Three days after leaving the village…
"That's Äußerst, huh."
Stark looked into the distance. In the middle of a vast lake, the hazy outline of a magnificent city surfaced on the horizon.
"We're still far away," Frieren said expressionlessly, suitcase in hand. "Let's catch a ride on a carriage along the way."
Before long, Ren and the others managed to hop onto a wagon heading toward Äußerst.
Partway through the trip, Frieren slept for a while with her head on Fern's lap—only to sit back up again when she realized she could only see half the sky from that position.
Half a day later, the carriage rolled into Äußerst.
"Let's go register at the Magic Association first," Frieren said, finally sounding a little more alert as she led them toward the Association's northern branch.
The Magic Association was a towering building constructed from massive blocks of pale stone.
The receptionist was a young woman with glasses. She registered Ren and Fern without trouble, but Frieren nearly failed to register because the only thing she had on hand was an absurdly ancient certification. Luckily, an older staff member recognized the antique document, and Frieren was able to complete her registration.
After that, the four of them went to the library to look up information.
---
Two months later, the First-Class Mage Exam began.
The moment Ren entered the hall, he was met with a sea of people.
His eyes swept over the crowd, catching several familiar faces—Lawine, Kanne, Übel, and others.
A stern middle-aged man in the Association uniform stepped onto the platform. His voice, amplified by magic, carried through the entire hall.
"I am one of this exam's proctors—Genau."
The hall fell silent at once.
"I now declare that the First-Class Mage Selection Exam has officially begun."
Genau's expression didn't change. "This exam has a total of fifty-eight candidates."
He paused, sharp eyes sweeping across every face.
"The first stage is a team battle. You will form teams of three. Only one team will have four members—but don't complain about fairness. The extra person is merely a Fifth-Class mage, included as a bonus."
"Now, we will distribute bracelets used to identify your teammates."
Association staff began handing out silver bracelets, each marked with a small number.
"The bracelets are numbered from one to nineteen," Genau continued. "By injecting mana into the bracelet, you can sense the general direction of teammates with the same number."
Ren accepted his bracelet and glanced at the number.
13.
He fed a thread of mana into it. The bracelet warmed slightly, and teammate locations surfaced in his awareness.
Two were close—on the far side of the hall.
The third was farther away.
Ren lifted his head, gaze cutting through the crowd, locking precisely onto a direction.
There, an elderly man with brown hair and beard, a monocle over his left eye, looked back calmly.
Denken.
Beside him stood a young female mage with a blank, dreamy look—wearing a blue dress with a high slit, her hair tied in a bun with side-swept bangs.
Laufen.
So it was Denken and Laufen.
And the other teammate was a bearded middle-aged man—
Richter.
Ren straightened his collar and walked over.
"Looks like we're on the same team."
When he reached Denken, Ren spoke evenly.
Denken's eyes paused briefly on the twin swords at Ren's waist before he stroked his beard.
"Denken."
"Ren." Ren nodded.
He knew Denken was a court mage—strong enough to be at least on the threshold of First-Class.
Laufen leaned forward too, smiling with innocent cheer. "I'm Laufen! Nice to meet you!"
"Richter," the bearded man added with a curt nod, his demeanor noticeably cool.
Genau stepped onto the platform again, his indifferent gaze sweeping over the nineteen hastily formed teams.
"The test site is the Grobe Basin north of the Association. A powerful barrier covers the basin—you cannot enter or leave from the outside."
"Now, I will take you to the basin entrance."
...
The group arrived at a designated area near the entrance. Assistants distributed specialized birdcages to each team.
"Your objective," Genau announced, "is to capture a Stille before sunset tomorrow and bring it back here. All members must return safely…"
After finishing the rules, Genau said simply, "Begin."
Teams moved out at once.
"Do you know anything about the Stille?" Richter asked the others.
Ren looked up and pointed to a treetop where a Stille was perched. "Only that it's sensitive to mana, and—"
Before he could finish—
Whoosh!
The Stille shot past the treetop at a terrifying speed, leaving only a flutter of leaves knocked down by the shockwave.
"So fast!" Laufen yelped, raising a hand to shield her eyes as she tried to track it—only to lose it instantly.
Richter's expression tightened. "This is going to be a tough fight."
Denken stroked his beard, calm as ever, as if already weighing strategies.
Then—
"Um," Ren said, spreading his hands with a sincere look. "I'm not very good at catching birds, and I don't know any particularly useful magic."
"I'll just wait in the safe area near the examiner and cheer you on when you come back victorious."
Richter frowned, displeased.
A First-Class exam, and a teammate was trying to coast without even pretending?
Laufen tilted her head, wide-eyed. "Huh? But it's a team battle. If you don't come with us and we can't catch it, what do we do?"
Ren smiled. "I believe in you."
Denken's cloudy eyes studied Ren for a long moment. Then he gave a knowing smile.
"No matter. Young people having their own ideas is not a bad thing."
He turned to the others. "Let's go."
"Sir?" Laufen started to protest.
"Let's go," Denken repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Laufen didn't understand, but she obediently followed.
Even so, she kept glancing back, worry written all over her face as she looked at Ren standing alone.
"But… if something happens to Mr. Ren, won't we lose? The rules say the whole team has to return."
Denken didn't slow his pace. He only replied in an even voice:
"Don't worry, Laufen. The number of people here who could kill him wouldn't exceed three."
Laufen and Richter whipped around, staring at Ren's slender figure in disbelief.
Three…? Even counting the examiner?
That man looked completely harmless—yet Denken spoke as if his strength was monstrous.
Ren watched the three of them disappear, the smile on his face slowly fading.
Catching a Stille the "mage way" was far too inefficient.
The most efficient way to catch a Stille…
Was to empty out his mana first.
He raised a hand and casually cast several basic defensive and offensive spells into the empty wilderness.
Weak ripples of mana spread through the air, quickly draining his reserves down to almost nothing.
"Alright. Mana depleted. Now the Stille won't be able to notice me."
The next instant—
He pushed the Hero's physique to its limit.
The world changed inside his senses.
The drift of every dust mote in the air… the subtle shifts of high-altitude currents… everything mapped itself sharply into his mind.
He lifted his head, eyes locking onto a streak cutting across the sky.
The Stille.
He could even see tiny sparks—minute friction flashes—each time its feathers cut through the air.
"Found you."
Ren's lips curved slightly. He bent his knees and lowered his body like a leopard ready to pounce.
Boom!
The ground beneath him cracked in an instant as his body became a blurred shadow, launching upward at a speed that shattered the air.
High above, the Stille finally sensed danger—
But it was too late.
A hand clamped precisely around its throat.
The overwhelming grip erased all resistance instantly.
Ren's body traced a clean arc through the air, landing lightly on the ground with the Stille in hand—completely subdued.
The entire process took less than three seconds.
"Wonder what it tastes like."
He weighed the bird in his hand, already thinking about how to kill the remaining time.
---
Meanwhile, on a high rise within the basin—
Examiner Genau sat at a tea table with Sense, sipping calmly.
"There are quite a few impressive candidates this year," Genau said, lifting his cup, face serious.
Sense nodded without expression.
Then, a strange scent drifted over on the wind.
"What's that smell?" Genau frowned.
Sense sniffed once, blankly.
"…Smells like grilled meat."