(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

We walked through the snowy plains. Not much was in sight except for snow, snow, and more snow. I doubted the IMF would just put map pieces in plain sight, but there was still a chance. So, the girls and I were on the lookout. As we walked, however, Mei Gui suddenly sent me a telepathic message.

[Master. Seven people approaching. About 500 meters ahead.]

[I see. You're using Third Eye?]

[Yes, Master.]

[How's your mana reserves looking?]

[Over 80%, Master.]

[Alright, that's good. Do these people know we're here?]

[I do not know any detection spell between Level One to Legendary Tier that can scan people at this range. Therefore, I conclude they do not know we are here.]

[Hm... that's a logical analysis, Mei Gui. Stay natural.]

[Understood, Master.]

I had wanted to ask her whether or not the people approaching were hostile, but if they didn't even know we were here, I doubted they could be 'hostile' towards us. Unless, of course, they were Qi Feng's team... in which case it would probably best to sever our ties right here and now in order to avoid any unnecessary complications further down the line.

Soon, we spotted the other group directly ahead of us. The snowy plains we were walking on had little to no elevation of any kind, but the snowstorm kind of made it hard to see. In addition, the 'sun' had begun to set, and night was rolling around. That's why we only saw them now, when we were about 250 meters away from each other. Undoubtedly, they also only spotted us now, given how they paused for a slight moment.

"There's... people up ahead," Feng Mian remarked.

"What's the call here, Xuan Kai?" Yu An Yan asked. "Are we confronting them or running?"

"Let's talk with them," I decided. "If things get ugly, I have confidence we can win an all-out fight. However, allies are invaluable things in this competition. If we are able to secure a trustworthy comrade, it'll help us out a lot."

"Agreed," Xiang Peng said. "It looks the other party is thinking the same thing - look, they're walking towards us."

With that, we approached the other party, until we were nearly right in front of each other.

They had seven people - that either meant they were the odd group out from the team formation phase, or they had three more teammates elsewhere at the moment. However, I believed the former to be the case here.

"Hello," a girl who appeared to be their leader said in greeting. She had long blonde hair that dropped out of the hood covering her head, and a light, gentle voice.

"Hi... hm, wait, why do I feel like I've seen you before...?"

She then took off her hood, and I realized. She was the Elven waitress I had met at the restaurant a while back. The Waterfront Persoit... was it?

"Oh, it's you! The elf from that restaurant!" Lan Xiao Su exclaimed. She had been really excited to meet an elf for the first time, so it made sense she still remembered.

"Now that you mention it..." the other girls, who had forgotten who this girl was until now, all began to remember again thanks to Lan Xiao Su's words.

"Yes, I recognize you all as well," the elf replied. "My name is Leena. If possible, I would like to form a friendly relationship with your team."

I raised an eyebrow. "Friendly relationship... before that, let me clarify one thing. Your group is..."

She nodded before I even finished the question. "Yes. My group is the... one with seven members. The people who didn't end up in a group were placed into this."

I scanned over their group. None of them particularly stood out, except for...

"Who's that?" I asked, pointing at a girl who seemed very 'different' from the rest.

She wore a grey hood just like Leena, but something about her atmosphere made her feel 'wild'. Her robes were raggedy, and she didn't wear anything on her feet. I was honestly surprised she was still alive in this weather.

"Oh, she's... well, as a matter of fact, I don't know either," Leena said with an embarrassed laugh. "I've tried asking her, but... she either doesn't know how to talk, or just refuses to talk."

"I see... " I muttered, racking my brain to decide whether or not to accept an alliance with this group or not.

But then, Amane suddenly spoke.

"Nya... she's a demihuman."

We all turned to her in surprise. "You can tell?"

She nodded. "I can smell it. She's... a girl frum the Wolf Tribe."

Hearing this, I felt a sudden flash of killing intent coming from the girl. She leaped towards Amane, but I intercepted her outreached claws, grabbing her by the forearm and slamming her into the ground.

"Grr..." she growled, glaring up at me.

"If you want to live, don't make trouble for me," I said darkly, returning her glare with one of my own.

She still seemed pissed, but she kept quiet. I sighed and let go of her arm. However, the moment she was unpinned from the ground, she leapt up again and went for me instead.

I dodged out of the way of her swipe, and grabbed her throat in one swift motion.

"I thought I said if you want to live... don't make trouble for me."

"G-Grr...gah!"

I tightened my grip.

"No!" Leena cried, and I sent her a look that silenced her. She couldn't exactly do much in this situation, unless she wanted to die herself.

"Xuwan Kwai, let me talk to her," Amane said, stepping up.

I glanced at her, then sighed.

"Mei Gui, bind this girl," I commanded.

"Understood, Master," Mei Gui replied, then chanted the spell name out loud to avoid any suspicion. "Level One Earth Magic - Vines of Binding."

Immediately, various black roots shot out of the snowy ground and wrapped themselves around the wolf girl's limbs. She growled in anger, but I wasn't fazed in the least. Once the vines had finished entangling her, I let go of her throat. I wasn't worried she would break free - Mei Gui's spells were on Chaos-empowered, just like my own.

Amane then walked up to the girl as the rest of us watched on in amusement.

"Heya. Mya nyame is Amane," she said with a friendly smile. "As you kyan see, I am a demihuman as well - just like you."

"Grr..." she still refused to talk, and instead just growled.

"I... knyow a little bit about the Wolf Tribe. If my guess is right... you should be royalty, right?"

"..." the wolf girl fell silent, neither confirming nor denying Amane's statement.

"What? Royalty? But her clothes..." Feng Mian murmured.

"Yes. The Wolf Tribe treats their royalty... differently from most others," Obsidia explained. "Instead of basking them with royal treatment, they are instead treated like slaves."

"What?!" this caused everyone present to drop their jaws in shock, Leena and her team included.

"It's to prevent them from becoming nyarrogant just because of their status," Amane turned to the wolf girl. "Isn't that right?"

Slowly, the wolf girl nodded, but still didn't talk.

Amane smiled sadly, as I began to deduce what this girl's backstory could be.

"In that case... I'm guessing you joined this preliminary contest again your own volition?" I said hesitantly. "Did the Wolf Tribe force you to join, as some sort of training?"

Once again, the girl nodded. I moved to take off her hood. She flinched for a second from her beastial instincts, but she then realized I didn't mean any harm, so she didn't attempt to struggle. Besides... even if she did try, Mei Gui had her bound tightly.

I removed her hood to reveal two wolf-like ears hiding underneath. Her face was scarred, but beneath those wounds was undoubtedly a beautiful demihuman princess. From her mouth, two tiny fangs could be seen. She had short, shoulder-length hair that was the same color as her eyes - a dreamy greyish blue color. She was extremely skinny as well, possibly due all the tough environments she had to go through.

"What's your name?" I asked.

The wolf-girl didn't respond, but instead bit her bottom lip with her fangs in anger.

She... doesn't like her old name, huh?

"In that case..." I began, then turned to Amane. She met my gaze, and understood what I meant.

She approached the wolf-girl and bent down in front of her short figure.

"From nyow on, your nyame is Silva!"

Silva... for silver, perhaps? Not bad taste in names, Amane.

"Sil... va..." the wolf girl whimpered quietly.

"Yep! Silva!" Amane smiled and hugged the wolf-girl, who was still detained by vines.

I looked over to Mei Gui and signaled for her to get rid of the vines of binding. She was a bit conflicted, but I insisted, so she complied.

The vines retracted and Silva's eyes widened in surprise. She collapsed into Amane's warm embrace, and didn't make a move to attack. I had taken a gamble that she had accepted Amane, and turns out my gamble was right. However...

Silva sent me a glare made of daggers.