Strongest Hypnosis Charmer vs Demoness

Mental Mage vs Mister Preacher of Love

Aura messed with the first exam from the start. The first action taken by our 17th Party was observation.

The thing is, we don't know much about the Stilles at all. I've spent most of my 150-year life pursuing magic, so I honestly don't have much knowledge about small birds that aren't monsters. As for the party members in this trial, Edel is still young and specializes in knowledge and mental magic, and Dünste seems to be knowledgeable due to his age, but even so, they only have theoretical knowledge about the Stille.

It's enough to qualify for the selection criteria for the First-Class Mage Exam. The meteorite bird Stille can't just be an ordinary bird. If it were a bird that could be caught by simply searching around without a plan, it wouldn't be a valid mage exam. Only wild children with luck and physical strength could be selected that way. Maybe the Stille has some troublesome characteristics, and we are expected to cleverly overcome them and capture it with precision.

...That's Edel's interpretation.

Come to think of it, that might be true. Edel, you're smart even though you're young.

So, we decided to start by finding and observing the Stille.

Aura's magic, which was causing quite a disturbance, seemed to heighten the caution, but we were able to find the Stille after searching for about two hours.

It looks like a very ordinary small bird. It's not a magical creature and doesn't possess much mana. As can be understood from what Aura missed, it's safe to say that it poses almost no threat to humans.

However, the biggest problem is... the incredible speed of this small bird's flight. I don't know how it does it without using magic, but this bird flies beyond even the speed of sound. It's not as fast as the strongest warrior I've ever seen (Warrior Eisen), but it's an incredibly fast speed of movement. It's quite a challenge to catch it without a plan.

Furthermore, probably because it lacks direct physical power, the Stille is extremely timid. It's unusually sensitive to magic, detecting even the slightest leakage of magic and becoming cautious. And if you try to use magic or get close to it, it flies away at supersonic speed to escape.

And to top it off, this small bird probably has a constitution similar to that of dragons, which repels magic. It has a solid defense to the extent that it can neutralize magic of the level of Zoltraak.

However, it seems that it's not extremely resistant to physical attacks. Because if it were resistant to both physical and magical attacks, it wouldn't need to be timid or flee. In extreme terms, it should even be able to turn the tables on the hunters.

The fact that it can't probably mean that it's specialized in anti-magic defense. I think it's an ecological strategy to deal with magic, which often has tracking capabilities, with a constitution-based defense while escaping physical attacks at supersonic speed. These are the conclusions that the three of us arrived at through observation.

"How troublesome."

That was my initial impression.

Excessively timid, specialized defensive capabilities against magic, and flight speed surpassing the speed of sound. An extremely troublesome opponent for a mage. It's safe to say it's truly fitting for a selection exam.

"I guess so. Unless we can do something about its flight at the speed of sound, catching it will be difficult."

"No, I think that thought process might not be very good. The Stille is sensitive to magic; I believe interfering with its flight using magic or magic itself is close to impossible."

"Hmm, that might be true."

...Well, Aura might be able to do that though.

Depending on the leakage of mana, the Stille seems to be most cautious within a radius of about 30 meters. On the other hand, Aura's magic has no range, and once it enters her field of vision, defense and evasion become impossible. In short, as soon as Aura finds the Stille, it's certain that the bird will become prey to Aura's magic.