Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End vol. 6

It’s the second round of testing for First-Class Mages, and it’s being devised by a… pacifist?  Sense, the proctor of the exam, is also someone who has never had anyone pass one of her tests before.  Which sounds strange when you consider that this one has the relatively straightforward goal of just having to make it to the innermost depths of the Ruins of the King’s Tomb.  There are a couple of catches to this, however.  The first is that it’s packed with enough traps to impress the creators of the “Soulsborne” series (or “Deception” if you want to get really niche).  The second is that it’s home to a demon who can produce copies of whoever enters the dungeon it inhabits.  So the mages undergoing this test are going to be up against themselves… and Frieren who we all know is on a whole other level than any of them.  Which means that it’s going to be up to her and Fern to figure out a way to take “Frieren” down.

Vol. 5 was a step back in the right direction for the series as it implied that writer Kanehito Yamada’s strengths lie in extended storylines rather than one-offs.  That remains true here as there’s entertainment to be had in seeing the mages puzzle their way through the dungeon before they encounter the “monster” at its center.  It’s a battle of wits as the other mages strategize their way through encounters with the other copies to keep them away while Frieren and Fern do their thing.  What results is an appealing brains-over-brawn conflict that may be a little heavy on the exposition in parts, but with payoffs that are generally very satisfying.

This is all settled before the end of the volume which wastes no time in getting to the third and final round of testing.  It turns out that someone from Frieren’s past has been recruited to administer it, and she’s not too keen on this new age of magic that humans have become a major part of.  While this mage has a particular axe to grind against Frieren, her thoughts on this new age of magic also seem to spell trouble for Fern.  At least, they would be if the oddly engaging cliffhanger for this volume didn’t find an interesting way to spin things.