7 Chapter 1 (4): The examination, part 3

Chapter 1 (4): The examination, part 3

As I clipped the sheaths to my feet, I saw that most people were looking puzzled, and the triplets were the ones to appear truly perplexed.

"Huh? What's that for?" (Triplet A)

"That's odd..." (Triplet B)

"Wonder why she did that" (Triplet C)

As soon as the match started, I drew my swords and had the sheaths attach themselves to my feet, and started to rapidly attack in a fluid and dance-like manner, using both the swords in my hands and the sheaths on my feet. After less than a minute, the three were disarmed and on the ground.

"Can someone tell me what the hell just happened?" (Headmistress)

"Well, first, I attacked her from behind, which she blocked with the hilt of the sword in her right hand, causing it to leap out of her hand in a way that could only be called intentional, and she grabbed it by the blade. Then, she swung the hilt at me as she thrust the tip of her sword at Kyle who was in front and to the right of her, and he blocked it, and so she let go of it again to grab it by the hilt, but backwards, as she spun around and knocked my sword out of my hand with her sheath and I fell down" (Triplet B)

"Then, as she was thrusting at Kyle, I had attacked her from her left, which she blocked with her other sword. That caused it to twist in her grip, and she let it twist to a 90 degree angle, as she spun it towards Kyle while disarming Fred with her sheath. Right after, I blocked her sheath, or tried to, but it spun around along a plane parallel to her leg, and hit me from the other side, and I missed what happened afterwards. However, I soon found her spinning in the air while hammering away at my sword, and it eventually broke free of my grip. I've never seen anything like it, it was like she was born with swords on each limb or something" (Triplet A)

"Yeah, so, what happened to me was a thrust, then a sideways sweep with a sword whose blade was facing perpendicular to her arm, which I blocked, and it spun in the air as her sheath hit my wrist, and then she threw her sword at me. I blocked it, but she caught the two with the hands that had held the other one, and in a reverse grip too. By the time I'd noticed that, she'd caught my sword inside of one of her sheaths and flung it to the side, and hit me with the hilt of her sword" (Kyle)

They missed a few things, but that's about right.

"That's... I see what she meant when she said she was better against groups of people. Still, to beat you like that, I can only think of her as extraordinary, to say the least. I wouldn't be surprised if someone said she was as strong as the Demon Lord was at her age" (HM)

"So, S rank in swordsmanship, or unable to be evaluated?" (Fred)

"Unable, I'd say. Her style is... unique. I've never heard of anything like it, so one can't compare it to anything at all. Thus, I'd like to see how she does one-on-one with a more... normal fighting style, if possible" (HM)

I accepted that fight, and it was pre~tty boring. More accurately, I was a bit tired of the test, so I stopped hiding as much of my speed and placed my sword on his neck before he could draw his.

"With that speed... we couldn't have any kind of match, as for every strike I made, you could make three, and I wouldn't be able to block all of them even if I focused on nothing but defense" (Sword teacher)

"Well, you've beaten four A ranks, three of them on a team against just you, at their specialties. I think that, even though we can't evaluate your skill normally, that should prove you as being on par with an A rank, or an upper B rank at least. Last but not least, the axe" (HM)

I drew my axe, and faced off against a short, burly man - a dwarf - who laughed when he saw it.

"That thing? It's tiny! A child's toy! What can you do with that?" (Dwarf)

"Well, I can do this..." (Ryuu)

I made it grow to a short, two-headed battleaxe, and still kept gripping it with one hand. We were told to start, and I swung it, despite him being out of range, so he didn't try to block it... his mistake, as it grew to a poleaxe and hit him in the arm, causing him to give up due to being unable to hold his weapon anymore.

"So, I assume that the rest of the fighting style that relies on the special abilities of your axe involves being able to shift to whatever shape and size of axe you need at will mid-combat?" (HM)

"Pretty much, yeah. So, what all classes am I going to be in?" (Ryuu)

"Well, I think it's basically just magic and... magic. You're good enough at everything else to make me think you'd be able to win against the Demon Lord in a one-on-one fight, and you said that you tend to fight while switching between all kinds of weapons in a fight, meaning that you are probably stronger than we saw" (HM)

"No, I've never won against my father, so I doubt I could beat the Demon Lord. Actually, speaking of the Demon Lord, considering that he's dead, what do you think of the rumor that he's the cause of the magic beasts increasing in population and attacking people?" (Ryuu)

"I think and have always thought that's a load of crap. It's nothing more than propaganda spread by the church of the God of Light, Lars" (HM)

"Pfft... sorry... Lars... is the name... of a demon general... If he's the God of Light, I'm the Demon Lord" (Ryuu)

Well, even if he's not, I still am, but... Anyways, I'm not religious at all, so I never heard the names of the gods.

"How would you know that?" (HM)

"He's the one who taught me dark magic and how to fight with daggers... and he's a pretty good guy. Kind, funny, a great teacher, devoted to his wives, a good leader, and so on" (Ryuu)

"Wait... how did you meet him?" (HM)

"I said my father died in the Katze Wastelands to the cowardly attacks exchanged between the two sides, but I never said which side he was on. My father was a good friend of a few of the demon generals, though not a demon or a general himself. Don't worry, I hold no grudges for his death. While I don't condone the war, I do understand that it was a product of misguided beliefs about demons, and so, I feel it's better to correct those beliefs than to kill people for them" (Ryuu)

It's true, the Demon Lords are different from ordinary demons. They are more human-like, and are half made of concentrated mana.

"That would explain why you never got your elemental affinities assessed... and that explanation agrees with my thoughts. I myself have a few friends among the demons and part-demons, so I know they aren't all bad like the church says they are" (HM)

"It also explains my skills with various weapons, though not my elements and mana level" (Ryuu)

"In any case, welcome to the training school. I'll give you your ID in a few minutes" (HM)

"One more thing... Considering all of the weapons I carry, it would be odd for me to only be in the magic classes... what would you recommend I do about that?" (Ryuu)

"Oh... yeah, good point... Well, I could have you in the spear and axe classes, if you'd like. Your fighting style for the others is too strange to fit in, or you are too good to get anything out of them. Sound good?" (HM)

"Sure, why not. Could be fun, after all" (Ryuu)

Ten minutes later, I had my ID, which had my name, age, role in a party, and what classes I would be in. It had a second page that could be accessed by touching a specific spot, which had my elements and mana value.