Demon's First Day of School

A week had passed, and Lilac’s first day of school was about to start. Excitement coursed through Lilac’s veins as she waited behind a desk with dark brown finish for class to start. Other students she recognized from the opening ceremony filled in the rows of seating, chatting amongst their old and new friends.

Thud. Next to her, a familiar book took up most of the deskspace. Scarlett quietly sat down beside her.

“Scarlett! Are you excited for our first day of class?” She asked, attempting to spread her energy.

“A little bit…” Scarlett glanced toward the window to view the outside garden bathed in bright sunlight.

“Come on, don’t you want to figure out how to use your magic?” Lilac leaned forward, resting her arms on the wood in front of her.

“Y-yeah, I do, but…” Her head twisted and turned to scan the room. “This room is a lot smaller than the entrance hall…”

“Oh, you feel a little claustrophobic in here?”

“It’s like taking a stroll through the forest, only to realize you’re being watched by thousands of hungry crows,” she held herself and shivered.

“But no one here would eat you,” Lilac said.

“I don’t know…” Scarlett shrunk in her seat. “What if there’s a demon or two hiding among us?”

Lilac chuckled with an audible awkwardness. “I doubt it.”

In the front of the room, a thin middle aged man with neatly combed white hair took his spot behind the podium. He adjusted a red tie beneath his grey suit and cleared his throat. “Welcome to your first year at Silverten Academy,” he said with a soft yet loud voice that silenced the conversations in the room. “I am your main instructor, William Oria. Today, we will be organizing you all into groups according to your aptitude for magic and weaponry. We will use these groups during the training section of class. Any questions?”

A few hands raised in the audience.

“Yes?” The instructor nodded toward a student who had their hand up.

“How are we going to determine who goes in which group?” The student asked.

“Excellent question. We’re going on a field trip to the academy’s backyard and will test your magic and swordsmanship abilities. Next question?”

“What if we’re good at both?”

“Looks like there are no more questions. Everyone, please follow me to the training fields to begin your first test.” William stepped away from the podium and exited the room. The remaining hands went down and the class stood, a little bit confused, to follow their teacher.

Lilac jumped to her feet, interested to see who her group would consist of; hopefully the hero, if everything worked out. That would make her job much easier.

Several students passed by in a mixture of a bunch and a line, heading out of the classroom after their teacher. Scarlett pulled her massive book to her chest but remained seated. Her lack of movement caught Lilac’s attention.

“What’s wrong?”

Scarlett closed her eyes for a moment and stood up. “N-nothing. I’m probably just overthinking…”

“Don’t worry,” Lilac said as she moved to join the flow of students that was coming to an end. “Everything will–” Smack. The collision knocked her back a couple steps. She shook her head, wishing she had paid attention to where she was walking.

Alan had paused where Lilac had bumped into him and was gazing at her with an unreadable gaze. “Careful,” was the only word that he uttered.

Ella’s head poked out from behind the hero. “Are you okay, Lilac?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry…” She glanced to the side in embarrassment.

“You should really be more careful,” Ella continued. “It’s unbecoming of a noble to be ignorant of her surroundings.”

“Thanks for your concern,” Lilac muttered and slipped through the space between her desk and where Alan stood. Scarlett hurried after her, head low to avoid eye contact with the others.

—

Lilac joined the back of the crowd of students in the grass. Directly in front of her and past the crowd was a toned woman with multiple scars spread across the portions of her body that her armor did not cover, including a long blemish across her cheek. Standing to her side was the white-haired instructor that had introduced himself previously in the classroom. Behind them was a large wooden crate full of well crafted wooden swords and bows made for practice.

“Everyone, listen up. This is Lilliana Mellar, one of my assistants,” William motioned with a gloved hand to the muscular woman standing to his left. “She will be in charge of your exams today. Please lend her your ears.”

After a few moments' delay to allow everyone time to focus their attention on the woman, she began her speech. “Today you will all be taking your aptitude exams. As you can see, behind me are several dummies. These are for magic and archery. For close range weapons, you will be engaging in a mock duel with a partner.”

The students’ gazes all drifted behind the intimidating redhead giving the speech. A massive paved area interrupted the fields of grass, housing rows of dummies in the shape of humans. Some were made of a tough, dark blue material, while others further down were built with fine metal, resembling the armor worn by lower ranked soldiers.

“To not waste any of our time, we will be splitting everyone into three groups. One for archery, one for swordsmanship, and the other for magic. Once we have the results we need, we’ll rotate through each station. Got it? Good.” Her proud gaze swept through the crowd of students. Then, she raised her arm and slowly lowered it until it was at shoulder level, pointed slightly toward her right. “Everyone to your left of my arm will start with archery.” Her arm moved to the side, pointing this time toward the left. “And everyone to the right of this will be beginning with swordsmanship. Everyone else, you’re on the magic station. Oria will be observing both groups with the dummies, and I will be watching you lot with the swords. Dismissed.”

Because Lilac found herself in the group that started with the magic test, she followed the slim teacher onto the training grounds with the rest of her group.

“Archers, make your way to the training dummies at the end. Those of you showcasing your magical prowess, stay right here,” he said, turning toward the students.

The two groups split. In Lilac’s group were twelve students, herself included. Two faces stuck out to her–Alan and Ella. Mixed feelings stirred within Lilac. She was glad to be in the same group as the hero, as she could easily observe what his strengths and weaknesses are. However, Ella’s presence made it difficult to approach the hero, and given how observant she had experienced Ella to be in the past, she would likely notice her watching. Ella was already suspicious of her. At least, that’s what Lilac believed. It was hard to tell with her.

“Can everyone hear me?” Professor Oria called out, loud enough for both groups to hear. “Gather yourselves into a line opposite the dummy. For this test, we’ll be going one at a time so I can pay close attention to each and every one of you.” He paused while the two groups scrambled to form a line.

Distracted by watching the hero, Lilac was the last to line up. The target of her focus was fifth in line, just behind Ella.

“Everyone ready?” The instructor questioned. “Okay. Magic group, your job is to muster whatever magic you can to strike the dummy in front of you. Archers, your task is simple. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let the test begin!”