The day before the entrance exam, we requested a lecture from the Demon King.
We asked for instruction to understand what we ourselves lacked the most.
The Demon King readily agreed and began the lecture from one side of the room.
“When you use both swordsmanship and magic, proper control is necessary.”
A sword appeared out of thin air.
“Is this sword real or fake?”
The Demon King also has the ability to move objects freely.
If that’s the case, I thought it must have been brought from somewhere, so I concluded it was real.
“Isn’t it real?”
“That’s right. But it’s also fake. This sword was created by my magic.”
When the Demon King snapped his fingers, the sword vanished into a faint blue smoke.
“It’s a difficult spell, so there’s no need to understand it. Just know that both can happen simultaneously.”
The Demon King spoke while looking at Dahlia.
What he just said was a solution to Dahlia’s concern.
If she stuck the sword into the ground, she’d be left unarmed.
There were two major ways to choose from.
She could either stick the sword into the ground and create a new one with magic, or she could keep a magic-made sword stuck in the ground from the start.
“You said that the magic of creating objects is difficult.”
“So what if it’s hard? You won’t do it?”
“I have to.”
A shadow of concern deepened on Dahlia’s face.
“Humans are slow to realize mana, but if you help them out, they can learn quickly.”
The Demon King placed a small ball made of mana into Catherine’s hand.
“I held it once before.”
“Really? Then try breaking it.”
As Catherine squeezed her hand, cracks began to form in the mana ball.
Splatch!
A sound like squishing mud came as mana leaked out from the ball.
“Don’t absorb it. My mana is like a deadly poison to you.”
“Uh, what should I do?”
“Just think of controlling the mana slowly.”
Catherine closed her eyes and focused, but the mana simply scattered and disappeared in all directions.
“You can’t do it all at once. You’ll learn little by little that way.”
Seeing the mana ball completely vanish, Catherine shook her hand.
“Can Ririan create fire now?”
“Yes, a little.”
“Go ahead.”
Following the instruction, she created a small flame from her hand.
“Don’t extinguish it; create light in the other hand.”
As light appeared in her other hand, the flame extinguished.
“Wh-what are you teaching?”
Dahlia, who had been observing my practice, asked with surprise.
“I’m letting her practice double casting.”
“Does practicing really help?”
“What you’ll be doing is similar. While creating a sword, you also need to use area magic.”
“No. I just thought of an easier solution. I could just carry two swords. In emergencies, I could stick something else instead of a sword.”
“Wow, did you think that up yourself? That’s impressive.”
The Demon King praised Dahlia as he patted her head.
Dahlia blushed slightly, seeming awkward about being patted.
“Oh, right. Ririan, if someone teaches you mana control at the Academy, you shouldn’t learn it.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“You won’t be able to use it anyway. To be precise, it won’t suit you. What you’ll learn will be taught by Adele.”
She was already familiar with something similar to mana control. Of course, it wasn’t the orthodox method.
So far, she hadn’t actually learned proper mana control.
She had a chance to learn once, but she didn’t.
At that moment, Catherine raised her hand to ask the Demon King a question.
“I don’t know any mana control.”
“When you go to the Academy, you’ll be taught the mana control that suits you. So you don’t have to worry too much.”
Dahlia seemed not particularly interested in whether she had a mana control to learn already.
“The lecture is over.”
The Demon King’s advice was very helpful to us. Especially to Dahlia, it must have felt like finding a breakthrough she had been searching for.
The next morning, Jema woke up early and insisted on waking Aila, who was in the next room.
She wanted to know how to take care of a sword and headed out with Catherine.
Dahlia was up early too, tending to her sword.
Feeling a bit awkward doing nothing, I picked up a dagger and wiped it with a cloth.
Before stopping by the Academy, we went to the government office to collect our identification cards.
There was still a long line, but we didn’t have to wait to collect the issued ID cards.
The ID cards contained photos of us that we hadn’t even submitted.
Upon closer inspection, the photos were from when we entered the capital.
Collecting our ID cards, we headed towards the Academy, all of us steeled for what was to come.
Upon arriving at the Academy, the Headmaster was already down in the first-floor lobby awaiting us.
“Welcome. This is just a simple skill assessment exam, so please take it comfortably.”
The place where the Headmaster guided us was the training hall located in the basement of the Academy building.
It was a facility prepared for students’ classes, training, and sparring.
Upon entering the training hall, we saw a few spectators in what looked like audience seats.
“Who are those people?”
Aila asked the Headmaster, to which he responded with an expression that indicated we need not worry.
“I had told interested students they could come to watch.”
Since there weren’t many of them, it wasn’t really an issue.
“The exam will be conducted one person at a time. Your opponents will be advanced students from our Academy.”
There were three students seated where the Headmaster pointed.
From the left, there was a quite handsome boy and a plain-looking girl.
The person in the corner was obscured by a robe, making it impossible to determine their gender.
“Who will go first?”
“I’ll go.”
“Hmm. This is Max. You may step forward.”
The handsome male student walked out in quite a polite manner.
“Hello. Nice to meet you~”
“Yes. Hello.”
Jema and Max stood in the middle of the training hall, while the Demon King volunteered to act as the judge.
As a small explosion erupted from the Demon King’s hand, the exam commenced.
“Attack first.”
“Thank you.”
Jema drew her sword and quickly approached Max, showcasing her swordsmanship.
“Oh.”
Max showed an expression of great interest as he observed Jema’s swordsmanship.
“Headmaster, this girl isn’t a beginner, is she?”
“Really?”
Max was conversing with the Headmaster while receiving Jema’s attacks.
It must have been demanding to focus on her opponent, yet he was calmly conversing with someone else.
“Somehow familiar… this is a bit of a unique sword style.”
“Are you watching closely?”
“Yes. This is a test, not a match.”
Jema slightly widened the distance and began to envelop her sword in flames.
“You’re quite familiar with magic as well.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Jema’s gaze changed subtly compared to earlier.
“Sir, if I get hurt, please heal me.”
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
It seemed Max realized that the aura Jema was emitting was anything but ordinary.
Slowly but steadily, Jema closed the distance with Max.
Neither too fast nor too slow, like smooth water, Jema’s sword deflected Max’s and cut across his shoulder.
“That was a bit shallow.”
“Wow. I didn’t expect a new student to be this skilled.”
Max’s shoulder was drenched in blood.
“Alright. That will be all for Jema.”
The next test was Catherine’s turn.
Catherine’s opponent was the plain-looking girl student.
“My name is Karna.”
“I’m Catherine.”
The two introduced themselves politely to each other.
The Headmaster created another small explosion in his hand to signal the start of the exam.
Karna’s weapon was a spear.
For Catherine, who uses a sword, it was a very unfavorable condition due to the weapon’s advantages.
As expected, Karna utilized the spear’s advantage to stab at Catherine’s openings.
For safety, the tip of Karna’s spear was covered with cloth.
Unlike Max, who had conversed with the Headmaster, Karna was wholly focused on facing Catherine.
Perhaps because of this, although Catherine struggled quite a bit, she was unable to win against Karna.
Of course, since this was a test, there was no necessity to win.
My turn was next, but Dahlia made a suggestion to the Headmaster.
“Um, can I have a test too?”
“Hmm. We have prepared three students.”
Dahlia’s intention to take the test was something we had only shared among ourselves.
The Headmaster likely hadn’t anticipated this, so he only prepared the three candidates for the prospective students.
“This is an unusual case, so I will be your opponent.”
Regardless, Dahlia drew her sword and took her position in the center of the training hall.
“I checked your background, and you worked in the guard.”
“So?”
“That means I won’t hold back.”
Indicating that the Headmaster was serious about going against Dahlia.
A wooden sword appeared in the air. I couldn’t tell if he had created it or summoned it, but he grasped the wooden sword in his hand.
“Can you really do anything with a piece of wood?”
“Despite how it looks, it’s something I’m quite familiar with.”
The Headmaster, holding the wooden sword, beckoned to Dahlia, indicating she could attack first.
Dahlia swung her sword wide to the side.
Clang!
The clear sound of metal echoed faintly in the training hall.
She aimed for the Headmaster’s side, only to find her attack blocked by the wooden sword.
“Good movement.”
Though her attack was blocked, Dahlia didn’t stop there; she kept chaining her attacks together.
If the sword didn’t connect, she interspersed punches and kicks in between.
Whack!
The Headmaster swung the wooden sword, striking Dahlia’s back.
“Ugh!”
Before she could even scream, Dahlia collapsed on the floor.
Struggling to stand up again, Dahlia buried her sword into the ground.
Observing her slowly, the Headmaster finally spoke.
“I think it’s best to stop now.”
“Ah, not yet!”
A pillar of fire began to rise from the floor of the training hall.
“This is incomplete magic. If I do this a little more…”
While Dahlia was trying to regain her strength, the Headmaster inserted his hand into the pillar of fire.
“Y-you’re insane! Once that catches, it won’t go out!”
Dahlia, who had executed the magic, was even more surprised and yelled.
As the Headmaster thrust the wooden sword into the pillar of fire, the flames instantly transformed into a pillar of water.
“W-what…?”
“My specialty is magic. I can do at least this much.”
Dahlia, drained of her strength, sat on the floor, blankly staring off into space.
Since she showed no desire to continue the exam, it was halted there.
Finally, it was my turn. However, something felt suspicious about the Headmaster’s movements.
He sent both Max and Karna, the students brought as my opponents, out of the training hall.
Once they left, he tightly sealed the entrance to the training hall.
“Ririan, once you start attending the Academy, just say you’re an ordinary demon.”
“Huh? Why should I do that?”
“There’s no benefit in being known. Therefore, your opponent has been specially arranged.”
The figure who had been shrouded in a robe for a while didn’t leave but remained in the training hall.
That person would likely be my opponent for the test.
As I stood at the center of the training hall, the opponent trudged toward me.
We stood facing each other about five paces apart.
As the robed figure slowly took off their robe, everyone, including me, could not hide their shocked reactions.
“Ah!”
“Tada~! Ririan’s opponent is me!”
It was the Demon King.
