Serie

"In the world of magic, even Heaven and Earth can be turned inside out."

- Serie

Serie (ゼーリエ) is an elven Mage known for her expansive knowledge in the area of magic. She is described as a living grimoire, and is the head of the Continental Magic Association for Mages. Serie calls herself a Great Mage from the Mythical Era.

Personality
Like most elves, Serie does not often express emotions, and appears rather cold at times. However, Serie is very fair in her assessment of others and has a sharp instinct when it comes to potential. She is pragmatic when assessing situations, immediately recognizing the dangers of leaving Macht alive, but willing to concede to her disciples' wishes. With her status and her knowledge, she has gained multiple disciples throughout the years. Serie acts and initially seems ambivalent about her human apprentices. When faced with their limitations due to lifespan, she declares that human apprentices should not be taken after all, and she claims that she merely took Flamme as an apprentice on a whim. Yet despite this act, even after centuries or millennia passing, it is noted that she has not forgotten any of her disciples' favorite magic; despite claiming that Flamme's favorite magic was a pointless spell, she conducts the third stage of the First Class Mage Exam amongst a field of flowers generated by this magic. Serie values those with burning ambition. She views magic as merely a tool for killing and disagrees vehemently with Frieren's feelings the greatest enjoyment comes only during the pursuit of magic. Accordingly, Flamme calls her a warmonger. Despite this, she seems to enjoy meeting and fighting those who are strong, and finds Macht's applications of his magic and his wide array of spells fascinating.

Appearance
Serie is an elf with golden hair and golden eyes. As an elf, she possesses large pointed ears and a youthful appearance, despite being even older than Frieren. Serie wears her hair loose except for four portions that she has tied at the base. Her bangs, which frame her face, have also been tied off at the bottom. She wears a loose white top with a green brooch and white shorts. When out, she wears a long red cape with gold fastenings and green jewel embellishments hanging from the fastenings. The top of the cape is lined with white fur. Serie is often seen without footwear. She has two bangles or wrappings on her ankles.

In the past, Serie was shown wearing a light colored toga dress in a similar style as Flamme's. She did not wear any ornamentation on her arms or in her hair, but wore two bangles or wrappings on her ankles. She wore a necklace with several pendants.

When she fights Macht, Serie wears footwear and socks that she has tied off with ribbon ornamentation. She also dons a loose fitting jacket. The rest of her outfit remains unchanged from her outfit in the Continental Magic Association.

History
At some point in the past, Serie encountered a young Flamme and decided on a whim to take her on as an apprentice. Serie listened to Flamme's dream of an era where anyone could use magic and believed it to be the cute dream of a little girl that would never come true. Once Flamme takes Frieren on as an apprentice, Serie asks Frieren to name a spell that she desires. Frieren tells Serie that she doesn't want any spells, as the pursuit of magic brings the greatest joy, and Serie tells Flamme that Frieren lacks the burning ambition necessary to become a great mage. Flamme disagrees, and tells Serie that while the two of them could not envision a peaceful world, and thus could not defeat the Demon King, Frieren was a mage of a peaceful era, and would be able to succeed.

When Flamme passes away, Frieren brings Flamme's will to Serie. Serie reads the will along with Flamme's request that she take over the Imperial Mages the Empire had established, upon which Serie tears up the will, displeased. However, Frieren tells Serie that this is what Flamme had predicted she would do, but that she had wanted to tell Serie her dream came true anyway. Hearing this, Serie asks Frieren to take a walk with her, where she shares what the Great Mage Flamme had been like as a child. She tells Frieren that with Flamme's efforts, human civilization will advance rapidly; in less than a thousand years, the Era of Humans will be upon them. She cautions Frieren that if she were to die in battle, it will either be at the hands of the Demon King or a human mage.

It is unknown what Serie did in the millennium following Flamme's death. However, over half a century before the First Class Mage Examination that Frieren and Fern participate in, Serie suddenly ascends to center stage of history and founds the Continental Magic Association in Äußerst in order to reign over humanity's mages. Serie also created, along with the Continental Magic Association, a ranking system for mages. She is still seeking out accomplished mages from the war against the Demon King. Serie confers upon anyone who holds the position of first-class mage a special privilege: she will bestow upon them one spell of their choice that they desire. Serie is also shown to take on promising human apprentices, including Lernen, a timid young mage who became the first first-class mage.

Some time after establishing the Continental Magic Association, one of the Seven Sages of Destruction, Macht of El Dorado, turns the Fortified City of Weise to gold. Serie is the first to confront him after. She appears behind Macht and tells him to return the citizens and the city of Weise back to normal. When she realizes he cannot, she states that a monster such as him will never be able to turn the citizens of Weise back to normal. This goads Macht into using Diagoldze on her, which she reflects with Mistilziela. Serie and Macht begin to battle, before they are interrupted by a barrier cast around Macht which temporarily seals him. The barrier is cast by one of Serie's apprentices. She chides her disciples for not waiting, and pragmatically tells them that if they do not defeat Macht now, the destruction will not end with Weise. However, Lernen entreats her to let the first-class mages seal Macht and El Dorado in a barrier instead, so that they may find a way to return the city of Weise back to normal, no matter how many years or decades it may take. Serie calls their plan unrealistic, as she feels Weise is already past the point of no return, but she also tells her disciples that she is bored, and that they may do whatever they wish, tacitly giving them her approval to seal Macht.

Frieren
Serie and Frieren have a strained relationship. The two clash on their beliefs of what a proper mage should be like. Serie disapproves of Frieren's belief that the greatest enjoyment of magic is found during the pursuit of it; her own belief seems to resemble Wirbel's, who feels that magic is just a tool for killing. In addition, Serie feels that the time Frieren has spent limiting her mana has been wasted, as those hundreds of years could have been better spent honing other skills. Serie is under the impression that Frieren hates her, and believed that the two of them would never see each other again before Frieren arrived to deliver Flamme's will. They often go long periods of time without seeing each other. During the First Class Mage Examination, Serie was adamant about not passing Frieren, as she still showed none of the ambition or utilitarian views on magic that Serie herself did. However, despite their relationship, the two of them are shown to understand each other quite well. As two members of a long-lived race, they share a unique perspective on time and advancement that others do not, as shown in Serie's warning to Frieren that the Era of Humans was upon them. Frieren shows a great amount of respect towards Serie's instincts, claiming they are never wrong, and despite disapproving of her beliefs, Serie is able to read Frieren's feelings fairly easily and acknowledges that she is skilled to the point where she should not even have been allowed to participate in the exam. Before she leaves, Frieren predicts that Serie was planing to fail Fern, but will not be able to, which proves correct. After refusing to grant Frieren the First-Class Mage title, she instructs the Continental Magic Association to bar Frieren from entry to any Association facility for at least 1000 years.

Flamme
Serie appears to regard Flamme without much warmth. When Frieren informs her that Flamme has passed away, Serie is not saddened, and states that Flamme was merely a pupil she took on a whim. She is angered by Flamme's request that she take over the education of Imperial Mages, as Serie views magic as something that is meant to be special and does not wish to teach those without talent. However, she openly acknowledges Flamme's feats and the improbable dream that she made come true, and states that an Era of Humans will soon be upon them due to Flamme's actions, showing both her pragmatism and her tacit belief in Flamme's abilities. Despite her cold attitude, even a millennium later, it is shown that Serie still remembers Flamme's favorite magic.

Lernen
Serie's first apprentice during the current era, and the first to be awarded First-Class mage status. Lernen cares deeply for Serie and does not want her to be alone in the future; as a result, he wishes to carve his name into history. This drives him to attack Frieren in Äußerst and request a duel to the death in hopes of carving his name into history through defeating the legendary mage that defeated the Demon King. Serie is pleased at Lernen's ability to detect the instability in Frieren's mana restraint and praises his skill. Although Serie regards him as skilled (for a short lived human), she expresses disappointment that even as he is reaching the end of his life, he is still unable to detect the instability in her own mana restraint, and once again muses on how human apprentices shouldn't be taken. Despite this, Serie clearly cares for him just as she cares for all her apprentices, as she is able to recall their favorite magic long after they have passed.

Fern
Serie initially intended to fail Fern in the First-Class mage examination. However, when Fern is immediately able to detect the instability in her mana restraint, she offers Fern an apprenticeship on the spot. However, Fern turns it down, as she is already Frieren's apprentice. Serie states that she is not foolish enough to hold a promising mage back and passes Fern anyways. Later, Fern asks to be given clothing cleaning magic as her First-Class Privilege, which disappoints Serie.

Abilities

 * Living Grimoire: Serie knows practically every spell that is known to humanity. She is regarded as the mage closest to the omnipotent and omniscient Goddess as a result.
 * Immense Mana Output: Serie's restrained mana rivals Frieren's unrestrained mana. Serie herself is constantly limiting her mana output. It is unknown what her true output is, but it is presumably several times greater than her restrained output.
 * Mana Concealment: Serie is a master at limiting her mana output. Even mages that are able to detect the instability in Frieren's mana, such as Lernen, are unable to detect the instability in Serie's mana. Fern is the only human mage that has demonstrated this capability thus far.
 * Fearvelia: A spell that allows Serie to transfer spells she has learned to other mages. It generates a grimoire containing her knowledge of the spell which, when read, allows the reader to instantly learn the spell even if it would be impossible for them to learn normally. Serie forgets the spells that she transfers to others.
 * Mistilziela: A primitive magic that reflects any magic that Serie perceives to be a "curse." It takes a hundred years to learn.

Trivia

 * Serie is German for "series".