“......Lord Cassim, this is the closest location to Langard. The people from Manacos will definitely set up camp near here,”

  a black-robed figure said respectfully to another figure.

  The figure did not respond, merely gazing silently toward Langard.

  After a long while,

  the figure spoke in a cold, detached voice:

  “Go. Prepare the traps and wait for the prey to fall into them.”

  “Yes!”

  Several black-robed figures replied and then left the figure’s side.

  Once they had departed, another black-robed figure who still stood beside him asked cautiously:

  “Lord Cassim...... Should we request support from the Pillar of Force? If those from Manacos all come out, we may not be able to handle them alone......”

  “......”

  The figure did not answer his question.

  Just as cold sweat soaked his back,

  the same indifferent voice echoed in the air:

  “No need.”

  “That old man ‘Ming’ will not leave the academy to come here.”

  “As for the others......”

  The figure slowly turned and walked toward the forest behind him.

  Beneath the deep night sky, the ethereal, cold voice lingered in everyone’s ears:

  “......They are not worth worrying about.”

  ...

  ...

  The day of the team competition arrived.

  Led by numerous Manacos teachers, the third-year students reached the Monster Great Forest closest to Langard.

  “Starting today, you will spend the next three days in the Monster Great Forest before you!”

  At the camp set up by Manacos on the forest’s outskirts,

  a teacher explained the rules to the third-year students.

  “During these three days, you must fend for yourselves for food and shelter, and collect as many of these Magic Crystals as possible.”

  The teacher held up samples of the Magic Crystals for the students to see.

  “Remember—no matter how you obtain the Magic Crystals, we will only count the number you hold at the final moment.”

  “If anyone is injured and unable to continue the assessment, send out a distress signal immediately. Someone will rescue you and bring you back to camp.”

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  “But I must warn you: if this happens, you will be deemed to have failed immediately. So act carefully to avoid such a situation!”

  “That is all!”

  “Does anyone have any questions?”

  “......”

  The teacher scanned the crowd, but no one spoke up.

  The students already knew all the details of the team competition.

  “Very well. Then I declare——”

  Seeing no questions, the teacher announced loudly,

  “The team competition assessment begins now!”

  ...

  Inside the forest.

  “Hulim, where should we go?”

  Miko asked.

  Hulim glanced back at the two behind her, thought for a moment, and replied:

  “Let’s head deeper first. There won’t be many Magic Crystals on the outskirts.”

  For this exam, Manacos had specially set up a series of barriers using numerous magic circles to enclose a large area of the Monster Great Forest.

  These barriers could disguise themselves as the mana fluctuations of a powerful being; when monsters sensed this, they would not dare to approach the area. This prevented a monster tide from forming due to the large number of people entering the forest.

  However, Manacos would not eliminate the monsters originally in this area—if there were too few monsters, the academy would even drive some in from other places.

  The goal was to ensure the students did not have it too easy.

  Similarly, following past traditions, the academy placed more Magic Crystals in more dangerous locations.

  And the deeper one went into the Monster Great Forest, the more dangerous it became.

  Thus, to collect as many Magic Crystals as possible, heading deeper was the best choice......

  The three walked toward the forest’s depths.

  At a certain point, Hulim suddenly stopped.

  Seeing this, Miko and Alicia also halted.

  “Hulim, what’s wrong?”

  Miko asked in confusion.

  “Look there——”

  Hulim pointed to a large tree not far away.

  Miko and Alicia followed her gaze and saw an enormous tree with a huge bird’s nest in its canopy.

  “Huh? Is that a monster bird’s nest?”

  “Look closely at the nest.”

  Hearing this, the two examined it carefully and soon noticed something unusual.

  Something inside the nest seemed to be glowing......

  Miko’s eyes lit up immediately.

  “It’s Magic Crystals——”

  Caw~!

  At that moment, a cry suddenly echoed from the sky.

  Then a black monster bird over two meters tall landed on the nest.

  “That’s a Steel-Feathered Demon Raven,”

  Alicia recognized the monster,

  “No wonder there are so many Magic Crystals in the nest. I’ve heard this type of monster has a habit of collecting transparent objects.”

  “A very useful habit,”

  Hulim raised her wand and aimed it at the nest.

  “It saves us trouble.”

  Caw~?

  The Steel-Feathered Demon Raven seemed to notice the three of them and looked over in confusion.

  Boom——!

  A beam of white light instantly engulfed it.

  “Nice one, Hulim!”

  Miko gave Hulim a thumbs-up, then ran straight toward the tree with the nest.

  “I’ll handle collecting the Magic Crystals!”

  Seeing her rush off, Hulim lowered her Seven Luminaries wand, deciding not to take further action.

  She then turned to Alicia beside her and found her staring at her in shock.

  “......Alicia, what’s the matter?”

  “Uh......”

  Alicia moved her lips but then shook her head.

  “No, nothing.”

  “?”

  Though Alicia said nothing was wrong, her mind replayed what had just happened.

  That Steel-Feathered Demon Raven was indeed an extremely troublesome C-rank monster......

  She’d heard it usually required a skilled adventurer team to defeat—but with just a casual strike,

  Hulim had completely incinerated it.

  Could a B-rank mage really do that......

  As a member of the imperial royal family, Alicia had met many powerful people and had a clear understanding of the limits of B-rank strength. From what she knew, defeating a Steel-Feathered Demon Raven with a single casual blow was beyond what a B-rank could do......

  While Alicia was still thinking, Hulim suddenly seemed to notice something and looked around at the forest.

  She then glanced up at Miko, who had climbed into the canopy and was collecting Magic Crystals from the nest, and without hesitation raised her Seven Luminaries wand, aiming it in Miko’s direction.

  Whoosh——!

  A magical attack suddenly shot toward the nest in the canopy.

  Inside the nest, Miko looked up instinctively.

  When she saw the incoming attack, she was startled, but it was too late to defend herself.

  Boom!

  However, the sudden attack was intercepted just before it reached her and exploded mid-air.

  The blast created a gust of wind that shook the nest in the tree violently.

  Miko quickly stabilized herself, then flipped out of the nest.

  Thud!

  After accelerating downward, she landed safely in a breaking fall posture, then quickly drew her weapon and entered a combat stance.

  At this moment, Hulim and Alicia also gathered around her, and the three formed a triangular formation facing the surrounding forest.

  ...