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Serena Snape: Love of Magic - chapter 66
🕑 Added 2025-01-25 01:12:39 +0000 UTCAuthor's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Of course, there was a written test.
I already knew it; I had prepared for it. I had a month to read everything I could find in the public libraries of Lucifaad. Lucius's speed-reading glasses made everything much easier. The problem was that I had to take the test for both the middle class and the High-class. There were a lot of questions.
They have asked practically everything that could be asked about the human world, including the underworld, history, society, government, politics in general, notable individuals, and culture. Practically everything.
It was easy, but even with my gold healing, I could feel a cramp in my arm after typing for 5 hours straight.
Other devils were taking the written tests with me, not many, just six others, and we were under Pandemonica's watchful eye as we wrote until we were exhausted. Curiously, or not, maybe it was set up that way; we were skipping classes. All of us low-class devils were trying to promote to the high-class, and from what I saw, five of them were reincarnated devils.
After the general knowledge written test, additional written tests were to follow.
Tests on strategies and tactics.
They presented us with various hypothetical situations, and we had a hypothetical Peerage. We were struggling in one situation, and we had to decide what to do, who to send to the front, and why. Alternatively, they also asked questions about how a Peerage would be administered in certain social situations.
They were varied, but most of the questions were related to the Peerage and its extensions. Clearly, they wanted to test and see how they would handle a future Peerage for the devils they tried to promote.
The next test was manners and etiquette. All high-class devils were granted a title of nobility, so they had to meet a standard of manners and etiquette, which included everything from table manners to ballroom dancing.
Several helpers brought by Pandemonica were tasked with testing us on various etiquette and formalities. Also, to my surprise, they barely batted an eyelid when I asked for a female partner for the dance tryouts; dancing with a man who isn't related to Lucius gave me the creeps.
I should thank Canon Lucius for placing so much of the pureblood etiquette on Severus' head, and this Lucius for helping me refresh those memories. Hence, they felt more organic and smoother.
There were a few more, and the hours passed in a blur. I had been admitted at dawn, and we had several breaks to eat and attend to other needs. However, it was already getting dark, and we had been being examined for more than 12 hours.
I had to admit, they were really rigorous; the other six contestants looked exhausted. We stood in front of Pandemonica, and the stress and nervousness were palpable from them. After all, Pandemonica had our grades; those who passed would finally go to the practical exam, a one-on-one fight against another contestant. The winner would be promoted to high-class.
I listened to the results of the other participants. Pandemonica's voice was dull and neutral as she tore apart the other low-class devils. Five of them didn't make the cut, and they walked away utterly depressed when they finished their evaluation. None of them seemed completely broken, maybe because they could retake the test another time, or it wasn't their first time failing the tests.
Now, of those who did pass, one of them barely qualified, and the other had outstanding results. Both were reincarnated devils. The other, a true devil, had failed several of the tests, especially those related to the human world and etiquette.
Which, on second thought, made sense. I couldn't see how a devil with no backing could be familiar with both of those things. Self-study can only get you so far, while testing was extensive. Finally, Pandemonica came to me.
"Finally, Serena Prince, Succubus, 18 years old," she ignored the incredulous looks of the two devils still present. "Written test on the human world: perfect score. Written test on the underworld: perfect score. Written test on… perfect. Strategy and… perfect. Management of… perfect… dance… perfect score… perfect score… perfect score."
Maybe… maybe I overdid it; if my status as a succubus didn’t stand out, a perfect score probably would. I could feel a spike of nervousness as Pandemonica continued to recite the results of my assessments. I could only hope that having perfect scores on all the assessments wasn’t too rare. The incredulous looks of the two devils who had passed were burning a hole in my head, which didn’t fill me with good faith.
"…perfect grade. Final evaluation: Perfect grade." Pandemonica finished neutrally, lowering her clipboard and looking at us. "Congratulations to the three of you. Now, we will move on to the combat test between you. Each of you will face another participant. Since you are an odd number, we will call another devil who has his high-class promotion fight pending. Now we will go to a dueling ring so you can perform your test." With that said, Pandemonica summoned a teleportation circle below us.
I felt the urge to resist, but I restrained myself and let the circle do its thing. Once it was over, we were in what looked like a reasonably large stadium, about the size of a football field. The stadium was completely sealed off, but the place was very well-lit
"Welcome, Miss Pandemonica. I was expecting you." I looked at the woman who had just spoken and stopped in my tracks.
Grayfia Lucifuge. The strongest queen. Sirzechs Lucifer's queen.
Her silver hair, red eyes, and maid outfit were unmistakable… shit.
"Oh, Lady Lucifuge, I thought we were meeting Judgement for this combat evaluation." Pandemonica only seemed slightly surprised.
"My apologies, but unfortunately, my Lord Lucifer required the presence of the High Prosecutor. It could not be postponed, so I am here to replace her." Grayfia explained, and Pandemonica nodded after a few moments.
"Alright, let's continue with the evaluation then." Pandemonica said simply and looked at us. I was able to control my expression, but the other two devils still had their jaws open as they gazed at the queen more intently.
"Lady Lucifuge here-" she pointed at Grayfia, "will act as referee and evaluator during your mock fight. You will be entered into a small dimension where you will be able to fight without holding back. Don't worry about injuries, the place has the same safeguards as a normal Rating Game, so you will be transported to avoid fatal injuries."
I raised my hand, interrupting Pandemonica.
"What if someone has regeneration at the same level as the Phenex?" I asked curiously. Pandemonica stared at me, as did Grayfia.
"In those cases, different safeguards apply," Pandemonica said slowly. "Are you… saying that you have regeneration similar to the Phenex?" she asked carefully. I shrugged.
"I've never seen a Phenex in person, so I have no idea, but I have faith in my regeneration." I said simply, Pandemonica looked at me for a few seconds before nodding slowly.
"Very well, keep in mind that if she is underestimating your abilities, we will not be able to help you in time in the event of an accident." Pandemonica finally said.
"Of course." I said lightly, and she nodded again.
"I'll keep a good eye on her." Grayfia said suddenly as she stared at me. I resisted the urge to grimace. Really, the last thing I wanted was for the strongest queen to notice me.
"Very well, I'll leave it to you." Pandemonica said, trusting Grayfia. "Now, you two are up first." Pandemonica pointed at the other two devils, both of whom let out a shriek, but stepped forward. They looked eager to show off their skills in front of Grayfia.
"Please don't move." With that, Grayfia and both devils were teleported to their battlefield.
"As for you-" Pandemonica spoke to me directly. "Your opponent has not arrived yet- "She was interrupted by the appearance of a portal near us. A person, a man by his physique, suddenly appeared. I couldn't see the features of his face; the hood of his sweatshirt covered his head.
"Ahem." Pandemonica cleared her throat. "Miss Prince, this is your opponent, Mr. Hood. Once the other two participants finish their fight, it will be your turn." Pandemonica said as she pointed up. There were giant holographic screens that showed both devils facing each other in a close fight.
The three of us stood in silence as the minutes ticked by. Once the fight between the other two participants was over, both devils returned with Grayfia by their side, one of them wearing a huge smile despite looking worn and beaten, while the other was depressed.
“Congratulations on your promotion to high-class.” Pandemonica congratulated, though there was no emotion in her voice. “Please wait aside while the next fight takes place, and then we will continue with the necessary paperwork.” The devil nodded happily and walked away a few steps. “Now, as for you-” she said to the losing devil. “-you cannot retake the test for the next two months, you will be given a license that exempts you from all other tests for the next two years. During that time, the only test you will have to take will be the combat test. Once the license expires, you will need to retake the entire test. Understood?” The devil sighed in relief as he nodded.
How… bureaucratic of them.
But putting aside how similar the devils were to human public servants, I focused on the next fight.
I had a month to get used to demonic magic, and I discovered some exciting things about it.
First, it was the easiest to learn of all the magic I had, and at the same time, the most difficult to master.
Imagination was the key. Anyone with a modicum of imagination and enough magic power was capable of using demonic magic. Easy and straightforward, it was a piece of cake.
Now, that was at a basic level. You could use magic, yes, but it was highly inefficient. You started to notice that the magic didn't have the power you wanted. It didn't have the precision you needed, nor was it as effective as it should have been, and it wasted more demonic power than it should have required. And the problem with that was... imagination.
Very few people could imagine the magic you needed accurately enough to meet all the criteria you had in mind - knowing you needed something, but imagining exactly that, was very different and very difficult. It was always something vaguely like what you wanted, but never exactly what you wanted. Occlumency served to fill in the blanks, but it was still far from being precisely what you wanted.
And that's where the more structured magic came in. The way of adding formulas, adding math, physics, chemistry, or any other kind of science to use magic and be able to quantify it in a way so that it's much more precise than just imagining.
The problem? Demonic magic didn't work that way.
Again, it was imagination. Pure imagination. There were no formulas that described magic in any way. If you wanted to add formulas to magic? Would you structure it in some way? You have to imagine that those formulas govern magic. And there was an inherent problem.
Trying to imagine something you don't understand made it even more complicated, so adding formulas out of nowhere could do more harm than good. So the devils took various stances on that.
They could choose not to care about structuring the magic; they simply work on their imagination and visualization until they reach a point at which they are satisfied. Once a spell was successfully cast, subsequent attempts were much easier to replicate. It was easier to bring back a memory of said magic than to imagine it from scratch.
It was a good way and something that most devils used. Many devils were very wasteful with their demonic power—especially the Pillars, who had much more demonic power than the average devil since birth.
The other form was structured magic, which was divided into two forms.
The first was public structured magic. There were formulas open to all devils on how to perform magic. Formulas that were created by other people, polished by another, and tested to death by more people. They worked, they served, and they got the job done, so they were what most devils used. It was easy to imagine rules already established by others, since most people didn't doubt their veracity.
To improve the output of elementary, intermediate, and advanced magic, public formulas were practical and, in fact, recommended. But if someone wanted to specialize in magic, they would reach a common point and understand something. They were restrictive. You would end up colliding with the second form.
The second form was personal Structured Magic. You would create your own magical formulas, your own diagrams, your own magical laws, and implement them into your magic so that it would act accordingly.
And it was where every devil who specialized in magic arrived. With public, structured magic, you could only reach the point that others had explored to. You could only walk on paths already trodden, possibly deviating slightly.
But taking new paths? Creating a completely new one? Creating new magics? New spells? New branches of mysteries? It required more than just public structured magic. You could expand on it, add formulas to the already known formulas, but it would still fall under the second form, personal structured magic.
Was it easy? Not at all; creating your own laws for how magic should work was just ridiculous. It was such a tedious thing that no one really did it. You had to create your own rules for all known physical phenomena, for all perceptible laws of the world, and somehow make it all make sense to you. You had to avoid redundancy and avoid clashing with your 'common sense' when imagining it. Imagining counter-intuitive laws would just crash into your subconscious and end in disaster.
Most of them used the human sciences for a lot of their formulas, but once you got into the supernatural stuff, things that the laws of physics couldn't cover, that's when it got complicated.
It was all too much work for even the most determined of devils. You couldn't really consult with anyone anymore; two devils with personally structured magic would have very different formulas to cast the same spell, making it simply useless.
But there was a clear example of what demonic magic could become when personal structured magic was taken to the extreme, after all, a Satan had done it. Kankara Formula. Also known as the Equation of Military Supremacy.
Ajuka Beelzebub created his own set of formulas, implementing them in his magic in such a way that he could understand all the phenomena and abilities of the world. All the rules and laws could be explained through those equations. These equations allowed Satan Beelzebub to stay within the top ten of the most powerful beings of Draconic Deus. He was a genius, a monster.
And that was what I was aiming to do… unfortunately, I only had a month to get used to my new magic and keep it in harmony with the other skills in my repertoire. I still had a long way to go.
The only good thing that came out of it was that I was able to cast most of my wand magic with demonic magic. So there were very few situations where I needed Cia. Cia had become extremely angry and now spent most of her time with Enid, who had no qualms about pampering her to death.
