Flipping the Table

The night of the first round of exams.

Fern's team, number four, captured a bird named Stille.

Her teammates are Übel, Third-Class Mage, and Lanto, a level 2 mage.

Fern, clutching the birdcage, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Finally caught Stille, now we can relax."

Lanto stood on a large tree and said, "You make that sound so easy."

Übel stopped hiding and walked from behind the tree toward Fern.

While observing the birdcage in Fern's hand, he said, "The key is after you catch it."

Seeing Fern's confusion, Lanto explained, "We must hold onto Stille and not let other teams take it."

Übel's lips curled into a slight smile as he chuckled and said, "Time for the match is up."

Early the next morning.

Frieren's two teammates are Lawine, Third-Class Mage and motorcycle driver, and Kanne, Third-Class Mage and motorcycle driver.

After resting for a night, the three began to summarize the information they had observed.

They've encountered Stille three times already, but each attempt to capture him has ended in failure.

It can travel faster than the speed of sound in the air, has a physical strength comparable to a dragon, and is also very good at sensing magic.

Stille didn't have much magic power, which put Frieren and the others at a disadvantage.

Lawine sighed and said, "Even if we discover Stille, we don't have the means to capture it."

"Don't worry about that." Seeing that the two were looking at her, Frieren explained, "Last night I experimented with a spell that might be able to capture Stille."

Kanne was taken aback, remembering that he hadn't seen Frieren when he woke up in the middle of the night.

And I could faintly hear the sound of rain.

As a mage who can manipulate water, Kanne is very sensitive to these things.

After investigating in an open area, they found that it was indeed raining, but it was being blocked by a barrier.

Just then, she was ambushed by a bird-like monster, and it was Frieren who saved her.

Kanne asked with some curiosity, "What kind of magic is it?"

"Kanne has already seen it," Frieren said softly. "Bird-Catching Magic is a folk magic created by a tribe that lives by hunting."

Kanne then remembered that when Frieren saved him last night, she didn't directly kill the monster.

Instead, it was bound. Curious, he asked:

"But that's not a bird, it's a monster, isn't it?"

Frieren explained, "Folk magic like this can successfully capture birds as long as their general characteristics are similar. And based on last night's experiment, I think there's a high chance we can capture Stille."

Lawine looked at Frieren with some frustration and said, "Then why didn't you tell us sooner? You used this magic when you encountered Stille yesterday, and we already caught him, didn't we?"

"It's not that simple. This spell's range is fifty centimeters," Frieren explained somewhat helplessly.

The closest the three of them came to Stille yesterday was three meters.

Moreover, it was detected when it was within 20 meters of Stille.

The three of them fell silent for a moment.

Frieren pondered for a moment, then asked, "Wouldn't it be difficult for your two spells to completely immobilize Stille?"

Lawine replied, "Unless it is completely frozen, it will be difficult to restrict its movement."

Kanne thought for a moment and said, "My magic can only manipulate water, not create it."

"Furthermore, without injecting magic beforehand, it's impossible to control a water source like a pool."

At this point, Kanne couldn't help but complain, "If only the barrier hadn't stopped the rain, I could have controlled even the heaviest rainfall."

"However, if a large amount of magic is injected into the water source, given Stille's sensitivity to magic, it would be impossible for him to get close."

Suddenly, Frieren had a flash of inspiration and said to the two of them, "I've come up with a plan that might be able to capture Stille."

The three of them gathered together to discuss the feasibility of the plan.

After Frieren finished speaking.

Lawine pondered for a moment, then said, "The plan is good, but the risk is too great. Doing it would mean making enemies of other teams."

Kanne smiled and looked at Lawine: "Are you afraid, Lawine?"

Lawine's face darkened, and he straddled Kanne, grabbing her two ponytails.

"It hurts! It hurts! It's going to be ripped off!!"

After Kanne begged for forgiveness and apologized, Lawine sighed and said:

Let's proceed according to this plan.

The three then split up and began to act separately.

The plan is to either infuse most of the water within the barrier with magic or freeze it.

Only one place was left for Stille to drink water.

At the same time.

Fern's team, preparing to head to the lake at the center of the barrier to replenish their water supply, was ambushed by Wirbel's team, who were second-level mages.

The target was Fern, who was at the very back of the group.

Fortunately, Fern realized what was happening.

They used Defensive Magic to block the first wave of attacks.

A probing attack failed to yield results.

Wirbel stopped hiding and went straight to Übel, who was with Stille.

Fern faced off against Ehre, a level two mage.

Lanto then faced off against Sharf, Third-Class Mage.

No one made a move immediately.

Seeing this, Wirbel chuckled and looked at Fern: "What a nuisance. I was originally going to kill you outright. I didn't expect you to be able to dodge it."

"?" A question mark slowly appeared above Fern's head.

This level of sneak attack was far too obvious for her, and it only consisted of one wave of attacks.

If it were Rienta instead...

Seeing that Fern remained silent, Wirbel assumed that Fern was frightened by the earlier sneak attack.

"Never mind." He glanced at Übel, the one with the strongest magic power in his perception.

He said, "Leave the cage with Stille inside and get out."

"What if I say no?" Übel replied with a smile.

Wirbel's gaze sharpened, and he said, "Then there's no need for further words."

Just then...

A powerful magical reaction emanated from the lake at the center of the barrier.

It was the sound made when Lawine cast a spell to freeze the entire lake.

In an instant.

Upon seeing this, the several teams lying in ambush around the lake all cursed him as a madman.

Once the lake was completely frozen over, Lawine turned and ran.

Seeing this, one small team among the troops guarding the lake began to try to melt the ice with fire magic.

Dunkel of Squad Thirteen watched this scene and said calmly:

"How foolish. Even if the lake were melted, a lake filled with magic, Stille would never come near it again."

At this moment, some of the teams that had reacted immediately took to the air.

They were trying to find a water source that had not yet been contaminated by magic.

Dunkel glanced at the group in the air and continued, "That guy must have been from the second squad. The commotion they made means they already have a way to capture Stille. Let's go and take them."

Having said that, he led the other two members of the team and began searching for the second squad in the forest.

Fern, who was in a standoff, was puzzled by the commotion caused by Frieren's squad.

But now is not the time to worry about these things.

As that immense magical power gradually began to dissipate.

Lanto said softly, "Let's spread out first."

After saying that, he took Sharf and rushed away into the distance.

The three were a hastily assembled team, and their teamwork was still quite raw.

But the other side is the same.

Wirbel paid no attention to the situation, letting Fern and Lanto leave with their respective opponents.

With a light laugh, he unleashed several Offensive Magic at Übel.

"Well then, let's see who takes care of first!"

Übel chuckled softly, offered no reply, and charged toward Wirbel.