of his sister's pressuring aura.

"Hm… a friend? You don't usually make friends, little brother. This boy must be quite special, for you to befriend him.

"

"You flatter me,

" I said calmly, refusing to bow or tremble in her presence like the other two.

"I am just a normal person trying to get stronger like anybody else.

"

"A normal person, hm?

" She narrowed her eyes.

"Only certain people were allowed to participate in this operation, much less have their own team. I find it hard to believe you are just a 'normal person' if you managed to obtain a personal invitation from one of the Eight Great Families of Fragment.

"

"… Sister, please,

" Long Lu begged.

Long Yi, after staring at me for a few seconds more, finally averted her gaze and folded her arms.

"Very well, I won't pry any further. It is not any of my concern anyway — I was merely curious, that's all.

"

I was relieved deep down since I really didn't want to have to deal with this girl. By the aura she was giving off, I assumed she was an Ancestral Mage, the same rank I currently was. If we were to fight, I would obviously win with my Chaos abilities, but it still wouldn't be a walk in the park.

As the elder from Ming Hao's family announced everyone was here and thus they would be setting off soon, I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time I interacted with Long Yi.

*****

"Greetings, young mages and warlocks,

" the elder said, sweeping his gaze over the crowd that had gathered.

"I trust that everyone here knows what this mission is about, so I will not go into detail. Currently, there are 8 teams here, each with five people, making a total of 40. Everyone gathered right now are accomplished individuals who are far stronger than the norm, so I expect you all to hold your own once we cross over. Any questions?

"

"Yes,

" Long Lu said, raising his hand.

"How will you be evaluating our 'contribution', exactly?

"

"It is exactly what the word means,

" the elder replied calmly.

"Contribution — how much you contributed to the solution of this issue. Do not be too selfish and try to hoard everything to yourself — keep in mind, if this issue is not resolved before your school starts again in a month, none of you will receive rewards.

"

Since no one else had any questions, the elder waved his hand and conjured an enormous portal, swirling with energy.

"Once you are ready, step through. I will brief you further on the other side.

"

Ming Hao's team, consisting of himself and four other students from Class A, headed in first. Long Lu, along with his sister and three other boys around my own age who I didn't recognize, probably from a different school.

The teams piled into the portal one after another, and we were no exception. Obsidia, Lin Luo, Mei Gui, Feng Mian, and I stepped through, followed by the elder himself.

To think even during a break from school, we would have to interact with other students in our classes… the Shanghai Magic Academy is truly influential. As for the other schools… hell, I didn't even know they existed until today, after seeing several students in uniforms I didn't recognize.

After exiting the portal, we found ourselves within a wooden house that looked very poor and lackluster compared to the buildings and structures in Fragment. It was, however, large enough to fit everyone.

The elder stepped through and closed the portal behind him before walking up to a man who was staring at the group of young mages that suddenly arrived in wonder.

"Mr. Demitrius. You pleaded for help, and we shall deliver. We are from Fragment, Heart of Magic and Headquarters of the IMF.

"

"O-Oh, thank the heavens… you're finally here…

" The man immediately knelt down in front of the elder, begging for help.

"Saviors, please… the Grey Scourge is about to reach us…

"

Ming Hao, who was in front, raised an eyebrow.

"The Grey Scourge?

"

"Please, stand up first,

" the elder pleaded, bending down and helping to raise the man up to his feet. The man did as told, slowly getting back up and wiping the tears of joy from his face.

"Now… we have received reports of a deadly corruption spreading from an abandoned city not far from here,

" the elder continued, a serious expression on his aged face.

"Is that the 'Grey Scourge' you are referring to?

"

"Y-Yes…

" the man stuttered faintly.

"That city… it is — or was — called Titania. But just a couple of years ago, they were suddenly wiped out by a mysterious power. The chieftains of the other villages around here and I combined our forces together to erect a barrier around the city, hoping to contain whatever it was that caused this disaster inside it. But who knew… just yesterday, I received word of the villages being wiped out, one by one.

"

"… How far away from Titania is this place?

" The elder asked.

"We are lucky to be the furthest away from it. But apart from us, the only other village remaining is the Haria Village up the hill from here…

"

The man pointed to his left, which was our right. The elder followed the direction with his eyes, then looked back at the man once more.

"I see. Thank you for the information, and do your best to calm both yourself and the villagers here. We will investigate the matter and put an end to this.

"

"Thank you… truly, thank you…

"

The elder turned around and exited the house. The rest of us followed after him and began heading up the hill.

"We are heading to Haria Village, I'm assuming?

" Long Yi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. They are at the most risk currently. If we can come into contact with this mysterious power, we should be able to figure out how to stop it,

" the elder explained.

"Stay in formation and do not use Sky Magic to fly up ahead. We do not know what might be lying in our path.

"

"That is, if it doesn't wipe us out like it did with all the other villages…

" Lin Luo muttered quietly from beside me so that only I could hear.

I smirked and suddenly wrapped my arm around her shoulder teasingly.

"What, scared?

"

Immediately, she flinched and whipped her head around to glare at me furiously.

"You…! Get your hand off of me this instant!

"

I chuckled lightly and let go of her, enjoying her reddened expression and defiant attitude. Luckily, she had been whispering sharply rather than outright yelling, which meant my reputation didn't go down the drain.

*****

The village chieftain down there had said 'hill', but this was more a mountain than anything.

After a long while of walking, it was already midday. The sun was at its highest point right now, which meant it was practically scorching hot.

Luckily, Feng Mian kept the five of us all cool by using her Ice Magic. Obsidia also contributed by using her Sky Magic to become a living fan — combine that with some chilling effects of Feng Mian's spells and we get a portable mana air conditioner.

Those who didn't have any Ice or Sky Magic users in their team, however, were out of luck.

Halfway up the mountain, there was a forest region that allowed each team to hunt their own wildlife and eat that for lunch. Many of the mages here, however, were the typical young master types, spoiled all their life. Eating game with barely any seasoning and flavor or preparation? They weren't ready for that at all and spent the majority of their time complaining.

On the contrary, the girls on my team ate peacefully. They didn't complain about anything — even Lin Luo, who I had expected to find some excuse to lash out at me, just ate her meal in silence. The food wasn't much, but it would keep us on our feet until nighttime.

After eating, we set off once more. The forest's trees provided nice cover against the sunlight, but the humidity and heat didn't go away by much. Such was the climate of Africa, near the equator of the planet.

There was still quite the distance to go to reach the top of the mountain by the looks of it… we might not even make it by the time the sun falls.