For a long moment after Gran Drakov’s booming voice faded, no one moved.

Hundreds of students stood scattered across the stone arena, staring up at the colossal wall and the massive gate below it. The earlier excitement from passing the first test had vanished, replaced by tense silence.

Then came the whispers—

“How are we supposed to climb that?”

“Those two Gatekeepers look terrifying…”

“There’s no way anyone can pass this!”

Leon stood near the center of the group, arms folded, quietly observing the wall.

So this is the second test… I never got this far before, he thought, eyes narrowing. I failed the first exam in my last life. This is all new.

He studied the gate, feeling the faint vibration of earth magic radiating from it. If I could disrupt the mana flow at the base… maybe that would weaken it. But how—

Suddenly, the air around him turned cold.

Not just cool — bitingly cold.

Frost began to form on the stone floor, spreading outward in a delicate, crystalline pattern. A thin mist rolled over the ground as the temperature plummeted. Students gasped, rubbing their arms as the air filled with a glittering haze.

From the center of the crowd, they parted instinctively — like water before a ship’s bow — as a single girl walked forward.

Her long, silvery hair shimmered under the sunlight, swaying gently with every step. Her uniform, immaculate and white-trimmed with pale blue, glistened faintly with frost. Her eyes — clear, cold, and impossibly calm — didn’t waver once.

Where she walked, ice bloomed at her feet, forming a perfect frozen path toward the gate.

“That magic… what is that!?”

“She’s freezing the ground itself!”

The two Gatekeepers immediately shifted into battle stance, mana flaring. One conjured a burning crimson spear; the other, a translucent blade of wind.

But before they could move—

Crack!

Both were instantly encased in solid ice.

The sound of frost spreading echoed like shattering glass as their auras vanished beneath layers of translucent blue crystal.

A stunned silence fell.

“She froze them—instantly!?”

“That’s impossible! They’re instructors!”

“Who is she!?”

The girl didn’t answer. She continued walking, the ice path stretching before her until it touched the massive gate. The runes etched across its surface flickered in resistance, but her cold mana overpowered them easily.

With a single motion of her hand, the frost climbed the gate, locking into the seals and cracking them open one by one.

Then, with a soft, echoing creak—

Crrr—THUD!

The gate opened.

The woman stepped through the thick mist beyond and vanished from sight — calm, graceful, and untouchable.

For a heartbeat, silence reigned.

Then—

“Wait! The gate’s open!”

“We can go through now!”

Several students, desperate to take advantage of the opening, broke into a sprint. Their eyes shone with greed and panic.

“Don’t let this chance go!”

“If we can just make it before it closes—!”

But just as the first of them reached the icy threshold—

CRACK!

The ice coating the Gatekeepers shattered violently, scattering shards in every direction.

A blazing aura of fire erupted from one, melting the frost instantly, while the other unleashed a gust so powerful it sent snow and dust spiraling into the air.

The first student barely had time to scream before the fire spear slammed into the ground beside him, knocking him unconscious from the shockwave alone.

The second Gatekeeper moved faster than the eye could follow — appearing behind another would-be follower and striking the back of his neck with the flat of his blade. The boy collapsed instantly.

Within seconds, every student who tried to chase after the silver-haired girl lay sprawled unconscious on the cold ground.

The gate groaned, its icy edges melting, and slowly sealed itself shut once more.

Silence fell again — heavier than before.

Even Gran Drakov, watching from a distance, scratched his beard with a grin. “Hah! Serves ’em right. Never underestimate my gatekeepers, kids. They might look nice, but they don’t take kindly to cheaters.”

The remaining students swallowed hard, none daring to move for several seconds.

Leon exhaled slowly, watching the last of the frost fade from the gate. His heartbeat quickened — not from fear, but from awe.

That girl… her power was overwhelming.

He had never met her before, but he recognized the name the murmurs began to whisper among the crowd.

Elena Elsgard.

The princess of the Elsgard Kingdom — and one of the few mages capable of mastering true elemental ice.

Leon clenched his fists lightly, feeling a faint smile tug at the corner of his lips.

So that’s the level of power at the top of this academy… interesting.

The cold wind that lingered in the arena carried away the last fragments of frost, and Gran’s deep voice thundered again.

“Well, don’t just stand there, brats! The test’s still going! Show me what you’ve got!”