Inside the examination room, there was none of the usual tension found in ordinary exam halls.
Instead, it was filled with a sacred yet eerie atmosphere.
The only sound was the soft scratching of quill pens gliding across parchment.
Fei Xia’s knuckles had turned white from gripping the quill so tightly.
The tip of the pen hovered above the yellowish exam paper for a long time without writing a single word.
She had expected there would be a written test and had done some last-minute cramming on tactical theory and monster-related knowledge.
But she never imagined the paper would be full of these idealistic philosophical questions.
Question One: What do you think a magical girl is?
Question Two: What do you believe is the source of your power?
Question Three: When despair descends, how will you ignite the fire in your heart?
Fei Xia clutched her forehead in agony.
What was this?
An after-reading reflection on a shonen manga?
Or some kind of chuunibyou purity test?
If Bai Ning were here, she would probably have already filled three full pages, moved to tears by her own writing.
Looking around, most of the other magical girls were writing furiously.
Their faces glowed with a holy light, dreamy smiles on their lips as their pens danced across the paper, as if they were composing not an exam but an epic tale of salvation.
Only a few others, like her, were biting their pens with dark expressions—clearly fellow combat-oriented types being tortured by this mental interrogation.
Fellow sufferers…
Seeing that others were suffering too, Fei Xia felt slightly more at ease.
She took a deep breath and tried to put herself into the mindset of a “normal magical girl.”
She lifted her pen and wrote:
To bring love and… peace…
The pen tip stopped abruptly.
Her hand was shaking.
Her stomach cramped.
A powerful wave of shame and self-loathing crawled up from the pen into her entire body.
Even if she tried to force the words down, her fingers refused to move.
Fei Xia expressionlessly crossed out what she had written, turning it into a black mess.
Then she solemnly wrote beside it:
To protect the peaceful lives of every citizen and maintain the stability of social order.
Much better.
Just as Fei Xia was feeling satisfied with her answer, a light breeze came from her side.
Amber Flowing Light, who had already finished the test, walked past her.
She secretly flicked over a folded note and winked at Fei Xia.
After that, the orange-haired girl puffed out her chest and walked out of the exam hall like a triumphant general.
Only five minutes had passed since the papers were handed out.
Fei Xia was stunned. A warm current of “comradeship” surged in her heart.
This girl might be overly familiar, but she had a good heart.
Fei Xia quickly unfolded the note with anticipation.
The handwriting was messy and wild, labeled “Standard Answers.”
Question One: The light in the darkness! A miracle! Hope!
Question Two: The call of your comrades! The never-extinguishing flame in your heart! Burn!
The smile on Fei Xia’s face froze. She silently crumpled the note into a ball and stuffed it into her pocket.
She really couldn’t empathize with “normal magical girls.”
***
Ten minutes later, Fei Xia walked out of the exam hall.
Her face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Although she had tried to polish her answers, the entire paper was still filled with restrained materialism, completely at odds with Amber Flowing Light’s brand of idealism.
Looking at the confident candidates around her, perhaps those were the correct answers after all.
I hope I can at least pass.
Fei Xia sighed and followed the crowd into the preparation area for the next test.
Quite a few people had already gathered here.
Most were in small groups, encouraging one another or showing off their answers from the written test.
Amid the noise, Fei Xia noticed a girl in a deep red cloak sitting alone by a pillar, wiping her magic staff.
Her eyes were cold, and she radiated an unapproachable, distant aura.
The girl seemed to sense Fei Xia’s gaze. She paused, gave her a cold glance in return, then turned away, leaving only a proud and aloof back.
Looks like I’m not the only lone wolf.
Fei Xia felt a slight sense of comfort.
However, that comfort was quickly shattered.
“Look over there. It’s that red-haired one.”
“I heard she got in through Qinghai-senpai’s personal guarantee? Tsk, a backdoor entrant.”
Up ahead, three flashy magical girls adorned with flower accessories were clustered together, deliberately speaking loud enough to be heard.
The leader wore a red rose in her hair and had an arrogant expression.
Beside her was a blue daisy girl with shifty eyes and a white jasmine girl who kept her head lowered while hugging her staff.
Fei Xia didn’t even stop walking. She didn’t spare them a single glance.
This level of malice wasn’t even as irritating as Zhang Yang or that fat guy.
After all, in a way, she really had used the back door.
However, her indifference was interpreted by the other party as arrogant provocation.
“Wow? Look at her, she won’t even look at us properly!”
The blue daisy girl exaggeratedly raised her voice, deliberately fanning the flames.
“Tsk, all cloak-wearers are this arrogant!”
The red rose girl deliberately stepped into the middle of the path, arms crossed, looking provocative.
Fei Xia stopped. She slowly raised her head and stared at the other party with calm, rippleless eyes.
There was no anger, no contempt—only an empty, indifferent gaze that saw nothing.
“Move.”
She spoke only two words.
Her voice was soft, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness.
The provocative red rose girl stiffened.
The words she had prepared got stuck in her throat.
She unconsciously took a step back as cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.
Only after Fei Xia had walked far away did she snap out of it, flushed with shame and anger.
“What’s she acting so high and mighty for! Just wait and see!”
Red Rose kicked a nearby trash can and snorted coldly.
“During the mana test later, I want to see if she actually has any real ability or if she’s just trash that Qinghai-senpai had to guarantee out of pity.”
The daisy girl beside her covered her mouth and giggled.
“Don’t be mad, Big Sis. White Jasmine, during the magic power test later, interfere with her a little. Let’s teach her a lesson.”
The girl called White Jasmine weakly tucked the petals by her temple, a trace of worry and reluctance flashing in her eyes.
“But… isn’t that not very nice…”
“Shut up! Whose side are you on?!”
At the end of the corridor, Amber Flowing Light came bounding over like a happy sparrow.
“Here, here! Little Fei!”
She completely ignored Fei Xia’s cold expression and familiarly hooked her arm around Fei Xia’s.
“How was it? Were my answers useful? Did you feel inspired?”
“…Mm, mm, mm. They were really useful.”
“Hehe, I knew it! Let me tell you, the next round—the mana test—is the real highlight!”
Amber Flowing Light pointed at the massive carved stone door ahead, her eyes burning with competitive spirit.
“That room has the most expensive testing crystal in the entire General Bureau! They say it can withstand Alpha-class impacts! I’ll show you what a real senior can do later!”
Fei Xia looked at the door. Her originally calm eyes suddenly flickered.
But not with anticipation. It was because…
“The most expensive crystal?”
Fei Xia’s heart sank. A faint sense of unease stirred within her.