Levin stubbornly pressed on, and he ended up activating a magic circle that affected space itself, just like the one at Isabel's workshop. Before they knew what was happening, the space around them cracked, and the students panicked. Even the stubborn Levin was screaming for his mother. Oscar alone stayed calm, telling his party members to ready their wands, because they were about to be transported through the circle.
After the dust settled, Lily realized that they had been teleported into another forest. She looked around carefully, and to her horror, she recognized it as the fifth graveyard. The other team members were shocked to hear it, because that area was reserved for training senior students. One of the boys asked how they could possibly have ended up in a place like that when they were only freshmen.
Oscar wondered whether the magic circle had been a trap set by somebody. He noted that it might well be the same group that had killed him in his past life. Since the situation could be considered an emergency, Oscar suggested using the magic paper to call for help. Instead, Levin, who had crowned himself captain, tore the magic paper to pieces in front of them, leaving everyone stunned.
When they demanded to know why he had done it, Levin declared confidently that Oscar was simply exaggerating the situation. He insisted that they had merely stepped on a teleportation circle the academy had forgotten to remove, and he assured them that things like this happened all the time. Oscar remained skeptical of every word of it. Levin, however, assured them that this was an opportunity for them to make a name for themselves.
He hoped that clearing this training successfully would bring him a reputation and good grades. After his speech, he took charge and led his team off toward their unknown doom. His teammates eagerly agreed to follow him, purely because of his reputation as the heir to the noble Aldret family. Oscar could not believe how stupid they were, while Lily told him to stay close to her for his own protection.
He had no choice but to follow them, knowing that they might all soon be monster chow.
A few moments later, Oscar sensed danger as a horde of beasts emerged from the shadows. Levin, instead of being afraid, was excited to see them. Oscar was a little uneasy, but he still prepared to face them, because he had been looking forward to gaining real combat experience. Besides that, there was a spell he had been planning to test, so this was a good opportunity for him.
Unfortunately, before Oscar could make any move, Levin blocked his path and told him to back off. He smugly claimed that he would show Oscar how nobles fought, and advised him that this fight was not for commoners. Oscar was confused, wondering what the brat meant by how nobles fought.
As soon as the beasts charged forward, Levin pulled out his magic wand. He slammed it confidently into the ground and activated his earth shield shell magic, raising a giant boulder in front of them that separated them from the beasts. Levin used it to buy time and ordered his teammates to back him up. One of them cast a wind spear spell while the other cast a water spear, and together they picked off the beasts on the far side of Levin's rock formation.
Oscar watched quietly as they worked. He noted that Levin took care of the defense while the others handled the offensive magic, and he finally understood what Levin had meant about how nobles fought. All the same, Oscar thought that this was simply how all mages fought, not only nobles. While he was observing them, Levin and his team were being overwhelmed by the beasts.
One of the beasts broke through their defense and charged toward Lily. It got past Levin as well, heading straight for her, but fortunately Oscar stepped in just in time. He used the fire blade spell, and with a single strike he cut the beast down and saved her. Afterwards, Lily thanked Oscar for saving her, and at the same time they noticed that Levin and his team had finished off the rest of the beasts.
The other two boys were completely wiped out, all except Levin, who had only handled a measly defensive spell. Later that night, the group decided to camp in the forest. Levin kept roasting Oscar for being a commoner, mentioning that he was lucky to have seen how nobles fought. Oscar humoured him, and even commended them all for their combined effort at defensive magic.
Hearing that, Levin was disappointed by Oscar's mediocre reaction to his so-called noble brilliance. Unbeknownst to Levin, combined magic was not what Oscar wanted at all. What he wanted was to be a powerhouse on his own, to master individual magic, the kind that was more powerful than that of the mage who had killed him in his past life. He wanted power that could break through the strongest magicians alive, including the headmaster.
He worried that the current speed of his training was too steady to give him that kind of result. Shortly after, Lily interrupted his thoughts to offer him a cup of coffee. She wanted to thank him for saving her, even though she had been the one who was supposed to be protecting him. Oscar told her not to worry about it, and asked her about the magic she had used during the battle.
He wanted to know why some spells carried so much power while others carried none at all. Levin overheard and quickly chimed in, explaining that magic closer to the caster was more powerful. Lily yelled at him to back off, since the question had been meant for her. Levin backed away, though not without throwing his usual commoner insult at Oscar, and then Lily explained the magic theory properly.
She explained that once magic left a caster, it returned to nature as mana. Oscar realized that this was why cast magic dissipated into the air. As usual, his brain immediately began calculating another magic theory. Since magic formulas only activated when the right amount of mana was infused into them, Oscar wondered whether a spell's effectiveness could be increased.
Just then, his train of thought was interrupted when Lily complained that she might have made her coffee a little too dense. Oscar stared down into his own cup, and from her words he got an idea. Lily tried to call his attention back, but his mind had wandered off to his new theory on how to increase the effectiveness of a spell.
Then he realized that his theory was similar to the way sword ki was used.
Somewhere else in the forest, Professor Amon was watching Oscar and his team through a magic circle. Their whole situation had been his doing, and he was impressed that Levin had handled it as well as he had. The Aldrets were famously known for being the hardest family to deal with.
Since Levin was an obstacle, Amon decided to raise the stakes and remove him before he could ruin his plans.
Back at the main camp, Professor Ruth was watching over the class as they camped for the night. The students huddled together shivering while she stood guard. After observing them all day, she was impressed that so few of them had dropped out of the training.