In the largest square of Snowdrift City, the orderly gray stone bricks laid on the ground were solemn, and the rough lines of the colonnades were carved with delicate and meticulous patterns on top. The romantic and elegant Renaissance-style roofs sat above, creating a majestic symmetrical architectural style for the square.

The square was filled with young men and women wearing mage robes, and Ronald was among them.

The bright sunshine slanted down from the eaves, leaving alternating areas of light and shadow among the crowd.

It was seven o'clock in the morning now, and there was still more than an hour before the trial began. The non-magical academy leaders were giving speeches on the podium, just spouting useless nonsense like leaders in Ronald's past life.

Ronald hoped the "ceremony" would end sooner, because he was standing on the bright side, and the bleak content combined with the dazzling sunlight made him feel a little dizzy.

But the aristocratic lords standing under the canopy didn't know how the apprentices felt. They just kept rambling on about the virtues of knighthood...

The apprentices standing in the sun below felt nauseous listening to the endless rules and regulations, which could be summed up in two words: cannibalism.

No one knew how long they had been standing there until the non-magical aristocratic dean was finally asked to step down by the academy's chief instructor, due to the murmuring among the apprentices becoming too loud to ignore.

The chief instructor and the dean were two extremes. He could only encourage the apprentices with a few words before announcing the start of the trial.

The apprentices lined up neatly into two teams and marched towards the city gates, with crowds of commoners on both sides of the road, bursting into cheers as the apprentice procession passed by...

Such a ceremonial parade was also the aristocratic dean's idea. Since he became dean, the magic academy's style had become very strange.

The biggest change was the skyrocketing tuition fees.

While the academy started making profits, the cost was that the mage apprentices lost their sense of mystery and were reduced to being clowns performing street magic.

As they marched in columns, Ronald saw many family members frantically stuffing things into the apprentices' backpacks. In addition to the emergency potions, they were even putting in perfume and elegant clothes?

Was this going to hunt monsters or attend a ball?

Ronald felt it was ridiculous.

When the procession reached the city gate, the apprentices started looking for their pre-arranged teammates. After standing for a while, Ronald was met by Anna.

The girl was as pretty as last night. She had a very perfect figure, and a white mage robe embroidered with silver patterns displayed her nice waistline. Her fiery red hair was tied into a braid resting on her chest, a rather dangerous hairstyle for ladies.

To pass the trial, the girl had made full preparations. In addition to the mage robe etched with protective spells, she also wore a leather armor underneath that had a very low-cut neckline. The ribs of the armor were engraved with hammers and wine cups, the unique mark of dwarf craftsmen.

In addition, she wore an angel wing pendant around her neck, a one-time protective magic item made in the Holy Kingdom...

Didn't she say her family didn't provide support?

How could she appear so extravagantly, contradicting what she said!

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"Surprised? I told you I'm not a vase," Anna said lively as she trotted up to Ronald. Her braid swung with her steps, coincidentally falling right into her collar.

Ronald stared blankly, with only one thought in his mind: "How could she do this!"

Noticing Ronald's gaze, Anna whispered "pervert" and then turned to tidy up.

After tidying up, Anna said spiritedly, "I will support you well, please take care of me from now on too."

Facing Anna's cheerful eyes, Ronald pursed his lips and asked his doubts.

"With your conditions, shouldn't you have no shortage of teammates?"

This seemed to touch a sore spot for Anna. Her mood immediately dropped.

After walking side by side for a while, Anna replied lowly:

"Good equipment... doesn't mean others will recognize you. On the contrary, they think you are a parvenu who only relies on props and has no real skills, so they are even more unwilling to interact with you..."

Ronald didn't really understand such thinking. For him, as long as the result met expectations, the process didn't matter.

Unable to comprehend, Ronald chose to remain silent.

Anna also knew clearly that such words could easily cause trouble for herself, so she quickly changed the topic.

"Wow, is this your secret weapon? It's so cool, can I take a look?" Anna pointed to the wrapped staff on Ronald's back and asked softly.

This question stumped Ronald immediately.

Taking out a formal-grade staff in public - for a newbie like Ronald, even he knew it was very ostentatious. So he didn't make a sound, using silence as his answer.

Facing Ronald's silent refusal, Anna became a little embarrassed. She pretended to be cute by wrinkling her nose, then moved next to Ronald's ear and whispered, "Don't tell me it's a formal-grade staff?"

Feeling the bounce after the snowball's impact, Ronald swallowed hard, then nodded very slightly.

The girl was surprised, widening her cherry lips. Her clove tongue seemed like a frightened deer, half-revealed in a failed attempt at concealment.

This girl really knew what she was doing!!

Ronald was directly abused without any temper. Uncontrollable images emerged in his mind.

But the girl's emotions came and went like a summer thunderstorm.

In the blink of an eye, Anna's mood dropped again.

The girl sighed and said dejectedly, "I thought with this I could qualify as your teammate, but it turns out I overthought it. The one who really has no shortage of teammates is you."

"Someone like me who has little experience and relies purely on equipment is a burden wherever I go..."

"Let's head out. I've planned the route. We'll do your task first to save time."

"You're still willing to team up with me?" Anna asked with misty eyes. At the same time, she clasped Ronald's palm in both hands.

Struggling to control his gaze from dropping down, Ronald extracted his palm with difficulty.

"Let's go. More than strength, I value trust."

After acting cool, Ronald reached out and ruffled the tuft of hair on Anna's head, then took the lead walking towards the city gates.

Anna watched Ronald's back with admiration, then made a scissor hand gesture behind his back where he couldn't see.

* * *

Since physical fitness was also part of the assessment, the apprentices could only travel to their destinations on foot.

Ronald and Anna walked from dawn to dusk, without stopping, before barely making it to Harrstadt Town before the pontoon bridge was retracted.

When the mayor heard they were here to deal with the ogre, he enthusiastically offered them the town's most luxurious accommodation.

When Ronald arrived and took a look, he almost cursed.

What the hell was this dilapidated shack that would collapse with a gust of wind?

And the black specks on the meat soup, the landlady told Ronald it was sesame, but no matter how Ronald looked at it, it seemed like ants...

After hurriedly finishing dinner, Ronald returned to his room.

Just as he was enduring his fatigue and about to meditate as usual, there was a knock at the door.

Ronald opened the door and saw it was Anna.

She seemed to have just taken a bath, exuding a fresh floral scent even from several steps away.

The girl held out her hidden hands, showing Ronald a basket with smoked sausages and crystal clear fruit wine.

"I saw you didn't eat much for dinner, so I specifically prepared these to bring over. Want to eat some together...?"

Before Ronald could speak, Anna added, "A gentleman wouldn't refuse a girl's kindness, right?"

With her words said like that, what else could Ronald do? He could only let her in.

Skipping over the process of setting the mood, Ronald's last memory was that the aftertaste of the fruit wine was really strong.

When he woke up the next day, the empty bed reminded Ronald that his bedmate had left very early.

After washing up, Ronald went next door to take a look. The door was locked, with no response no matter how he called...

Ronald thought Anna went to eat breakfast, but after searching around downstairs, he didn't see her anywhere. When he asked the landlady at the counter, she said the girl had left last night.

It was as if an electric current shot out from the base of his spine, spreading through his bones to all parts of his body...

Ronald shuddered and suddenly turned back towards the second floor lodging.

The landlady's puzzled inquiries came from behind, but Ronald ignored them.

At this moment, only one thought lingered in his mind!

Ronald hoped it was all just his imagination.