[OP: ]
An attractive young-adult girl with bright red hair and ocean-like deep blue eyes is camping in the dangerous but peaceful forest of the sky island beneath a canopy of shimmering stars.
A mesmerizing bonfire crackled close by, providing warmth and light in the darkness as she looked around, feeling a unique but familiar presence around her out of the blue.
It closed in calmly and before long, the surrounding bushes rustled, and a boy with light, fresh green hair and violet eyes walked in, a smile on his face as he confirmed the person before him and gave her a happy smile.
She watched as his silhouette was illuminated by the dancing embers of the fire, and she smiled back, inviting her little brother to join her modest camp.
This tranquil night, surrounded by nature, took on a magical ambiance and filled her spirit with new excitement as he sat beside her, his heart excited with the same questions as his elder sister.
And as the crackles of the bright fire sparked, both of them spoke up at once, asking the exact same question, filled with the same excitement…
"Did you see them?"
"You saw those-..."
But he finished his question first and they both got the answers they wanted, earning a sad look from the other one.
Carla and Alf. Both of them were grown up and looked mature for their age, far cooler with their special clothes with magical and defensive properties.
And they were especially enchanted by the special person, their cool brother, they were talking about right now.
It was already the second day and they hadn't seen him even after wandering in and out of this forest multiple times.
The two hoped the other might have got a glimpse of him and Rein at the very least but… alas.
"Perhaps they are doing something more exciting than wandering the forest?" she asked with genuine curiosity, and he nodded positively after a quick thinking.
"The island is as big as some main cities. It's definitely possible that there are cooler things than just the weak monsters." He theorized, speaking as if he understood the island very well.
And probably, after Eon and Rein, he was some of the most informed people about this island.
He had Uto, and she was as good at gathering information about new terrains as Branwen.
Her magical abilities were amazing too so comparing her total information-gathering skills to Celes was actually possible in certain scenarios.
She was amazing but even with her help, he couldn't find a trace of the two of them.
Carla was even more sad to hear that but then, she just sighed and smiled back at him.
And he also smiled back bitterly, remembering their promise with the two, and shook his head in understanding.
They didn't know the two of them, and they had to keep this secret as best as they could.
Things might get undesirable for the two of them if they were caught up in something unnecessary because of them and he refused to make an oath, so they only had themselves on this matter.
But hey… it wasn't like they had to avoid all interaction with the two of them when they were in the academy.
They didn't know the two of them were their brother and sister but they wouldn't miss the chance to befriend their disguised favorite people who would definitely be as famous as them when the academy starts, whether they wanted it or not.
So, for now, without worrying about the two of them, they focused on the main thing before them.
"How many did you kill, little Alf?" She asked with a smirk, sparking a blaze of excitement in her young brother.
"243 yellow, 112 green, and 29 blue ranked ones. I think you got more?" There was a smile on his face as he asked that too.
"Of course~! They are far easier than that bastard lizard, maybe even some of our furballs too.
Their numbers are good in the inner parts so it's easier and the respawn rate is pretty good too.
If they were real and this was a dungeon, it would have been far more fun hunting them~.
I already got close to three hundred yellow, a hundred and fifty green, and forty blue rank monsters.
I even helped a few groups, hehe. Don't know why they all think the monsters are difficult though."
She was happy, and her pretty smile as her gorgeous face was illuminated by the light of blue moonlight and her hair with the light of the blazing bonfire, was dangerously breathtaking.
"Hehe. Right. I knew you would be ahead~. But we don't know the score criteria for monsters so more treasures are better, no?
I got two treasure chests and four natural ones~!"
He was excited, he knew she can't beat him in this field when he had Uto and her exceptional senses after all.
"If it wasn't for Uto, I would be ahead with my four treasure chests. Hump!" She looked to the other side with a grumpy expression but then she felt a tickling sensation around her neck.
[[ "Uto loves aunt Carry~! But I will help papa this time! He said it's important for him~." ]]
She used her Mana speech with telepathy like usual and Carla patted the invisible little creature on her shoulder.
"It is important for me too, you know? Why such discrimination?" She asked the wise creature, only to hear another cheerful childish laugh.
[[ "Hehehe. Because he is papa~! As aunt Celestine always says, masters before anyone else~!" ]]
She was surprised at how easily this young one said that. But she had expected something like this. So she could only smile at this cheerful response.
"I wish I also had a familiar like you all. It sure makes life easier even with the basic master duties." She sighed and shook her head with a sad smile.
Alf smiled butterly at her and thought about it for a while. Then, he remembered some special cases and spoke up with new shiny eyes, "It's not impossible though! You might also meet someone that's meant to be yours~!"
She was surprised by his confident excitement but only shook her head with a bitter smile.
She also knew it wasn't impossible but familiar of a knight was too rare of a concept to get one's hopes high.
But, well, if they all found someone this early, she had a long time before her. She could very well meet beings that would be far more amazing than theirs on her path.
"You cheeky little bastard." Shaking her head with a new smile, she lightly bonked his head.
The night was fine for the two of them but not for the lone princess who sat in the middle of the forest, only with the company of her spirits.
She looked bored AF and the only thought on her mind as she played with her strong spirits was to get the fuck out of that boring place.
Her two brothers were here too but unlike the one who was still hunting every strong creature he came across and the other one who was happily having a delicious meal with the knight and young lady of Heliox, she had nothing to do in this place.
She was bored and wanted to get out of there but there was still an entire day left before this booooooring thing was over.
So, she wasn't much interested in things like Alf and Carla, and many of the twelve prodigies were the same as her.
The origin flame spearman Xlor, and the young pure elf Drowslotm of green magic. Both were doing their best in finding things and defeating the creatures but things were boring for them too.
They were originally from a small place but among the adventurers, the two were so famous that even the manager of the capital's association had his eyes on the two of them.
The two were renowned prodigies and could be called normal compared to others.
The two were doing things like every other examinee, after all, the other prodigies were different in this aspect.
The only wizard among these prodigies, the prince of the eastern empire, Qin Fa Shen aka Hide, was resting on the outskirts, with a large group of attractive ladies surrounding him.
He was purely having fun with them, doing nothing at all like the other strong people.
They didn't have to kill the creatures to pass after all. And he knew he was going to pass anyway so he was outside, having good food and soft fun with all the ladies around him.
He was strong, everyone knew that, but he was probably one with the worst reputation among these prodigies.
Mia Knives and Newtine were the ones with the most reputation on the other hand.
They were creators, and their glory in their own fields of alchemy and magic engineering was famous even on other continents.
But right now, the two of them were doing something other than hunting too.
The two smart ones, on this too-real island, had found some interesting stuff and were researching those things, learning from the magic of a great archmage and his realistic creation.
They were unique, but still, they were better than Deleon Necrom, the famous slime tamer, summoner, and researcher who had gathered every single slime on the island in a cave and was examining, researching, and killing them after he was done.
He had gathered hundreds of slimes and had definitely killed hundreds of them, but throughout his research time, he had not shown a silver of reaction… having a more stoic face than the princess of the northern continent, Luna Sabestion, the sole witch who had covered an entire section of the island in ice.
She was pretty, and at the very least, her expression of surprise and anger at the strange person who kept hindering her was prettier than Delon's scary stoic face.
That person was just too dark even for spectators examining the examinees.
Compared to him, the sweet girl that extorted money from the desperate nobles with her yummy-looking chicken seemed like an angel… right.
Talking about the spectators, the ones in the dark room all had their mouths dropped on the table at the surprise far, far bigger than the one they had prepared themselves for.
There was utter silence in the room once again, and this time, on the screen before them, was an image of the girl they all were surprised by, stained by the acidic blood and poison from hundreds of creatures laying dead around her, and she stood there in the middle of these hundreds of corpses… smiling excitedly as she looked at her fiance, who had killed a greater number of creatures at a distance the spectators can't possibly fathom…
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