Teammates

The headquarters of the Continental Magic Association, with its magnificent and spacious halls used for assessments, is bathed in cool, clear light from its towering dome, which reflects off the smooth, mirror-like stone floor.

Fewer than a hundred examinees stood scattered about, a silent tension and scrutiny filling the air. Those who could stand here were at least Fifth-Class Mages, all outstanding talents from various regions.

On the high platform, examiner Genau leaned against it with his hands behind his back. He stood tall and straight, wearing a well-fitting dark robe, looking capable and efficient.

"I am the examiner for the first round of examinations, Genau." His voice was calm, yet clearly carried throughout the hall. "The first round of examinations will begin immediately."

To the side of the hall, two other First-Class Mages were talking in hushed tones.

Falsh wore a well-tailored dark suit, his androgynous hairstyle was meticulously combed, and a pair of round-framed glasses perched on his nose. His gaze, behind the lenses, calmly swept over the examinees below.

He adjusted his glasses. "It looks like this year will be quite fruitful. At least we won't have to be eliminated like last year. After all, there are many excellent mages whose names I've heard of here."

His slender fingers pointed at several figures from a distance:

"That's Wirbel, a top soldier, the commander of the Nasser Empire's special combat squad, who has fought against the remnants of the Demon King's Army for many years. He's Second-Class Mage, and his academic record ranks fifth among all graduates of the Continental United Academy."

The finger moved to a purple-haired girl. "Fern, the second youngest Third-Class Mage in history, who passed the Third-Class Mage exam with top marks."

Next came an elderly man with brown hair. "Duncan, a cunning and shrewd Second-Class Mage who rose to the top in blood-stained power struggles and became the Imperial Court Mage."

His gaze lingered for a moment on a green-haired girl whose magical energy fluctuations were minimal and who wore a faint smile. "Ubel... she's supposedly the apprentice of Lowell, the dean of that joint academy? But she hasn't graduated from the academy yet, and her magic level is only level five. Her strength is hard to gauge, so it's difficult to say for sure."

His gaze swept across the crowd, noticing many candidates wearing the badges of the Continental United Academy. He frowned slightly. "Also, a good half of these are from the Continental United Academy, right? What, are they particularly free this year? Are they treating the exam like a team-building exercise for the academy? Although most graduates from the academy are indeed outstanding..."

Sense, standing beside him, habitually read his message but didn't reply.

Her long, light brown hair cascaded down to her ankles like a waterfall, with slightly curled ends. She wore a white dress and a dark blue cape. Her features were exquisite but expressionless, and her deep blue eyes gazed indifferently ahead, like a doll with unparalleled beauty but whose heart no one could touch.

Falsh finally pointed to a silver-haired elf who seemed to be lost in thought in a corner, his tone tinged with doubt. "This one... her magical power is unbelievably profound, almost like a miniature version of Lady Serie. Who is she?"

Sense finally spoke, his voice calm and even. "Frieren, an old acquaintance of Lady Serie, and another mentor of Lady Ruby. I met her a few times when I went to the United Academy before; she seems to be that Fern's mentor as well."

Falsh's eyes behind his glasses widened slightly, an invisible question mark seemingly appearing above his head, "Ruby's master? That Frieren? Here to take the First-Class Mage Exam?"

Sense: "Yes."

Falsh: "Why can't we just award her the qualification of a First-Class Mage?"

Sense: "Rules are rules."

Falsh smiled helplessly, "Alright, then I should be glad I wasn't on the examiner list this time. Sense, what's the content of your second round of testing?"

Sense: "Don't worry. My test doesn't simply assess the amount of magic power you have; even she would find it quite challenging."

"Is that so?" Falsh chuckled. "That's something to look forward to."

At this moment, Genau spoke again on the stage, interrupting the subtle commotion below. "Now, let's release the content of the first round of exams."

With a wave of his hand, dozens of bracelets, shimmering with a faint light, flew precisely to each examinee.

"There are 83 examinees in total. Please form teams of three according to the numbers marked on your wristbands. Since the total number is not divisible by 3, two people will not be able to form a team. These two will form a temporary team with Falsh." He pointed to Falsh to the side, "But he will not offer any advice and will usually only assist you with the strength of Second-Class Mage."

Falsh nodded slightly downwards in compliance, a formulaic smile on his face.

Genau continued, "The bracelets you hold, once imbued with magic, will allow you to sense the approximate location of your team members. The exam content will be announced after the teams are formed. Now, begin the group formation."

Frieren caught the flying bracelet, which had the number "2" engraved on it.

"The bracelet... the number 2." She infused it with a wisp of magic as instructed, and the bracelet glowed faintly. At the same time, her emerald eyes subconsciously glanced towards the corner of the exam hall where the aroma of desserts was wafting, but she quickly forced herself to focus again. "Ugh, teaming up... so troublesome." She muttered softly, subconsciously wanting to move closer to someone as usual, but finding Lowell not there, she could only touch her pointed ears.

As she sensed the direction guided by the magic, she slowly thought, "The exam is really interesting. The mages have such diverse personalities, making it a bit troublesome to form a temporary team... Is it testing teamwork? But I should be able to win easily on my own..."

"First impressions are crucial at times like this, I can't be too conspicuous... Well, I guess my magical power is already conspicuous enough." She glanced at the few examinees around her who were secretly sizing her up. "It doesn't matter, I'm strong enough anyway. As long as my teammates get along well with me and don't hold me back, there shouldn't be any problems, although I haven't had any real combat experience lately..."

She followed the direction of the magical sensation, passing through small groups of people talking and trying to form teams. The sensation grew stronger; her teammates were behind the massive stone pillar ahead.

Then, she saw--

A long-haired girl with light brown hair, bangs, and a side braid, was wearing an elaborate, Lolita-style mage robe, exuding an air of a wealthy young lady. At this moment, this "young lady" was riding on the back of another girl.

The girl pinned below had fiery red twin ponytails and was dressed in more practical clothing, wincing in pain. The "young lady" above her was pulling her twin ponytails upwards with one hand, her blue eyes calm and undisturbed.

The red-haired girl beneath him struggled and screamed, "Ouch! You're going to rip my hair out! I'll kill you!"

The young lady, expressionless, said, "Go ahead and try it. Before that, I'll make your hairstyle more 'unique'."

Frieren's gaze fell on their wrists—both bracelets clearly displayed the number "2".

Frieren stopped in her tracks, blinked her emerald eyes, her face expressionless except for a slight downward smirk at the corners of her mouth, forming a somewhat helpless little cat-like pout. She silently took a half-step back, a thought flashing through her mind: 'Is it too late to pretend the bracelet is broken?'

"They've already started arguing." She sighed softly, as if stating a mundane yet frustrating fact, like 'bad Tenten.' "And they look like two incredibly troublesome individuals."

On the other side.

Standing next to Ubel was a composed man with short, light blond hair and thin-rimmed glasses. She showed her bracelet to Fern, a knowing yet slightly playful smile on her face, "Long time no see. Looks like we'll be partners for now, my little darling Fern?"

Fern also showed her bracelet, her face as calm as ever, and nodded slightly in response, "Yes, Miss Ubel, it's been a long time, but please don't call me that."

"What does it matter? You're still being so formal."

"Okay." Her gaze swept over the bracelet, then turned to the composed man with short, light blond hair and glasses standing next to Ubel. "Is this gentleman also one of our teammates?"

"Yeah, just call him 'Glasses Guy'."

"My name is Lanto, not 'Glasses Guy'."

Far away.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad, the show's about to begin." Lowell sat on a rooftop not far away, watching and eating popcorn.

"It's divided into three rounds, like the Chunin Exams?"