Chapter Summaries

Li Yan joined Kanne and Lawine for the first test of the First-Class Mage Exam, while Frieren and Fern teamed up with Edel. After learning that the test required each team to catch a Stille before sunset the next day, Li Yan’s first search failed, and Lawine explained why the bird was difficult to detect.

• Genao assigned examinees to random teams of three and explained that the first test was a team challenge.
• Frieren and Fern met Edel as their third teammate, while Li Yan found that Kanne and Lawine had been assigned to his team.
• Genao led the examinees to the Groß Basin and announced that teams had to catch a Stille and bring it to the finish together by sunset the next day.
• Li Yan used Levitation Magic and Detection Magic to search from the air, but Lawine explained that Stilles were difficult to detect and warned that his approach would not work.
• Li Yan returned to the ground, where Kanne scooped him into her arms and offered to help him pass.

Li Yan became captain of his team and caught a Stille at the lake using Spatial Movement, escaping the examinees who attacked him. Meanwhile, Frieren’s party faced Übel, and Duncan chose to conserve his strength rather than pursue a Stille.

• Li Yan stopped Kanne and Lawine’s argument, became their captain, and led them to wait by the forest’s largest water source for a Stille.
• Übel confronted Frieren, Fern, and Edel and attacked Edel with Cutting Magic as a fight began.
• Duncan and Laufen spotted a Stille but decided to conserve their strength and mana instead of going after it.
• Li Yan, Kanne, and Lawine waited by the lake, where a Stille landed to drink; Li Yan teleported to it and caught it in a birdcage.
• Several examinees attacked Li Yan with magic, but he teleported away and then used Spatial Movement to take Kanne and Lawine to a new location.

Frieren relentlessly pursued Übel's team while Wirbel chose to avoid the disturbance. Elsewhere, Li Yan used Macht's past to reveal that Duncan's beloved wife had been turned to gold, and Duncan ordered Laufen to return the Stille.

• Frieren summoned a stone golem and pursued Übel's team with Fern and Edel, firing Normal Attack Magic as they retreated.
• Wirbel, Ehre, and Schraf watched the distant fight, but Wirbel decided they should wait rather than provoke Frieren.
• Li Yan's group encountered Duncan's team, and Laufen snatched the Stille while Kanne and Lawine defended Li Yan.
• Li Yan told Duncan that Macht had turned Duncan's gravely ill wife to gold and suggested the transmutation could be undone.
• Duncan believed Li Yan's revelation and ordered Laufen to return the Stille to him.

Li Yan persuaded Duncan’s team to join his group, then teamed up with Frieren and Fern to pursue the other candidates. After the pursuers split up, Li Yan offered Übel a way to pass the exam, but she attacked him when he approached.

• Li Yan convinced Duncan and Laufen to cooperate with him, while Lihita reluctantly went along.
• Genao and Zanze discussed Li Yan’s unusual background and allowed his team-up because the exam rules did not forbid it.
• Li Yan’s group encountered Frieren and Fern chasing Lanto and Übel, and the candidates split up as the pursuers divided into three teams.
• Li Yan, Lawine, and Kanne chased Übel with Ice and Water Magic until she stopped and threatened to kill them.
• Li Yan offered to stop chasing Übel and help her pass if she apologized to Frieren, but Übel launched Mana-Splitting Magic at him when he came close.

Li Yan subdued Übel and her companions, then helped Frieren’s group gather another Stille and confronted Wirbel’s team after sensing them watching from afar. He returned to the group without taking their bird, leaving Wirbel shaken by his strength.

• Li Yan caught Übel’s ambush, tickled her until she apologized, and confiscated her staff after she tried to retaliate.
• Li Yan’s group captured Lanto and his teammate, and Frieren allowed them to stay with the group after they apologized.
• Li Yan used Space Magic to help capture a Stille, bringing the group closer to collecting enough birds for all twelve members.
• Wirbel, Ehre, and Schraf watched the group from a distance, but Li Yan appeared beside them and blocked Wirbel’s attack.
• Li Yan warned Wirbel’s team not to attack, then returned to Frieren’s group without taking their Stille, leaving Wirbel convinced he was a monster.

Li Yan and his allies secured four Stille and waited out the first exam while Frieren analyzed and dispelled Serie’s barrier. After the exam ended, Li Yan took Frieren and Fern to a restaurant from their past, where he ordered a huge meal.

• Li Yan’s group took the final Stille from a team of examinees, leaving them with four birds and effectively securing their passage.
• Frieren analyzed Serie’s Barrier Magic and dispelled it, stunning Genao and prompting Zanze to identify her as the elf who followed Li Yan’s grandmaster.
• The first exam ended at sunset, and the teams holding Stille passed; Li Yan said goodbye to the other examinees and promised Duncan they could talk after the exam.
• Li Yan returned to the inn with Frieren and Fern, then took them to a restaurant Frieren had visited eighty years earlier.
• Li Yan ordered fifty extra-large steaks, ten desserts, and six Mercure Puddings, and Frieren assured the skeptical waiter that they could finish everything.

Li Yan and his companions shared an enormous steak dinner with Duncan’s team, where Frieren ate more than anyone expected and Fern fussed over her afterward. The meal ended with Frieren resting on Fern’s lap despite Fern’s warning not to lie down after eating.

• Li Yan invited Duncan, Laufen, and Lihita to join his group for dinner after they arrived at the restaurant.
• The restaurant served the group fifty portions of steak, and Fern praised the fruitwood-grilled meat while Frieren noticed it no longer tasted quite as it had in the past.
• Frieren stopped Duncan from taking her pudding, and Duncan ordered ten more puddings for himself.
• Duncan was surprised when Frieren ate over twenty plates of steak and several puddings before declaring herself full.
• Frieren rested her head on Fern’s lap, and Fern lectured her about lying down right after a meal.

Li Yan researched the limits of Eternal Youth Magic and experimented with using it to restore broken objects. He later met Kanne and Lawine at a milk tea shop, learned more about their friendship, and ended the outing with a troubled admission about his inability to save the people he wanted to save.

• Li Yan studied Eternal Youth Magic and discovered that it could draw fragments of a broken cup back together, though he remained unsure how to extend its restorative power to lifespan magic.
• Li Yan went outside for inspiration and found Kanne and Lawine buying milk tea, where he ordered two unusual drinks and had them each pay for one.
• Li Yan walked with Kanne and Lawine, learned that they had grown up together, and stopped them from turning their bickering into a duel.
• Lawine and Kanne asked Li Yan about himself, and he said he was lost on the road of magic and could not save the people he wanted to save.

Li Yan mourned Flamme and accepted comfort from Kanne and Lawine before the second mage exam began at the King's Tomb. The examinees entered the Royal Crypt Labyrinth, while Li Yan stayed behind, waiting.

• Li Yan reached toward a cloud that reminded him of Flamme and admitted that he missed her.
• Kanne comforted Li Yan by pulling his head into her embrace, and Lawine told him he could rely on them as friends.
• Fern watched Li Yan from above while Frieren slept in her lap.
• Zanze announced that the second exam required examinees to reach the King's Tomb's deepest point and conquer the Royal Crypt Labyrinth.
• Zanze gave the examinees Escape Golems that could help them flee, but using one would disqualify them; she said she would accompany them without intervening.
• The examinees began entering the labyrinth alone or in groups, while Li Yan remained seated and waited.

Li Yan gathered a large team, including Frieren, Fern, and several other examinees, and led them into the Royal Crypt Labyrinth. As the group advanced through its traps, Li Yan anticipated meeting the Water Mirror Demon, whose ability to create powerful, reviving copies had made the labyrinth impossible to conquer.

• Lawine, Kanne, Duncan, Laufen, Lihita, and Edel joined Li Yan's team, while Übel and Lanto declined.
• Methode joined the group, hugged Frieren, and prompted Fern to pull Frieren close protectively.
• Wirbel entered the labyrinth with Schraf and Ehre, then Li Yan led his team inside, with Zanze following them.
• Kanne triggered several traps, but Duncan protected the group with Defensive Magic, and Li Yan moved Kanne closer to keep watch over her.
• Li Yan explained that the Water Mirror Demon could create perfect, reviving copies of labyrinth entrants and send them toward the center, and he anticipated that it might copy him or Frieren.

Li Yan’s group encountered Übel and Lanto while navigating the Royal Crypt Labyrinth, then teamed up with them as they fought off replicas. Meanwhile, Wirbel’s team faced its own copies, and the groups continued toward the labyrinth’s center amid signs of an approaching Monster.

• Übel fought her replica while Lanto, apparently wounded, urged her to handle it herself, until Fern killed the replica with a long-range Normal Attack Magic spell.
• A second, unharmed Lanto emerged after his replica vanished, and he and Übel agreed to join Li Yan’s group rather than proceed alone.
• Li Yan called Übel a dangerous prisoner, and the group continued onward, with Frieren swiftly killing Duncan’s replica along the way.
• Wirbel, Ehre, and Schraf exchanged spells with their replicas while Wirbel searched for an opening.
• Lawine and Kanne argued over how they had attacked each other’s replicas, while Laufen and Methode defeated their own copies with defensive support from Duncan and Lihita.
• Wirbel’s team heard what sounded like a Monster driving spikes into the walls and looked around warily.

Li Yan and the others reached the Royal Crypt Labyrinth’s deepest chamber and found a powerful replica of him guarding the Water Mirror Demon. As hostile replicas of Frieren, Fern, and Zanze arrived, Fern volunteered to fight Frieren, claiming she knew a fatal weakness.

• Kanne explained that the Water Mirror Demon created immortal replicas and used its strongest replica as its guard, while Methode said the replicas had no minds to manipulate.
• Li Yan shut the gate after sensing the overwhelming mana of his replica and began considering a strategy with the others.
• Wirbel arrived carrying his unconscious teammates and said their Escape Golem bottles had been taken by terrifyingly strong replicas.
• Duncan blocked an attack as Laufen brought Wirbel into the group, but a hair-covered replica appeared with replicas of Frieren, Fern, and Zanze behind her.
• Lanto proposed that everyone split up and take on an opponent they could defeat.
• Fern said she would fight the replica of Frieren because she knew a fatal weakness, surprising Frieren.

Übel defeated Zanze’s clone with Cutting Magic, and the group worked together to destroy Frieren’s clone after Fern identified a brief gap in its mana detection. Li Yan saved Fern from a counterattack and took the spell’s impact, leaving Fern worried over him.

• Übel sliced through Zanze’s magically reinforced hair and defeated her clone in seconds.
• Fern’s group fought Fern’s clone while Frieren, Lanto, Duncan, and Fern attacked Frieren’s clone.
• Fern noticed that Frieren’s clone briefly interrupted its mana detection while casting, giving the group a chance to attack.
• Frieren’s clone lured Fern into striking from the shadows and launched a powerful impact spell at her.
• Li Yan used Spatial Movement to shield Fern from the spell, and the real Frieren destroyed her clone with a blast of Normal Attack Magic.
• Fern embraced Li Yan anxiously as he insisted that his injuries were not serious.

After the replicas of Frieren and Fern vanished, Li Yan led Fern, Frieren, and Zanze through the door to face the Water Mirror Demon’s final guardian. Li Yan found that his replica could copy his magic but not his full physical strength, and he drew the Holy Sword as the replica prepared a five-element fusion spell.

• The replicas of Frieren and Fern turned to ash, and Übel explained that her Cutting Magic could cut hair regardless of its Defensive Magic.
• Li Yan, Fern, Frieren, and Zanze entered the chamber while the others stayed outside to watch for revived replicas.
• Li Yan’s replica attacked with a small black hole, but Li Yan struck it and found that it lacked his full physical strength.
• The replica fled with Space Magic and counterattacked, while Li Yan blocked its spells with elemental shields.
• Li Yan drew the Holy Sword as his replica prepared a five-element fusion spell.

After the group defeated the Water Mirror Demon and cleared the Royal Crypt Labyrinth, Schraf and Ehre woke to learn they had passed the second exam. As the examinees waited in the Small Town for the third exam, Li Yan took Fern out to dinner while Frieren slept at the inn.

• The Water Mirror Demon's copies were destroyed, revealing its purple crystal true form, and the group found the treasure vault.
• Schraf and Ehre woke and thanked Wirbel and Li Yan for helping them pass the second exam.
• Li Yan pulled Frieren out of a Mimic, then declined Kanne and Lawine's invitation to dinner because Frieren was covered in slime.
• At the inn, Fern dried Frieren's hair and put her to bed, and Frieren fell asleep holding Li Yan's doll.
• Li Yan came to fetch Fern for dinner, and they left the inn hand in hand while Frieren slept.

Li Yan and Fern dined extravagantly at a luxurious restaurant, where Fern paid with the black card Li Yan had given her. A noblewoman mocked them and called for the manager, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Li Yan led Fern into Delicious Arrival and ordered an extravagant meal, while Fern added dishes and presented her black card.
• The waiter and manager verified Fern’s black card and returned it, then the restaurant served their feast.
• Li Yan and Fern ate freely, drawing disapproving looks from a noblewoman and an elderly noble at a nearby table.
• The elderly noble warned the noblewoman to stop mocking them, but she called a waiter over and demanded the restaurant deal with Li Yan and Fern.
• Fern told Li Yan they appeared to be targeted as the waiter went to fetch the manager.

Li Yan and Fern’s dinner was interrupted when a noblewoman tried to drive them out, but the restaurant manager defended them after learning Fern held a Black Card. The Intelligence Department killed the elderly noble and the woman after the confrontation, and Li Yan and Fern returned to the inn with food for Frieren.

• Li Yan ignored the noblewoman’s demands and continued eating while the manager ordered her and her party to leave for insulting Black Card guests.
• The elderly noble recognized the Black Card’s authority, struck the noblewoman, and apologized to Li Yan and Fern before leaving with her.
• Intelligence Department members confronted the elderly noble for targeting a Black Card user, killed him when he tried to flee, and decided to kill the noblewoman as well.
• Li Yan packed a large amount of food for Frieren, and Fern paid with the Black Card as the restaurant’s card reader announced her arrival.
• Li Yan took Fern back to the inn, saying they needed to feed Frieren.

Li Yan explained that the third exam would be an interview with Serie and gave Frieren and Fern advice before the examinees began meeting Serie one by one. Serie passed Wirbel, Duncan, and Übel while rejecting several others, then confronted Lanto over sending a clone to the exam.

• Li Yan told Frieren and Fern that Serie would decide whether they became First-Class Mages, and he advised Fern to point out Serie’s shortcomings.
• Kanne entered Serie’s room first and failed, followed by Laufen, Lawine, and Ehre.
• Serie passed Wirbel after he said he viewed magic as a tool for killing, and she passed Duncan after he admitted he had briefly considered defeating her.
• Übel drew her staff against Serie’s killing intent, and Serie passed her without asking any questions.
• Serie realized Lanto had sent a clone instead of appearing in person, and Lanto’s voice claimed that the clone was his real body.

Serie tested the First-Class Mage candidates, passing Lanto, Methode, and Fern while failing Frieren. Li Yan entered the exam trembling with fear that Serie would discover his secret, but she mistook him for a twelve-year-old descendant of the Lionheart King and began questioning him.

• Serie passed Lanto after observing that his real body had stayed in the village, then passed Methode after asking what she thought of her.
• Fern identified that her Mana was wavering, refused Serie’s offer to become her apprentice, and passed the test.
• Serie failed Frieren, who named a flower-field spell as her favorite, then left and complained to Fern about Serie.
• Li Yan nervously entered Serie’s room, and Serie guessed that he was a descendant of the Lionheart King because he resembled an apprentice of Flamme’s.
• Li Yan agreed with Serie’s assumption that he was twelve and claimed he had been born with his abundant Mana.
• Serie asked Li Yan whether Fern had said anything to him, and he answered that she had not.

Serie discovered that Li Yan had faked his death and used Eternal Youth Magic, then punished him for staying away for a thousand years. Li Yan escaped the room and warned Fern and Frieren that Serie was about to explode.

• Serie recognized Li Yan despite his childlike appearance and identified the Eternal Youth Magic Array on his back.
• Li Yan explained that the array made him look young and that his thousand-year lifespan had another cause.
• Serie restrained Li Yan with vines and sealing spells, then beat him with Mythical Era magic while he begged for mercy.
• Serie cast a Silencing Barrier as Fern and Frieren waited outside, worried about Li Yan.
• Li Yan rushed out bare-chested and told Fern and Frieren to run, with a pair of brown bear Moon-Panties in his pocket.