The moment we stepped through the portal, we were hit with the bitter cold winds of the snowy plains. I was wearing my cloak with a hoodie underneath as usual, so it wasn't all that bad for me. The girls seemed to be fine too, with the exception of one - Qing Yue.

"Brr... it's so cold..." she murmured, hugging herself. I glanced down at her, and sighed. She had always been afraid of the cold, ever since we were young.

Without any hesitation, I took off my cloak and wrapped it around her. Her eyes widened in surprise, and began to sparkle as she looked into mine.

"Big Brother Xuan Kai... " she whispered, eyes full of admiration.

"You've always been bad with cold environments," I replied. "Hopefully, this should make you feel better."

"... You still remember?"

I chuckled. "Of course. That winter... it was pretty harsh, wasn't it?"

"Hehe... yeah, I suppose it was. But with Big Brother Xuan Kai there... it wasn't that cold after all."

The other girls looked on curiously, and perhaps with a hint of jealousy. I rubbed Qing Yue's head as she hugged my arm, my cloak wrapped tightly around her. It was too big for her to actually wear, but just setting it on her shoulders like a cape should be fine.

"Alright. It seems everyone has entered, so I shall begin explaining the details of the competition. If anyone wants to back out after experiencing this coldness firsthand, this is your last opportunity," the man who was on the stage earlier walked through the portal and announced to all of us.

Despite the howling winds and snow, his voice was still perfectly audible. Once again, I assumed it was Sound Magic at work.

I looked around. No one seemed to be backing out. Some appeared to be really nervous, but none were cowards who ran away the moment they encountered trouble. After all, they never would've entered The Fortress if they were like that.

After half a minute or so, the man continued. "Good. It seems like none of you are cowards. However... just beware. The coldness you feel here is nothing compared to once you actually get to the top of the mountains."

The crowd shuffled after hearing these words, but still, no one made a move to leave.

"Also... one last thing. No one will come to save you if you end up stranded somewhere. Neither will anyone rescue you if you are on the verge of death. If you are still determined to continue after hearing these conditions..."

Once again, no one left. The man smiled.

"Very good. Brave and confident. I have high hopes for this year's batch," he said, to no one in particular. "Now then, first off, a quick self-introduction - my alias is White Hand, and I am an operative of the International Magic Foundation, the IMF. And without further ado, I will begin formally explaining the detailed rules of this competition."

As everyone listened in, he began explaining.

"The ultimate goal of this contest is simple - be the first to reach the endpoint, and beat the examiner there. However, only the team who places first will be allowed entry into the main tournament next week. It does not matter if you place second, third, or fourth - if you are not first, your placement is meaningless. In this contest and all of your future ones, there are only two ranks - champion, and trash. You will do well to remember that."

Murmurs broke out amongst the crowd. They clearly had not been expecting such strict rules.

So we have to place first, huh? Does that mean Old Man Leng's son placed first too in order to get into Fragment? No... if he did, Old Man Leng wouldn't have been disappointed, and asked us to grant his wish instead of his own son. My guess is that this year's examination is a lot more difficult than the previous ones, for whatever reason.

"Now, I am sure all of you must be curious - where exactly is the endpoint, and how far away is it from your starting point? The answer to that question is... I cannot tell you."

"Huh? How are we supposed to reach the end if we don't even know where it is?" a voice shouted. It was pretty amplified too - I was guessing that whoever said that just now also had Sound Magic.

"Relax. I am going to explain that right now. Also, I will be taking questions at the end, so for now... just be quiet and listen," the man said with a sigh. "In order to reach the endpoint, you must first obtain map pieces scattered across the snowy plains, hills, and mountains ahead of you. They are stored inside white cases - so be careful when you look; they blend in with the snow."

The man cleared his throat, then continued. "Once you find a full map, or enough pieces so that you can determine where the endpoint is, you will have your goal. There are 90 map pieces scattered around the map, and 9 pieces are needed to make up a full map. That means there are 10 of each piece. However... there are 30 teams in total here. Which means..."

He pulled out a revolver from the holster on his pants and shot it into the air. "... You're going to need to fight each other for the map pieces. And, that's not all. Let's say you and another team both have enough map pieces, and are now racing to see who can reach the endpoint first. In that case, you can try fighting the other team, and eliminating them from the competition. Because all members of the team need to reach the finish line together for it to count, if you manage to incapacitate even one of their team members, you will be able to secure victory."

"That is all," the man said at last, putting his gun away. "Any questions?"

"I have a question," a boy said, from near me.

I turned to see who it was - Qi Feng, the boy who had tried taking away the girls. His voice was loud and clear as well - once again, it was because he most likely had Sound Magic. I now knew a little bit of info on him, if I happen to have to fight him in the near future... which probably will end up happening, considering he'll likely be searching for us.

"Yes?" the man said.

"Is... killing allowed?"

"... Generally, no. But with this harsh climate, tough terrain, and the fact that there is no surveillance whatsoever..." the man trailed off.

Qi Feng smiled. "I see. Thank you."

Heh. What a guy. He's pretty much saying as long as you don't make it too damn obvious you murdered someone, killing and anything else is all fair play. Dead men tell no tales, after all. The IMF, the ones handling this exam, could 100% install surveillance in this competition if they really wanted to, with their power and resources. They simply don't care about what happens during the competition - they only wanted to see who would win, no matter what methods they used.

Basically, they didn't care about the process. Only the results.

Truly, a bunch of savages. Not that I was any better... in fact, these conditions worked in my favor.

Qi Feng wants to kill me and do all kinds of things to the girls around me?

Heh. Two can play at that game. He didn't have any girls around him though... and honestly? I can't say I'm surprised.

In any case... if he comes for me, he dies. It's that simple.

"Are there any more questions?" the man asked, looking around. No one seemed to have any more questions, so he continued after a short while. "Very well. The boundaries of the competition are marked with an invisible barrier all around - the map pieces are all within the boundaries, so don't try bypassing the bounds.

"You will all be teleported to a random location within the boundaries of the competition with your team momentarily. The time limit is 3 days. There are wild game and fresh water reserves for you inside the boundaries... that is, if you know where to look. Alright, that's all. Good luck... though there can only be one winner."

After that, the teams shortly disappeared one by one, teleporting away in a shimmering beam of white light. We were the last ones to go, so I decided to take this opportunity to ask a question before we were teleported away.

"Sir," I raised my voice, hoping to not have to use Sound Magic.

"Yes?"

Luckily, he heard me.

"About the examiner you mentioned earlier, at the endpoint... how strong will they be?"

The man, White Hand, smiled sinisterly. "Oh? You remembered that? I purposely canceled my Sound Magic amplification properties a bit when I said that part so that most people wouldn't pay attention to it, but... hm. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. You'll find out when you get there. Though I can assure you, she is no easy opponent."

She? Hm... I see. A female, working for the IMF... yeah, the characteristics are still far too broad for me to guess anything.

"But as a bonus for you actually noticing this and asking about it, I'll give you a little extra info," White Hand then said suddenly, catching me by surprise.

"Oh?"

"The girl you'll have to fight is only 16 years old, but don't underestimate her. She's a member of the Council of Arcanity... in other words, a Holy Emperor. Obviously, she won't be trying her hardest, but... still, beware. She's quite... unpredictable."

16 years old... that's only two years older than me, and she's already a Holy Emperor? And a member of the IMF's renowned Council of Arcanity, no less, composed of the best of the best from all around the world, across the races...

"I see. Thanks," I muttered quietly, before we were teleported away.

For some reason, I had an unshakable bad feeling about this 'examiner'.