My opponent for the exam is the Demon King.
As I settled down in the center of the training ground, the Demon King snapped their fingers.
Clang!
Weapons such as swords, spears, and axes appeared in a line in front of the Demon King.
“Choose.”
As I hesitated to choose, the Demon King looked at the dagger in my hand and said.
“Ririan has a dagger. So do I.”
They pulled a sword from the scattered weapons on the floor and held it in their hand.
Swish!
The Demon King sliced the sword with their bare hands, making it the same length as my dagger.
“Is this enough?”
“Wait a moment!”
Seeing this, Aila crouched down to match the Demon King’s gaze.
“You shouldn’t go too far.”
“It’s fine. I wanted to try being an examiner at least once.”
“You didn’t understand it at all.”
Aila stood up and quickly approached me.
“Ririan, if you really feel like you’re going to die, call for me. Got it?”
“Uh, uh.”
“I can see that Nive seems too happy and is losing their mind. If it gets dangerous, you must call!”
I nodded and prepared to take the exam.
The Demon King, seemingly overjoyed, bounced up and down with the sword in hand, warming up.
“Now, shall we begin?”
As I slowly nodded my head, ignoring the Headmaster’s signal for the exam, the Demon King moved immediately.
I quickly scanned the area to find where the Demon King had vanished.
Thud!
A strong impact from behind almost made me fall forward.
“Hm. This much is fine.”
After that, several more punches and kicks came my way, much more powerful than the first.
I couldn’t even react and was just being hit repeatedly.
At this rate, the exam would end without me being able to attack even once.
I had to show at least some level of skill, even if I couldn’t win.
From a defenseless stance, I took up a defensive position.
Right now, I had no means to catch the rapidly moving Demon King.
The only opportunity would be when I was attacked.
It would hurt, but if I didn’t do it that way, there was no other method.
The moment I finished my thought, a powerful kick struck my side.
“Gah!”
I grabbed!
The Demon King’s delicate and slender ankle felt so fragile that it might break with just a little pressure.
Despite their youthful appearance, the Demon King was a several hundred-year-old being who had been through countless battles!
I steeled my resolve and lifted my arm.
The Demon King, caught in my grip, looked at me with a bright smile.
“Impressive. You caught me! It would be best to act quickly if you want to do something!”
They struggled to break free from my grip.
With the hand holding the dagger, I clenched my fist and struck the Demon King’s abdomen with all my might.
The Demon King didn’t make a sound of pain, still smiling.
Before I knew it, they had slipped out of my grasp.
“A bit lukewarm. Your strength is still lacking.”
The same tactic wouldn’t work a second time.
I twisted my body to throw punches according to the Demon King’s movements.
“That grazed me. But Ririan, why have you been holding onto that dagger since earlier?”
What was in my hand was a weapon.
When I had grabbed the Demon King earlier, I had a perfect opportunity to stab.
The problem was that this was an exam, not a match.
In an exam, is it even allowed to injure an opponent with a weapon?
There was also a more fundamental issue.
I couldn’t truly hit the Demon King.
Up until yesterday, I had received so much advice and help from them, and they had treated me so well.
Psychologically, I had no intention of attacking the Demon King whatsoever.
On the contrary, I felt a pang of guilt even while thinking of hitting.
What was I supposed to prove through this exam?
“Looks like you’re overthinking things.”
“What?”
“Just attack. You’ll get used to being hit.”
Hearing that made me even more anxious.
As the Demon King swung the broken sword, my dagger yelled urgently.
“Right above!”
In response to the sound, I raised my hand.
Clang!
Thanks to the dagger’s assistance, I successfully defended once.
“There, dagger, be quiet for a moment!”
Clang!
When the Demon King snapped their fingers, the dagger’s voice changed to an incomprehensible noise.
“Now, let’s have a little more fun.”
Seeing the Demon King’s red eyes, my body turned cold.
Swish!
At such close range, I had no time to think as I blocked the Demon King’s swings.
Though it was a dagger to me, the length of the Demon King’s sword was just enough to cause scratches on my body.
I got a few cuts, but gradually began to get used to it.
Thud!
At that moment, a kick from the Demon King hit my abdomen and threw off my stance.
Feeling it was dangerous, I rolled on the ground to narrowly evade the attack.
Seeing the Demon King’s sword stuck in the ground, I quickly turned to look at the Headmaster.
Since the Headmaster had no authority to mediate this exam, they watched with an anxious expression.
“Let’s play~”
The Demon King, half out of their mind, tried to attack while laughing.
Still on the ground, I pretended to rise but kicked at the Demon King.
At that moment, it felt slightly easier on my conscience than hitting with my fists.
A thought flashed through my mind.
If I thought about it, the Demon King hadn’t really hit me with their fists.
Of course, their legs were longer than their arms, giving them an advantage, but the Demon King had overwhelming speed compared to me.
They had plenty of opportunities to attack with their fists but didn’t.
While hitting the opponent is the same in principle, just like I felt a moment ago, using legs for an attack might relieve some of the psychological burden.
The Demon King, who was sent flying from my kick, did a flip in the air and landed on the ground.
“That attack hurt a bit. Good!”
The Demon King ran toward me with glee.
I widened the distance and prepared to kick.
As my large movement missed its target, the Demon King’s foot came flying in.
Enduring the pain, I embraced the Demon King and threw them.
After several exchanges of this strange back and forth, one of my legs crumbled, and I staggered to the ground.
My stamina had run out.
I hurriedly glanced at Aila and then collapsed to the ground.
Thud!
With a loud noise, I found myself nestled in something soft.
“Nive, that’s enough!”
“Why? I’m having fun!”
“You’re not saying that you’re having fun right now. This is an exam, after all.”
“Is my opponent Aila then?”
“Your opponent will be elsewhere.”
Hearing that, the Demon King dropped the sword they held and plopped down on the ground.
After a moment, with her eyes closed, the Demon King returned to her usual expression.
“Looking back, I think I was a bit too harsh. Sorry. It’s been a while, and I got a bit excited.”
Things settled down faster than I expected.
After that, I came to the Headmaster’s office while still being held by Aila.
In the Headmaster’s office, there was a strange scene where the Demon King sat in the main seat, with the Headmaster sitting beside them.
“I will now announce the exam results.”
For the exam results, Jema was ranked advanced, and Catherine was ranked beginner.
“The advanced class holds classes in a separate building.”
“Isn’t this one?”
“Yes. This building teaches from beginner to intermediate levels.”
After the Headmaster’s words, Jema pondered for a moment and then made a suggestion.
“Could you assign me to the intermediate class?”
“Your skills are at the advanced class level, though?”
Jema glanced at me and insisted on the intermediate class.
“There are still things I want to learn.”
Seeing where Jema’s eyes were pointing, the Headmaster nodded with a smile.
Afterward, the Headmaster once again encouraged Dahlia to enroll.
“What about you?”
Dahlia thought for a moment and then opened her mouth as if she had made her decision.
“I will enroll.”
“Then you will be in the intermediate class.”
The Demon King, not the Headmaster, was the one to disclose my exam results.
“Ririan is in the beginner class.”
“Teacher, what does that mean?”
“Adele, Ririan hasn’t used any magic and doesn’t know swordsmanship properly. That’s why I kept fighting with my bare hands.”
While I could use simple magic, it wasn’t at a level that could be used in combat.
Upon hearing the results, I thought it was a reasonable conclusion.
There was no need to bring up any past experiences of catching criminals outside.
“I will finish the enrollment procedures. You can come starting tomorrow.”
“I have something to discuss with Adele, so could everyone step out for a moment?”
At the Demon King’s words, we all stood up from our seats and left the Headmaster’s office.
“Ririan stays.”
“Just me?”
“Yeah. It’s about you.”
After everyone left, I sat back down again.
The Demon King moved to sit on my knees from the main seat.
“Did you see earlier?”
“Yes. It was a remarkable match, Teacher.”
“There’s something you need to know about Ririan.”
The Headmaster magically brought a teacup and some snacks.
The Demon King took a sip of the tea placed on the table and bit into a cookie.
After swallowing the cookie in their mouth, the Demon King continued.
“The magic training you’re doing is ineffective against dragons.”
“I kind of expected that. But doesn’t that boy control mana already; does that mean he has some form of magic?”
“No. That’s just something he can do. It’s because of Manaheart.”
When I heard that unexpected term, I looked confused.
“What is this Manaheart?”
“It’s a nickname attached to a dragon’s heart. The old sorcerers believed it would amplify their magical abilities dramatically.”
“In practice, it’s completely different.”
It was a claim that the dragon’s heart was special.
“If he has Manaheart, then there’s no need for magic training.”
“But you still need a way to control it. So, about that…”
As the Demon King spoke, the Headmaster stood up and began rummaging through their desk drawer.
They returned with an old book and a few sheets of paper and placed them on the table.
“Here. Since I’m still researching it, I’ve only interpreted a few pages.”
The Headmaster opened the book and placed the papers beside it.
“You’ve done a lot. But of course, you also can’t interpret the latter part, right?”
“Yeah. It seems the same for you…”
The Demon King picked up the old book, flipped through a few pages, and showed them to me.
“Now, read as far as you can.”
“What?”
When suddenly asked to read the book, I grabbed it reflexively.
Zing!
As I held the book, I heard a voice echo in my head.
“O descendants of ours, our future.”
