We traveled across the snowy plains without anything too much happening. Occasionally, the terrain would have some slight differences in elevation, creating small hills and such. However, quite interestingly, we didn't run into any teams. I kept my Third Eye on for the entire walk and couldn't scan anyone.

Yesterday's fight was, of course, what enabled me to do this. I had restored plenty of mana thanks to Ning Yi and Kun, enough to supplement having Third Eye activated the entire day with still plenty of room to spare.

While we walked, the girls made idle chatter with one another, especially with Leena who seemed eager to know more about the outside world. Apparently, she had came to the Fortress directly from Elven territory, so she didn't all that much time to explore the world. Though, we've only been two two cities - three, counting Huizhou - ourselves, so it's not like we were experts or anything. Still, Leena seemed content with just listening to our stories.

She also told us of her own past, though I didn't know how much of it was true. I had no intention of prying though - everyone has something they wish to hide. I was no exception, so I wasn't about to be a hypocrite and ask others something they feel uncomfortable to answer.

Throughout this eight or nine hour walk with short breaks in between, I managed to learn a lot more about Leena and even the rest of the girls, despite having been together with them for quite some time already.

For example, apparently Feng Mian was quite the troublemaker when she was young… I accidentally overheard their conversation. When I asked about it later, she blushed and got mad, probably because she didn't want me to know about that side of her old self. Qing Yue also revealed how she made me yelp in fear when we were young by dangling a fake insect toy on my body, much to my dismay. If you want to talk about someone's embarrassing past, talk about your own, for heaven's sake.

… I had a sever phobia of insects back then, and still do to this day.

I didn't know what it was with those little crawlers - they're just so unpredictable, it scares me. I would observe them closely when I was young, and every time they would stop in their tracks, then suddenly move again. When they did that, I would always jump back in fear. Qing Yue used to laugh at me whenever that happened, but just because I was a man didn't mean I wasn't scared of anything.

If there's two things in this world that still haunt me even after all I've been through, it would be the feeling of losing someone I care about, and insects.

After a long, tiring walk, we finally spotted some sort of faint black silhouette in the distance. The snowstorm made it difficult to see, but compared to up in the mountains, this was nothing.

"It seems like… several pillars?" Lan Xiao Su murmured. "I can't see very well, but…"

"Pillars… for an area of snowy plains, that is certainly out of place," Feng Mian deduced. "Let's check it out."

"It's the first interesting thing we've found all day," Xiang Peng sighed. "Might as well."

We picked up our pace to a light jog. Surprisingly, despite having eaten nothing since yesterday morning, we were all still doing just fine. Still, this wouldn't last for long if we didn't hurry up. We have been using Water Magic from Lan Xiao Su and Yu An Xue whenever we got thirsty, but for groups without a member with Water Magic, this would prove difficult. 3 days was the maximum someone could survive without water - perhaps that was why the IMF made this competition have a time limit of such.

Of course, there was snow everywhere, so you could technically 'eat' it as water, but there was no telling how dirty it was.

After another two hours of walking, we finally nearly were directly before the pillars. It was already 6 PM - we had spent most of the day on the road, so we were all tired. However, we just needed to go a bit further - then we would reach the pillars.

But then, something popped up on my Third Eye. I frowned and signaled everyone to stop.

"Ten people. 500 meters directly in front of us," I said quietly.

"500 meters… doesn't that mean they're already at the pillars?!" Yu An Yan exclaimed in shock.

"… Follow me closely and keep quiet," I ordered, before slowly beginning to move forward again. The rest of the girls followed, obeying my instructions without a word.

However, as we moved, the faint sound of battle suddenly rang out in front of us. Considering how close we were to the pillars, the sound should definitely have been louder, but… for some reason, it sounded 'muffled', like the effects of the middle pedal on a piano.

I began to speed up and the girls quickened as well to match my pace.

And then, finally, we could see what was going on before us - the origin of all the noise.

Within a large green translucent dome of some kind that looked to be pulsating with mana, ten people seemed to fighting, launching spells one after another. However, what was most surprising was that to us, it seemed that there was no target they were aiming for particularly. On the outside, it just appeared as if they were randomly launching attacks at random locations… but that couldn't be right.

Narrowing my eyes, I daringly crept closer to see if I could get a better glimpse at what was going on. But unfortunately, that still did not work-

"AHH!"

Ten loud screams rang out at the same exact time from within the dome. My eyes widened in shock. In the same time it had taken me to merely blink, all ten mages, originally fighting desperately, now lay in the snow. Unconscious or dead, they were defeated.

"… How the hell?" I muttered as the dome receded. And then, I saw.

A lone figure standing between all the unconscious figures of the challenging group. She had long black hair and wore a black mask that covered half her face on her eyes. Her outfit was also completely black and seemed to be a tightsuit of some sort, perfectly highlighting her flawless figure.

But despite this woman's clearly stunning beauty, that wasn't what I was surprised at. What I was more surprised at was that I recognized her.

"No way… is it really her…?" I murmured, but that seemed to attract the woman's attention.

She snapped her fingers, murmured something under her breath, and suddenly, a black puddle appeared beneath the ten bodies, dragging them to god knows where.

Then, she turned in my direction, and seemed a bit taken aback.

"Ara ara~ look who it is…"

Tch… she recognizes me too. It's clear now. This woman was her. Without a doubt... the same woman who we had faced back in the bathroom at the movie theater.

The Holy Emperor.

The girls seemed to realize this as well, and were currently whispering to one another about the matter.

Realizing there was no point in turning away now, I boldly stepped forward, closer to the pillars. There were ten of them in total, forming a circular arena of some sort.

"It's… really you again, huh?"

The woman smiled. It wasn't a bright one, but more of a seductive one. "Ara, you remember me?"

I scoffed. "You're not exactly easy to forget."

"Hehe~ you'll make girls get the wrong idea if you say that to them so carelessly, you know…"

When I fell silent, the woman continued.

"… Still, to think we would have to fight again so soon… how unfortunate. I was hoping to interact with you more, but you see, I was told to kill anyone who I judged too weak to pass."

"Pass… in that case, I take it you're the final examiner, and this is the endpoint of the preliminaries?" Feng Mian asked with a stern and unwavering gaze.

"My, my… yes, you are correct," the woman laughed softly, then turned her gaze back at me and stared deep into my eyes. "Your eyes… they're as attractive as ever."

I chuckled. "You'll make boys get the wrong idea if you say that to them so carelessly, you know?"

Faced with me using the same words she used against me mere moments earlier, the woman giggled.

"You're even more amusing than I originally thought… Xuan Kai-kun."

An honorific? Weren't demihumans the only ones who used those…? Could this woman be a demihum… no, that's unlikely. Demihumans couldn't hide their features like some other races, for example Succubi, could, and I didn't see any visible demihuman features on this woman's body.

"… My name. If I'm not wrong… you got that from the various secret surveillance cameras placed throughout the map, correct?"

The woman blinked, as if genuinely surprised I had figured it out.

"Ara ara~ looks like I need to reevaluate you, Xuan Kai-kun. Indeed, that is where I got all of my information."

"Eh? Surveillance cameras…?" the girls tilted their heads in confusion at my words. "But didn't they say there wasn't any surveillance…?"

"… That way of thinking is far too naive," Mei Gui muttered, which only served to confuse the girls further. I didn't have time to explain to them right now though.

"Tell me, how did you manage to find out? The surveillance cameras were hidden with the highest level of Shadow and Enchantment Magic - with my own two hands, in fact. How did a mere Intermediate Mage figure it out?" the woman asked curiously. She seemed to genuinely want to know, and wasn't threatening me to answer her or anything.

"Luck," I replied. "That's all there is to it."

Of course, this was a lie. The reason I was able to discover them was thanks to the Third Eye Forbidden Spell I possessed. However, she didn't need to know that.

"Heh… I see. Tell you what - as a reward for discovering those cameras, I'll give you a special treat no other boy has seen before," the woman said, giving me a flirtatious wink and casually removing her mask to let us see her true face.

Put simply, she was beautiful - on the same level as Mei Gui, but without the 'divine goddess' feeling to it. As we watched on in wonder, she introduced herself formally.

"My name is Ling Xin, currently 16 years old. I am the youngest member of the IMF's Council of Arcanity, and one of the three representatives for the Human race. Pleased to meet you, Xuan Kai-kun."