The Magic Assessment - Part 1

The biggest obstacle to saving Seraphine is Lily Everlight. Her plot armor makes her invincible, so I must avoid a head on battle at all cost.

Assassination might be an option, but if it fails and Lily awakens her 'Saintess' powers, it'll be game over.

My best bet is to simply not engage her. As long as she stays out of trouble, her Saintess powers will not manifest and she'll be just a normal, powerless student.

So instead, I came up with the plan to infiltrate the academy and keep Seraphine away from Lily. With my powers it was easy to disguise myself as a human and enroll as a student.

Too easy even. It seems the only thing keeping the original Demon Lord at bay was his fear of the prophecy.

The student body at Valastra Academy is divided between nobles, who attend because of their status, and the few commoners, who are there thanks to merit and magic potential. To get close to Seraphine it seemed fitting to enroll as the son of a powerful noble. 

This is why I decided to impersonate the son of a Marquis, specifically Marquis Draivelle. House Draivelle is far from the capital and currently tied up in the war against my demonic army. Contact between them and anyone at the academy would be sparse and mostly limited to written messages, which my spies can intercept.

Once I got into the academy, I could use my knowledge of the game to manipulate Seraphine into staying away from Lily. I was so close to pulling it off! But then Lily strayed from the plot and showed up when she shouldn’t have.

I'll have to find out what caused her to stray from the script...

After my failure with Seraphine I returned to my room to reflect. As I entered, I saw my handmaiden sitting in the windowsill. Out of the public's eye she was free to drop the human facade, and instead she appeared in her true demonic identity: That of Rieva, a demon general serving as my spymaster.

"Do you have anything to report?" I asked.

She looked up at me, her black lips curling in a smile that exposed her pointed teeth.

"It appears you were right, my lord. This place really does smell of that sickenly holy magic." Rieva spoke with her sultry voice.

If that's all she has to say, that means at least this part of my plan is working out as intended.

When I left for the academy, I felt it was necessary to give my subordinates a plausible explanation for my actions. Of course they'd never disobey my commands, but I didn't want anyone snooping around and accidentally getting in my way, least of all my spymaster.

So I told them the Saint was a student at Valastra Academy. I didn't tell them it was Lily though, instead Rieva is under the impression that we are here to search for the Saint.

"Of course it does. Or did you doubt my judgement?"

"Not at all, my lord." Rieva responded, I couldn't help but grin a little when this confident femme fatale almost sounded embarrassed.

"We need to narrow down the list of potential suspects. In a few days, all students participate in a magic assessment. The test will give a good indication of which students have potential for great power." I explained to Rieva.

To me, the assessment has a different significance. In the original timeline of events, the results of the assessment contributed to Seraphine's animosity towards Lily.

Seraphine was supposed to get the best result out of the female students. It would have been the culmination of years of rigorous study and training. But Lily beat her. She got a better result despite not even knowing any advanced magic.

But there's more to the assessment than that. Lily's top score is what gets her on the radar of every other student, and the attention of her potential suitors. Without that result, I might be able to avoid many headaches later on.

"Very well, my lord. We will keep a close eye on the assessment."

The assessment is split into two parts: First, a combat exercise, where each student gets to demonstrate their prowess at controlling and channeling magic. Second, a magical knowledge assessment, which works more like a talent show than an actual assessment. Every student shows off their most unique spell, with bonus points for originality and creativity.

The scores from the two parts are then combined at a ratio of 70:30, but which part is more valued differs between male and female students. For males, it's 70% combat and 30% theory, while the girls have it reversed.

Seraphine is going to get an outstanding score in the combat part. What it comes down to is whether I can sabotage Lily during the knowledge assessment without anyone noticing.

On the day of the assessment, I arrived at the courtyard to find most other students already present. However, Lily and Seraphine were not among them. In the game, Lily overslept today and arrived late. It looks like that part is going to happen like I remember. Since the game is told from Lily's perspective, I didn't know if Seraphine is supposed to be here or not.

If the events changed again and Seraphine doesn't show up...

"Rieva." I said quietly.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Tell your agents to look for Lady Seraphine Mireydyne. Find out if she's at the courtyard."

"Understood, my lord." Rieva bowed slightly before disappearing into the crowd. If Seraphine wasn't here, I needed to find out where she is. If she missed the assessment, it would throw off my entire plan. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long for an answer. Rieva soon came back and told me she had located Seraphine.

"Where is she?" I asked, eager to know if she's going to participate or not.

"She appears to be in the forest at the edge of campus. A floating eye spotted her leaving school grounds, heading for the forest about two hours ago. She has yet to return."

What is she doing there? She can't be skipping the assessment, that wouldn't fit her personality at all. I must find out the truth!

"I will go investigate." I informed Rieva.

"Yes, my lord." Rieva didn't seem to question my actions. I was worried she might wonder what my interest in Seraphine is, but I suppose she trusts my judgement. No time to lose, I made my way towards the forest.