The carriage rumbled as it rolled down the highway. Pulled by three horses, it moved at a brisk pace. A figure wrapped in a mage’s robe held the reins at the driver's seat, while a warrior-like man sat beside him, scanning the surroundings to guard against monster ambushes.
Inside the carriage, the atmosphere was quite different.
"Whoa, they’re actually still warm. When did you buy these?"
"I forget exactly how many days ago it was, but they're fresh out of the oven, for sure."
Rei had produced a plate of freshly baked cookies from his Misty Ring. Culotte looked on with surprise, a smile touching her lips as she popped one into her mouth.
"Oh, that smells lovely. May I have one too?"
"Go ahead. They’re delicious, Filma. You have to try one."
Drawn in by the scent, Filma reached out almost instinctively and took a cookie.
"Oh, it really is... An Item Box is truly incredible. To think you can have freshly baked cookies whenever you want."
"I don't think that's how people usually use an Item Box..." Superbia muttered, looking utterly dumbfounded.
Knowing his usage was unconventional, Rei gave a wry smile and held out the plate to the warrior. "Want one?"
Superbia looked at the cookies for a moment before giving a small shake of his head. "No, I'm not fond of sweets."
"Then I’ll take one," Gran said, reaching over to claim a cookie. He took a bite and nodded. "Mmh, these are definitely good."
Unlike Arrogan, who was outside projecting an air of intense vigilance on the driver's seat, the interior of the carriage was remarkably harmonious.
Even Culotte, who had been snapping at Rei the day before due to sheer nerves, seemed to have adjusted to the pressure after a day on the road. Her attitude had returned to normal.
Relieved to see their scout—the party's eyes, ears, and nose—at ease, Rei ate a cookie of his own and turned to Gran.
"This exam is a bandit subjugation, but do we not need to worry about capturing them alive? During the orc subjugation, I heard from Bobbs that live bandits can be sold off as slaves."
"Ah, normally that would be fine," Gran replied. "However, the point of this exam is to see if you can face bandits—rather, face humans—and properly kill them. Don't worry about the logistics. Just take them all down... or rather, kill them."
Gran deliberately swapped his terminology from "take down" to "kill," forcing them to confront the reality of the task.
Filma and Culotte knit their brows slightly at his bluntness. In contrast, Rei and Superbia accepted the statement without any visible change in expression.
"Still, even if it's late to bring it up, there are at least twenty bandits, right?" Culotte murmured anxiously. "It seems a bit much for just the six of us."
"Not necessarily," Rei countered. "We’re the ones on the offensive, so we can stage a surprise attack. Though whether we pull that off depends entirely on your performance."
"I suppose so," Superbia added with a wry smile, trying to ease Culotte's tension. "Besides, as Examiner Gran said, the candidates for this exam are quite talented. Having three magic users out of a six-person party is an absolute luxury for a simple bandit subjugation."
Filma leaned forward, her interest piqued. "By the way, I’ve seen my spirit magic and Schola’s magic, but what kind of magic do you use, Rei?"
Since Rei had only used his Death Scythe during the mock battle the previous day, she was clearly curious.
An elf, huh? Rei thought. He was still a bit bewildered by Filma, as she was quite different from his preconceived image of her race.
"Flame magic is my mainstay. However, while the power is high, its collateral impact is also great. Even when I try to adjust the output, the result is usually either 'lightly seared' or 'charred to a crisp.' It works for an annihilation mission like this, but if we needed to capture someone, it becomes useless instantly."
"I see... Even to my eyes, your magic power is immense," Filma whispered to herself, too low for the others to catch the end of her sentence. "...In fact, it exceeds us elves, and even the High Elves..."
When Rei had first walked into the meeting room for the Rank Up exam orientation, Filma had sensed magic power so vast it defied description. She had spent the entire meeting on high alert, ready to flee at a moment's notice.
His magic power is genuinely abnormal, she thought as she watched him. It’s almost as if mana itself has taken human form. There's no way a mere human should possess this much... Is he even human? Well, it's possible. At least he’s communicative and not hostile, which is a relief.
She continued her silent evaluation, gradually letting her guard down. To Filma, Rei felt far more dangerous than twenty bandits, but her tension slowly unraveled as they spoke.
"Hey, Rei. Shouldn't we start looking for a place to camp?" Schola called out from the driver's seat as the sun began to set.
Rei gazed out the window for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah. It's only the first day; pushing too hard now will just haunt us tomorrow."
He opened the small door connecting to the driver's seat and spoke to Superbia and Arrogan. "We’re going to start preparing for camp. Stop when you find a good spot."
"Got it," Superbia replied briefly. Arrogan simply gave a silent nod.
The friction from their departure still lingered, casting a slight chill over the driver's seat. However, Superbia was professional enough to avoid unnecessary conflict, and Arrogan had been so thoroughly intimidated by Rei that he remained quiet and focused on his duties.
Eventually, they found a spot sheltered by a large rock formation and decided to settle there for the night. They parked the carriage in the shadows. While there was still some light, they set up two tents: a large one Rei had provided for the men and a smaller one Culotte had brought for the women.
Filma gathered firewood from a nearby copse, and Arrogan fetched water from a stream. Once the camp was established, they ate dinner using their individual rations.
"Watches will be in pairs. We'll use a three-shift system." Rei pulled a magic hourglass from his Misty Ring as he spoke.
It was a magic tool he had purchased at an item shop the previous day. Though only about five centimeters tall, the "sand" inside was actually processed magic stones created through alchemy. While an ordinary hourglass would need to be much larger to measure two hours, this magic item could do so in its compact size.
"The sand in this hourglass takes two hours to fall. When it runs out, we switch. The first shift is Arrogan and Schola. The second shift is Culotte and Superbia. The last is Filma and me. Any objections?"
"What's the reasoning behind those pairings?" Superbia asked from across the campfire.
Culotte shot him a look, wondering if he was unhappy being paired with her, but Superbia ignored her and waited for Rei's answer.
"First shift is a mage and a swordsman. Second is a swordsman and a thief. Third is a magic warrior and a ranger. I tried to balance the combat strength for each block."
"...Understood. That works."
With Superbia’s nod and no further objections, they moved into their free time.
Culotte and Filma chatted together, while Arrogan meticulously maintained his Magic Sword. Schola focused on magic training, repeatedly manifesting and dispelling the Water Whip he had used in the mock battle. Gran watched over everyone silently, while Rei ate a Kumu fruit he’d bought in the city—it had the crunch of a pear but the sharp acidity of a tangerine.
Superbia approached him. "Rei, a moment?"
"Sure."
"If you're up for it, would you mind helping me with some sword practice?"
"Sword practice?"
"We've been stuck in that carriage all day. I need to move my body."
Rei considered the request and nodded. He figured Superbia probably didn't want to train with Arrogan given the man's personality. He also sensed that Superbia wasn't just looking for "training"—he wanted a rematch for yesterday’s mock battle.
"Let's move a bit away from camp, then. I don't want to risk someone getting hurt if we do it here."
"Fine by me."
After letting the others know, they moved to a clearing. Rei withdrew his Death Scythe from the Misty Ring, while Superbia drew his longsword and took a stance.
Culotte, Filma, and Gran watched with genuine curiosity. Arrogan pretended not to care but kept glancing over. Only Schola remained focused on his own magic training.
"Come," Rei invited.
"Here I come!"
Superbia gave a sharp cry and lunged, closing the distance instantly. He knew that against a long weapon like the Death Scythe, his only chance was to get inside Rei's reach. Rei swung the scythe down to intercept him.
Up to this point, it was a mirror of the previous day. Yesterday, Superbia had tried to block the scythe with his sword and had been blown back.
I won't block this time—I'll evade!
Sensing the massive blade approaching from the side, Superbia dropped low to the ground, slipping under the strike. He immediately went for a horizontal slash at Rei's legs.
"Too slow," Rei muttered.
In that heartbeat, the handle of the Death Scythe—which should have been high above him—was suddenly right in front of Superbia’s eyes. His longsword slammed into the shaft of the scythe, his momentum halted.
"Tch!"
Realizing he was in a bad spot, Superbia tried to leap backward. But before he could, something swept past his ankles. He was on the ground before he even realized he'd been tripped.
The massive blade of the Death Scythe was suddenly at his throat.
"...What did you just do?"
Superbia knew what had happened—he’d been countered—but he couldn't fathom when Rei had moved. He hadn't been holding back, knowing who he was facing, yet he hadn't even seen the leg sweep coming.
Rei seemed unbothered by the look of awe on Superbia’s face as he stepped back and took his stance again. "What's wrong? Is that the end of our practice?"
Pricked by pride, Superbia scrambled to his feet. Unlike yesterday, he’d only been tripped, not crushed. He could still fight.
The sheer, overwhelming gap in their abilities served only to fire him up.
"Hah!"
He swung his longsword in a flurry of strikes—downward slashes, horizontal cuts, thrusts, and low sweeps. Rei parried, evaded, and deflected every single one of them.
The "practice"—which looked more like a life-or-death duel to the observers—lasted for twenty minutes before Rei abruptly stowed the Death Scythe back in his Misty Ring.
"What is it? I can still go!" Superbia panted. He was clearly winded, his chest heaving.
"If we keep going, you'll be too exhausted to move tomorrow. We're done for tonight."
"..."
Dissatisfied but recognizing the truth in Rei's words, Superbia reluctantly sheathed his sword.
Thus, punctuated by this brief bout of training, the first night of the Rank Up exam drew to a close.