The two of them had just reconciled and confirmed their collaboration. Maya had been worried for a long time, but now she felt like she understood Elena better. Since they had announced that this year's Harvesting was in the Element of Water, all female freshman water mages were excited. Maya decided it was an opportunity to make herself stronger. It was a duty to Anastasia, whose mission she had inherited.

"They announced the candidates but did not specify how we would be tested. Do you think they will announce it later?"

"Maybe they'll hold a tournament. There are around fifty of us; they need to narrow it down somehow."

Maya's fellow water element colleagues were discussing this while they were taking a short break from practice. It wasn't just them; other groups nearby joined as it was something that concerned them all.

"What they are looking for is potential; holding a tournament between freshmen who have barely learned some stances serves no purpose and depends too much on luck."

"But they need to test us somehow."

"What I'm saying is that you shouldn't wait for some tournament to be announced. The competition has already started. In the 'Capture the Flag' game, all freshmen are included, but we are the ones being watched. If there's no potential for a tournament, it won't be held."

The idea of a tournament being held was exciting, but just as they said, it wouldn't be much of a spectacle, as they barely learned basic elemental stances.

The upcoming event had just been announced for next week. With December and first trimester finals approaching, Capture the Flag was chosen as their practical exam to demonstrate their progress. It would be similar to the second-year midterms, though on a smaller, less ceremonial scale.

Teams were composed not of students from their usual practical classes but rather a mix of different elements—providing a rare opportunity to test their abilities in real situations.

"I'm a bit nervous," Maya admitted.

She had been eagerly anticipating this moment since the day of the announcement at the school assembly when they learned the date of their group's exam. With teams comprised of eight students each, approximately 50 teams would compete against each other. Given the number of teams, the games were spread across five sessions throughout the week, rather than being held in a single day.

The exam took place outside the Amellan walls, a short distance from the farming grounds, in an area designated for such events. The objective was to capture enemy flags and return them to your base. The team with the most flags when time ran out would be declared the winner.

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Maya's team gathered at their base, grouped around the map given out to all teams and strategized their battle plan before the siren announcing the game began. The area, resembling a small dilapidated village, was designed as an arena for this purpose, showing signs of wear and tear from generations of use.

Maya glanced at her team members. Teams were typically formed from classmates, but since Maya and Elena rarely socialized with their Zeta classmates, this collaboration was a new experience for them.

Supervisors formed teams of roughly equal strength, ensuring no team had an extreme advantage. The girls were unaware of a debate that had taken place about whether allowing Maya and Elena on the same team would give their team an advantage or a disadvantage.

Maya's multiple elements made her categorization challenging. Restricting her use of other elements could potentially weaken her team, depending on the assigned element's strength. Elena, on the other hand, was a wild card who could potentially sabotage rather than contribute to a team.

In the end, they chose to keep them on the same team. Since the game was a team sport, good collaboration was crucial, and they considered the relationships between students. Together, Maya and Elena could compensate for each other's weaknesses and approach the game seriously. They were both assigned as Water for the team.

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It was expected that this event would be a sort of shadow screening for narrowing down candidates for the title of the Harvester and observing their powers in a real situation.

The area for the game was large, and a lot of manpower was required to survey and regulate the players. Emphasized by the sound of a surveillance drone being heard somewhere in the air above them.

"Everyone agrees on the strategy?" Ula slammed her hand on the map to conclude their briefing.

Their proposition was straightforward. With two members of each element in their team, they divided into an offensive and defensive team. One group to pursue—capturing other teams' flags, while the other defends their base.

"I object."

Naturally, it was Elena. Everyone looked at her in annoyance for speaking out after they had thoroughly discussed the details.

"You have a better idea?"

"Offense-defence idea's good, but I don't like the way you divide us," Elena crossed her arms.

"We can't have both water elements on the offence." They assumed she wanted to be on the same team as Maya.

"I don't care about that," Elena explained. "If you look at it, this is a strategy most teams would choose, and it won't give us any advantage. I suggest we change the ratio. Seven on the offence team and one on the defence."

""Huh?!"" they all reacted in unison.

Many people complained at the same time about the ridiculous proposition. "And who do you presume to be that one person who has to defend the entire base?"

As her friend, Maya seriously listened to her proposal when she objected, but when she suggested that only one person defend, she began to fear she wanted to utilize Maya's ability to use multiple elements. No one forbade her from using other elements, but she alone wasn't confident that it would give her any advantage in defending alone.

"Me," Elena said, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious.

""HUH?!""

The whole team reacted in collective disbelief, staring at Elena with stunned expressions.

"We are in quite a good position," Elena began demonstrating on the map. "And if we block other entrances and leave only one, why would we waste resources to sit here defending one entrance when we can have more manpower to go out and capture other flags?"

Having more people attack other bases would give them an advantage when most would only spare four, and have four guarding it. It was quite a logical idea, but only if one person was capable of defending their base.

Their faces showed they followed the logic, but everyone still stayed sceptical.

"There's nothing in the rules that we have to have our own flag," Elena pointed out. "Only that the others are planted in the base the moment the time is up to be counted as points, so we have nothing to lose even if I fail to protect it. You just go out and capture as many as you can."

Now the nuance of Elena's ridiculous suggestion became clear to Maya. It sounded like a high-risk, high-reward plan, but in reality, Elena's true motive was likely to avoid work—she could simply relax while the others put in the effort. If anyone came for their flag, she could surrender it without resistance and claim she couldn't do anything, since the team's success ultimately depended on how many flags they captured rather than defending their own.

Maya sighed.

But on the other hand, her plan worked for everyone to get what they wanted. The team members who wanted to take the game seriously could still secure their victory without forcing Elena to do something she didn't feel like doing.

"I think it's a good idea," Maya smiled at Elena with support, at which Elena grinned.

Their base was a small, round building resembling a ruined temple. It had four entrances, but one of them was already closed by a collapsed adjacent building. Two remained—one they closed by earth manipulation, and the massive hole in the ceiling Maya was eyeing with concern.

It was technically an entrance. In a school of mages that can manipulate elements, this much wouldn't be a problem to access. But if they close it, they would leave Elena to fight in the dark, and the supervisors wouldn't be able to see if there is an emergency.

Ula sprang herself up with a springboard made of earth, launching herself over three meters high, and landing on the roof to check the opening from a better angle.

Maya whistled with amazement at the tall pillar she had erected to assist her jump.

'She moves like an air mage.'

With the lightness of a petite and thin girl, Ula made it seem as if she was weightless, surprising Maya with actions that were unlike those of earth mages who usually like to keep grounded and firm.

However, she landed like a comet, retracting the pillar as if it were never there and crushing the ground beneath her feet with surprising force. In that small body of hers, she packed the power of a neutron star.

"It's fine to leave it," Ula made her conclusion. "It isn't noticeable from the outside, not many would think to utilize it."

With final preparations complete, a piercing siren cut through the air, signaling the start of the competition. The atmosphere crackled with tension as teams across the battlefield sprang into action.

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