"Hey, you're finally here. Welcome to my group, Lion Group. By the way, we decided that Kai will be the leader." Michelle greeted her. "Please come in and sit."

Ayaka was frozen. She wanted to turn back and run, but her body betrayed her. Even though she didn't want to, her body walked forward and sat on the sofa like a robot. She kept glancing at Kai with a troubled expression.

"Good." Michelle nodded her head.

"Since when am I the leader?" Kai asked.

"Since I registered you." She smirked.

"Ah. Well, there are no outsiders anyway, but if any of you want the leadership, just say it and I'll give it to you." Kai said.

"That's not possible." Michelle and Tasha firmly said at the same time.

Meanwhile, Ayaka was so tense that she looked like a robot. On her right, she could see an S-rank magician with two elements, lightning and space. On her left, there was Michelle, another S-rank darkness magician. And last but not least, the most mysterious one, the one that was sitting in front of her sipping his tea, Kai Carter, a sound magician. She knew he had yet to show all of his power.

The pressure came into her as she was wondering if she could be of any use to him. She looked at Kai, not knowing what to say.

Michelle simply ignored her and said. "Well, there are a few things you need to know about the group itself. First of all, we need to do at least one mission per month. Of course, if a mission requires more than a month, it will be counted as a second mission. That's why I often take a mission that usually requires a bit more than a month and end the mission on the first day of the next month. That way, I can get a free month."

"Oi… you're a sly one, aren't you?" Tasha looked at her while narrowing her eyes.

Michelle simply smiled and whispered something to her. Tasha suddenly blinked a few times and opened her mouth in surprise. She swiftly corrected herself. "Ahem, I mean, she's a clever one."

Kai rolled his eyes as Michelle used him as the bait.

"All right, moving on. In the mission, we'll get two things: Money and group points. Money aside, group points are used to determine the group's ranking. I will explain the group ranking first. There are almost a thousand groups in this school alone.

"If we manage to get into the top 100, we'll get a bigger room with more luxurious furniture. When we go on a mission, they'll give us a ride to the nearest military base, but the comfort is questionable. Basically, I don't like it. As for the top 100, they have their own helicopters lent by the army. That's why, the first thing we need to do is to get into the top 100," she explained.

"Indeed. It'll be better to have our personal space and transport." Kai nodded.

"Which is why I got us a perfect mission. Here it is.

Mission: Wolves Extermination

Description: Twenty B-rank wolves have been spotted in Prince George, Canada. The leader is a giant wolf with five meters in height alone. Proceed with caution.

Rewards: $200,000 and 2000 points.

The rewards were quite big, but considering the mission, getting such a reward was normal. Kai didn't have any problem with this mission as he was confident they could succeed. Tasha also didn't have any objections while Ayaka could only nod her head after looking at the siblings nod their heads.

Michelle also nodded her head and typed something on the computer before a screen projection appeared on the big table. It was a map of Canada.

"The nearest military base is in Edmonton. We can request a vehicle from there to carry us to Prince George, but I think Tasha's teleportation will be faster. It should not be that far and the route should be pretty safe, since our frontlines are in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon.

"And most of the magical beasts have been cleared by the army. Will that be okay with you, Tasha?"

"Fine by me. I should be able to teleport us there. If I can't, I'm sure Kai can do it with a single teleportation."

"And your true intention would be to kiss him again." Michelle narrowed her eyes.

"Hehe… this is a privilege." Tasha grinned while Michelle shook her head.

"Anyway, this is Prince George and this is the place that the wolves were last seen." She then tapped the projection twice and the map was zoomed. "Kai will be our vanguard and scout for this mission while Ayaka and I will be the main attacker. As for Tasha, you'll support us with your bow. Any objections?"

All of them shook their heads.

"Still, I think it's better to introduce ourselves and the things we can do first. This way, we can make a detailed plan and improve our teamwork. I'll start first. I'm Michelle Graham, you can call me Michelle. My element is darkness or shadow…"

She continued to introduce everything about her, including her magic. After that, Kai and Tasha followed suit while Ayaka was the last. They then tried to come up with a few patterns of combinations.

"Good. I assume you three are new to this, so we'll go tomorrow. You can use today to inform your parents about this." But before she ended the meeting, she dragged Tasha to the bedroom and said. "Tasha, we need to keep Kai's secret as a Zodiac from Ayaka for the time being. I plan to make her stronger first before accepting her."

"I see. Although I'm reluctant to let her join, I'll let Kai be the one to decide." Tasha sighed.

"Fufu… Kai is charming and that's good. But I still feel that we need to restrict the number a little bit. Let's wait and see first."

"Fine."

They then went back to the meeting room.

"Anyway, tell your parents about the mission first. We'll go tomorrow," Michelle said.

Kai and Tasha nodded before going back together. As for Ayaka, she suddenly called Michelle, who wanted to go back.

"Wait…"

"Hmm? Do you need anything from me?" She looked at Ayaka with a poker face.

"I…" Ayaka hesitated before bowing her head. "Please… please teach me how to get stronger."

She looked at Ayaka and sighed. "I can't teach you how to get stronger as the answer lies within yourself. For me, I think of his flaws and train myself so I can cover that flaw with my ability. Before I know it, I can proudly stand beside him like this.

"Now, I am asking you, why do you seek power? If you have attained the power to fulfill your goal, can you have another motivation to get stronger? I'll say it again, the answer lies within yourself. I might not be able to help you with this, but I do have a hint for you. You need to increase your control. You might not realize it, but you managed to burn my shadow doll with your Fire Wings. Anyway, that's it. Take the key with you since neither three of us need a key to enter this room."

She then left the room, leaving Ayaka alone in the room.

After getting the answer from Michelle, she didn't immediately go back to her house. Instead, she just stayed there. After two hours, her eyes slowly changed. Her eyes were filled with determination again.

She then took a deep breath, took the key, and left the room.

…

Before she knew it, Ayaka was kneeling in front of her father. "Father, please teach me how to improve my control."

Kudo Yoshihiro was taken aback by her request. Not long before this, they were still talking about the academy and the group. Although he slightly furrowed his eyebrows when she talked about the mission, he was not really worried after hearing who the members of her group were. However, Ayaka suddenly dropped to the floor and begged him to teach her. He was confused.

"Teach you how to improve your control? You're strong enough right now and you might even beat most of your peers. Why do you want to get stronger?"

"Because I'm not strong enough, I didn't know grandfather died. Because I wasn't powerful enough, I became a burden on the journey to this place. If I don't get stronger now, when will I? If I don't catch up, sooner or later, I'll be left behind."

Her father was shocked by her determination. He looked at Ayaka and sighed. "If you want to improve your control, you might want to ask Becca. If Becca can't teach you anything, then come to me. Just make sure you don't ask your mother, she's awful at this. Ah, don't tell her about this, all right?"

Ayaka clenched her fists as she rose from the floor and bowed to her father again before leaving. She couldn't lose to the two S-rank magicians as well as Kai's loved one.

Kudo Yoshihiro only sighed upon seeing her like this. He was worried, but he also felt proud and happy. He looked at the ceiling and muttered. "Father, Ayaka has a dream right now and might surpass you in the future. We'll be fine after this, and just wait… we will definitely avenge you in the future."