The day after the Starlace Order’s recruitment announcement dawned clear and cold over Selini.

  Except for FireFlame, who hadn’t logged in again since his public meltdown, every first-beta player from Stellar was already here, itching to try their luck with the Starlace Order.

  Despite the rumors, the Order’s recruitment wasn’t limited to women or players alone. Mercenaries were welcome too, though it was clear that all new recruits would be kept separate until they proved themselves worthy of trust.

  But that wasn’t the immediate concern.

  “Time out. Next.”

  “W-Wait, please, I can do it!”

  “You can try again tomorrow.”

  “Ugh…”

  In the vast Selini arena, now divided into nine smaller rings, the Order’s testing had begun. The crowd was thick, with nearly five thousand applicants crammed in by noon. Of them, about a hundred were players and the rest were native mercenaries.

  Yet despite the crowd, not a single person had passed the first of the three tests even after half a day.

  “Next. Number 2222. Silica.”

  “Yes.”

  Silica, one of the top players, stepped forward. Her cream ponytail glinted in the light, and she carried herself with a pro gamer’s practiced calm, though the flicker in her eyes betrayed her tension.

  Before her stood two crystal tablets, gleaming and silent.

  The first test was energy control.

  The goal was to light up both tablets with mana or aura, but at two different intensity levels.

  Players and mercenaries alike leaned forward from the stands, whispering among themselves.

  “You think she can do it?”

  “She’s a pro, man. If she can’t, no one can.”

  “Yeah, but none of the other players even managed to light them up.”

  “That’s true… Still, maybe she’ll at least shut those mercenaries up.”

  For hours, players had been the laughingstock here. None of the players had managed to get the tablets to flicker without mastering Advanced Mode.

  Meanwhile, the mercenaries could light both tablets easily but failed to control different intensities simultaneously, leading to them jeering at the players.

  “Oho… Another pretty face stepping up.”

  “She’s probably just another wannabe.”

  “Still, it’s always fun to watch a girl’s face when she realizes she’s about to fail.”

  Silica’s face was calm, but inside, her mind was spinning.

  She’d activated Advanced Mode the moment she left Stellar, spending the entire journey here in a constant low-burn focus. She hadn’t been able to use any skills, forcing her to hack her way through monsters with only basic attacks, which slowed her travel considerably.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  A member of the Starlace Order, acting as her judge, gave a curt nod.

  “You have one minute. Ready?”

  Silica swallowed, then nodded. She placed her hands on the tablets, inhaling deeply before closing her eyes.

  She exhaled slowly, eyes opening with focus, channeling the aura within her body down her arms, into her palms.

  Seconds passed. A hush fell.

  The tablets lit up, a pale glow spreading across their surfaces.

  Gasps rippled through the arena. Players and mercenaries alike leaned forward, eyes wide.

  But… that was it.

  Three seconds later, the glow sputtered out, the tablets flickering before dimming to nothing. The numbers “3” appeared briefly on their surfaces before fading.

  Disappointed sighs came from the players. The mercenaries smirked, hiding their laughter behind their hands.

  Silica pulled her hands back, letting out a heavy sigh.

  “You still have time left. Do you wish to try again?” the judge asked.

  Silica shook her head, her lips pressed thin.

  “I’ll come back… after I train more.”

  The judge simply nodded. It wasn’t unusual, most players preferred to withdraw after one try to avoid embarrassing themselves further.

  For most onlookers, it was nothing surprising.

  But among the crowd, Frostina and Cryssa exchanged glances, eyes glinting with shock.

  .”

  (“She’s got more raw talent than you.”)

  In another timeline, Frostina had managed to produce a single flicker of mana only after five days of harsh training under Glacia’s watch. Yet Silica, with only a day’s training alone, had managed to light up both tablets, even if briefly.

  Of course, the truth was that Silica had spent over ten hours a day grinding and practicing without rest, meanwhile Frostina just trained two hours per day for those five days. So their efforts were roughly the same.

  But Frostina and Cryssa didn’t know that.

  “Next. The last applicant. Number 5000. Frostina.”

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, it was Frostina’s turn.

  From the crowd, the players erupted.

  “Go for it, Frostina!”

  “You’ve got this!”

  Meanwhile, the mercenaries yawned loudly, some crossing their arms with smirks.

  “Ha! She’s probably the same as the rest of them,” one mercenary scoffed, flicking a hand dismissively.

  “What did you say?!” a player snapped, whipping around.

  Cryssa glanced at them before turning to Frostina.

  (“Hey, they mocked you! At least say something to them!”)

  Frostina hummed thoughtfully.

  She stepped to the center of the arena, her boots tapping softly on the stone, then turned her head slightly to glance over her shoulder at the jeering mercenaries.

  “Mocking others for their incompetence while you’re incompetent yourselves. How cute.”

  ““Wha?!””

  The mercenaries’ jaws dropped, but Frostina didn’t spare them another glance.

  She simply rolled her shoulders, took a deep breath, and stretched her hands forward, closing her eyes for a heartbeat.

  A breeze laced with frost swept through the arena as Frostina’s crystalline blue mana unfurled like a gentle tide, washing over the entire arena.

  The nine pairs of crystal tablets, all spread across the different testing areas, suddenly lit up in unison under her mana.

  Gasps rippled across the stands.

  The numbers on each tablet shot upward rapidly, ticking like spinning odometers until, one by one, each pair stopped. Exactly 500 mana on the left tablets and 1000 mana on the right tablets.

  The numbers glowed brightly for a moment before Frostina lowered her hands, letting the cold mist dissolve. The light faded, leaving the arena in stunned silence.

  Players shot to their feet, mouths agape. The mercenaries, who had spent the morning laughing, exchanged uneasy glances, suddenly out of words.

  The Starlace Order members looked at her with sparkling eyes, some nodding with quiet pride as if they had expected nothing less.

  Then, the judge standing at the center raised his hand.

  “Pass.”

  The silence shattered.

  ““WHOOOOAAAAA!!!””

  Cheers exploded from the players, echoing across the arena, the noise bouncing off the stone walls.

  Frostina, standing quietly in the center, kept her expression calm, her black hair fluttering around her face.

  she thought smugly.

  (“...You really love showing off, don’t you?”) Cryssa’s dry voice echoed in her mind.

  (“I didn’t tell you to go that far.”)

  Frostina puffed out her cheeks.

  The first test would continue daily throughout the week, giving other applicants a chance. But the second and third tests would only be held on weekends, once per week.

  Before the next test could begin, Cryssa would face a different trial entirely.

  She had to earn Lyra’s approval to leave the safety of Stelluna and explore the world beyond.