Chapter 38: Stille, Meteoric Iron Bird

Inside the barrier-sealed Grobe Basin, the proctor Genau lays out the first stage: every team must cage a meteoric iron bird, the Stille, by the next sunset, with all three members present and none permitted to leave the grounds. Once the trial opens, Frieren's quarreling partners turn out to be Lawine and Kanne, two third-class mages from the same academy, and the group sets out to study their elusive target.

When Lawine locates a Stille wading in the lake, she and Kanne chain their freezing and water magic together flawlessly, yet the creature shatters the ice and rockets off at supersonic speed. Frieren explains that the bird's durability and velocity render most restraints useless, so the group settles in to watch its quarry until nightfall instead.

That night a bird monster ambushes Kanne, and Frieren swoops in to pin it with magic. Walking back, the elf asks how two girls who claim to hate each other synchronize so seamlessly. Kanne recounts her first flight lesson, when Lawine bluntly kicked her off a cliff and forced her to fly, teaching her that even terrifying things can resolve themselves when met head-on.

The story stirs Frieren's recollection of the evening before the Hero Party met its first dragon, when Himmel confessed his own fear to a trembling Eisen and Heiter observed that every companion copes with dread differently. Reflecting on this, Frieren notes the truth of his words just as Kanne raises a clue that could finally let them snare a Stille.

The Stille earns its meteoric iron nickname from its toughness and its ability to outrun sound, traits that defeated Lawine and Kanne's combined assault. Its near-total lack of mana also makes the bird impossible to detect by ordinary means.

While Frieren's team regroups, Fern returns to her own party with a Stille already caged, only to be warned that the harder task is now protecting it. Übel grins and declares the stage's true battle royale about to begin.