Overview (Spoilers Below): Former student and top-ranking adventurer Surena enlists Beryl’s help to train new adventurers. At the Adventurer’s Guild, Beryl ends up in a duel with her to prove he has what it takes for the job. He isn’t really happy with the turn of events, but Surena seems to feel differently.
Our Take: Defending sword attacks is easy for this bumpkin, but combating magic? That’s a different story, especially when confronting an expert wizard like Lucy Diamond, the commander of the capital’s Magic Corps. Fortunately, despite being his first duel with a wizard, Beryl managed to hold his ground just fine, even though this friendly duel ended in a draw. Regardless, the first few minutes offered exactly what the episode’s title suggested: Beryl weathering Lucy’s magic spells with only his sword and agility. While it can’t compare with other memorable action sequences from similar fantasy anime, it’s also far from an underwhelming duel between swordsman and wizard. Afterward, we see Beryl taking on another teaching assignment courtesy of one of Beryl’s students, Surena Lysandra, where he’s tasked with training rookie adventurers for dungeon attacks. But first, he’ll have to prove his worth by defending himself against Surena’s dual-wielding skills. This is where the episode starts copying the formula from the previous episode, providing flashbacks to a specific student’s first encounter with Beryl. This episode focuses on Surena’s childhood, where she was raised and trained by Beryl after being separated from her family. Her training helped ease her mind from the trauma she received from losing her parents due to a monster attack, and she grew up to be a Black-rank adventurer who protects others from suffering the same fate she had. The episode further highlighted the show’s use of flashbacks to further explore the students’ relationships with Beryl, which helped me enjoy it more than anticipated. While Allucia’s flashback was a bit more effective than her “rival” regarding her personality, Surena’s flashback showcased how much she’s grown regarding her dual-wielding capabilities. But will they be enough to help Beryl protect the rookie adventurers from a Griffin-type monster? Based on her performance in a fake duel against Beryl, my sources tell me that may be the case.