Time was accelerated by Enrico Pucci's Made in Heaven to the First-Class Mage Exam site three months later. Hurry up and thank Father Pucci.
—Inside an inn in the magical city of Äußerst—
"Fern and Frieren went off to take the First-Class Mage Exam, huh? Is it really okay to be this carefree..." Stark lay on the bed lazing about, refusing to get up even as the sun shone on his butt. He called out to the battleaxe by his bedside, "By the way, Master, how long until you're willing to come clean to Frieren and the others?"
The air was unusually quiet. Stark's call received no response. He blinked, climbed out of bed, and examined the battleaxe in his hands.
"Master? You haven't woken up either?" Stark scratched his head with a silly grin, his gaze landing on the dinosaur mark on the axe handle... Eh? Dinosaur... Where's the dinosaur mark?!!
"Where's my Master?!!"
On the other side, Frieren and Fern had arrived early at the selection hall for the First-Class Mage Exam. The hall was packed with examinees, with several first-class mage proctors positioned around the perimeter observing the quality of this year's candidates.
"Ahem."
The first-round exam's chief proctor, Genau, stepped onto the podium under everyone's gaze. He coughed twice to gradually silence the discussions in the hall, then stated solemnly:
"We will now begin the selection exam for first-class mages."
In a corner of the hall, the first-class mage Falsch glanced around and nodded to Sense, the chief proctor for the second round beside him, sighing: "This really is a bountiful year."
"The captain of the Northern Magic Corps who fought the Demon King's remnants for years, the second-class mage Wirbel."
"The cunning second-class mage Denken, who rose to the position of court mage after winning a blood-soaked power struggle."
"The youngest third-class mage in history, who passed the third-class exam with top honors: Fern."
Shifting topics, Falsch pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and continued introducing: "But there are problem children mixed in as well."
"The third-class mage Übel, the sole survivor of the great battle question in the second-class exam two years ago, who later had her qualification revoked for killing a first-class mage serving as a proctor."
"But compared to that Joestar, she's still a minor issue."
Falsch stared gravely at the masked man beside Übel and sighed: "The second-class mage Joestar, reputed as the most brutal and vicious, and also the most promising to obtain first-class privileges this time. He participated in the second-class mage exam the same year as Übel and caused a major incident. In the great battle question, he crushed the entire field in five minutes, beating all other examinees into severe injuries and forcing them to withdraw."
"Eh? Most brutal? I don't like that term. Though I dislike his method of beating the entire group of examinees out of the exam every time, geniuses like that appear every few exams. It doesn't prove anything." Sense shook his head, holding the opposite opinion from Falsch.
"Indeed, if it were just that, it wouldn't qualify as brutal." Falsch nodded slightly, agreeing with Sense's point, and continued explaining, "But that time, the commotion was huge. The second-class mage exam is meant to select talented individuals, after all, so they dispatched a first-class mage proctor at the time to stop him."
"That's overreacting..."
"Not at all. The proctor sent to stop Joestar was treated like roadside trash and casually disposed of with a Great Fireball."
During the downtime while Falsch and Sense discussed, Genau was simultaneously announcing the details of the first-round exam.
"The exam format is team battles. There are 57 examinees in total. Please form teams of three to participate. Grouping begins now."
As soon as the words fell, a multitude of bracelets appeared before each examinee, with numbers inscribed on them. Use this bracelet to find the two teammates with the same number.
The examinees sprang into action. Standing out conspicuously in the crowd was Joestar, who remained motionless in place, seemingly waiting for his teammates to come to him.
"Wow, we're teamed with Joestar-san? First round is in the bag, totally in the bag, all set!!"
"Joestar-san, pleased to work with you!"
Teamed with Joestar was a couple, both third-class mages. They'd been thoroughly beaten by Joestar's magic when taking the second-class exam, so they knew his strength well and immediately beamed with joy.
Joestar nodded without speaking, walked over to them, and placed his hands on their shoulders.
If a person's consciousness is transferred to a beast, are they human or beast?
Scary Monsters.
"Ah, pleased to work with you..."
Diego's voice was very soft, carrying a chill.
In my dormant time, you two better work extra hard for this Dio-sama.
Diego gazed at the dinosaurized pair with a ferocious grin. This way, he could complete the entire first-class exam process within his limited twenty-minute activity window.
...
—Northern Nations, Gröbe Basin, First-Round Exam Site—
"I will now explain the specifics of the first-round exam to everyone." Genau held a birdcage containing a small yellow bird. "This area is inhabited by a species of bird called Stille. We've provided each team with a birdcage."
"There are two conditions for passing the first round. One: By sunset tomorrow, the examinee's team must possess a cage containing a Stille. Two: While fulfilling the first condition, all three team members must be present."
"I now declare the exam officially begun!"
As soon as Genau's words ended, Diego's team swiftly broke away from the crowd, heading deep into the jungle.
Under Diego's command, the two dinosaur minions carried the dormant Diego, transformed into a small dinosaur, and dashed all the way to a cliffside before waking him.
"Hm... Stille have extremely tough bodies. Their maximum flight speed exceeds the speed of sound. If it were anyone else with only twenty minutes of activity time to catch a bird, they'd surely break down." Upon awakening, Diego's body gradually grew larger. He walked to the cliff's edge and slowly extended his hand. "But for me, Dio, it's no issue..."
Diego retracted his aura, standing motionless in place.
Whoosh!
A bird flying at supersonic speed flew straight into Diego's palm, curiously sizing him up.
Stille are a species extremely sensitive to mana; even suppressed mana is easily detected.
But what does that have to do with me, Dio?
Would scaring it away give me mana?
Is there such a good thing?
As for why Diego wanted to become a first-class mage: 'A zero-mana super-mage who maxed out martial prowess, has no rivals, and is forced to learn magic' sounds super cool and totally fits this Dio-sama's style!
More importantly, he could obnoxiously show up before Serie, the number one under the goddess, and make her unwillingly grant him magic.
Just thinking about that scene feels so refreshing!
On top of that, combined with Diego's peculiar little talent—an innate affinity with animals, like catnip to cats—they'd desperately flock to him for a sniff.
Simply put: Diego and his animal friends!
Sure enough, a few minutes later, a scene that would make all examinees' jaws drop occurred.
The Stille they'd fruitlessly searched for turned into simps, flocking to Diego's side.
His shoulders, arms, and head were all covered with Stille, affectionately rubbing against him nonstop.
When it came to animals, Diego was inexplicably gentle. He softly placed the first Stille that landed in his palm into the cage, then shuddered, scattering the Stille.
"Phew— Now just wait until sunset tomorrow. Though if possible, I'd rather beat them all to a pulp. That way, the only one advancing would be me, Dio."
"First-class should be special. I don't want to advance with trash."
"Well, since Frieren and the others are here too, better obediently follow the rules."
Diego turned around, his dragon claws piercing the necks of the two dinosaur servants once more. Under Scary Monsters' influence, they fully transformed into dinosaur-shaped tree roots.
"This is what's called camouflage. I'll release you after the exam and have the Memory Spirit alter your memories." Diego chuckled lightly, entering the cave behind him and, along with the Stille, transforming into a dinosaur-styled stone pillar. His final thought in mind was a worry: "Now there's still the biggest issue..."
"What magic should I ask for to make Serie willingly break down and curse me as sick in the head?"
A masochist who doesn't get cursed will feel uncomfortable all over.
Time flew by, soon reaching the next day's dusk. Genau announced the round's results with a calm expression.
"A total of seven teams, comprising twenty-one examinees, have passed this round."
"The following examinees advance to the next round."
"Team Two: Frieren, Kanne, Lawine..."
"Team Four: Fern, Übel, Land..."
"Team Thirteen: Joestar..."
...
A small interlude during the first-round exam:
Noticing it was raining outside the barrier, and with Kanne in the team skilled at water manipulation magic, Frieren spent the entire night deciphering Serie's barrier.
In battle with another team, to help her struggling teammates Kanne and Lawine, Frieren destroyed the barrier Serie had set up, allowing the isolated rainwater to enter freely.
The sudden downpour drenched Fern's group of three like drowned rats. They sought shelter in a nearby cave.
Inside the cave, the three used fire-starting magic to dry their clothes and waited for the heavy rain to stop.
"Fern, it's all Frieren's fault we got soaked like this. You better give her a good talking-to later." Übel dried her hair, smiling as she watched Fern adding firewood, and continued asking, "Hey, you really can't tell me about Diego Brando? I'm a big fan of his."
"I'll give her a proper lecture when we get back." Fern replied softly, then shook her head in firm refusal: "Frieren-sama gave strict orders—not to let you know no matter what."
"Ehh—?" Übel drew out the sound but didn't mind the rejection, turning to chat about Fern's magic instead. "But Fern, you only use basic magic in battle. It's really boring."
"Please take that up with Frieren-sama. Though, Frieren-sama's restrictions are only on combat magic."
"True, you did use bird-capturing magic earlier. Do you know any other magic?" Übel leaned against the wall, tilting her head slightly.
Fern pinched her chin, thinking carefully for a moment: "Let me think... Like magic to see through clothes..."
Step step step...
Übel instantly shrank to the very back of the cave, squatting on a stone pillar with her hands covering her chest, eyeing Fern warily.
"I won't use it."
Now someone might ask: There's the interlude, but what does it have to do with Diego?
The stone pillar under Übel's butt was the dormant Diego.
(Event aftermath: Diego's first-round teammates always felt something was off. Their memories clearly showed Joestar-san leading them through triumphs, but for some reason, their bodies were utterly exhausted.)