Demon's Evaluation

Deep breath. Extend the arm. Focus on the dummy. Those thoughts ran through the head of the very nervous young man at the front of the line. Probably. From where she stood on her tiptoes at the back of the line, Lilac could see his frame quaking under the pressure of performing well.

All eyes were on him, waiting for his magic to manifest. Another deep breath. Whoosh. A concentrated gust of wind blew toward the dummy, barely nudging it from its position.

“Good job.” The observing instructor gave the lad a simple nod.

The next couple students displayed other types of magic at slightly less embarrassing levels. When it was Ella’s time to shine, Lilac stretched herself up to peer over the shoulders of those in front of her. The humans so far had displayed cringeworthy levels of magic. She wondered what Ella, of whom everyone admired, would exhibit.

Ella shifted her attention to their professor. “Mr. Oria, do we have to use an offensive spell for this exam?”

“Not necessarily,” he replied. “Whatever you would like to show us.”

“Excellent. Thank you,” she bowed and turned back to the mannequin. Without any movement or chanting from her, golden rays of light descended upon the dummy. A light green hue lined the dark blue material for a minute and then disappeared with the heavenly light. Sighs and light claps of wonder accompanied her display.

“Splendid, Miss Elhart. Performing a healing spell without any physical motion is a remarkable feat,” William Oria complimented her.

“You flatter me, Mr. Oria.” She smiled and stepped off to the side for Alan to test his magic.

Lilac focused all of her attention on the hero. This was the moment she would experience what his magic was like firsthand. The Demon King would be very pleased to hear about this.

Alan took a couple steps forward and raised his open hand into the sky. A long, ethereal golden spear appeared in his grasp. He took a single step back, dragging his foot on the ground. With the might of a horde of demons, he hurled the magic spear at the dummy.

It pierced the target with ease and exploded into wild bolts of lightning, blinding everyone who was watching. The smoke cleared a moment later, revealing shattered pieces of mannequin littering the ground in a circle around its scorched base.

The instructor’s eyes were as wide as the blast radius. “That was… quite the display. We’ll have to practice with another dummy for the time being while we replace this one.”

Gasps sounded from the rest of the group at the display of power the hero had just shown. For Lilac, seeing the hero’s power left her elated. She didn’t know why, but she was entranced by his magic–the magic that was destined to slay her kind.

“I can fix it,” Ella piped in. The same golden light she had previously created materialized above the broken pieces of the mannequin, and the pieces floated back to their original positions until the dummy was whole again.

“Wow. Thank you, Ella. Your assistance is most appreciated,” Professor Oria said.

“It’s my pleasure,” she responded with a smile.

Eventually, it was her turn to show what she could do. ‘How can I make this as cool as the hero’s…?’ She thought, scrolling through the magic she knew in her mind. A thought came to mind and put a grin on her lips. Lilac clasped her hands behind her back and stared at the mannequin.

Pools of black materialized on either side of the dummy. Thick, obsidian-like lances burst forth from the spots, skewering the dummy in the blink of an eye. Above the black puddles, two more spawned in the air, thrusting more spears into the target from above.

Beaming with pride, she turned her back to the swiss cheese mannequin, expecting the same oohs and ahhs that Alan and Ella received, only to find her classmates wide-eyed in silence.

“...Impressive,” the instructor finally said after the manifestation of Lilac’s dark magic disappeared. “Ella, would you do us a favor and restore the dummy please?”

“Yes, of course,” Ella responded. The same light as before appeared, and the massive holes in the dummy’s form began to mend.

“Well, that was… quite the conclusion to the magic portion of your evaluations. Let’s move on to swordsmanship. I believe they are about to wrap up,” he said, glancing at the group practicing with swords on the grass.

Lilac followed the group over to where the other instructor was watching over another group of students, a little bummed that she didn’t get a positive reaction to her showcase.

While they were approaching, Lilliana noticed and turned to face them. “Looks like the next group is ready for some clashing,” her voice rang loud. “Give the new group your weapons,” she commanded the practicing students, who obeyed the order.

A girl handed her wooden blade to Lilac, her breathing too rapid for any passing remarks.

Once all of Lilac’s group were armed with wood, the battle-hardened woman smirked and crossed her arms. “I bet you lot are wondering why high and mighty nobles such as yourselves have to wield a blade. Simple. Nobody likes a lord that can’t do anything on his own. Sometimes you have to take things into your own hands, so it’s always better to be prepared. Understood?” Silence followed her words. “Understood?!” She repeated, this time obtaining a verbal response from the gathered body.

“Good. Now, let’s split you all into pairs. You two,” she pointed to a couple students. “You’ll be practicing together. You two are a pair,” she pointed to another couple. “And you two.”

Lilac glanced over to see who her designated sparring partner would be. Her eyes widened. The one she was selected to spar with was none other than the one she was hoping to practice with–the hero.

Alan met her eyes and walked over to her. “Looks like we’re partners. It was… Lilac, right?”

She nodded to confirm. “And your name is Alan.”

“That’s right. Are you very experienced with the sword?” He asked.

“Not particularly,” she shook her head. “I mean, I don’t know for sure if I’ll be any good or not, since I’ve never used one before…” Lilac’s body was filled with an uneasy excitement. She was really happy to be paired with the hero, but at the same time, she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of him. Being unable to wield a sword would likely look bad in his eyes… ‘Wait, why do I care about that?!’

“In that case, I’ll go easy on you.” Alan took his position a few paces away and entered a battle stance, his sword ready. “Come at me.”

Analyzing his form, she copied the way he held the sword and ran at him with her sword high.

Alan stood his ground, waiting for the perfect moment to retaliate. His wooden blade lifted to block the oncoming attack, followed by a quick step back.

Lilac tried attacking again and again, alternating her direction of attack. Each and every swipe was blocked in the same fashion as the first. Her onslaught was fueled by her determination to get at least one hit in. Her eyes caught Alan’s for a moment; his face was lit with a soft smile, as if he was spending time with a dear friend.

That expression caused Lilac to waver for a second. In that moment of hesitation, Alan turned his block into a parry and bopped Lilac on the head.

“Ow!” Lilac’s hand reached up to cover the throbbing spot he had struck. “What was that for?”

“Never show a moment of weakness,” he advised, still wearing that distracting smile. “This is a duel, remember?”

“I know that,” she pouted. “So… how did I do for my first time wielding a sword?”

“A little aggressive,” he said. “Your movements were sloppy, too. But for the first time? Not bad.”

Lilac’s countenance lifted with glee at the compliment. “Really?”

“You’ve got potential. Shall we go again? This time I won’t hold back,” he lowered himself into another battle stance.

She nodded in agreement and copied his stance. ‘If he says I was being too aggressive last time, maybe this time I’ll wait for–’ Before she could finish her thought, her sword was flying through the air behind her, and a force against her calf knocked her to her knees.

The hero was already behind her. He stepped into view and offered her a hand.

“How did you move so fast?” She asked as she reached out to accept his aid.

“Years of practice.” Alan pulled Lilac to her feet. “My father was very strict with our training.”

“Our?” Lilac repeated.

“I have three brothers,” he explained. “Swordsmanship is very important to my father. He made sure we each could best even the greatest knights in our domain.”

“Oh, that’s interesting! So it wasn’t because you’re the hero?”

Alan chuckled. “No, that wasn’t discovered until recently,” he said. “I–”

“You two, stop chatting with your mouths and start talking with your swords!” Their militant instructor barked at them.

“Apologies!” Lilac called out in return. She fetched her sword in a hurry and ran back to where Alan was waiting. “Try not to go all out this time.”

“I won’t,” he promised, raising his wooden sword in a defensive stance.

Day one of class, and she was already learning loads about the hero. When class was over, she wanted to rush back to her room and tell Jharis everything she had experienced.