Denken/Synopsis

## Synopsis

### First Class Mage Exam - First Stage

There are a total of fifty-seven participants. Genau is the examiner for the first stage and he explains the rules of the exam. It will be done in teams of three. Denken is assigned to the Thirteenth Party with Richter and Laufen. The task is to capture the bird called "Stille", and the passing conditions are having a Stille by sunset the next day with all team members present. Every team is given a cage. The examination area is within a forest that's covered by barrier. Getting out of it means disqualification of the entire team. After everything has been explained, the first stage exam commences.

Some time has passed, and Frieren's team has devised a plan to capture a Stille that involves freezing the lake with Lawine's magic. However, it angers other parties gathered around the lake who rush to the lake and melt the ice. Others continue fighting. Instead of going along with others, Denken decided to confront Frieren's party and and take their Stille. Along the way they saw casualties who were probably attacked by a Geisel, the alluring corpse bird. Laufen comments that it seems the Continental Magic Association does not care if an examinee was to die. Richter believes that the Continental Magic Association cares for the quality of their mages anyone isn't qualified to be a first-class mage if they were to die from threats in the exam. He added that they are still dreaming of the strong proud mages who fought against the Demon King. However, Denken comments that they seem to be behind-the-times. According to him, quality is not necessary as he recalls his past experiences and what he have witnessed as an imperial mage. Great power is fearsome and a fearsome authority does not last. For him, magic is nothing to be proud about. They continued searching for Frieren's party and eventually tracked them down as soon as they capture a Stille. Laufen quickly took their Stille with her magic and hides with it. Knowing Frieren would be able to track her, Denken and Richter block their way. Denken recognizes Frieren as the mage of the Hero Party and expresses his desire to fight her.

Three hours before sunset, the two teams faceoff with Denken taking on Frieren, and Richter against Lawine and Kanne. Denken tells Richter to refrain from killing one of the two girls as they only need to obstruct them and it is still a winnable contest. Richter remarks that he thought Denken was a ruthless and cold person since he is an Imperial Mage and has gotten rid of political opponents many times. However, Denken does not see the value of being a first-class mage or needless death, and Frieren agrees on his sentiment that first-class mage is nothing but a title. Richter proceeds to explain a brief history of the Continental Magic Association and the privilege of attaining first-class, which is being granted any magic that one desires by the Great Mage Serie herself. Richter continues to explain how magic is valuable to him, with Denken finding it absolutely ridiculous and Frieren barely reacting. Richter calls Denken and those who do not care for the privilege as minorities. The battle starts with Richter and Denken arguing to kill the two girls or just put them to sleep for three hours. Crushing Frieren is all that's necessary for Denken. Richter proceeds to split the ground with his Earth Control: Bargland, which separates him, Kanne, and Lawine and leaves Denken and Frieren below. Denken comments that the privilege would only be wasted on juveniles that can't help but be filled with excessive ardour. Frieren asks why he would think that, which he replies that she already knows the answer. They share the same view that the greatest enjoyment comes from the pursuit of magic itself.

As they fight, Denken tries different magic techniques consecutively, but Frieren keeps blocking every attack, giving him a hard time. He is trying to end the battle early, knowing that he won't last much longer with his mana. He tries to attack Frieren once more with Lights of Judgement: Catastravia only for her to counter it and defeat him with mere basic combat magic at pointblank. Frieren attempts to make Denken reveal Laufen's location but he refuses to speak. Knowing she is just hiding nearby, Frieren takes Denken as a hostage to lure Laufen out, but Denken tells Laufen not to come out no matter what. However, Laufen eventually gives in and attempts to save Denken but is caught by Frieren. Frieren ties the two of them to a tree, and Denken scolds her afterwards. Laufen asks why he wants to become a first-class mage so badly despite having everything. He reveals that he only wanted to visit his hometown, particularly the cemetery. It is located in the Northern Plateau that can only be accessed by first-class mages due to the recent surge in demonic attacks there. Denken concludes that it may be too late because it is likely that Richter will kill the two girls before confronting Frieren. However, Frieren is not worried and remains certain that Lawine and Kanne will win. She also reveals that she has just finished deciphering the barrier, and as she breaks it, Denken realizes her true intention. With the barrier broken, the rain outside finally starts pouring in, giving Lawine and Kanne a complete advantage and allowing them to defeat Richter. Richter is washed off his own plateau and he apologizes to Denken for his loss, but Denken states that once Frieren broke the barrier, his loss was inevitable.

With the three of them out of mana, it seems to be over for their party but Denken refuses to give up and has them search for traces of other parties. Eventually, they find a pair who has just lost their third member and has no way of passing anymore, though they are still holding on to their Stille. With all parties involved out of mana, Denken and Richter challenge the two to a brawl, while Laufen hides to find an opening to take their Stille. They manage to win, and having secured a Stille, pass the first stage of the exam. The first stage exam ends with six parties remaining and eighteen participants in total. The second stage will be held three days later and Genau dismisses all of them.

Denken, along with Laufen, decided to pay Richter a visit on his shop to invite him to eat with them at the restaurant he's looking for. He refused at first but eventually agreed after getting his point across of having strong allies on his side if he wants to survive as a mage. The restaurant he is looking for was the one he went with his late wife with, and he states that the taste there was unforgettable. When they found it, Denken feels that the atmosphere is still the same even after half a century, which he finds mysterious. Richter comments that he has a good taste, as it offers the most delicious food in town, and he often comes there. When they came in, Frieren's party also happened to be there, but Denken chose to just leave them be, because for him food should be enjoyed, seeing how merry they are. Denken seemed to be fond of Laufen as if she is his own granddaughter. All participants eventually received the details for the second stage through pigeons carrying them.

### First Class Mage Exam - Second Stage

The second stage is set on the Tomb of the Ruined King and the proctor is Sense. She explains that the only condition needed to pass is to reach the innermost depths of the tomb, as she does not like fighting. Blei questioned her if she intends to fail everyone again, but she stands by her decision, and believes that first-class mages makes the impossible possible, and that they will push to subdue it, even if its not been fully explored. She does not require any proof if one have reached the innermost depths. She distributed bottles to all participants, with each containing a golem that may be used for escaping, if the examinee deem it impossible to continue the exam. It was developed by the first-class mage Lernen. The time limit is when the bottles break on their own the next day. Sense starts the exam after everything has been explained.

Due to the multiple entrances the tomb has, which all lead to the innermost depths, Denken was about to suggest everyone to work together until Ton stepped in, and expresses his dislike on the idea, then proceeds to enter alone. Wirbel's group follows, then Frieren and Fern, along with Sense who tagged along with them. Lawine and Kanne follow, and the three of them from the thirteenth party on the previous stage were left together with Methode and Länge. While Denken thought that cooperation was the best option to conquer the tomb, Richter simply comments that not everyone can agree, and "it would've rubbed them the wrong way", just as he said on the first stage. Richter is confident the ones left aren't fools enough to fall for traps such as mimics, then hold others back, and tells Denken to be content with that. All five of them enter together inside the tomb.

Once inside, their first encounter was with Gargoyles, but managed to defeat it. However, Länge got separated and was trapped into a crashing wall. Despite Denken's effort to save her, the wall seemed unbreakable. With no other way, she was forced to break her bottle and abort the exam. Sometime later, clones of each participant began appearing, with Denken's group encountering, and defeating Laufen's clone. Denken concludes that working together was the right call. However, the worst is yet to come, as Frieren's clone is standing right before them at a large hall with a door behind it. He could only say that if it were not an exam, he would've broken his bottle already. About half a day, Frieren arrives with Fern, and saw Denken's group gathered in the door, still planning on how to get past her clone. Frieren deduced that the clones' weaknesses would probably be the same as their original. Richter suggests the use of restraint or hypnosis magic if they are to take on a superior mage, though Frieren thinks it is resistant to both. Believing that a small opening should be enough, Denken has Methode check on Frieren, though it is futile as Frieren was correct that she is resistant to both. However, Methode thought of Edel, a fellow examinee and a second-class mage who specializes in hypnosis magic, hoping to get more details about the clones with her help.

Unfortunately, Edel decided not to go on after being wounded by Sense's clone. Only Dünste managed to reach them after Blei chose to stay behind to save him so he can deliver the intel that the clones do not possess minds of their own. Despite what they've learned, Denken thought there are still too many unknown variables, and the biggest issue is the identity of the summoner. They finally identified the summoner after Kanne and Lawine arrived, which according to her is the Spiegel, the Reflective Water Demon. She would go on to share all that she knows and points that the door behind Frieren's clone is its location. If they defeat it, then all clones would disappear. Denken added that the intel seems to coincide with the results of his mana detection. However, another problem aside from Frieren's clone blocking their way is the "Sacrificial Treasury Door Lock Magic", a powerful seal on the door, which means the door will not open unless the caster perishes. Tearing down the walls are not an option either, as it is probably protected already, leaving them with no other way but to fight Frieren's clone in order to attack Spiegel. Lawine warns them that they should take it down quickly due to the fact that the clones have the habit of gathering at the deepest point with time, which led to the demise of the previous advance party, except her older brother's unit. With everyone agreeing that the weakness of the clones are the same as their originals, Fern has Frieren stand next to a wall, then suddenly attacks her with combat magic, though she blocked it. From that moment, everyone realized that Frieren's mana detection tends to be interrupted for a mere fraction when a spell is casted, a common error for apprentice mages that she is ashamed of. However, Frieren's other abilites are still too extraordinary for Richter, and for him, there are still no other mages in existence who could take advantage of such vulnerability. Together, they formulate a plan to get past Frieren's clone. Denken asked if Frieren thinks they can win, which she replies that dungeons that cannot be conquered don't exist. She takes pride to herself as the mage that conquered the most dungeons in all of history.

The group decide that Frieren and Fern will fight Frieren's clone while the remaining participants will hold off the other clones. After a brief brainstorming, each have finally got their assigned targets, then splits up. However, Method is unable to detect the clone of Denken and Fern thus forcing them to seek them out themselves. Richter and Lawine successfully took down her own clone along with Kanne's, but both of them were impaled from behind by the hair of Sense's clone. Denken was too late to come to their aid, leaving them no choice but to break their bottle and withdraw. He thought the result would've been the same even if he made it, as he can't see any opening on Sense's clone. While he is hiding, Übel and Land stumbled upon him. Übel asks him how things are going, only for Denken to ask back if she could fight Sense's clone instead. Refusing to know the details, she straightly asked if the fight is necessary, which Denken replies that it is. While she acknowledges that she is still an inexperienced third-class mage, and is far weaker that Denken or Wirbel, she believes that she can take on Sense at the very least with her "Nigh Unstoppable Cutting Magic: Railseiden." As Sense herself already knew the outcome, the clone was easily defeated by Übel. Just as she was finished, her clone along with Land's reappear, and all other clones that were defeated earlier reappear also. Fortunately, Frieren and Fern finally defeated her clone, and proceeds to destroy Spiegel. With Spiegel defeated, all clones disappeared. Sense congratulates them for conquering the tomb thus passing the exam. Denken looks for Frieren only to see her trapped in a mimic, and Fern trying to get her out.

Afterwards, Denken along with Laufen, pays Richter another visit to shop, though the failure in the exam put him in a bad mood. Denken thought that anyone put in the same situation could have ended the same but he simply admitted that he was not strong enough. Still, on the positive note, it was good that it was him to drop out, instead of Denken who may not have another three years in his life, which Denken agrees. While Denken thinks that Richter is not someone admirable, he bears no enmity towards him, admitting that he was once like him in his youth before becoming an imperial mage. Denken leaves with parting words of encouragement that in three years time he will become stronger, though it left Richter annoyed as he didn't buy anything.

### First Class Mage Exam - Final Stage

Surprisingly, Serie decided to intervene for the third and final stage. She felt that twelve examinees passing the previous stage is plenty, and that those who didn't meet the standards passed as well mainly due to Frieren leading the charge on their cooperation. Serie adds that if they decide to continue the conventional third stage exams, she is certain that all will perish, which is something Sense wouldn't want. Serie eventually decided to host the third stage herself with no objections from Lernen.

Falsch announced to the examinees that Serie herself will be hosting the third stage through personal interview. The unfortunate ones that Serie failed were, Kanne, Dünste, Laufen, Scharf, and Ehre. Frieren also failed but for a different reason among others. Fern, the only mage who saw through the instability on Serie's mana was the first to pass. Next is Denken who was honored as Serie recognized him for his reputation as an imperial mage. She also expressed her interest in meeting him when he was younger who was filled with vigour, and ambition, and not when he's nearing the end of his life as he is currently. She asked him if he wondered on how to fight her, which he replied that he quickly resigned for a mere instant. She passed him, and comments that despite his old age, his flame is still burning, and people usually wouldn't even think of fighting her. The ones next were Übel, Land, Wirbel, and Methode who also passed.

After the exam, Denken thanks Frieren and Fern for allowing him to reach this far, which enables him to finally visit the cemetery at his hometown. Denken hangs out with Laufen, Fern, and Stark while they are eating. He tells them not to mind him, and he seems to be fond of the youngsters, and even gave Stark something to eat. Stark quickly apologizes for talking casually after finding out his status, though he didn't mind as he simply came in the town as a mage. Stark feels embarrassed to be treated by someone with such status, but Denken doesn't really mind since he has no one else to spend his money on, which made Stark wonder. Fern would ask if he has no children nor grandchildren. Without having neither, Denken tells a brief story of his life, from his deceased wife who had a frail body and how helpless he felt, as it was those times that he needed power and wealth. As he grew older and up to his current status as an imperial mage, magic was nothing but a tool for conflict for him, but was reminded of how fun magic can be, which is something he wishes Fern to tell Frieren. He also expressed his admiration for the elven mage of the Hero Party, prompting him to become a mage himself. However, Fern insists that he tell Frieren himself, as she is certain that it would surely please her, which Denken replies that he will do so.

And as a reward for passing the first class mage exam, Denken is granted the magic that he desires by Serie herself.