We will now begin the first-class mage exam.
You will battle in parties. All 57 participants
will be put in parties of three to take this exam.
ORIGINAL STORY BY KANEHITO YAMADA / TSUKASA ABE
See, you can do it if you put your mind to it...
You think so?
Lawine is rough,
but she's a good leader to me.
Tomorrow will be our first time fighting a dragon.
Are you scared, Eisen? You're trembling.
- Yeah. - I see. Well then...
- You're really scared? - Yeah.
I see...
I'm scared too.
Where is this conversation going?
I was trying to raise everyone's morale like other adventurers do.
But sorry...
I guess it didn't work.
No, thanks to you I'm less nervous now.
Himmel, just be yourself.
I'm sure each party of adventurers handles things differently.
I guess so.
I see. I guess each party really does handle things differently.
We finally caught a Stille.
Now we can relax for the time being.
How optimistic of you.
This is where the really hard part begins.
We must protect the Stille
from other parties who will try to steal it from us.
Now it's time to fight each other.
All right, let's summarize our observations of the Stille.
First of all, just like Frieren said,
that bird flies at supersonic speed.
It's impossible to match that speed.
Plus, it's as tough as a dragon
so it won't budge with ordinary offensive magic.
Restraints don't work either.
On top of that, it's hypersensitive to mana.
It flies away even when you approach it while suppressing your mana.
But the biggest problem is that
because Stilles barely have any mana,
we can't use mana detection.
Thanks to that, we have no clue where they are
or how many there are.
In the end, we were only able to
spot them three times yesterday morning.
I think they're being cautious because the candidates are searching for them.
Worst-case scenario, they may never appear again.
But even if we do find one,
we have no idea how to catch it.
Don't worry about that part.
Actually, last night,
I was testing out a spell that might help in catching a Stille.
Oh yeah, you were doing something.
- What kind of spell is it? - I already showed you, Kanne.
A spell that captures a bird.
Back when there were a lot more mages
and magic was more common than now,
a clan that lived off of hunting developed this folk magic.
Now that I think about it, you stopped it using magic.
But wasn't that a monster and not a bird?
Well, it's folk magic.
It seems to capture anything that looks like a bird.
It's a strong restraining spell, so I think it'll work on a Stille too.
Why were you keeping that a secret?
If we had used that, we could've caught one yesterday.
It's not that simple.
This spell's range is 50 centimeters.
You have to get that close for it to work.
Fifty centimeters?
How close have we gotten to it?
The closest was three meters.
But it seemed like it already sensed us
when we were 20 meters away.
We're just one step away, I guess.
That's a very big step.
Let me ask, just in case.
The two of you can't stall the Stille with your magic, right?
If I can freeze it, it may be possible.
But since it's sensitive to mana and so tough, it's hard to freeze.
It'll probably get away before I can stop it.
With my magic, I can easily stall it as long as
there's a large amount of water.
But the magic I use only manipulates water,
so I can't generate water itself.
That means I can't use it unless there is water around.
Mana doesn't transfer well through bodies of water
so it'll be difficult unless I infuse the water with mana beforehand.
Only if it's dispersed like rain,
can I manipulate large quantities of water instantly.
But if I infuse the water with mana,
Stilles, who are sensitive to mana, would never approach.
Never approach?
I see, they won't approach, huh?
This plan may work.
I agree that it's not a bad idea, but it's risky.
It'll turn all other parties against us.
But we probably won't be able to catch one otherwise.
Are you scared, Lawine?
Ouch! They'll rip out!
Fine! Let's do it!
4TH PARTY LAND, SECOND-CLASS MAGE
For now, let's hide here and make it through the end of the exam.
What? How boring.
If you're a mage, you should fight with confidence.
If you're a mage, you should also avoid unnecessary conflicts.
First, we'll have to fill up on water.
I believe there was a lake at the center.
I'm glad we were able to catch a Stille early on.
As long as we hide until sundown,
we can pass the first stage of the exam.
- What's wrong? - Apparently, things won't be that easy.
I thought this was a road,
but it's a dried up riverbed.
And I saw a few others that looked like this.
If I remember correctly, they've put up a barrier around the exam location.
Yeah, that's common for these exams.
It's a powerful antimatter barrier that won't let a speck of dust through.
Does it also not let water through?
Looking at how dry it is,
the barrier must've been put up more than a week ago.
Then most of the water
must have flowed into the lake at the center of the basin.
We candidates, are living beings,
so we need water to function.
But that doesn't mean
the candidates are all gathered around the lake.
True,
we are able to carry our own water.
But the same doesn't apply to Stilles who are also living beings.
I see.
So the people who realized this
are lying in wait by the biggest source of water, the lake.
All right, give up on getting water.
That's going a little too far.
I'm already parched.
I'm sure we can find a little pond.
Is that sanitary?
Maybe if we boil it.
8TH PARTY SCHARF, THIRD-CLASS MAGE
8TH PARTY EHRE, SECOND-CLASS MAGE
What a pain.
I wanted to kill you with that shot.
I'm surprised you reacted in time.
Well, whatever. Leave the cage with the Stille and go.
What if we say "no"?
Then there's no use talking.
The lake is over there.
She froze the lake!
What in the world is she thinking?
This is not funny!
This mana belongs to someone in the second party.
What are they thinking?
Do they plan to turn all the other parties against them?
Come on! Hurry up and melt it!
Denken, what should we do?
That's just a waste of time and energy.
13TH PARTY DENKEN, SECOND-CLASS MAGE
There's no point in melting it.
13TH PARTY RICHTER, SECOND-CLASS MAGE
With this much magic used on it,
no Stille will approach this lake anymore.
We will steal the Stille from the second party.
Seeing how much of a ruckus they made,
they must have worked out a plan to catch a Stille.
Mistress Frieren, what are you planning to do?
Let's split up for now.
Hurry up and melt the frozen lake!
How foolish.
If you use this much magic to melt the ice,
this lake will really become useless.
No Stille will come near here anymore.
Let's go.
Yeah. That way!
Those who have realized that fact
are searching for other bodies of water.
But their mana detection is so poor.
They won't be able to fend off dangers that lurk in the sky.
How amateur.
The second party froze the lake!
Are they trying to ruin the exam?
"Ruin"? That's not it.
This is the second party's elaborate plan.
We can't do anything until we figure out what that plan is.
The monsters got to them.
They're dead.
Let's go.
Old man, let's at least let them down.
I'm sure you notice, don't you?
They're circling up above.
It's not just one or two of them.
They've put a spell on the dead bodies.
If you try to let the bodies down, they can detect that.
They're Geisels.
They use these hunting methods to lure in their next prey.
This party fell right into their trap
and was annihilated.
It's not normal
to choose a place with monsters like these for an exam.
It's as if they don't care if the candidates die.
Oh right, it's your first time taking the first-class exam.
The reason is quite simple.
People who die this easily
are not fit to be first-class mages.
The Continental Magic Association
is concerned about the quality of first-class mages.
Some people are still fantasizing about
the strong, proud mages that were around when we were fighting the Demon King.
Talk about being behind the times.
I'm surprised, Denken.
I thought you were one of those who advocate that.
Quality doesn't matter when it comes to mages.
First-class mages
have to be a symbol of authority, nothing more than that.
No matter how skilled you are as a mage,
you are powerless if you cannot win over the hearts of people.
I have seen my fair share of mages who are
far superior to me, fall from power and suffer persecution.
People fear immense power.
Authority based on fear is short-lived.
Plus, magic is nothing to be proud about anyway.
I see.
So being as weak as you is the perfect balance, huh?
Aren't you getting cocky, youngster.
I can win against you with my eyes closed.
We can't detect the second party at all.
They must be concealing their mana and hiding.
This place too...
It's the same as all the other bodies of water we've seen.
It's not much, but the water is infused with mana.
I don't detect anything.
- Can you? - I can't either.
Did the second party do this?
Even the very person who infused it may not be able to detect it.
That is how subtle it is.
But a Stille will be able to detect it.
They won't come near this water anymore.
What's the point in doing this?
I see! There must be a body of water that's not infused with mana.
And the second party will most definitely be near that.
How do we find it?
- I'm going to take a break. - Denken...
The exam location is huge.
There's no way to find mages who are hiding to the best of their ability.
We'll wait.
They will let us know their location anyway.
I've infused mana into all the ponds and springs that I could find.
Although, there may be water bodies that we don't know about.
Just being able to limit the water that Stilles can use is enough.
Well then, I'll wait here for a Stille to come.
Seriously? Who knew you could make mana disappear completely.
It's not "completely."
If I move, a little bit of mana leaks out.
- See? - I can't even tell.
We'll be on the lookout then.
- Don't get in the way. - Shut up.
If only it was raining, I could be more useful.
Too bad the barrier is repelling everything.
Frieren, did you do it?
It was worth turning the other parties against us.
Now we can pass the first stage.
No...
Found them.
As I thought, they used magic.
No matter how skilled of a mage you are,
there is no way to cover up this moment.
Someone detected us. We should hurry and--
I guess it's too late to run away.
Jubelade.
Doragate.
They're like cannonballs.
She stepped back again.
Her moves are polished and flawless,
but it's an outdated fighting style. It's like fighting with my grandpa.
Ordinary offensive magic and defensive magic...
You're only using basic magic, huh?
Are you trying to hide your trump card?
I was told not to use anything other than basic magic in combat.
So that's your master's policy, huh?
Yes.
Apparently, that is more than enough to fight mages of this era.
Is that right?
There she goes again.
What is this strange sensation?
It feels as if I'm up against a seasoned mage or something.
I sympathize with you. With that kind of fighting style,
you would've been dead already if you were against Wirbel.
That wouldn't make sense.
Because you are the strongest one out of all of them, aren't you?
Wirbel has been fighting the remnants of the Demon King's army
as captain of the Northern Magic Corps.
His experience in combat is on another level.
His magic has absolutely no class, is cowardly,
and is only meant to bring him victory.
That girl who is fighting Wirbel
is probably going to get killed.
Is that so.
- What kind of horror did you experience? - Next time, I will cut off the head.
- I will take this one down. - They're strong.
- Interesting. Why don't you try? - What is this sound?
You old fart.
"Necessary Killing."
Subtitle translation by: Kiko Morita