"Hey, I don't like the sound of that."
Zenith stated that since she put it that way, he absolutely had to help. Helping them catch the bird was out of the question, as he was too busy going elsewhere to watch the show, but giving Kanne a massive power boost was simple enough.
"Your name is Kanne, right? I remember you use water-manipulating magic?"
Kanne nodded. Her magic was easy to identify, so there was no need to hide it.
Water manipulation magic required distributing mana throughout the water beforehand. The larger the volume of water, the harder it was to control, whereas small amounts like raindrops could be manipulated instantly.
Kanne's magic was absolutely dominant in the rain, but her usual combat strength dragged her down a bit. Even Gaara had a sand gourd, but she didn't even carry a pre-prepared cup of water on her.
"Tell you what, I'll give you something good. With this, you should be invincible when it comes to water magic. But in exchange, you have to teach me your water manipulation magic."
Frieren facepalmed. While water manipulation magic was common, what Kanne wielded was definitely not ordinary. Teaching it to Zenith would absolutely be difficult.
Lavinne remained vigilant, while Kanne was simply curious. "A magic tool? Magic tools capable of storing large amounts of water aren't common, and using something like that just to store water seems like a huge waste, doesn't it?"
Expelled water was a consumable resource. Even with such a magic tool, refilling it after every use would be a hassle. Furthermore, in their current environment, she didn't have the time to slowly assimilate a massive amount of water.
Zenith simply pulled out a water bucket and handed it to Kanne. "Here, this is it. Don't let its ordinary appearance fool you; this is actually a divine artifact."
What defined a divine artifact? Only a miracle beyond human capability deserved the title of 'divine.' How could a small bucket of water possibly qualify?
Now even Frieren was curious. She knew that although Zenith usually seemed unreliable, the items he produced were genuinely top-tier.
Kanne used her mana to probe the bucket of water, faintly sensing that something was off. Assimilating a single bucket of water wouldn't take much time, but this water felt endless. As soon as she assimilated one bucket's worth, a new bucket's worth would appear in her perception.
"This is?!"
"Looks like you noticed."
Zenith struck a long-unused JoJo pose, planting his feet on the ground and bending backward from his calves, his entire body nearly suspended in mid-air, supported entirely by his ankles and calves.
"This is the famous infinite water. Pouring this bucket out creates a water source block. Water will flow infinitely from the source until the water level is even with it."
It didn't sound like much, but if poured out on the peak of a mountain, given enough time, it could submerge the entire planet.
This was Minecraft. A tiny bucket of water held the power to destroy the world!
"That's way too exaggerated. If such a thing really exists, wouldn't that be equivalent to directly controlling the authority of water?"
Let alone Lavinne, even Frieren couldn't believe something so absurd. This could no longer be explained by magic; it was practically a law of reality.
They decided to test it out. Under Kanne's guidance, violent water dragons surged from the iron bucket. One, two, three... endless!
Although it wasn't as fast as assimilating rainfall, with this water bucket, she could still conjure a massive water dragon in just a few seconds.
"Incredible..." Kanne was clearly reluctant to part with it, but she steeled her heart and handed the bucket back to Zenith.
"This is too precious. I can't accept it."
It was more than precious—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to pass it down as a national treasure. This was infinite water! Lavinne looked thoroughly exasperated at her partner's honesty, but since the item wasn't meant for her, she couldn't say anything.
"Just take it when I give it to you. I have as many of these as I want."
Zenith shoved the water bucket into her arms, then waved at Frieren. "I'm going to check on the others. Don't get eliminated! Kanne, I'll come find you after the exam to learn that magic."
With her water volume increased, Kanne's combat power had skyrocketed, though it didn't help much with catching the bird. Fortunately, Frieren already had a plan.
Zenith didn't need to worry about this side. Elsewhere, just as he expected, the PvP battles had already begun.
Catching the bird was only the first phase of the test. The examinees weren't just students from an ivory tower. From the young to the elderly, from assassins to military officers—for them, stealing from others was far easier than catching a bird.
"I didn't expect this. Am I really the first one being targeted?"
Zenith raised an eyebrow, looking at the two halos of light that had suddenly appeared on his body. He could feel a strong binding force acting on every inch of his flesh, as if he had been encased in a thick, cast-iron shell.
Line-of-sight binding magic. As long as the target was caught in the halos, they were completely immobilized. For mages with relatively frail bodies, being hit by this spell meant losing all ability to resist.
The user of this magic was named Wirbel, a man with gray hair, slanted bangs, and a fierce face. He was the captain of the Northern Magic Corps.
In his eyes, Zenith had definitely lost the ability to fight back after being hit by the binding magic. Two of his teammates approached from behind, one on the left and one on the right, preparing to directly take the birdcage holding the Stille from Zenith.
"Of course. Swaggering down the main road all alone with a birdcage—we aren't the only ones eyeing you."
Wirbel signaled his teammates to speed up. He had already noticed an elderly court mage in the vicinity. An evenly matched battle would easily give others an opening to strike, and he didn't want to take that risk.
Seeing that Zenith seemed incapable of resisting and showed no intention of contacting his teammates, Wirbel relaxed a little.
"Are your teammates already dead? After all, this is a first-class mage exam; a few casualties are inevitable. But I suggest you don't try any funny business. If you get killed doing that, you'll only have yourself to blame."
"You're quite kindhearted, actually giving me a warning. In that case, I'll reluctantly spare your life."
Killing participants wasn't against the rules; that was the cruelest part of the exam. The proctors wanted to see the crowd slaughter each other, like a brutal battle royale to crown the strongest survivor. Only then would they be qualified to receive the certificate of a first-class mage.
Meeting Wirbel's gaze, Zenith flexed his muscles. "Your binding magic is indeed an unsolvable problem for mages, but against a battle-hardened warrior, this level of binding force isn't very useful."
With a sudden burst of strength, the binding halos were instantly forced open, shattering into a shower of light dust on the ground. Zenith casually shook his hands. "At this level, stacking ten more layers on me would be meaningless."
He actually broke free, but Wirbel's squad wasn't giving up yet. His two teammates sprang into action—one capable of firing stone bullet magic like a heavy machine gun, and the other controlling steel-like petals for attacks.
All flash and no substance. Zenith estimated the distance; all three of them were about ten meters away from him. That was well within the range of his plant magic.
"Don't you guys like binding magic? Then experience the level 100 Slowness of the petrification grass."
Three stalks of petrification grass silently sprouted beneath the trio's feet. In an instant, let alone casting spells, even blinking became a difficult task.
Too easy. With this move, dealing with these mages was like bullying children. Time acceleration was no longer Zenith's standard method. With his current strength, there were very few opponents worthy of making him use his cheats.
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