A holographic screen had just been projected from Sacha's phone, and he pulled up along the sidewalk to take the call. Before he swiped at the green b.u.t.ton on the screen, he turned to look directly at the screen, where the readers and viewers were residing, just beyond the fourth wall.

"Remember, everyone," he declared. "Never talk on the phone and drive at the same time. Your safety is paramount, and doing so will cause danger to other drivers and pedestrians on the road. If you want to take a call because you think it is urgent, make sure you pull up and stop by the side of the road, not converse and drive at the same time."

"The only exception is if you're wearing earphones," I muttered, and he nodded.

"Earphones, or speaker. As long as you keep both hands on the steering wheel and your eyes on the road."

"All right, safety advertis.e.m.e.nt is over." Adrian clapped his hands. "Can we get back to the actual story and can you just answer that call, Dad?"

"Sure thing. Give me a second." Sacha raised the phone to his ear after swiping it. "Yeah?"

I watched as he conversed, nodding unconsciously with the occasional "hmm" and "okay" and "I understand." There was one time where he actually glanced at me, and said, "Yeah, he's with me right now." Obviously the other party knew I was taking a ride in his car.

It didn't take long before he hung up. Placing his hands on the steering wheele, he turned to the three of us and grinned.

"Sorry, kids, but there has been a change in plans. We're not heading straight back home. We're going to the stadium."

"Eh?" Melina looked puzzled, and Sacha focused on her.

"Yeah, that was your dad. He says to bring you guys straight to the stadium first. If you don't mind, that is."

"Ah, no. That's fine."

"All right then!" Sacha wasted no time nudging his car back out into the road and zooming off into the distance. "Let's go!"

"Why are we heading to the stadium?" Adrian wondered out loud.

Sacha grinned and tilted his head in my direction. "We have an awards ceremony to attend. Richard, you were partic.i.p.ating in the national high school tournament before you ran off on that mission of yours, weren't you?"

"That's right." I blinked. "Eh? The awards ceremony is today?"

"Yeah. The finals had just ended. Pendragon Academy emerged the victor and successfully defended the champions.h.i.+p today. They just finished their team match a few minutes ago. Duke Fergus Franklin has requested that I bring you guys to the stadium immediately. Besides, he wants to see his daughter as well, and since he's at the stadium…"

We understood. Of course Fergus Franklin would want to see his daughter as quickly as possible, and it was much faster to bring her straight to him while he was in the stadium than it was for her to wait for him to return home. Also, the Duke probably want his daughter to watch the awards ceremony with him, though the reason was unfathomable to me. Not that it was any of my business.

"Did my team win their third place match?"

"Eh? You don't know?" Sacha raised an eyebrow skeptically when I raised the question. "Didn't they tell you?"

"Oh, they probably tried to, but I was out of range…" I hastily fumbled with my smartphone and saw the number of messages and emails that I had received while I was away. I tapped the text message from Harrison and beamed when I saw the contents.

"They won."

Even without me, Jing Tian Academy team still won. They secured third place, narrowly beating out Vermillion Academy. It was a tough fight, but Bu Fan actually managed to defeat Lilith Porter (though he took quite the beating himself) and we managed to overrun them in the team match. Bu Fan couldn't partic.i.p.ate in the team match, but obviously Harrison never intended to select him for that. The guy was too much of a lone wolf to cooperate with others…though, he could cooperate and team up with other people if he had to. I guess he would probably wait until university or something, and when he needed votes or when his friend was insulted before he fought in a team and won big.

By then he would have awakened the summoning and shadow element too…

"Yes!" I pumped my fist into the air, much to Adrian's bemus.e.m.e.nt and Sacha's amus.e.m.e.nt. Melina smiled as well, infected by my delight. "They won! We got third place!"

I wasn't sure how to feel, though. Clearly they won without me, which meant that they didn't need me to win. It felt a little lonely, but I guess it was worth it. The team was what mattered, not the individual. I was happy for everyone, and I couldn't wait to see them. They must be just as overjoyed as I was. h.e.l.l, I was on the verge of screaming at the top of my lungs, but obviously I couldn't do that or I would cause trouble to Sacha and the kids.

So I suppressed my exuberance for now and contented myself with a gigantic, silly grin on my face. My fists were clenched, and I honestly wanted to punch the air again, but jerking about too violently inside a car wasn't a good idea, so I controlled myself, consoling myself that I would have plenty of opportunity to celebrate once I reached the location where my friends were.

The stadium wasn't too far away, about a fifteen minutes drive away, and we were there before too long. Fortunately, there was a huge parkling lot, and even though it seemed full, Sacha managed to locate a single open lot.

"Phew."

Slotting nearly into the lot, he switched off the engine and nodded at us. The moment the vibrations were down, we were pus.h.i.+ng the doors open and alighting from the car. I glanced around the parking lot for a moment. It was really packed to the brim, and we were really lucky to have found this spot or we would be driving in circles for quite a while.

"We should hurry!" Sacha was herding us toward the main facility. "They're waiting for you!"

"Huh?" I realized that he was looking in my direction. "Why are they waiting for me?"

"Are you kidding?!" Sacha was practically chuckling. "Because you're part of the Jing Tian Academy team, and they want to receive the medals together with you! You've been such a pivotal member in their team, and you've helped them reach so far in the tournament…they didn't think it was fair that they would be receiving the medals without you among them! Everyone recognizes your contribution to their progress!"

"Eh? But how did they know…?"

"Oh…Duke Franklin has intelligence networks all over Stuart City, as does the Stuart family ourselves." Sacha patted his chest proudly. "We knew you were coming back, when the aerial manning operators told us that the Silver Wolves have just established contact and are landing. And since we have quite some political pull, we were able to delay the awards ceremony for a bit. Good thing the stadium isn't too far away from the airport, eh?"

Political pull, huh? That was one h.e.l.l of a contrived coincidence…to think I actually landed right when the finals ended. Well, as long as it worked, I wasn't going to complain about it. Sometimes fact was stranger than fiction, and the coincidences in life seemed far too contrived to be able to wave away. Murphy's Law and all that.

I almost staggered into the main facility, where my teammates were waiting.

"Richie! You made it!"

"I knew you would come!"

"Ha ha ha! Just in time!"

My friends enveloped me in a hug, cheering and shouting, the guys were particularly pounding my back and chortling, while the girls teared up a bit.

"All right, let's not waste time. They're waiting for us!"

The announcer was already saying something on the podium, having spent the last fifteen minues or so delivering some grand speech regarding the future of the Global Federation, the talented youths who would surely build the foundation for that future, and the impressive display that they put on throughout the tournament. No doubt he had been pressured to drag the speech by none other than the Stuart family and Duke Franklin. Normally I would wish he would end the speech and get on with it, but on this occasion, I was glad that he obliged.

"And so we would like to present the medals to the worthy winners!" he ended, having received some subtle message that I had arrived, and quickly and gratefully wrapped up his speech without wasting another second longer. "Would they please proceed to the stage?"

My team joined the other schools who were milling near the bottom of the stage, and I caught sight of Charles Lacroix, Lilith Porter, and all their respective team members. Charles and Lilith nodded in my direction, and I could almost read their expressions.

We're glad you made it.

I beamed back, hoping they knew I was trying to tell them that I was glad I made it.

"In fourth place, we have Vermillion Academy!"

Lilith and her team graciously ascended the stage, with the officials placing the medals around their necks, one by one. There was a huge number "4" emblazoned across the bronze surface, along with the symbol of the Global Federation, a small sphere that supposedly depicted planet Earth, along with two olive twigs.

Even fourth place was a huge achievement, and the students of Vermillion Academy held their heads up proudly as the announcer showered them with praise. As one, they bowed gratefully to an applauding audience. I also joined in, clapping loudly. Even though I hadn't been present for the match against them, I was certain that they did extremely well and pushed my team to the brink. According to Harrison, they did, and I trusted him.

I would have to watch their matches online later. I knew from experience that Lilith was a formidable foe, and I was curious as to how Bu Fan eliminated her and her h.e.l.lfire Bear. I heard that she still hadn't managed to properly control Kagutsuchi…yet. But that was fine…that monster was overkill for a high school tournament like this, and Bu Fan was smart enough not to give her the time she needed to summon such a powerful Soul Beast.

After their coordinated bow, Vermillion Academy descended the stage. As they did so, the announcer continued with his dialogue.

"And in third place, we have Jing Tian Academy team! Please, come up to the stage!"

For a moment, I stood, half-frozen in disbelief and awe. Harrison gave me a slight push, and then led us up the stage. I followed, and we stood in a line as the officials placed the medals around our necks. Just like the medals that Vermillion Academy received, ours was also bronze, with the symbol of the Federation imprinted deeply into its surface. But the number "3" was cared across it, signifying our rank for this year.

"At the beginning of the tournament, not many people gave Jing Tian Academy team a chance. They were supposedly a C-ranked team, or whatever those bulls.h.i.+t rankings or whatever claimed them to be. Reality proved that such ranking systems and numbers are nothing more than made-up rubbish, and they have remained solid contenders for the t.i.tle. The dark horses who have taken everyone by complete surprise and progressing all the way to the semifinals, far beyond what everyone else thought they would get to. Not only that, they pulled an upset against Vermillion Academy to achieve third place! Well done!"

Again, there was a huge applause as everyone cheered and yelled. I could see Adrian and Melina in the audience, as well as Harvey Deng and the Jing Tian Academy cheering contingent that he led, all of them rising to their feet and yelling in delight and pride. Adrian and Melina had followed Sacha to the VIP spots, where Duke Fergus Franklin was seated, and he was looking on with approval while placing his hand on Melina's head and stroking her long, blond hair.

Somehow I understood that he was here to witness me, as his daughter's instructor, receive the award. Probably as a way to vindicate his decision of hiring me. I wondered if I would really be able to live up to his expectations. Most likely not – I had no experience teaching others swordsmans.h.i.+p – but I would do my best nonetheless.

After a few more words of praise, the announcer gestured for us to leave the stage, which we did. The moment we disappeared from the view of spectators and the television cameras, I found myself mobbed by the team.

"We did it! We actually did it!"

"We got third place!"

"You played a huge role in getting us this far, Richard," Harrison told me seriously. A smile ghosted across his handsome face. "We aren't going to accept the medal without you."

"It was a close-shave thing, though," I admitted. "If I arrived just a day later…maybe even an hour later, I wouldn't have…"

"Hah! Don't worry, we have our ways!" Dong Fang Yue Chu chuckled as he threw an arm over my shoulder. "We'll figure it out eventually."

"For now…we should celebrate! I'm calling a party tonight!" Craig thrust his fist into the air.

No one objected to that, and I couldn't help but grin. It still felt so surreal, so…dreamlike. The joy in my chest almost threatened to bring me to tears, but I somehow held them in. Nodding, I b.u.mped Craig's fist.

"Yeah…let's party tonight. Dinner's on me."