Li Yanyan stood up and straightened her clothes.
“Let me reintroduce myself. I am the leader and examiner for your trial this time—S-rank Magical Girl, Blazing Sun Li Yanyan.”
A brilliant red magical light bloomed.
Li Yanyan transformed into her Magical Girl form, clad in fiery red armor-like spiritual attire covered in intricate, exquisitely carved patterns.
Her battle skirt barely reached her thighs.
Her well-defined, powerful legs exuded strength, and her red hair was tied high in a ponytail, giving her a valiant and heroic appearance.
The sudden transformation left Su Xiaocheng and Su Xiaowei momentarily stunned.
“So, those robbers were arranged by you too?” Su Xiaocheng asked.
“No, they were real robbers. I just made use of them while I was at it.”
Li Yanyan explained, “This stage mainly tests your character. If you had stubbornly refused to transform to stick to the scoring rules while trying to save someone, you would have failed.”
“Though honestly, I don’t understand why headquarters requires this stage. A Magical Girl’s character doesn’t need such an extra test in my opinion.”
Li Yanyan sounded somewhat dissatisfied. In her eyes, the first stage was completely unnecessary.
The pre-arranged logistics personnel arrived and took away the restrained robbers.
“Let’s go take a look inside and see what they stole.” Li Yanyan led the way into the warehouse.
The last underling left guarding the warehouse was already obediently squatting with his hands on his head. A briefcase sat beside him.
“Please don’t kill me! I’ll confess everything!”
“What exactly are you confessing?” Li Yanyan asked with interest.
“I don’t know anything! I really don’t know! They forced me to join them!”
“Useless.” Li Yanyan looked disgusted and waved for the logistics staff to take him away.
“Looks like this is what they stole. All that effort just for one briefcase of money?”
Li Yanyan opened the briefcase.
Unexpectedly, inside were only a yellowed piece of parchment and an ancient-looking six-pointed star-shaped gem.
“What is this?”
Su Xiaocheng leaned closer to look at the items in the case.
Li Yanyan picked up the old parchment and unrolled it. A crudely hand-drawn map came into view.
“It looks like a treasure map,” Su Xiaowei commented.
“If it’s a treasure map, then what’s that gem for? Is it part of the already excavated treasure?”
Li Yanyan cut off their discussion. “That’s simple enough. Why don’t we just go find out for ourselves? I’ve decided—the second stage of the trial will be exploring this treasure map!”
“Is it really decided that casually?” Su Xiaocheng complained.
“Anyway, except for the first and final stages, I get to decide all the other trial contents.”
Li Yanyan tossed the map and gem to Su Xiaocheng. “We’ll set out tomorrow. Your other two teammates will arrive later tonight.”
“What about their first stage trial and scoring?” Su Xiaowei asked.
“They’ve already completed the trial. As for the scoring… I just made that up,” Li Yanyan said, waving goodbye as she left.
***
They waited in the hotel until evening before finally meeting the other teammates.
Since they came from the same place, Lu Yinxi was unsurprisingly assigned to the same trial group.
“Xiaocheng, Team Leader Yanyan seems pretty nice, right?”
“I guess…?”
Su Xiaocheng replied, her tone uncertain as she recalled the sight of Li Yanyan dramatically flopping to the ground.
Lu Yinxi paused for a moment before defending her.
“She can be a bit… free-spirited at times, but she’s actually a very reliable senior.”
“She also came to support us last time, though she was intercepted by the Envy Deacon.”
“Was she the one who beat Envy?”
Su Xiaowei, who was feeding Xiaotuan some dried fish snacks, turned her head.
“That’s right. And thanks to the Envy Deacon, I finally accumulated enough contribution points to exchange for a chance to attempt fusing with [Miracle]. I successfully advanced to S-rank.”
Li Yanyan walked into the room, leading a petite blonde girl with twin-tails.
“By the way, do I need to explain what [Miracle] is?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Good. This is the final member of our trial team.”
“Are you all this young lady’s teammates? I hope none of you will drag me down.” The little loli scrutinized the group.
“Ahem. This is Lu Shiyuan. She’s actually a very kind child,” Li Yanyan introduced.
“This young lady is already twenty years old! Don’t treat me like a child!”
Lu Shiyuan headbutted toward Li Yanyan’s knee, only to have her head gently pinned down by the helpless Li Yanyan.
Her twin-tails swayed back and forth.
Thump!
“Sister, would you call someone like her a blonde tsundere legal loli?”
Su Xiaowei whispered into Su Xiaocheng’s ear.
That string of descriptors is pretty spot-on, Su Xiaocheng thought.
“Alright, everyone get some rest early. We start the treasure hunt tomorrow!”
With that, Li Yanyan left Lu Shiyuan behind and departed alone.
“Eh? You’re not taking me with you? Yanyan, where am I staying tonight?”
Now that the only familiar person had left, Lu Shiyuan looked like a panicked little rabbit.
“You’ll stay here and get acquainted with your new teammates.”
Li Yanyan left those words and closed the door.
All three girls’ gazes focused on Lu Shiyuan.
“Eh? W-what do you want?”
Lu Shiyuan instinctively took a step back.
“Hehehe~ Sister, she looks fun~” Su Xiaowei grinned mischievously as she slowly stepped closer.
“D-don’t come over!” Lu Shiyuan backed up against the door.
Su Xiaocheng gave Su Xiaowei a light knock on the head, stopping her antics.
“Look how scared you’ve made her.”
“Wuuu…” Su Xiaowei pretended to be wronged and burrowed into Su Xiaocheng’s arms.
***
After a simple round of introductions, Lu Shiyuan gradually calmed down and returned to normal.
“So all three of you are from Anning City? Three A-ranks coming from one place in the same batch? That’s amazing!” Lu Shiyuan’s eyes sparkled.
“It was just a coincidence,” Su Xiaocheng said modestly.
“Since we’re going to be teammates, how about we briefly introduce our magic specializations?” Su Xiaocheng suggested.
Su Xiaowei spoke first. “My domain is Cozy Family Haven. My magic specialization leans toward Protection. I’m also skilled in remote control and long-range attacks.”
Lu Yinxi followed.
“My domain is Concert Tour. My magic specialization is Assimilation. I can also reverse the assimilation to turn magic power into different elements for various purposes.”
When it was her turn, Su Xiaocheng felt a little embarrassed since she was the only one without an inherent domain.
“I don’t have a domain yet, but I have A-rank strength. My magic specialization is Purification.”
“Eh? You can join the Dawn Trial without an A-rank domain?” Lu Shiyuan asked in surprise.
“Yeah… It was a special directive from headquarters. I don’t know the exact reason either,” Su Xiaocheng explained.
The headquarters Magical Girls must have their reasons. Lu Shiyuan didn’t press the issue further.
“My domain is Garden of Splendid Dreams. My magic specialization is Overflow.”
When speaking about her own magic, Lu Shiyuan looked quite proud.
“Overflow?” It was an unfamiliar term to Su Xiaocheng.
“It means this young lady’s theoretical maximum magic power has no limit. I can overwhelm everything with pure magic power alone.”
Lu Shiyuan raised her head proudly.
“Theoretical?” Su Xiaowei quickly latched onto the key word.
Lu Shiyuan’s small face immediately fell.
While it was theoretically unlimited, there were obviously practical limitations.
However, Lu Shiyuan’s magic power reserves were indeed far greater than those of other Magical Girls at the same level.