[Sinseki Era - 21 Years Prior]
[Central Nations · Holy Capital Strahl]
In front of a noble mansion in the Holy Capital's suburbs.
After confirming that his sister had indeed sought refuge here yesterday and was safe and sound, Hafka breathed a sigh of relief, his anxious heart finally calming down.
Politely declining the enthusiastic hospitality from his married aunt and nominal uncle-in-law, Hafka boarded the carriage they arranged for him and headed directly toward the Continental Magic Association located in the center of the Holy Capital.
At the same time.
Even though it was already noon, the stone statue examination Serie had set for the candidates was still proceeding enthusiastically.
Countless mages stepped forward one after another to challenge the one or two stone statues they had selected.
Through repeated trials by their predecessors, the candidates had roughly figured out the different characteristics of each statue.
Some stone statues had refined combat techniques with attack patterns that alternated between fast and slow, making them unpredictable.
Others were merely agile, skilled at dodging candidates' attack magic, but somewhat weaker in combat techniques with lower confrontational intensity.
There was also the most imposing stone statue whose attacks were the most powerful, but its movements were relatively slow, even allowing for several high-powered attack spells requiring incantation preparation to be cast between Basic Attack Magic intervals.
Since the examination rules didn't limit the number of challenges mages could attempt, quite a few mages lined up under each stone statue.
Of course, the queue sizes for different characteristic stone statues were completely different.
The longest queue belonged to the imposing stone statue, which had the highest number of successful challengers in the half-day of examinations so far.
As long as the containment was in place and the attack magic charged up was powerful enough, there was hope of defeating it.
Next was the agile stone statue, with about six or seven mages queuing. Most of them were skilled in restriction-type magic, betting they could bind the challenge statue before being knocked away.
The shortest queues, requiring no queuing at all, belonged to those two stone statues skilled in close combat techniques, whose quick-slow punches were both accurate and ruthless.
So far, not a single candidate had been able to pass their trial.
Until...
A middle-aged man arrived at the challenge plaza.
Heiter waved his Spell book, and a brilliantly glowing protective shield enveloped him. No matter how much the close-combat stone statue swung its fists until they cracked, it couldn't shake him in the slightest.
Heiter merely flipped a few pages of his Spell book. As several lines of prayer from the Heaven and Earth Paradise Chapter glowed, the magic Serie had attached to these stone statues for control was forcibly dispelled.
The nearly two-meter-tall challenge stone statue scattered into a pile of stones.
"Tsk—"
"Interesting."
Inside the great hall, Serie, who sensed this scene outside through her magical perception, smiled at the corner of her mouth.
Then she pressed her hands together, and solid magical power flowed from her palms, falling onto the scattered stones on the field.
The originally scattered stone blocks were reformed, with even more stones joining them.
But these stones, far exceeding the original amount, didn't gather into a taller statue. Instead, it was several circles smaller than before, about 167 cm in height.
As Serie in the hall closed her eyes, the newly formed stone statue on the field slowly began to move.
Looking at this new stone statue's familiar gait, Gut raised an eyebrow and instantly knew who was personally controlling this stone statue.
He quickly stepped forward to interrupt the other candidates' challenges, brought them out of the barrier, then stood on the platform, casting a concerned look at Heiter who had come to "challenge the establishment."
Hopefully your Goddess can truly protect you...
On the field.
Though Heiter didn't know the stone statue before him was personally controlled by Great Mage Serie, the approaching sense of crisis still made this Holy Capital bishop immediately assume a defensive stance.
His finger pressed on the corresponding chapter of his Spell book, ready to immediately deploy comprehensive defense if the situation went wrong.
"Bang!!!"
Without being polite to Heiter, the stone statue personally controlled by Serie delivered a quick punch straight at him.
Just this one strike caused the originally indestructible brilliant barrier surrounding Heiter to instantly lose its glow, with the impact point covered in spider web-like cracks.
"Gulp—"
Heiter swallowed and immediately strengthened his magical output, making the dimmed Holy Light Protection Magic bright again, rapidly repairing the cracks punched out by the stone statue.
However, facing Heiter's remedial efforts, the stone statue controlled by Serie remained motionless.
Or rather, it maintained its previous motion, with the stone fist pressed against Heiter's protective barrier, continuously exerting force.
But how much strength could a punch that had already been thrown generate without being withdrawn?
Seeing this, Heiter no longer minded this punch. While maintaining magical output to his protective barrier, he quietly flipped his Spell book to the Heaven and Earth Paradise Chapter, attempting to use the previous method to again dispel Serie's control over this stone statue.
However, just as the brief incantation was about to end, Heiter inadvertently glimpsed what seemed like a triumphant smile on the controlled stone statue's face.
Sensing something wrong, Heiter immediately stopped the half-prepared magic, wanting to strengthen the protective barrier's toughness again.
But it was too late.
The stone fist pressed against the shield suddenly flickered with magical light, then its weight increased hundreds or thousands of times.
Heiter's Holy Light Protection Magic was like paper, instantly shattered by this stone fist.
Fortunately, Heiter's last-moment realization had some effect.
Under the effect of instant Defensive Magic, six or seven layers of protective magical crystals stacked together, giving Heiter the chance to step back two paces and create a small distance from the stone statue.
"Good thing I didn't drink last night. This level of pressure is no less than facing the Demon King."
Heiter, gripping his Spell book, was already somewhat sweating. He immediately summoned another holy light barrier to protect himself while continuously reinforcing it with lingering fear.
"Clang-clang-clang—"
The stone statue controlled by Serie tapped this barrier several times with its fingers. The deep echo indicated its defensive capability was definitely first-rate.
"In that case, why not try my recent research results."
The petite stone statue pondered in place for a moment, then its form blurred and flashed to behind the barrier.
Heiter was startled and immediately strengthened magical output to this side to enhance protective capability.
However, as Serie sitting in the hall spoke unknown characters, the magic attached to the petite stone statue flickered and changed slightly.
"Penetrating"
A light palm pushed out, as if passing through ordinary air. Heiter's abnormally thick holy light barrier provided no resistance whatsoever.
The palm composed of stone material struck Heiter directly, blasting him away to land on the high platform where he was caught by disciple Gut.
"Indeed, my hypothesis is feasible."
Serie in the great hall showed a satisfied smile, opened her eyes, and also dispersed the excess magical power on the petite stone statue, returning it to normal stone statue strength.
But Heiter, lying in Gut's arms, was full of bewilderment, unable to understand what had just happened.
"Why did my magic provide no protective effect whatsoever..."
"Undefendable characteristics... is it a Curse?"
"That's not right either. Great Mage Serie couldn't possibly be a demon, and my Goddess Magic should be able to provide some protection even against genuine curses."
"Then why did this happen..."
Unable to figure out the reason for the moment, Heiter could only treat it as special magic mastered by Serie, adding several more points of awe for this legendary mage in his heart.
With Gut's support, Heiter steadied himself. After several efficient Healing Magic spells, his originally stuffy chest gradually recovered to normal.
"Mr. Gut, your teacher's methods are really... quite intense."
Heiter spoke while looking at the group of priests who had come with him and the many mage candidates being treated by the priests nearby.
This was why their group had come from the Cathedral.
Originally, today should have been a peaceful workday. As Holy Capital Bishop, Heiter could relax after leading the priests through daily morning prayers.
Flipping through ancient texts in the cathedral, reviewing recent situations reported by various churches, guiding junior clergy in their magical power and Goddess Magic cultivation.
He might even sneak into a corner for a few drinks during his leisure time.
But...
After the lively shouting from the neighboring Continental Magic Association began, the entire Cathedral could no longer rest.
First, mages brought two injured candidates. After priests treated them, several more were brought.
This cycle repeated, with more and more injured being brought over, all with remarkably consistent injuries - blunt force trauma with internal bruising.
Such special circumstances naturally alarmed Heiter. After thoroughly understanding the situation from recovered candidates, he simply brought several experienced senior priests and a batch of relatively inexperienced newcomers directly to the Continental Magic Association entrance.
This saved candidates the trouble of carrying people to the Cathedral, not only allowing injured to receive treatment faster but also bringing some peace to the Cathedral.
As for Heiter himself, after healing several candidates, he felt his hands getting itchy.
Since priests were essentially a variant of mages anyway, he stepped onto the plaza to try it himself.
"How about it, Mr. Heiter?"
"Would you consider becoming a disciple under teacher Serie like me?"
"According to examination rules, defeating or persisting five minutes under the initial stone statue's attacks qualifies you for teacher Serie's interview."
"Your first-stage challenge was successful. Would you consider adding a generation level for yourself and becoming Miss Frieren's senior uncle?"
"This..."
Heiter smiled, "Seems like an interesting choice."
"If we meet again, Frieren would probably be quite shocked."
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Powerstones?
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