Theory Exam; That's Cheating, Cake

I urge that side of me to suppress itself, and it eventually does. I do not respond to the suit of armor again, worried that I would fly off the handle and destroy it outright.

Even if I wanted to do that, now would not be the time.

Taking a page from Silver's book, I shut my eyes and prop my head up with my arm, slowly returning to the calm state I once was in. I hear Red-Eye's voice echoing throughout the hall, likely due to the use of an enchantment, "Welcome all, to the College of Magic Arts' First Year Entrance Exam. I am Cassius Garlan Thornwel, whom you may refer to as Sir Thornwel for the duration of the exam."

"You are gathered in the assembly hall today for the theory exam, which you will have three hours to complete. If you feel that you have finished before the allotted time is up, inform the puppets stationed near you and they will take you back to your residences until the practical exam begins. Any questions can also be posed to them."

"It is now time for the theory exam to begin. Good luck to all."

In the instant that his last word fell, an endless clouds of glitter encompassed the roof of the hall. Above every student's head, some of that glitter fell down and landed on their desk. Once there, the glitter took the shape of a thick test paper booklet, an inkwell and a quill for writing. Following some gasps and amazed remarks, silence reigned in the hall. Nothing could be heard but the uncanny sound of pages being turned at the same time.

I look at my own test paper, not opening it immediately, and see the College's crest along with its name. The full name of the College of Magic Arts is actually: His Heavenly Majesty, The Demigod Prince's College of Magic Arts, which makes sense when I think about it.

How else could this college be regarded as the top college if it didn't, at least, have an incredible background.

So, I yawn, Earl personally set up a school in my realm- and on the continent of Fantasia, no less. He must have found out about the mana vein that lies beneath Fantasia, constantly belching out the purest, thickest and most rich mana. There were only two other veins like it, but they were kept secret due to the fact that one was enough to supply my race for countless millennia.

Fortunately for me, I trusted only one other person with the knowledge of their existence; and that person would never betray me.

Luckily for Earl, he has long perished; various sources of historical records attest to that. Otherwise, if he were still alive, I would have searched every corner of the world for him and stopped at nothing to harvest his brain. I'd keep it alive within a glass container and allow it to watch as I devoured the souls of all the precious gods and humans he holds dear.

Then- Then!

"Ahem!"

I am snapped out of my vengeful fantasy by Arthur's harrumph. He looks at me as if I have completely lost it, and points at the paper on the desk in front of me.

He has a point. I would likely have forgotten all about the exam and gone off imagining all sorts of scenarios in which I exacted vengeance upon Earl. How could I ever let him off easy when he turned my people into lowly servants and humiliating slaves?

Even I was not that cruel; Razalith tortured the humans and gods she held captive until they died, which was quite merciful!

Refocusing on the task at hand, I open the booklet and begin the exam.

It begins with simple science; things like spell construction, mana manipulation, enhancement, enchantment and incantation structure. From there, the science portion opens up into the complications regarding spell alteration, and I gleefully complete it while also noting the ideas proposed by the test.

Arthur was right. Magic theory, among the higher class, has indeed advanced. The ways in which the exam forces you apply the theories are all new and inventive. I smile at them, almost forgetting that it is thanks to the 'Demigod Prince' that these things have become a reality.

When I finish the science portion, I enter potion territory. I immediately grimace and give an exasperated sigh. There was nothing that I hated more than the profundities of alchemical mixtures, the herbs which went into them and the process by which they were turned into potions.

To me, potion-making is the Art of Cowardice. A method to allow even the weakest magus to bypass years of grueling training in order to perfectly perform some amazing feat. There were potions that allowed you to turn invisible, when you yourself had not the faintest idea how to cast an invisibility spell.

Potions that could make you 20 times more physical strong, without you even knowing how to manipulate your own mana and enhance your body. To make matters worse, in the latter days of Razalith's time as Demon Lord, there were talks of developing potions that could temporarily increase the amount of mana at a person's immediate disposal.

In my opinion, potion making was for the true failures of magic. Even so, I was forced to study it by a General of mine, so I was easily able to complete that portion of the test.

Moving on from there, I find myself in the territory of magic. The paper brings forth questions about the nature of magic, the existence of mana, the branches of magic and even the various ranks attained by mages.

Of course, I am confident that there is no one who knows more about the branches of magic than I. Sorcery, witchcraft, runecrafting, enhancement, divination, necromancy, spirit mediation, dark magic and more are all areas in which I exceed marvelously. Even so, the nature of the questions gives me pause, enabling me to understand the one area in which I am lacking.

Perspective.

To demons, divination and spirit mediation are useless skills to cultivate. With our innate ability, all of our potential lay in sorcery, witchcraft and enhancement. Hell, if it weren't due to the insistence of some of my subordinates, I would never have become so well versed in anything else. As for humans and gods, other branches of magic would be a lot more important and useful to them, given their own unique abilities.

For humans, their monstrous adaptability allowed them to perfect dark magic, spirit mediation and necromancy with relative ease. Even I cannot compare to some of the best human mages in those areas.

As for the Gods ...they were a different story.

Their obsession with Heaven and the mysteries of existence prompted them a special ability, far greater than the humans' and the demons': Divine Understanding. According to my knowledge, however, this was a fraction of the truth. They hadn't acquired these abilities through devotion, but were granted to them by Heaven for a specific purpose.

Fortunately, my thirst for knowledge during my days as Razalith provided me with immense stores of knowledge and I was able to clear that portion of the exam. When I finally arrive at the history section, I am stumped. Despite the fact that I read up on so many things, I was subconsciously focused on the events regarding Razalith and the demons. I did not closely follow the accomplishments and advancements of the humans and gods, and could only give vague responses.

Realizing that I am at risk of not receiving a perfect score, I immediately turn my mind's eye toward Cake. She is carefreely scribbling on the paper while trying her best to stifle her giggles. Fides is actually training her in the use of truth magic; having her perform minor spells on the words that she has written.

Casting my mind's eye on her test paper, I see firsthand what is happening.

Cake has written, 'La La Bla Bla, four five six,' which seems to be the extent of her capacity for writing. I make a note of this so that I may teach her to read and write, but I remember that she has Fides with her. With truth magic, Cake can easily rewrite her truth and become a master at reading and writing instantly- truly a skill to be envious of.

Suddenly, the words that Cake has written transform into the very words that will answer the question. Fides is helping her by cheating. Openly, blatantly, disrespectfully cheating!

Who could stop them? Besides myself, who in here would know enough about truth magic to identify its use? Not even Red-Eye the God Examiner, I suspect.

Cake continues scribbling random words, then practicing her truth magic by altering the words she has written into the true answer. Absolutely devilish! I must get her to help me with this history section!

I send an untraceable burst of mental energy over to Fides, desperate to get her attention. She eventually notices and crawls out of Cake's clothes. Sneakily scampering across the ground, Fides goes unnoticed by the puppets and climbs up my leg. Once she is in physical contact with me, I cast a telepathy spell on the low. Thanks to the physical contact, no mana leaks and we are not noticed.

"Help me out her, Niece!"

"Huh? You don't know the answers?"

Fides looks over my paper with her mind and sighs, "Fine, but now you owe me one trillion!"

With a thought, she casts her spell on my paper. I quickly start pretending to write while the answers begin appearing on the paper, then heave a sigh of relief once Fides has returned to Cake. I suddenly notice Arthur, who is sweating and grabbing his hair in frustration.

I feel sorry for him, so I sent some good luck his way and go about my business. If he was really struggling, he would do the same thing I did.

Of course, Arthur couldn't do what I did, because to even send a burst of mental energy, you need to be adept at telepathy. I did not train Arthur in telepathy.

Eventually, I finish the exam. I am about to raise my hand, but I hear one of the puppet armors say, "Finished, Mister Silver?"

Turning around, I see Silver putting his hand down and nodding. An idea comes to me, and I raise my hand. "I'm finished as well."

"Very well, Young Lady. Come with me."

Another suit of armor steps forward to send me out, but my focus is on Silver and the puppet he is with. The magic circle appears under him, and my eyes instantly focus on its structure. With a bit of mental energy work, I can deduce the coordinates assigned to the magic circle.

Silver is sent away, and I am also sent away. However, during my teleportation, I cast my own spell. A spell that will take me to wherever it is Silver has gone.